1st Edition

The Profit of Peace Corporate Responsibility in Conflict Regions

By Karolien Bais, Mijnd Huijser Copyright 2005

    This book examines how multinationals can promote peace and stability in conflict regions. The authors interviewed CEOs of multinationals working in challenging countries such as Afghanistan, Burma and Rwanda, outlining the ingredients for an approach that can best lead to positive outcomes for business, people and the environment.

    Foreword Major-General Patrick Cammaert, Military Adviser, Department of Peacekeeping Operations of the United Nations Introduction 1. Multinational corporations and conflicts 2. Ethics and culture 3. Enterprise and government 4. Clean hands and failing states 5. Power and privilege 6. Carrots and sticks 7. Profits and ideals 8. Scenarios and storytelling  Bibliography Useful websites Appendix: map of conflict regions

    Biography

    Karolien Bais, Mijnd Huijser

    The Profit of Peace is both simply and extremely well written. It combines interviews with top executives, values analysis and intercultural perspectives. It leads to the conclusion that trust and collaboration between these multinationals and NGOs has the greatest potential not only for reaching the organizational goals of each, but enables them better contribute to local well being and prosperity – perhaps the critical condition for developing greater freedom and increased respect for human rights. ...Who should read this book? Certainly multinational managers and policy makers who would like to question organizational machismo and seek deeper insight into the nature of their dilemmas in conflicted environments; certainly NGO activists and those academicians who fear that initiating dialogue with corporate types makes them adulterous bedfellows; certainly interculturalists and those of us who consult with people who manage and work in organizations. ...I would also recommend The Profit of Peace strongly to those working in the media and those engaged in politics. Often it is the moral indignation or the trust of the public that can be either most damaging or most helpful in ethical dilemmas. The challenging ideas in this book whether read in its pages or mediated by those who influence populations and organizations can help to refine our overall ethical sense. www.georgesimons.com, 28 May 2006. Read the full review (Word document) - Dr George Simons

    This is a book, long overdue, which addresses one of the most neglected aspects of the complex process of establishing a stable post-conflict environment. ... [The authors] have produced a book which should be essential reading for any student, of whatever level, who wishes to understand the reality and complexity of post-conflict stability and development issues; the style in which it is written should also ensure that a wider audience amongst politicians, NGOs and the business community will enjoy and benefit from reading it ... Finally, the extensive bibliography and list of useful web-sites will prove invaluable to hard-pressed students seeking to explore this important aspect of post-conflict reconstruction further ... The authors are also to be congratulated for the clear and jargon-free style in which the book is written. Read the full review (PDF document) - Peace Conflict and Development, Issue 8 (January 2006). - David Pinder

    Their core argument is that multinationals can contribute to peace and to solving conflicts by focusing on their core business – that is, doing what they do best: make profits... What makes this book ... an interesting read are the interviews with CEOs. - Review of International Social Questions, 2 September 2005

    The authors take a pragmatic approach, pointing out that ethically correct decisions do not always produce ethically correct results. Each chapter examines a management dilemma, illustrated with examples from a range of conflict zones, interspersed with insightful comment from managers who have worked 'on the front line'. By sticking to its core business, the book argues, a multinational can contribute to strategies for peace. But companies have a responsibility to go further. Managers must become 'business diplomats', partnering NGOs and making the case for private sector based development. - Corporate Citizenship Briefing, September 2005 - Oliver Wagg

    The authors of this book dare to challenge us with the concept that our ethics bear the stamp of our own cultural peculiarities, and that perhaps those peculiarities need to be reflected upon and negotiated rather than be imposed as absolutes ... The book leaves us with dilemmas to digest, e.g.: Which comes first, peace or justice? Democracy or well-being? ... Who should read this book? Certainly multinational managers and policy makers who would like to question organizational machismo and seek deeper insight into the nature of their dilemmas in conflicted environments; certainly NGO activists and those academicians who fear that initiating dialogue with corporate types makes them adulterous bedfellows; certainly interculturalists and those of us who consult with people who manage and work in organizations ... ... I would recommend The Profit of Peace strongly to those working in the media and those engaged in politics ... ... The challenging ideas in this book ... can help us refine our overall ethical sense ... www.dialogin.com - Delta Intercultural Academy