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Politics, Ethics, and Corporate Policy: U.S. Corporations' 1986 Position Papers on South Africa

University of South Carolina, Columbia

This article analyzes 48 position papers U.S. corporations distributed in 1986 to define and defend their presence in South Africa under apartheid. As public state ments about one of the most difficult business and ethical issues ever faced by U.S. corporations, these papers constitute a special moment in the history of busi ness writing. Unique in its economic, political, and ethical complexity, this situa tion required corporations to depart from traditional ways of making decisions and traditional ways of writing about those decisions. These corporations, all but one signatories to the Sullivan Principles, evolved a unique structure that allowed them to enter the debate on divestiture, yet minimize their rhetorical exposure. The limitations inherent in that new pattern became evident, however, in the mid-1980s as the debate became more intense and frustrating for executives and their corpo rations. The essay also examines the pivotal role of Leon Sullivan, the African American minister who organized these corporations in their anti- apartheid efforts, monitored their efforts, pushed them to do more, served as their rhetorical point man in opposition to divestiture, and helped define them as a discourse community.

Key Words: Corporate Policy • Ethics • History of Business Communication • South African Business Communication

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