10. Values: O’Toole’s Executive Compass
What is the good society?
Can a good society be created in a world of conflicting values?
What role should (and do) corporations play in the pursuit of the good society
Philosophers have disagreed for centuries
However, is an underlying intellectual order that can be classified on the basis of four values
The task of every legitimate government is to secure the good society for its citizens
The Four Poles of a Good Society
Free economy; rugged individualism; supply, and demand
Use the power of gov’t to reduce disparities in wealth and power; the cost of liberty is too great; focus on disempowered groups; Sweden
Global economy requires cooperative arrangements between gov’t, business, and labor; Libertarians are out of date (competing “lemonade stands”); full employment, economic growth, and improving standard of living; national industrial policy; Japan
The quality of life is more important than the standard of living; focus on people, not technology (Humanists); focus on traditional family and neighborhood (decentralization); protect the environment
Democracy is the best political process because it allows for competing values