Temple University the Empire of The Zon Book Report
The Empire of the Zon may be read as an allegory for the world we live in. Many of the issues that policy makers, organizations and managers face in their day-to-day operations appear, albeit in highly stylized form in the pages of the novel. However, the allegorical world of the novel allows us to explore a much wider range of factors that shape decisions. These go beyond the purely rational objectives of policy (e.g., the maximization of societal welfare) or businesses (the maximization of shareholder or stakeholder value). These include very human impulses – positive (loyalty, patriotism, love, dedication), negative (jealousy, lust, greed, bigotry) and somewhere in between (ambition, the desire for power, the pursuit of profit).