Management Society

STUDY QUESTIONS ON “THE CORPORTATION”

MGMT 423 – DAVIS

1. Originally corporations (from approximately 1712-1889) were different from corporations today. How were they different?

2. What was the original purpose of the 14th Amendment? What happened to it?

3. How are corporations different from real people?

a)

b)

c)

4. Define the corporate concept of ‘externalizing costs.’ What are the implications of this concept for the common good?

5. In the film, Michael Walker (Executive Director of the Fraser Institute) discussed the implications of the “privatization” of everything. What did he believe that owners would do that justified his reason for believing in such private ownership?

6. In your opinion, is the corporation of today:

a) an important form of enterprise that is vital to the future of the human race.

b) a malignant form of business that, like a slow-growing incurable cancer, will ultimately kill all other forms of enterprise including the free market.

c) both.

Support your opinion with a discussion of the class considerations thus far (early business, the common good, stakeholders, the enterprise triangle, Adam Smith’s writing, and the vision of America’s founders).