Michael A. Santoro

Michael Santoro
Born
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Alma materHarvard University (Ph.D.)
New York University (J.D.)
Oberlin College (A.B.)
Occupation(s)Professor[1][2]
Ethicist[3]
SpouseRobyn Burch
Websitewww.michaelasantoro.com

Michael Anthony Santoro is a business ethicist and professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Leavey School of Business, Santa Clara University.[3] Santoro has written and offered public comments on business and human rights, corporate social responsibility and human rights in China, pharmaceutical industry ethics, and Wall Street ethics.[4][5] He was previously professor at Rutgers Business School.[6]

Early life and education

Santoro was born on December 10, 1954, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Santoro graduated from Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, NY. He received his Ph.D. degree from Harvard University, his J.D. from New York University, and his A.B. from Oberlin College. He was a Fulbright fellow at the University of Hong Kong.[5]

Career

Business and human rights

Santoro is the president and co-founder of the Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association,[7] as well as the Co-Editor-In-Chief of the Business and Human Rights Journal published by Cambridge University Press.[8] He is also a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Human Rights and Business Ethics Quarterly.[9][10] Santoro has described the business and human rights field as "both a multidisciplinary (and sometimes interdisciplinary) academic field drawing from, inter alia, business ethics, law and the social sciences, and a social, economic and political justice movement involving governments and intergovernmental institutions, as well as indigenous people, nongovernmental organizations, and other civil society actors."[11]

China, human rights, and Western business

"Fair Share" Theory of Business Responsibility for Human Rights

Santoro's first book Profits and Principles: Global Capitalism and Human Rights in China (Cornell University Press, 2000) outlines a "fair share" theory of business responsibility for human rights. Reviewer Lucien Pye wrote that "this timely study, which combines sharp moral reasoning, spells out what can and cannot be expected --and what American multinational corporations should and should not be doing in China."[12] The New York Times Book Review said Santoro's "solidly grounded analysis deserves a wide audience."[13]

Testimony Before the United States Senate Finance Committee

On March 23, 2000, Michael Santoro testified before the United States Finance Committee in favor of China's accession into the WTO.[14] Based on his research in Profits and Principles, Santoro argued at the time that, rather than continuing to threaten trade sanctions, granting Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) to China was the best strategy for Western nations to promote human rights in China. In his testimony, Santoro introduced the concept of positive "human rights spinoff" into the PNTR debate. To succeed in China, Santoro argued, "companies must employ state--of-the-art technology and management practices. In doing things that a company must do to build market share, multinational corporations are transmitting values and practices to their employees that have tremendous significance for democracy and human rights."[15]

China 2020

In China 2020: How Western Business Can--and Should--Influence Social and Political Change in the Coming Decade (Cornell University Press, 2009) Santoro presents a more sanguine view of the human rights impacts of foreign business, observing that foreign companies operating in China had fallen into a "complacent partnership" with the Chinese government that was blunting the potential positive human rights impacts of foreign business and private enterprise in China.[16][17] Santoro argues that "foreign investment in China will never be secure unless it is embedded in a society where rights, including economic rights, are respected...and where a strong and independent rule of law protects the rights and economic interests of its citizens," calling it "unacceptable that no major business has initiated a court action against any level of Chinese government for anything."[18]

Pharmaceutical industry ethics

In 2005 Santoro and Johnson & Johnson executive Thomas M. Gorrie published a co-edited volume Ethics and The Pharmaceutical Industry (Cambridge University Press, 2005). In an introductory chapter, Santoro describes "the unravelling of the "grand bargain" between the pharmaceutical industry and society. This grand bargain was a complex, implicit social contract that allowed the modern global pharmaceutical industry to emerge in the second half of the twentieth century. Although the industry prospered immensely, society also enjoyed a bountiful array of life-saving and-life enhancing drugs. As the twenty-first century begins, however, this grand bargain is in tatters and public mistrust and resentment of the industry run feverishly high."[19]

In 2009, Michael Santoro was hired in the settlement of a shareholder derivative lawsuit against the drug company Merck during the Vioxx controversy to help draft corporate governance reforms that presiding judge Carol E. Higbee said would "be helpful to the shareholders because they will prevent potential future liability from the sale of potentially dangerous drugs."[20]

During the health concern scare over Yaz and Yasmin, Santoro told the NY Times that pharmaceutical companies should "set higher standards for themselves than those set by the F.D.A.".[21] When de-regulation of consumer safeguards in the pharmaceutical industry was proposed in early 2017 by the Trump administration, Santoro argued against the ability of companies to market off-label drugs directly to the public, saying, "Drug companies have a very bad history of promoting products for which they haven't been approved. The industry hasn't displayed trustworthiness as far as this goes."[22] During a 2017 CNN investigation of inappropriate use of drugs in nursing homes and the pharmaceutical companies who push these drugs through sales departments, Santoro agreed with the investigation and accused the salespeople of "actually participating in the prescribing decision."[23]

Wall Street ethics and the financial crisis

In 2013, Santoro and his co-author Ronald J. Strauss published Wall Street Values : Business Ethics and the Global Financial Crisis (Cambridge University Press, 2013).[24][25] Santoro and Strauss argue that Wall Street's "ethical problems came when proprietary trading began to overshadow customer services."[26]

During the 2013 Bloomberg customer privacy scandal where its journalists were provided access to private company information through its network terminals, Santoro made reference to the conflict of interests on Wall Street and deemed it "a major breach of customer trust."[27] In 2016, Santoro claimed that the Federal Reserve has become politicized and that "in the last financial crisis we had to worry about the impact of on government from the bursting of the business bubble. In the next crisis we will have to worry about the impact on business from the bursting of the government debt bubble".[28]

Publications

Books

Santoro's published books include:

  • Santoro, Michael A. (2000). Profits and Principles: Global Capitalism and Human Rights in China. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0801435013.[29]
  • Gorrie, Thomas M.; Santoro, Michael A., eds. (2005). Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry (PDF). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780511610769.[30]
  • Santoro, Michael A. (2009). China 2020: How Western Business Can–and Should–Influence Social and Political Change in the Coming Decade. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0801446955.
  • Santoro, Michael A.; Strauss, Ronald J. (2013). Wall Street Values: Business Ethics and the Global Financial Crisis. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107017351.[31]

Personal life

Santoro is married to Robyn Burch, a registered nurse. They live in Santa Clara, California with their twin boys Jack Welton Santoro and Gaetano Orazio Santoro II who were born in 2016.[32]

References

  1. ^ Samuelson, Tracey (31 July 2014). "Holding individuals responsible for the financial crisis". Marketplace. Retrieved 28 August 2018. However, most individuals who have been targeted are typically lower-level employees who worked directly on the bad deals, says Michael Santoro, a professor at Rutgers Business School.
  2. ^ McCoy, Kevin (3 June 2013). "Dodd-Frank act: After 3 years, a long to-do list". USA Today. Retrieved 28 August 2018. In their recently published book, Wall Street Values, authors and business school professors Michael Santoro and Ronald Strauss argue that even final Dodd-Frank rules won't avert another crisis unless Wall Street's ethics are aligned with not just market efficiency but the greater "public welfare."
  3. ^ a b Blake Ellis, Melanie Hicken (4 December 2017). "Drugmaker paid doctors with problem records to promote its pill". CNN. Retrieved 28 August 2018. Michael Santoro, a Santa Clara University professor and an expert in pharmaceutical industry ethics, said the use of doctors with these kinds of pasts is problematic, calling it a "scheme" used by the company to sell more pills.
  4. ^ Singer, Natasha (13 May 2009). "Trial Puts Spotlight on Merck". The New York Times. Retrieved 28 August 2018. "How much money Merck be saving on the payouts that would be worth this kind of bad publicity years later?" said Michael A. Santoro, an associate professor at Rutgers Business School who teaches a course on pharmaceutical industry ethics.
  5. ^ a b University, Santa Clara. "Santoro, Michael - Faculty and Staff - Management - Leavey School of Business - Santa Clara University". www.scu.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  6. ^ Hennelly, Robert (21 December 2015). "China's crackdown on graft, media obscures picture for investors". CBS News. Retrieved 28 August 2018. "This level of repression that's now becoming apparent is a tell-tale sign that there are deeper and systemic problems in China's economy and society," said Michael Santoro, author of the book "China 2020" and a professor of management and business at Rutgers.
  7. ^ "Governance | Business and human rights scholars association". bhrscholarsassociation.org. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  8. ^ "Editorial board". Cambridge Core. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  9. ^ "Editorial Board | Journal of Human Rights". jhr.uconn.edu. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  10. ^ "Editorial board". Cambridge Core. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  11. ^ Santoro, Michael A. (2015). "Business and Human Rights in Historical Perspective". Journal of Human Rights. 14 (2): 155. doi:10.1080/14754835.2015.1025945. ISSN 1475-4835. S2CID 142827374.
  12. ^ "Profits and Principles: Global Capitalism and Human Rights in China". Foreign Affairs. No. September/October 2000. 2009-01-28. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  13. ^ "Chinese Puzzle". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  14. ^ "Witness List and Time Change for Thursday's Hearing on China's Accession to WTO | The United States Senate Committee on Finance". www.finance.senate.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  15. ^ "Current History". www.currenthistory.com. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  16. ^ "China passes Germany in economic rankings". CNN. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2018. John Vause, Judy Kwon
  17. ^ Wheatley, Alan. "Morals vs profits, a tug of war for business in China". U.S. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  18. ^ Wheatley, Alan (2009-06-22). "Meddling or Good Business?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  19. ^ Santoro, Michael A. (2005). Ethics and the Pharmaceutical Industry. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 1–6. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511610769.004. ISBN 9780511610769.
  20. ^ Singer, Natasha (2010-04-03). "Does Merck Agreement Pave a Road Toward Change?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  21. ^ Singer, Natasha (2009-09-25). "Health Concerns Are Raised Over Use of Popular Contraceptives". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  22. ^ Lazarus, David (10 February 2017). "Speedy drug approvals are risky, but drug companies have another idea that's just terrible". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  23. ^ Investigates, Blake Ellis and Melanie Hicken; Data analysis by Sergio Hernandez, CNN. "The little red pill being pushed on the elderly". CNN. Retrieved 2018-05-25. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ^ Santoro, Michael A.; Strauss, Ronald J. (2012). Wall Street Values. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139084109. ISBN 9781139084109.
  25. ^ McCoy, Kevin (16 July 2013). "Survey questions Wall Street ethics". USA Today. Retrieved 28 August 2018. The survey results found a similar decline in ethics as the one highlighted in Wall Street Values, a recently published book by two business academics in New Jersey. Michael Santoro, a professor at Rutgers University Business School, and Ronald Strauss, an assistant professor at Montclair State University School of Business, concluded that "no amount of structural reform and government regulation will ensure the stability of the global financial system unless the ethical practices and values of Wall Street professionals are aligned with market efficiency and the public welfare."
  26. ^ Wee, Heesun (2013-09-13). "The problem with Wall St. greed 5 years post crash". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-05-31.
  27. ^ Li, Shan; Tangel, Andrew (2013-05-14). "Bloomberg in damage-control mode over client snooping". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  28. ^ "Election blindness: It's the end of the world economy as we know it — and we feel fine". Salon. 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2018-05-25.
  29. ^ "Profits and Principles: Global Capitalism and Human Rights in China". Foreign Affairs. 2000-09-01. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  30. ^ Lazarus, David (10 February 2017). "Speedy drug approvals are risky, but drug companies have another idea that's just terrible". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  31. ^ Enderle, G. (October 2014). "Wall Street Values: Business Ethics and the Global Financial Crisis, by Michael A. Santoro and Ronald J. Strauss (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013)". Business Ethics Quarterly. 24 (4): 617–620. doi:10.5840/beq201424418. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
  32. ^ "Bio | Michael A. Santoro". www.michaelasantoro.com. Retrieved 2018-05-25.