Routledge Profiting from Integrity: How CEOs Can Deliver Superior Profitability and Be Relevant to Society

The case for a pro-integrity approach to business is due to endemic corruption, inadequacy of compliance and irrelevance of corporate social responsibility. It is demonstrated empirically that there is a direct causal relationship between companies operating with heightened integrity and their resultant superior profitability. For chief executive officers (CEOs) to achieve this, an innovative pro-integrity business model for companies to adopt is proposed, based predominantly on the author’s business experience. The model is demonstrated by application to a case study multinational corporation where the author was CEO. A considerable amount of what ordinarily would be highly sensitive commercial information is provided in the case study in a frank manner. Using the prointegrity business model which encompasses stakeholders, vision, integrity, leadership, staff and feedback, Alan Barlow explains the value and application of his approach. He draws on benchmarking research and a case study example to provide rigour and context to the model. The result is a compelling argument for a pro-integrity approach to business as an integral part of an organisation’s culture, communication and management practice. Profiting from Integrity provides a powerful evidence-based argument for chairmen, non-executive directors and shareholders, staff and other stakeholders to challenge incumbent CEOs as to why they are not leading their business with a pro-integrity approach and thereby delivering superior profitability.