I believe that successful managers include the element of being “socially responsible” when making decisions.

None other than Peter Drucker, the acknowledged guru of management, said in his book Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, “Every act, every decision, every deliberation of management, has economic performance as its first dimension.” Noted economists such as Milton Friedman would wholeheartedly agree.

Nevertheless, I choose to take a different viewpoint. Yes, that’s correct, I am disagreeing with Peter Drucker and Milton Friedman. Before you quit reading, consider my position. I believe that management and the organization have the best interests of society as the overriding objective. In addition to the important element of economic performance, I suggest that social performance is an equally critical objective.

In an earlier issue of Krannert Magazine, I noted two key dimensions of strategic decisions. One involved meeting legal requirements, and the other dealt with being responsible to society. Thus, I believe that successful managers include the element of being “socially responsible” when making decisions. Sometimes this element may lead to decisions that do not appear to maximize short-term economic performance. Yet perhaps if the top managers at WorldCom, Enron, Adelphia, and other large corporations had included this element in their decision-making systems, their devastating corporate scandals may have been avoided.

Let me be clear: Corporations are not in business to lose money. A level of profitability is required for corporate survival. However, irresponsible decisions that may in the short term increase the bottom line eventually lead to failure.

Since you are still reading this, you may be at least conceding the possibility that I am correct. And, if it is important for managers to include a social dimension in their decisions, can we help students consider this viewpoint? I think we can, because at the heart of appreciating social accountability is volunteerism - the giving of yourself to help others. When students take advantage of the opportunity for community involvement during their academic programs, they can feel firsthand the tremendous rewards from helping others. Improving others’ lives has virtue in and of itself. However, it also may lead to helping others become viable economic contributors.

Purdue University and the Krannert School have several programs that allow students to experience the rewards of volunteerism. Our cover story deals with Krannert’s highly regarded Management Volunteer Program. Students across the campus also have the opportunity to get involved in the community through several service learning courses and projects.

An example of a successful initiative is Engineering Projects in Community Services (EPICS), which is partly located in the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship.

EPICS creates partnerships between teams of Purdue students and not-for-profit organizations in the Lafayette area. The multidisci-plinary student teams work closely with their partner organizations to identify and solve the technical problems these organizations face. Past projects have included electro-mechanical toys that encourage physically disabled children to develop their motor skills, and client-server software enabling agencies that serve the homeless to better coordinate their services.

I have been proud to work with the United Way of America at the national and local levels, and I currently chair the Purdue United Way campaign. Just as I believe that corporations have a responsibility to be socially conscious, I also feel that universities have an obligation to contribute socially to the communities in which they reside. I’m pleased that many Krannert and Purdue students, faculty, and staff have chosen to meet that responsibility.

Richard A. Cosier
Dean and Leeds Professor of Management