Research seminar: Prof Tom Donaldson
Seminar Title: The Square Peg: Why the Environment Won’t Fit Management Models
Abstract: Firms operating in environmentally vulnerable contexts will inevitably face difficult cases where long-term profits clash with environmental values. This remains true even with enlightened management and strong regulation. Yet, business models fail to acknowledge this inconvenient truth. I explain why current business models reach a “glass wall” in their ability to incorporate intrinsic values such as environmental integrity. Two concepts will be introduced: the efficiency model and the value gap. Efficiency models use terminology designed either to optimize the allocation of scarce resources toward measurable future goals or to explain the achievement of past goals. A value gap arises when ideal social corporate action diverges from ideally efficient corporate action. The presence of large, recurring value gaps in extractive industries signals the need for fundamental changes—both in corporate decision-making and in the business models that shape it.
Bio: Tom Donaldson is the Mark O. Winkelman Professor Emeritus of Legal Studies & Business Ethics at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He is one of the most influential authors in the field of business ethics, and has received multiple career and professional awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, The Society for Business Ethics, 2019; Sumner Marcus Award, 2016 (Social Issues in Management Division of the Academy of Management); Aspen Institute’s Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement, 2009 and “Most influential thought leader” in Ethisphere Magazine’s ranking of the 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics. He is a former associate editor of the Academy of Management Review as well as Business Ethics Quarterly. He has consulted widely to multinational corporations in the fields of ethics, leadership and corporate governance.
Note: Tea, coffee, and sandwiches will be provided in front of Café Jolt (Lower Ground Floor) at 12 pm.
Photographs will be taken during this seminar and may be shared on social media. If you do not wish to appear, please notify tbs.research@tcd.ie.