Book Description
Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., has done more than win the tastebuds of America -- it has earned the admiration of Wall Street and established a model for business owners and employees eager to earn profits without compromising their principles. In Ben & Jerry's Double-Dip, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield offer the ultimate insider's guide to creating a values-led business that makes money while benefiting the entire community. Using examples from their own company as well as a host of others, these renowned innovators reveal:
- How your commitment to worthy social causes will result in unprecedented customer and employee loyalty -- and increased profit
- Practical advice on everything -- from hiring employees to choosing suppliers
- Nuts-and-bolts information on values-led finance, retailing, and human resources
Ben & Jerry's Double-Dip is essential reading for anyone who owns, works for, invests in, or shops at a socially responsible business.
Customer Reviews:
Great inspiration seeking book.......2004-10-19
This is one of few books that I read cover to cover, and going to read it again in the next few months to remind myself and my business that there is more than just making money in life - its about making the world a better place to live for.
Although it doesn't contain any recipe for ice-creams (wasn't looking for one), it does contain the recipe for a successful business model built on a socially responsible organization that grew into a giant franchise all over the world - from a gas station and a mere 4 grands. GREAT role model for those going into business as well as those already in business.
Great resource annex at the back, from suppliers to other valued-led business. I live in Singapore, but if I have the chance, I will want to visit Vermont when my business takes off.
Since this book was a pre-Unilever take-over publication, it did not mention about the business model changes after that.
The world is getting messy - war, poverty, madness, scandals and terror, this book injects humanity into us, it gives me comfort when I go to sleep at night knowing that there are still hope and greatness in most of us. I give it 5 stars.
Amazon.com
CEO Jeffrey Hollender, whose Vermont-based company Seventh Generation is a poster child for corporate conscience, has written a brave and detailed blueprint for a new paradigm of "responsible business." Written in the dog days of Enron/Inclone/Martha Stewart scandals, Hollender's vision is passionate and panoramic. "Corporate responsibility is a broad social movement centered in the corporation as much as the anti-war movement of the 1960s was centered in college campuses." He builds a persuasive case for global citizenship, with in-depth analysis of case histories (For example, the "peace pops" controversy after Ben and Jerry's ice cream was acquired by Unilever, the commitment to healthcare coverage during Starbuck's global coup d'etat).
Hollender borrows from best sellers such as Built to Last but he is willing to ask the tough questions: When do core values conflict with goals and commitments? Does being a responsible business really cost shareholders more money? How do corporate charters inhibit social responsibility? How can reputation become a corporate pressure point? His answers are provided in seven approaches to social responsibility. Each defines new metrics to define prosperity, environmental stewardship and corporate citizenship. For example, he unpacks the strategy of "transparency" in descriptions of Challenger explosion, the embedded journalists of The Gulf War and the SARs epidemic. Sometimes these powerful strategies are swamped in an overabundance of examples, sources, or acronyms of activists groups. But Hollender's comprehension shows us the forest and the trees. --Barbara Mackoff
Book Description
What matters most in business?
Traditionally, the answer to this question has been straightforward: growth, quarterly profits, and shareholder value. Everything else was an "externality," which is economists' jargon for "someone else's problem." But as Jeffrey Hollender and Stephen Fenichell tell us, the bottom line isn't enough anymore. Not because corporations have suddenly become enamored of losing money, but because consumers, shareholders and the general public are demanding better behavior. They want businesses to be better citizens-to do more to make sure their products are healthy and safe, their manufacturing processes cause as little pollution as possible, and their employment policies are humane and not harmful to local communities. Across the country and the world, there's an evolving consensus that we need new standards to measure and reward business performance.
The emergence of Corporate Social Responsibility is more than just a PR tactic, sales strategy, or management trend. It's the future of business. It's what companies have to do to survive and prosper in a world where more and more of their behavior is under a microscope.
But becoming a better corporate citizen is not as easy as posting slogans in the office canteen. What Matters Most describes the real-world struggles of well-known companies as they confront the dilemmas of social responsibility. How much can Starbucks-far from the world's largest coffee buyer-reasonably do to improve the conditions under which its coffee is grown? If Nike knows that publicizing its improving record on factory conditions will only draw fire because that record is not perfect, where's the value in striving for transparency? If Microsoft gives away $1 billion worth of software each year to needy nonprofits, is that genuine charity or an attempt to build market share? And what does it mean when a company is bought? If Ben & Jerry's once sold Peace Pops as an expression of its social values, is it the same when Unilever, Ben & Jerry's new owner, continues selling Peace Pops because they fit the brand identity?
What Matters Most is a report from the front lines of a social revolution by one of its most thoughtful and committed leaders. Based on hundreds of interviews with activists, CSR experts and business leaders at both small and large companies, this book takes nothing for granted and does not hesitate to ask the tough questions. There is no better guide to the real dilemmas, and real promise, of the corporate social responsibility movement.
Customer Reviews:
This book matters a lot........2005-09-10
This review is an adaptation of my review published in Personnel Psychology, Winter 2004 issue.
As one of the pioneers in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement, Hollender is evangelical about promoting the implementation of CSR "in all of its forms." I'm not sure I know what he means by that. As he acknowledges, it's in the "mind of the beholder" because there's "no firm consensus" about what CSR means. I certainly can't criticize him for not pinning down the concept. Professor Ronald Sims (2003), in his own book on the subject for instance, has offered five different definitions. I think Hollender equates CSR with the idea of a triple-bottom line of responsibility and accountability for fulfilling what he thinks should be the financial, social, and environmental obligations of a corporation.
Margaret Mead once said in effect that social change always starts and can only start with a small group of people. The small group identified in the book as pioneers in the CSR movement include small business entrepreneurs like Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, socially responsible investment funds like the Calvert Social Investment Fund, and a host of advocacy groups or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) like the activist group, Greenpeace, and the more reserved Businesses for Social Responsibility (BSR) that was conceived as sort of an alternative Chamber of Commerce.
The book gives an interesting account of the different ways in which these pioneers promote CSR among big corporations. One way, for instance, is non-confrontational and educative in trying to "bring big business [no matter how socially irresponsible] to the table and then move the table." For example, BSR works closely with big companies to promote a set of best practices that hopefully will not only further the CSR progress of those companies but also entice other companies not to be left behind. Another way is confrontational, involving pressure tactics and sometimes law suits. Greenpeace, for example, gradually succeeded in pressuring Royal Dutch Shell to choose a more environmentally responsible way to dispose of an obsolete oil storage tanker and loading platform in the North Sea.
As you can well imagine, the notion of CSR is controversial and fraught with issues. The authors clearly know that and for the most part deal with the issues relatively well in my opinion. I'll mention and discuss a few of the issues.
Perhaps the biggest issue is over what should be the legitimate purpose of business. Hollender, understandably, totally rejects what he considers to be the "hysterical" opinion of conservative economist Milton Friedman that CSR is "fundamentally subversive" and that the only legitimate responsibility of business is to make an honorable profit. To Hollender, CSR "in all of its forms" is the legitimate purpose. Thus a corporation that seeks to ameliorate public problems not of its own making is a more socially responsible company. He cites Coca Cola as an example of a company persuaded by activists to modify its operations in ways to further the prevention and treatment of AIDS among its employees and those of its bottlers and suppliers.
Three related issues are over who should be the public corporation's legitimate stakeholders, for what should it be held accountable, and over what period of time. To people in Friedman's camp, the issues are no-brainers. Shareholders are the only stakeholders, the corporation is only accountable for maximizing their wealth and doing so through legal means, and time is marked in quarterly returns. This view is basically that the conventional bottom line is the only one that must matter. To people like Hollender, the issues are also no-brainers. Absolutely everyone and everything, including the environment, along the company's long value chain from initial product resources to product disposal are the company's stakeholders, the company must be held accountable through full and transparent cost accounting to every one of those stakeholder interests, and time is marked in the long run. The conventional bottom line is thus immensely modified quantitatively and qualitatively.
I found the authors a bit lax in relying on several of their sources about one important matter bearing on those three issues. The sources were quoted as claiming that boards of directors have a statutory obligation to maximize shareholder wealth in the short term. I questioned that claim, and one of Hollender's spokespersons acknowledged that it was a mistaken claim. But this nevertheless doesn't negate the immense pressure CEO's are under to hit the numbers each quarter. This pressure comes primarily from institutional investors who might as well be surrogates for a statute. It takes a morally courageous CEO and a sustainable company to resist that kind of pressure. In an article featuring Hollender and Bill George, the recently retired CEO of Medtronic, the latter commented that he would say at every annual shareholder meeting that the company was "not in the business of maximizing shareholder value," and he believed he "got away with that because the results were so good" (Kelly, 2004).
Another related issue is over how much self-disclosure there should be of a firm's CSR performance. Hollender proposes full "transparency," yet acknowledges that it can make the company squirm, as his did, over risking the possibility that full disclosure may end up making the company legally liable for a product shortcoming that might not otherwise ever be known. He agonized, for example, that while one of his products was more "natural' than that of any of his competitors, he was sure some of his customers at least presumed that his product "was a bit better than it actually was." Not being a fanatically unrealistic CSR advocate, he decided to put a "product self-critique section" on his company's Web site instead of putting a disclaimer on the product's packaging. It's a compromise, yes, but far more responsible than the values held and practiced by a baby food maker I remember as once having been charged with diluting its product.
Another related issue is whether to take a public company private to escape Wall Street analysts and record-keeping requirements. More public companies are apparently going private, and Hollender himself is a case in point. He took his firm private, and that is what it still is today. He points to the private outfitter, Patagonia, as being able to take socially responsible actions much more easily than if it were traded on Wall Street.
Yet another issue addressed, and the last one of theirs I'll mention, is over whether a small, socially responsible company should "sell out" to a larger corporation. An advantage of doing so besides making a lot of money from the sale is the prospect of a responsible product being introduced to a much larger market. But a disadvantage is that the seller risks seeing its values and practices diminished if not overturned altogether by the larger corporation. The authors describe how Ben and Jerry initially felt they had negotiated a deal with Unilever, the buyer of their company, to preserve the values the two pioneers held dear, only to learn later of some actions taken by Unilever incompatible with the values.
The authors claim that the CSR movement has become a "contagious trend." I think that's a bit exaggerated, and the authors offer little hard data to back up their claim. I think it is true that CSR is becoming a more popular topic, but I suspect, and the authors acknowledge, that it lends itself to tokenism or lip service for the sake of appearances or reputation. That's why incidentally I chose to mention the authors' examples of Shell and Coke. Shell reportedly regards the North Sea experience positively and claims there is now "increasingly open and honest communication with the communities," yet we read recently that its two top executives were forced to resign after lying for several years about the company's oil reserves (see, e.g., Timmons, 2004). As for Coke, it's frequently in the news for its "cozy ties to strong arm dictators and rogue bottlers" and for other alleged wrongdoing (see, e.g., Klebnikov, 2003). I could also have mentioned wrongdoing by some of the other companies the authors cite as making progress of one kind or another in their CSR performance. My point is that with so much harmful wrongdoing being committed by public corporations, I would far prefer to see a relatively more restrained movement, one that "simply" calls for public corporations to operate "harmlessly." Achieving that standard would be a quantum leap from prevailing corporate behavior, and I think corporations should direct their resources to taking that leap and not diverting them to the solving of problems not of their own making or to giving guilt gifts through philanthropy or to offering isolated token efforts.
The book is intended for a wide audience, including business leaders, employees, and NGOs. I personally think it deserves to be on a best seller list and should be read by the CEO of every public corporation who has yet to decide where to position his or her company on the CSR spectrum. I also think all thoughtful citizens should read this book. It matters a lot.
REFERENCES
Kelly, M. (2004). Conversations with the masters: Two of the great CEOs talk about the pressures of managing with values. Business Ethics, 18, 4-5.
Klebnikov, P. (2003, December 22). Coke's sinful world. Forbes, 86-92.
Sims, RR. (2003). Ethics and corporate social responsibility: Why giants fall. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Timmons, H. (2004, March 04). Shell's top executive forced to step down. The New York Times.
Honest and Transparent.......2005-08-26
The CEO of Seventh generation, Jeffrey Hollender, pens this book on responsible business. I came across this book because Seventh Generation recently decided to sell their wares through Target instead of Wal-Mart. Most small businesses would love to be courted by the Wal-Mart retailing giant but Jeffrey Hollender felt that Target agreed more with Seventh Generation. In this book, Jeffrey discusses his thoughts on running a responsible business.
The opening chapters were somewhat difficult to get through. Perhaps it just took several pages for me to get used to his prose?
The underlying message I felt was that having a socially responsible business is possible but will require a lot of work on everyone's part. Everyone is so connected to each other now. Perhaps an environmental conscious entrepreneur decides to open a chain of organic restaurants and ensures that farmers are paid a fair price. But what if the restaurant hires an exterminator that uses a toxin that ends up contaminating the soil for generations?
The idea is to have a closed-loop business model ... that leaves things in the same condition as when the company began. For example, think of the credo of camping sites. Moreover, the closed loop business model is more than just your business but includes your suppliers and customers. Specifically, there are hidden costs to disposal of things like electronics and the ubiquitous clear plastic bags. Of course, we every day consumers can throw them in the trash for someone else to deal with. But someone does deal with our trash and there are some real costs. The book gives a story of a putrid land in China where a lot of our electronic waste goes.
I have always loved companies that are transparent with their business models from a financial perspective. Transparency is about communicating to shareholders, consumers, and employees. Transparency is about being candid and introspective on dealings and reasoning for decisions.
There are a mixed bag of corporate stories mainly with Ben & Jerry Ice Cream (who is now part of Unilever) and Seventh Generation. There is of course some mention of Johnson and Johnson's Tylenol case and also on electronic companies like Hewlett Packard and Dell. There is some applause for British Petroleum for a decision to put no money to politics and Shell who compromised with Greenpeace on an issue in Africa.
Surprisingly this is a well thought out book that doesn't get hysterical. It's honest, transparent and I recommend it.
Must Read.......2005-06-10
I found the book to be uplifting. It is nice to see this type of behavior being practiced. We have entered a time in our existence where we have to start thinking of how we operate as an industrialized country.
Chris Ortiz, author of 40+: Overtime Under Poor Leadership
Those who can sometimes teach..........2005-06-04
Another leader of an iconic "green company", Jeffrey Hollender - founder and CEO of Seventh Generation (yes, I use their laundry detergent exclusively) discusses the challenges of running a business with high integrity and full disclosure. In particular, Hollender recounts Seventh Generation's stint as a publicly traded company and posits that public ownership inevitably leads to an erosion of core values by the pressures of the markets. He cites also the example of Ben and Jerry's take-over by Unilever. I personally believe that positive social change can be wrought through the public securities markets and that values driven investing is the most significant tool available.
I appreciate What Matters Most as a cautionary tale keeping me alert to some of the perils of my chosen approach (Socially Responsible Investing as a vehicle for change). I had the privilege of hearing Jeffrey Hollender speak at a Working Assets brown bag lunch lecture. He is a forceful presence and very inspiring in his forthrightness in answering questions probing the gray areas that an ethical company must struggle with.
P.S. A recent addition to my review: The Resources section at the back of the book is very well researched and thorough. It would be worth buying the book merely for that appendix.
A Necessary Perspective.......2004-11-26
As a professor management who is interested in corporations acting more responsibly, I have just begun to use this book in my senior strategic management course. Hollender is a thoughtful and insightful proponent of socially responsible business. Each chapter covers a specific characteristics of SRB (accountability, transparency, sustainability, etc.).
He recognizes that running a company using these principles is not easy but definitely worth it.
He covers most of the pioneers in the field (Roddick, Cohen, Anderson, Chouinard) and their struggles to live their corporate lives in a responsbile way.
I highly recommend it.
Dale Fitzgibbons
Book Description
Business owners who understand the basic theories and realities of valuation gain valuable insights into how best to increase the intrinsic value of their businesses. How to Value Your Business and Increase Its Potential saves research time for owners by covering the key concepts they need to know and bypassing areas that require advanced training and knowledge.
Featured subjects include how to assess future-date valuation, characteristics of business risk and how to minimize it, strategies and techniques for making every area of your business more profitable, and more.
Download Description
The first book written for business owner"s on how to determine what a business is worth--and make it worth more Most owners of a small- to medium-sized business are so busy simply keeping the doors open that they couldn't say what their business is truly worth. More than that, they wouldn't even know where to "begin determining accurate valuation figure. "How to Value Your Business and Increase Its Potential shows you how to determine what your business is worth, far more easily than you might have thought. Even more important, this clearly written and easy-to-follow book details proven steps you can take to improve the value of your business, and ensure you receive top dollar if and when you decide to sell. This step-by-step guide provides you with: Detailed instructions for doing a "quick and dirty" valuation of your business Insights and techniques for increasing the value of your business over time Strategies for grooming your business for sale, successfully passing it to your heirs And much more For any number of reasons, from tax questions to selling to simple curiosity, accurate valuation can be one of the most essential pieces of information a business owner can have. "How to Value your Business and Increase Its Potential replaces ignorant, dangerous rules-of-thumb and confusing calculations and ratios with solid financial theory and common sense to help you determine what your business is worth--and what you can do starting today to make it worth more. Value is one of the most misunderstood concepts in business today. For business owners in today's volatile environment, however, it is quickly becoming one of the most vital. "How to Value Your Business andIncrease Its Potential takes the complex ideas of value and valuation and places them in terms that virtually all business owners can understand and profit from. Whether you are curious about the monetary value of the business you've created and built, or looking for little-known tips and techniques that will increase that value, renowned valuation veteran Jay Abrams' detailed yet commonsense approach will tell you everything you need to know without relying on the dense mathematics and obtuse terminology that mark the majority of books on the topic. You'll learn: The single best valuation method and how to apply it to any business How to forecast sales and economic net income, cash flow, and discount cash flow to present value Elements that business owners can manage more intelligently to increase the value of their business Methods and strategies for structuring the sale of a business, and the tax consequences of each Valuable tips for using your role as the business owner to make an IRS audit collaborative instead of confrontational "How to Value Your Business and Increase Its Potential helps business owners determine the value of their businesses, attorneys and financial professionals better represent and advise their clients, and virtually all professionals involved in business valuation do their jobs more efficiently. It reduces research time and expense by introducing and explaining key valuation concepts, while bypassing areas that require training and knowledge the typical business owner simply doesn't have. Whatever your field, if you need to gain a sound working knowledge of the art and science of business valuation, "How to Value your Business and Increase Its Potentialcould be the most results-focused, understandable, and intrinsically valuable business book you read this year."
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How Much Is Your Business Worth?: A Step-by-Step Guide to Selling and Ensuring the Maximum Sale Value of Your Business
Frederick D. Lipman
Manufacturer: Prima Lifestyles
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ASIN: 076150432X
Release Date: 1996-07-24 |
Book Description
For anyone selling or contemplating selling a business, this book is essential. Corporate attorney Frederick Lipman has written a comprehensive guide that covers everything from understanding your motives to closing the sale. This step-by-step approach guides you through the pre-planning stage, and shows you how to maximize the sale price of your business. With this book, you?ll be aware of the potential pitfalls as well as the opportunities to enhance the value of your business.
Clearly written and well organized, the book includes chapters on:
• eliminating ?deal killers?
• protecting your business
• marketing your business
• avoiding negotiation traps
• surviving the buyer?s due diligence
• avoiding traps in the agreement of sale
In addition, Lipman encourages readers to explore all of their options when considering selling a business. Some of the alternatives covered are leveraged recapitalization and going public.
About the Author
Frederick D. Lipman is the author of Going Public, Venture Capital and Junk Bond Financing, and Audit Committees. A graduate of Harvard Law School with more than thirty years of experience, he has handled sales and mergers totaling in excess of a billion dollars. He is currently a partner of the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley.
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How to Value and Sell Your Business: The Essential Guide to Preparing, Valuing and Selling a Company for Maximum Profit
Andrew Heslop
Manufacturer: Kogan Page
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ASIN: 0749451173 |
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The value of a business is closely linked with the owner's ability to sell it. How to Value and Sell Your Small Business will demystify all the ways of valuing and selling a business, taking the reader step-by-step through assessing its present and future worth, identifying potential buyers, maximizing the selling price and managing the sales process. Having a sound exit strategy in place makes all the difference when an owner decides to sell, and it also ensures maximum profits from the sale. How to Value and Sell Your Business helps owners put that strategy in place. It explores the various options available to business owners who want to sell, and it does so while avoiding unfamiliar technical jargon.
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How to value a business
Thomas John Martin
Manufacturer: Thomar Publications
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ASIN: B0006RX7VQ |
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- Enough is Enough!: Stop Enduring and Start Living Your Extraordinary Life
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