Edward Freeman

Edward Freeman: Profile

For the past 20 years Freeman has written and presented about the idea of "stakeholder management" and is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of this important concept. He received a Pioneer Award from the World Resources Institute and the Aspen Institute's Program on Social Responsibility for his achievements. They said: "Edward Freeman has revolutionized the thinking, teaching, and practice of strategic management by finding new ways to approach traditional challenges". His style and commitment have influenced innumerable MBA and executive education students as well as many management scholars. Freeman's pioneering conceptualization of stakeholder analysis has become a staple of academic writing and decision-making models. It also serves as the basis of a large consulting practice with many Fortune 1000 companies. With his depth of impact, his breadth of knowledge and his generosity in sharing it with clients, colleagues, and students, Edward Freeman embodies the ideal of "lifetime achievement" in the field of social impact management.

In the academic world he has been recognized by the Academy of Management. His book Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach won the Social Issues Division's Book Award and he received the Sumner Marcus Award for his lifetime contributions in social issues in management. This book is widely credited with pioneering the idea that managers need to be responsive to all stakeholders, not just shareholders, an idea that has subsequently been endorsed by an increasing number of CEOs.

His Management textbook (with co-authors) has been used to educate a generation of management students about how to put together ethics and values with traditional ideas about management. The last edition sold over 100,000 copies. Tom Peters called his Corporate Strategy And The Search For Ethics, a "...brilliant book [which] transformed the business ethics 'model' in one fell swoop".

Freeman has been a lecturer and keynote speaker at universities around the world. In addition, he has been a consultant and speaker to universities and business schools on how they can integrate ethics into the curriculum. He has been an advisor, consultant and editorial review board member for many top journals and publishers including Business Ethics Quarterly, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, McGraw Hill, Prentice Hall and others.

Freeman is the author or editor of 20 books and journal issues and he has written more than fifty articles in a wide variety of publications. In addition he is the editor of the 15 volume Ruffin Series in Business Ethics published by Oxford University Press.

His most recent books are Environmentalism And The New Logic Of Business (with J. Pierce and R. Dodd), The Portable MBA<.em>, 4th edition (with R. Bruner, M. Eaker, R. Spekman, E. Teisberg, and V. Venkatarman), The Blackwell's Handbook Of Strategic Management(with M. Hitt and J. Harrison), Management, 6th Edition (with J. Stoner and D. Gilbert), and Corporate Strategy And The Search For Ethics (with D. Gilbert, Jr.).

He is currently writing Managing For Stakeholders and Stakeholder Theory: The State Of The Art, both with Robert Phillips and Jeffrey Harrison, Leadership And Ethics, with Patricia Werhane; and Business Ethics: A Textbook For Managers, with Andrew Wicks and Patricia Werhane.

Ed Freeman has a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Washington University and a B.A. in Mathematics and Philosophy from Duke University.

Topics:

• The Ethics Crisis In Corporate America
• Capitalism And Freedom
• Leadership And Leading From The Middle
• Managing For Stakeholders
• Diversity
• Business, Ethics And The Problems In Health Care