Abstract

The principle purpose of this article is to report on an empirical investigation of the fact that corporations are captioned by individuals who still believe deeply in values of which their organizations are chief carriers. Results of this study enjoy a certain logical consistency. Major policies and practices of corporations are shaped by a relatively small number of top managers. Managers view these policies and practices through the prism of their personal values. Thus, a manager with what might be termed broad or liberal attitudes with respect to business and social issues might well be expected to encourage corporate responsiveness concerning ecological matters, employee welfare and consumerism. By contrast, executives with a narrower view of the role of business shaped by a more conservative set of attitudes are likely to resist pressures on their company to be more responsive to changing social expectations. Therefore, it should not be surprising that responses to the attitude instrument were consistently more liberal for companies classified by an economist as best social performers and that the opposite was the case for the executives of worst performers.