Mary C. Gentile

The New Marketing Myopia

During the past half century, in general, marketers have heeded Levitts (1960) advice to avoid “marketing myopia” by focusing on customers. In this article, the authors argue that marketers have learned this lesson too well, resulting today in a new form of marketing myopia, which also causes distortions in strategic vision and can lead to business failure. This “new marketing myopia” stems from three related phenomena: (1) a single-minded focus on the customer to the exclusion of other stakeholders, (2) an overly narrow definition of the customer and his or her needs, and (3) a failure to recognize the changed societal context of business that necessitates addressing multiple stakeholders. The authors illustrate these phenomena and then offer a vision of marketing management as an activity that engages multiple stakeholders in value creation, suggesting that marketing can bring a particular expertise to bear. They offer five propositions for practice that will help marketers correct the myopia: (1) map the companys stakeholders, (2) determine stakeholder salience, (3) research stakeholder issues and expectations and measure impact, (4) engage with stakeholders, and (5) embed a stakeholder orientation. The authors conclude by noting the implications for research.

Values-Driven Leadership Development: Where We Have Been and Where We Could Go

This essay revisits the premises upon which business ethics education has been based and then “flips” them, in an effort to help transform management educations approach to values-driven leadership development. Previous assumptions about what we teach, who we teach, and how we teach ethics are described, and a summary of how the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) pedagogy/curriculum flips these assumptions is provided. A brief review of the impact to date of this experiment is included, along with reflection on some of the new opportunities and challenges GVV has begun to face as a result of the rapid take-up of this approach around the globe.

Learning About Ethical Leadership Through the Giving Voice to Values Curriculum

This chapter explores the Giving Voice to Values curriculum, one innovative approach to integrating ethics into leadership development. The chapter describes how Giving Voice to Values is being used in educational settings across the globe.

Giving Voice to Values: A Pedagogy for Behavioral Ethics:

Management education has had a long and somewhat conflicted relationship with the integration of ethics and values-driven leadership into its curriculum. This essay presents some of the key challenges around pedagogy, curriculum design, as well as organizational and faculty concerns; and then outlines how behavioral ethics has triggered some significant advances in addressing these concerns while also has raising new questions and potential problems for business ethics education. The Giving Voice to Values pedagogy and curriculum is introduced and explained as a promising response to both of these sets of problems.