Crimes Corporativos: O Espectro Do Genocídio Ronda O Mundo

Abstract

Exploitation of workers, communities and resources has always occurred, although it is not a central topic in the history of management, whose main narrative is urgency in the pursuit of efficiency and the right solutions. However, crimes, misconduct, unethical behavior and corporate social irresponsibility have become increasingly common, thus calling for reflections on the relevance of addressing these issues in the academic field and in management practice. In this essay, we start from the premise that corporate crime must be understood according to its multidisciplinary nature, and we focus our efforts on discussing management issues to argue that corporate crime is part of companies' operations to support contemporary capitalism. We begin by addressing the power of corporations as the main force of contemporary capitalism in its form of extreme concentration of corporate wealth and ownership. Then we discuss the seriousness of corporate crimes and how they resemble genocide. We close with our considerations on why organizations become criminal and present a way to prevent corporate crime. CORPORATIONS The Industrial Revolution gave a new outline to the operation of companies, especially with the emergence of new forms of business organization, such as the modern corporation, whose distinctive feature is the separation between ownership, which is scattered among many shareholders, and the control exercised by directors who own a small fraction, if any, of the company's stocks (Berle & Means, 1932). The emergence of corporations in the nineteenth century changed the ownership mechanisms of companies, including in legal terms, and rapidly, from 1840 to 1860, corporations became capitalists' preferred business organization model. In the 1870's, the major corporations in most industries sought to reduce competition and increase their profits through a horizontal combination that allowed them to control raw materials and the market, as well as other advantages. The main characteristic of this type of business organization is its capacity to exert influence and power over a large geographical area, including in cultural and social terms, in addition to the possibilities of making higher profits. By then, corporations were already being accused of fixing prices, exploitation and other abuses, thus resulting in a political reaction by the US government, which created new forms of regulation for this type of organization in the late 19th century (Clinard, Yager, Brissette, Petrashek, & Harries, 1979).

Corporate Social Responsibility: Some Aspects

“…It seems that crimes, misconduct, unethical behavior, and corporate social irresponsibility are becoming more common, which requires reflection on the relevance of solving these problems in the academic sphere and in management practice (Oliveira, 2019). We agree with this statement, because many cases are being considered now, and not any harm caused by a corporation is criminalized and entails legal responsibility.…”

“…The area of knowledge about corporate social responsibility is no exception. Modern significant contributions to the development of corporate social responsibility in whole or partly are made by foreign lawyers: Hanrahan (2017), Jönsson (2019), Almond and van Erp (2020), Schoultz and Flyghed (2020), Oliveira (2019), Haines and Macdonald (2019), Deffains and Fluet (2020), Ramirez and Palos-Sanchez (2018), Ruiz and Torres (2019), Campbell (2018) and Russian legal experts: Krasnova and Nikonov (2020), Kremyanskaya (2013), Klepitskij (2020).…”

Representação de Atores Sociais nos desdobramentos de um Crime Corporativo

“…Os estudos organizacionais voltam-se prioritariamente para os aspectos positivos das organizações, frisando as melhores formas de conduzir seu funcionamento e enfatizando métodos eficazes para o seu sucesso, priorizando prescrições ou descrições sobre o funcionamento eficiente das corporações (Medeiros, 2013;Wanderley, 2015;Santos 2017;Abdalla & Faria, 2017;Oliveira, 2019). Nesse sentido, na tentativa de desvelar também as mazelas embutidas nesse processo, buscou-se na literatura estudos que buscassem romper com essa lógica acrítica, com vistas à eficiência administrativa.…”

A carne é fraca: humor como denúncia

“…Borges et al (2016) pesquisaram a opinião de estudantes de Administração sobre a seriedade dos crimes corporativos, tendo encontrado que os respondentes consideram os crimes de rua mais graves do que os crimes corporativos. O poder econômico e a abrangência das corporações lhes conferem autoridade política de tal modo que essas influenciem leis e regulamentos sobre suas atividades e sobre a tipificação de crimes (Oliveira, 2019), o que explicaria o baixo número de condenações de crimes corporativos, a despeito de suas consequências.…”