Ethics Resource Center

Published: September 22, 2008

Book Review by Rachel Schwartz

The Difference Makers. By Sandra Waddock

(Greenleaf Publishing, Sheffield, UK. www.greenleaf-publishing.com. 320 pp.)

In The Difference Makers: How Social and Institutional Entrepreneurs Created the Corporate Responsibility Movement, Sandra Waddock presents the case studies of 23 exceptional people who drove the concept and implementation of corporate responsibility into mainstream awareness. Recounted largely in the “difference makers’” own words, these unique stories display a depth of compassion, ingenious solution-thinking, and commitment in the face of both adversity and success.

Along with many others, the 23 leaders highlighted have worked over the decades to “establish a new infrastructure that ensures that companies are responsible, accountable, and transparent with respect to the impacts on societies, stakeholders, and the natural environment.” They have formulated a new way of thinking by working from within an existing infrastructure that, as Waddock states, “implicitly or explicitly recognizes the important role that business plays in building healthy societies by providing needed goods and services.”

It is a shame that Waddock subsequently chooses simultaneously to forget, ignore, or attack the idea that market activity is a central driver to a healthier society.

The case studies are thoughtfully engaging, in no small part due to tight editing and smart organization. From John Ruggie’s witty unfolding of his work to articulate the United Nations-sponsored Global Compact and Millennium Development Goals, to Steve Young’s understated story of creating the Caux Round Table Principles for Business, to retelling by various “difference makers” of their divergent campaigns to end apartheid via social pressure on multinationals and investors; thereis much worthwhile reading in this book.

Which is why it is so unfortunate that both in style and content, The Difference Makers has such significant identity issues. Is this a textbook for a university business program, a rant against globalization and trade, an inspirational collection of human creativity, a practical guide to social entrepreneurship, or a wish list of happy thoughts? Sadly, the reader must wade through Waddock’s tedious, often confused narrative to find the parts worth reading.

Rachel Schwartz, ERC’s benchmarking services coordinator, holds a masters degree in economic development from the University of Glasgow and a bachelors degree in economics from San Jose State University.

In This Issue

• "Straightening Sticks That Are Bent": Guest Column by George L. Procter-Smith, Ph.D.
• Please Don’t Shrink the Ethics: Column By Patricia J. Harned, Ph.D. President, ERC
• The Policy Report By Paula J. Desio, ERC Chair on Ethics Policy:
  Ethics Programs: Will Prosecutors Be Impressed?
• Book Review: The Difference Makers by Sandra Waddock.