Responsibility and ownership for the twenty-fi rst century: organisational icons – or not?

While it may appear somewhat derogatory of the business organisations discussed in the previous chapter, in this chapter we discuss organisations which also espouse values and priorities which are consistent with responsible leadership and the creation of a sense of employee contribution, empowerment and ‘ownership’. However, those which we will discuss in this chapter have, to all intents and purposes, become broadly accepted in the mainstream of business life in their sectors and indeed society, rather than being regarded as unique, niche and quaint outliers which, for a number of reasons, do not tick the scalability and/or required market footprint box which is so important as a criterion for perceived success in the prevailing business culture. In this chapter we will discuss the practical business realities of leading in such broadly accepted organisations, the nature of decision making, the relationships between stakeholder groups and the impact on operational leadership. We will discuss whether indeed these organisations have, in practice, delivered on their espoused logic or have found that it is to some or a large extent incompatible with the demands of the business reality in which they fi nd themselves.