Customer Reviews:
Capitalism and the New World Economy.......2006-06-05
Stuart Hart is an author, instructor, researcher, and lecturer who has written many books and essays on strategic management and the problems/challenges of globalism in the world economy. His consulting services have been utilized by many large companies including DuPont, Hewlett- Packard, and Proctor and Gamble and he has helped these and other companies like them to develop a more Earth- friendly, poverty- reducing approach to solving the world's problems while still maintaining enough economic momentum to stabilize or even improve the bottom line.
The primary focus of this book is the important task that businesses face in the twenty- first century; namely, the task of expanding the world economy, helping third world nations emerge from poverty, and improving the environment. To many, this idea of companies helping other nations, promoting recycling and environmentally sound business practices, and making a profit seems to be one big contradiction. When most people think of business, we think of the bottom- line goal of earning a profit by whatever means necessary; everything else be damned. But like Hart points out, the reality of environmental issues is too important and too critical for business to ignore. And if the right steps are taken, businesses can not only improve the world and its people, they can also reap profits and other rewards in the process. Thus, not only is it the right direction to take morally, it is also the right direction to take financially and if companies move quickly they can establish themselves as leaders in the global marketplace and enjoy the many benefits that their initiative will bring.
Globalism has been one of the most heated topics in economic discussion groups in the past ten to fifteen years. Proponents of globalism feel that it is the best way to spread prosperity all over the world and eradicate a large number of the world's poor. Opponents, however, have been very vocal in their opposition to globalism, citing many key areas where they feel the earth and its people are worse off when large companies expand to other nations. These activists feel that globalism depletes the world's resources at a faster rate; leads to deployment of "sweatshops" and other inhumane treatment of workers; and does little if anything to alleviate the problems of economic distress, inadequate health care, and the like. But like Hart demonstrates in this book, the pro- globalists and the anti- globalists can and must work together to solve these problems. And he feels that private businesses can make this happen by utilizing present technologies that will produce more abundant goods and services, improve standards of living, and leave the environment unaffected and possibly even better than it was before. Hart is a strong believer that much good can be accomplished if companies will simply change their strategy and embrace the idea of global environmentalism and responsibility. New growth areas exist all over the planet and by integrating some of the new technologies with profitable solutions, companies can make money and make a name for themselves as corporate citizens on a world- wide scale.
Much of what this book talks about seems reasonable now that I have finished it, but I admit that I was a little skeptical at first. How, I wondered, could a company implement all of these changes, pay good wages to foreign workers, protect the environment, and still make a profit? It seems like a very expensive proposition but like the author demonstrates, it really isn't a far fetched idea at all. We have to remember that much of the population of the world lives in conditions that are almost completely devoid of any use of modern technologies. Introducing these technologies can improve productivity drastically- so much so, in fact, that it will easily negate the initial expense of establishing the technology in the first place. One example stated in the book is that of Grameen Phone and Grameen Telecom- two businesses that helped establish a cellular phone network in Bangladesh. Money was loaned to women living in the poverty- stricken rural villages so that they could become private entrepreneurs to sell mobile phone service. The loan money was used to purchase a cell phone and a solar recharging unit and the women were then trained and sent out to sell this service. This business venture has proven to be a great success, profitable in many ways. It has raised many people out of poverty, extended modern technology to people who don't normally have this luxury, and protected the environment through the inclusion of solar charging units. All of this was possible simply because a company was willing to take a chance, grant loans, and extend a useful service to a class of people who would never be able to afford cellular phone service using existing business models.
Most of the information presented in this book deals with spreading economic success to the billions of people in the world who occupy the bottom levels of the economic pyramid but what the author talks about can easily apply to other situations as well. Corporate stewardship and environmental responsibility are admirable goals for a company of any size regardless of whether its customers are economically well- off or financially strapped. Hart concentrates mostly on the problems of the third world because it is here that most opportunity exists and where most of the challenges lie. But much of what he talks about could be applied to anyone, including those at the top of the economic pyramid who consume a large amount of resources with little regard for economic or environmental consequences.
I like the way Hart writes this book. It is well- organized with boldface text to break up different topics/subtopics and with notes at the end of each chapter. I also admire the sense of optimism. Hart is convinced that this approach is not only the right thing to do, it is imperative that corporations take action immediately and if they do so and do it right, they will easily reap the benefits. The old ideas that profit is the number one priority, that humans are disposable components of any business, and that the environment is the concern of governments have all become outdated in the modern world economy.
Overall, Capitalism at the Crossroads is a very good book about business and its critical role in shaping the world economy. Conventional wisdom about what works and what doesn't needs to be tossed aside in favor of (as the author refers to them) "disruptive technologies"- business models that go completely against the established way of doing things and present a fresh perspective tailored to the needs of specific people and cultures that protects the environment and still earns a profit. All of this is possible, and Hart feels it is very important that these large, multi- national corporations wake up and adapt to the new world economy. It is not only economically profitable, it is a necessary part of economic sustainability and world stability.
The bottom line of this book could be summed up as follows: Companies that help other people and protect the environment will be rewarded in many ways, including bottom- line profit, improved living conditions, and a better environment for all. Capitalism is at an important crossroad and the path taken needs to be the one that promotes responsible corporate growth for the good of all.
A Classic.......2006-01-31
The book starts with a overview of the dominant position that is occupied by multinationals in today's global economy. Going by the definition of the term, 60000 multinationals produce a quarter of the global output of products and services. Yet they are owned by less that 1 percent of the worlds population and employ about 1 percent of the world's employable workforce. Meanwhile many of these companies in their race for short term earnings have sacrificed sustainable methods of production. In other words they have done irreparable damage to the earth's environment and created social tensions in many countries. In other words, the pursuit of economic gains is at loggerheads with local cultures and environmental interests.
Then comes the interesting hypothesis termed "The Great trade-off illusion". Earlier companies believed that a certain amount of pollution for example was inevitable and any efforts for its reduction will incur expenses for treatment. This is called "end of the pipeline approach" for treating pollutants. Similarly, large companies serving the top 800 million population of the earth's population adopted similar business models and products across countries and cultures. Two thirds of the population was ignored since it was perceived that this huge segment just cannot afford the goods and services offered by the multinationals.
The author offers a radical approach and introduces the concept of "Triple Bottom-line". How can companies win by offering goods and services that are culturally appropriate, environmentally sustainable and economically profitable. This is not wish or ivory tower theory, but a necessity and practically feasible path argues the author.
To serve the base of the pyramid (BOP) population, companies need to adopt disruptive technologies, incubate them in the BOP markets with appropriate functionality and price points. This also needs innovative business models. One should not look at what is bad ( corruption) or what is missing ( western style institutions) in the BOP segment, but understand and serve their needs through innovative products and services through appropriate business processes.
This is essentially a combination of Prof. Clayton Christensen's disruptive innovations ( The Innovator's Dilemma) and the concept of BOP ( The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid - C.K. Prahalad ).
In my opinion the main take away in terms of an excellent framework for business strategy is the concept of "Sustainable Value Portfolio". Defining the Organization's internal capabilities and external constituencies on the horizontal axis, and managing today's business and tomorrow's business opportunity on the vertical axis, we get four quadrants on which companies can operate. Companies typically operate only on the quadrant of internal capabilities and today's business. This is an approach of incremental improvements and greening. The other quadrant below the horizontal axis is the concept of "extended supplier responsibility" or Product Stewardship taking full responsibility for the product including its recycling, in close interaction with existing customers.
To win in tomorrows world, companies need to operate in and fully leverage on internal capabilities to introduce successful disruptive technologies that can cater to the needs of the un-served four billion population( that will grow to about 8 billion by 2050), or B24B, in a manner that is environmentally sustainable. Companies that understand all the four quadrants well and progressively plan their product portfolio are the winners of tomorrow.
Take the automobile industry for example. The author clearly brings out that till the 1970's this industry produced vehicles that polluted the planet with total disregard to fuel efficiencies. Then the focus shifted to emission norms and recycling of used automobiles. A huge opportunity awaits this sector in exploiting disruptive technologies like hydrogen fuel cells and simultaneously use such technologies to offer low cost transportation in countries like India and China.
The book then gets into a detailed discussion on the BOP realities and the right business models to serve this huge market.
A classic by any account, I personally rate it as one amongst the top 10 business books on my bookshelf. One can feel the author's sense of commitment, deep understanding of and a passion for the topic in every page of the book.
What Capitalism Could Accomplish.......2006-01-16
This interesting and provocative book synthesizes several of the most influential ideas in modern business and distills a new idea: that disruptive innovation at the bottom of the pyramid will solve the crises of environmental pollution, business stagnation and international terrorism at the top. No one can accuse author Stuart L. Hart of thinking small or of lacking imagination. His big ideas are all in place. The only missing element, as he freely admits, is one small detail: how. Capitalism must take a new course, and it's pretty clear what the new course must be, but Hart presents only a vague notion of how businesspeople are to go about turning his vision into reality. We recommend that business leaders read this book anyway, because it will stimulate your thinking about what might be possible. Maybe you'll be the one to figure out how to make the difference.
Partner with Prahalad, Valuable Distinct Contribution.......2005-12-09
Edited to respect new information I did not have before, and thank the person making the comment. Also adding hot links.
The author, who gives full credit to C.K. Prahalad, has been a co-author with Prahalad and they are both credited with this brilliant vision for a new kind of moral capitalism that addresses the needs of the five billion poor.
This book should be viewed as a valuable distinct contribution in its own right, read read with Prahalad's book as well as a third book from Wharton, The Next Global Stage: The Challenges and Opportunities in Our Borderless World As I edit this, I am also remined of Paul Hawkin's Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming, and the forthcoming book by Medard Gabel, Seven Billion Billionaires, with a preview here at Where to find 4 billion new customers: expanding the world's marketplace; Smart companies looking for new growth opportunities should consider broadening ... consultant.: An article from: The Futurist
It also complements Yale Dean Garten's book, The Politics of Fortune: A New Agenda For Business Leaders which calls on business to be more responsible about the state of the world. All of these books contrast remarkably with William Greider's The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy, Clyde Prestowitz's Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism and the Failure of Good Intentions and and John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
The math is quite clear. Business had been focused on high profit margins from the top one billion, with disposable incomes on the order of $20K or so. The bottom of the pyramid, five billion people, with disposable incomes on average of no more than $10 a year, represent a four trillion dollar marketplace.
Where business has gone wrong is in being bureaucratic, immoral, corrupt, and focused on outputs for profit rather than listening for solutions that can be profitable (with low profit margins, very high volume, and transformative effect).
I believe that these two individuals could one day win the Nobel Peace Prize for their work, which could literally save the world. As Jonathan Schell tells us in The Unconquerable World: Power, Nonviolence, and the Will of the People there are not enough guns on the planet to keep these four billion dispossesed from impacting on us negatively. We can help them create indigenous stabilizing wealth in their home countries, or we can die with them as we all suffer the end of cheap oil, the end of free water, and the rise of pandemic disease.
This author is an extraordinary talent, equal to Prahalad. It merits comment that Wharton appears to have displaced Yale as a phenomenal publishing house. For me to find three world-class books on this topic, and for all of them to be from Wharton, is noteworthy.
Much Assailed Capitalism Is Probably the Only Answer.......2005-11-22
We live in a time when the very concept of Capitalism has come under attack from nearly every corner: the religious zeelots who think that only the study of God (THEIR God) should be done, the far left who believe that the Government should do everything, and on and on. Each can present stories of things that Government/Charity/Education or whatever has done better on some task. And they have - developing the Internet, wiping out smallpox - to name just two.
What capitalism brings is innovation into areas where Government would get all kinds of opposition from the various wings. Of one thing you can be sure, the future will not be like the past. We can't say just what problems the future holds, but innovation funded by people who have this idea about how they can get rich will be the answer. Yes, as this author says, it must be sustainable, it must be eco-sensitive.
We are running out of oil, to be sustainable will require a lot of innovation. We must be eco-sensitive, otherwise we all live in a cess pool. No one but capitalism can pull this off.
Amazon.com
Paul Hawken, the entrepreneur behind the Smith & Hawken gardening supplies empire, is no ordinary capitalist. Drawing as much on Baba Ram Dass and Vaclav Havel as he does on Peter Drucker and WalMart for his case studies, Hawken is on a one-man crusade to reform our economic system by demanding that First World businesses reduce their consumption of energy and resources by 80 percent in the next 50 years. As if that weren't enough, Hawken argues that business goals should be redefined to embrace such fuzzy categories as whether the work is aesthetically pleasing and the employees are having fun; this applies to corporate giants and mom-and-pop operations alike. He proposes a culture of business in which the real world, the natural world, is allowed to flourish as well, and in which the planet's needs are addressed. Wall Street may not be ready for Hawken's provocative brand of environmental awareness, but this fine book is full of captivating ideas.
Book Description
A visionary new program that businesses can follow to help restore the planet.
Customer Reviews:
Sustainability: Economic revolution - Ecological necessity .......2007-09-09
I discovered both this book and the author after watching "The Corporation", an award winning documentary about the genesis, evolution, and nature of the "dominant institution of our time". In one of the film's many compelling interviews, Ray Anderson, the CEO of the world's largest carpet manufacturer Interface, mentions that after reading Hawken's book he was so deeply convicted about the negative effects his company was having on the environment that he vowed to completely restructure the Interface business model. In a campaign called, "Mission Zero", Interface carpet has promised to "eliminate any negative impact our company may have on the environment by the year 2020." Needless to say, after hearing from Anderson that Hawken's book was capable of so dramatically transforming his managerial approach at Interface, I put The Ecology of Commerce at the top of my "to read" list. I would suggest that you do the same.
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The Ecology Of Commerce: A Personal Review.......2007-09-07
The best book I have ever read since June 1999 was The Sorcerers Apprentice by Tahir Shah. I have read hundreds since then. Some came close to displacing this book. But not one ever quite did.
Until August 2007 when I read this one. The Ecology Of Commerce by Paul Hawken.
The book is amazing piece of writing. A stunning piece of research. An exemplary piece of analysis. An inspiring piece of synthesis. The scope and breadth of the raw and polished material is stunning.
Levels of life from bacteria to the solar system; from subsistence markets to global money markets; from home gardening to food super marketing; from ecological disasters to ecological wisdoms; all levels of life are combed for threads that weave his compelling picture.
The highlights of this book are too many to itemise here.
At the heart of this work is the idea that over the agrarian, industrial and current information ages, the primacy of economy has overtaken the primacy of ecology in the bid to meet the (so-called) needs of 5.8 billion people breeding exponentially.
The top quintile metabolizes 83% of the world resources in the process while the remaining 17% is shared by the other 4.5 billion.
Economic practices and "principles" are outstripping the ecological resources of the planet faster than nature can replace them.
Hawken squarely points the finger at business for plundering these resources but makes the salient point that all these problems derive not from management problems per se but fundamentally from business design problems.
The way business and economy is designed is the key problem. Bad business is the result of bad design. Bad business behaviour and impacts is the result of bad design.
What we need to do is redesign business and the role it plays in human life.
To quote Hawken: "At the heart of the (new) design is a system of commerce and production where each and every act is inherently sustainable and restorative. Business will need to integrate economic, biologic and human systems to create a sustainable method of commerce."
A litany of environmental disasters is chronicled as a necessary preface to solutions.
One hundred and fifty years ago there seemed no need to understand the relationship between business and a healthy environment because natural resources seemed unlimited.
Now the challenge is for business, the single biggest organism in this ecology of commerce, to redesign themselves because natural resources are depleting at alarming rates.
He suggests a set of 8 objectives to move this mission forward.
1. Reduce absolute consumption of energy and natural resources in the North by 80 percent within the next half of the century.
2. provide secure, stable, and meaningful employment for people everywhere
3. Be self-actuating as opposed to regulated or morally mandated
4. Honor market principles
5. Be more rewarding than our present way of life
6. Exceed sustainability by restoring degraded habitats and ecosystems to their fullest capacity
7. Rely on current income
8. Be fun and engaging and strive for an aesthetic outcome.
Hawken filled in a lot of gaps, and synthesised a lot of strands for me, in one powerful book.
One of the gaps he filled for me was the carbon-emission issue. (breathtakingly simulated at the breathing earth website).
Another for me was how green taxes would replace income tax so that the population can afford the real price of food and that tax breaks come on what you can restore and replenish the environment rather than on income.
Another was the tactics and strategies free market interest use to influence and direct public policy.
As I said to my partner, a great thing about this book was that it provided real information for things we suspected for years that we could only express to a slogan or sound bite level.
Also Hawken provides a framework for thinking and acting not only for business, but also for that scared entity for whom the shareholder claims to act.
Namely, the customer. Otherwise known as you or me.
This was a deeply deeply unsettling book. I don't think it was just my age. I think it was because the information is deeply disturbing to anyone who has just been reminded their children and their children cannot be guaranteed clean water to drink or fresh air to breathe.
It's as unsettling as being told your closest friend has cancer.
As Hawken said, the situation was far worse than he could have imagined.
This book had me checking not only my assumptions at the end of each chapter, but the assumptions of my assumptions too.
I'm a learn easy guitar teacher and I was wondering how everybody in the guitar users chain, from the virgin wood growers all the way through the value chain to the end user and teacher can act on the 8 objectives and produce ecologically inspired guitars. And music
Before reading this book such a question about guitar would never have occurred to me.
Wonderful Book!.......2007-06-04
This book is compelling and thoughtful. I find that the analysis is very well thought out and provides insight and solutions to the ecological disaster that we now face, not just a rambling list of how bad everything is and how hopeless our situation as a human race is.
Foundation Reference for Future of Business Without Waste.......2006-12-09
This is easily one of the top ten books on the pragmatic reality of what Herman Daly calls "ecological economics" (see my list of Environmental Security).
The author excels at painting a holistic view of the realities that are not being addressed by the media or by scholars in anything other than piecemeal fashion.
The bottom line: what we are doing now in the face of accelerating decay (changes and losses that used to take 10,000 years now take three years) is the equivalent of "trying to bail out the Titanic with teaspoons." On page 21-22 the author states that we are using 10,000 days of energy creation every day, or 27 years of energy each day.
This is a practical book. In brief, we can monetize the costs of the decay, we can show people the *real* cost of each product and in this way inspire both boycotts (of wasteful products) and boycotts (Jim Turner's term) of solar energy and long-lasting repairable products.
The author appears to be both pro-business and very wise in seeing that the cannot save the environment by destroying business, but rather must save business so it can save the environment--we must help business understand that doing more with less is what they must do to survive.
The author includes a recurring theme from the literature, that diversity is an option generator, and hence one of the most precious aspects of life on Earth. Diversity is the ultimate source of wealth, and anything that reduces diversity is impoverishing the planet and mankind. In a magnificent turn of phrase, the author states that the loss of a species is the loss of a biological library.
At its root this book is about missing information, needed information, about the urgency of making all inputs, processes, and outputs from corporate production transparent. He quotes Vaclav Havel on page 54 as saying that this is an information challenge, a challenge of too much (or too little) information and not enough actionable intelligence supporting sustainable sensible outcomes.
This is also a financial problem that has not been monetized properly. Although E. O. Wilson takes a crack at the strategic or gross costs of saving the Earth in his book "The Future of Life," this author looks at the retail level and describes the waste inherent in our military system. He reminds me of Derek Leebaert's "The 50 Year Wound" when he notes that the US and the USSR spent over 10 trillion dollars on the Cold War, enough to completely re-make the entire infrastructure of Earth, including all schools. As I myself like to note, for the half trillion we have spent on the war against Iraq, we could instead have given a free $50 cell phone to each of the 5 billion poor people, and changed the planet forever.
The author is compelling in pointing out that conservation alone would save more energy than drilling in Alaska, and that President Reagan not rolled back gasoline mileage expectations, we would today be free of any dependency of Middle Eastern energy.
A good part of the book focuses on the need to eliminate waste, what some call "cradle to cradle" (waste must be fully absorbed of other pieces of the system), and where waste cannot be eliminated, to include the cost of its storage in the price of the product, requiring producers of products to take them back (e.g. refrigerators).
I am inspired by the author's view that not only is technology NOT a complete solution, but that full employment is possible if we REDUCE our excessive acquisition of technology that not only replaces humans, but also consumes energy and produces pollution.
This is an extraordinarily clever and useful book that fully integrates discussions of feedback loops and especially of financial and legal feedback loops that are now misrepresentative. One example the author uses is the GATT demand that there be no discrimination of "like" products based on methods of production. This is code for blocking labor laws by imposing high tariffs on products made by slaves or under sweatshop conditions.
I completely agree with one of the author's most important opinions, that we must end corporate claims of "personality" and the rights of a person. This has had two pernicious effects, the first allowing corporations to dominate the public debate; and the second of exempting managers from legal liability and transparency.
The book emphasized the restoration of human and natural capital as vital foundations for evaluating investments--this would dramatically reduce the financial criteria's dominance and emphasis on short-term returns that do not reflect the cost of natural resources and lost jobs to the future and the community.
Distressingly but importantly, the author notes that a major component of the cost of goods is in advertising, where corporations spend more on advertising than the government spends on all secondary schools, and on packaging, much of which is designed to last vastly longer than the contents.
I especially liked the author's suggestion that insurance costs be included in the price of homes and of gasoline, essentially making universal insurance affordable for all. I also liked his idea for indexing Nations by their sustainability, i.e. Most Sustainable Nation (MSN).
The author ends with a restatement of his three fundamentals:
1) End waste
2) Shift to renewable power (solar and hydro)
3) Create accountability and feedback
Although this book was published in 1993 and the author has now published "Natural Capital" (next on my reading list), I did not discover it until recently and am now very enthused about the author's newest project, the World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility (WISER). I am certain in my heart that a bottom up Earth Intelligence Network is forming, and that end-user voluntary labor--social networks--are going to place enough information in the hands of individuals to restore participatory democracy and moral communal capitalism. This author is extraordinary in his understanding and his ability to teach adults about reality and the future.
An outstanding book about healing our environment and our indifference to the crises of planetary pollution.......2006-03-27
Our planet is threatened on the one side by pressures of overpopulation and on the other side by pressures of nearly exhausted natural resources and pollution that are threatening to make our world uninhabitable. Paul Hawken does a masterful job of explaining the problems we face and suggesting creative solutions to these problems.
Hawken points out that our pursuit of material gain has grown to be such an accepted goal and one that has been so successful for the industrial nations of the world, that it is difficult for most people to realize that the western standard of living cannot be sustained much longer.
Hawken suggests that it is entirely possible to create companies that are profitable but do not destroy the environment - either directly or indirectly. The problem in most Western countries is the limited vision of environmental proponents. They are doing a good job addressing recycling and reducing pollution, but are missing crucial broader principles.
Hawken recommends taxation on pollution. Hawken cautions that the public must stand vigilant guard on issues of protecting the environment, because our government is run by those who have vested interests in corporate profits rather than in the general good of all.
This is an outstanding book about healing our environment, the conduct of business, governmental management of both - and most importantly, about healing our indifference to the crises of planetary pollution and our limited healing of these problems. This book is very highly recommended - despite its publication a dozen years ago.
Amazon.com
Even those who think the idea of a "corporate soul" is an oxymoron will be persuaded by journalist David Batstone's whip-smart suggestions for how values can reinvent an organization's bad behavior. Saving the Corporate Soul alternates examples of principled companies like Clif Bar and Timberland with those of innovative leaders such as Denny's CEO Jim Adams, who recovered from a $54 million racial discrimination lawsuit to create a company hailed for its recruitment of minorities. Batstone demonstrates his core belief that "companies thrive once they align the ethics of the company with the values that drive its workers and customers." Readers worried about psychobabble can relax. The topics are nuanced and substantive; they include reputation as the guardian of a company's brand, restoring sanity to CEO compensation, operating with transparency, moving the company into the community, viewing the environment as a silent stakeholder, and defining core values for a global economy. Everyone in your organization should read this provocative and practical guide to the post-Enron era. --Barbara Mackoff
Book Description
Every day the media reports on the latest corporation guilty of financial misconduct and public deception. Insider trading, fraudulent accounting, outlandish executive pay and perksâ a steady stream of scandals scars the business landscape. But the corporate crisis is as much spiritual as it is financial. More than ever, the time is ripe for Saving the Corporate Soul. In this hard-hitting, thought-provoking book, David Batstone shows that a corporation has the potential to act with soul when it aligns its missions with the values of its workers and puts its resources at the service of the people it employs and the public it serves. He offers companies and their employees eight sound principles for "doing the right thing" andâ citing examples from firms like Timberland, General Motors, Clif Bar, and BPâ offers evidence that principled companies will excel financially over the long haul.
Customer Reviews:
Simple rules for building a good reputation and foundation of values...........2007-05-10
This book provides excellent examples and guidelines to putting the respected values back into corporations. I especially enjoyed the chapters on valuing the worker, transparency and integrity and customer care. I have seen how these, when in place, really explode the popularity and the growth of corporations, and when management deviates from the values for the short term buck, then corporations are then exposed in the media and start to fail (and people even cheer for their downfall). This is a great follow up to "The Naked Corporation" book, and both state that some sort of plan of transparency should be in place.
My question: will anyone act accordingly after reading this?.......2004-09-09
I say this book is worth reading, after watching The Corporation (the documentary).
You can read many books on "corporate responsability", ethics, and caring for the environment. But, when pressed for profits, in real life, when your job is on the line, would anyone "do the right thing"?.
Don't get me wrong... I praise the author for writing books like this one. And more like it are needed. But the question should be: aren't corporations, often almost-run by stockholders (with CEOs always on the line and on the brink of getting a kick by angry shareholders) and also the executives heavily influenced by wall street gurus, are all of them capable of "corporate responsability" and a long-term strategy?. I'd say no.
I think that companies that "sell out" to the stock market lose their soul, and become tools for a few speculators to "make a quick buck". A stable, responsible company then starts sailing at the mercy of a few stock market gurus and the volatility of the international stock markets. But of course, that is my personal opinion.
The Canadian documentary titled "The Corporation" (can't wait to see it on DVD - for the moment check out www.thecorporation.tv ), argues that Corporations as we know them today, and specially mutinational ones, are flawed by design.
The movie surprisingly got a great review on financial publication The Economist, which praised it:. It begins with a potted history of the company's legal form in America, noting the key 19th-century legal innovation that led to treating companies as persons under law. By bestowing on them the rights and protections that people enjoy, this legal innovation gave the company the freedom to flourish. So if the corporation is a person, ask the film's three Canadian co-creators, what sort of person is it?"
"The answer, elicited over two-and-a-half hours of interviews with right-wing captains of industry, economists, psychologists and philosophers, and left-wing intellectuals, is that the corporation is a psychopath. Like all psychopaths, the firm is singularly self-interested: its purpose is to create wealth for its shareholders. And, like all psychopaths, the firm is irresponsible, because it puts others at risk to satisfy its profit-maximising goal, harming employees and customers, and damaging the environment".
I repeat: try to read this book, and then watch The Corporation (the documentary), which shows the opinion of real execs, in real life. Both essays will make you think, probably getting in the way of your good night's sleep.
Picked low fruit missed the Agribusiness.......2003-05-29
This book is written very well and is pretty straightforward. So straight forward you can get most of the concepts of the book by reading the table of contents. There can't be much to argue with in the book because virtually every corporate hack who raked in the money during the obscene years is now preaching the same messages of corporate redemption. Expense stock options, treat employees fairly, create an environmental scorecard.... wake me up when it is over. In short, there is nothing new in these pages but the way it is recapped is very sweet primer on the subject. But my question is why did Batstone stop where he did? Where are the chapters relating to the ethics of afdvertising and PR? The ethics of obscene campaign contributions and political lobbying efforts? Where are the chapters about companies holding communities hostage by leveraging the threat of relocation for sweet tax deals? The chapters about what truly sustainable business practices mean about the globalization of companies?
Batstone does a nice job on the content he handles but fails miserably in addressing the core problems at the heart and soul of corporations today.
Excellent and Essential Advice.......2003-05-15
David Batstone's excellent book on corporate integrity is a must-read for executives and managers who want ideas on how to create profitable but soulful businesses that show heart as well as logic. This is not a text that preaches from the pulpit or revels in moral condemnation of Enron's misdeeds. For those of us who are sick to the teeth of reading Enron/Anderson post-mortems, Batstone's book will come as a refreshing change.
Reputation building has always been a profitable way to grow a business. `Reputation is not the same thing as a brand' Batstone says. Instead he says, `Reputation is the perceived character a company holds to public eye', which is probably the best definition this reviewer has read. Using the eight principles outlined in the book, managers are guided through examples that have helped or hindered individual companies. IKEA vs Home Depot for example is cited in the Community section of the book - the underlying principle being `A company will think of itself as part of a community as well as a market'. Which one would you rather have open a store in your community, and why? For the record, the residents of Mountain View, CA (a pretty town near to Silicon Valley) said they'd prefer an IKEA, and not because they like modular Swedish furniture.
The eight principles outlined in the book are:
Principle One: The directors and executives of a company will align their personal interests with the fate of stakeholders and act in a responsible way to ensure the vitality of the enterprise.
Principle Two: A company's business operations will be transparent to shareholder, employees and the public and its executives will stand by the integrity of their decisions.
Principle Three: A company will think of itself as part of a community as well as a market.
Principle Four: A company will represent its products honestly to customers and honor their dignity up to and beyond a transaction.
Principle Five: The worker will be treated as a valuable team member, not just a hired hand.
Principle Six: The environment will be treated as a silent stakeholder, a party to which the company is wholly accountable.
Principle Seven: A company will strive for balance, diversity and equality in its relationships with workers, customers and suppliers.
Principle Eight: A company will pursue international trade and production based on respect for the rights of workers and citizens of trade partner nations.
If you are looking for one book to share with others in your organization to start a discussion on integrity and reputation, Saving the Corporate Soul should be it.
The Book for our Times.......2003-04-29
Batstone shows by numerous examples, compelling stories, and shrewd analysis, that running a business with integrity and values intact is indeed "good business". This refreshing book provides welcome reading in a time dominated by corporate scandals and public cynicism. I recommend this book to EVERYONE!!
Book Description
Today, corporations are expected to give something back to their communities in the form of charitable projects. In Corporate Social Responsibility, Philip Kotler, one of the world's foremost voices on business and marketing, and coauthor Nancy Lee explain why charity is both good P.R. and good for business. They show business leaders how to choose social causes, design charity initiatives, gain employee support, and evaluate their efforts. They also provide all the best practices and cutting-edge ideas that leaders need to maximize their contributions to social causes and do the most good. With personal stories from twenty-five business leaders from socially responsible companies, this is the bible for today's good corporate citizen.
Download Description
Today, corporations are expected to give something back to their communities in the form of charitable projects. In Corporate Social Responsibility, Philip Kotler, one of the world¿s foremost voices on business and marketing, and coauthor Nancy Lee explain why charity is both good P.R. and good for business. They show business leaders how to choose social causes, design charity initiatives, gain employee support, and evaluate their efforts. They also provide all the best practices and cutting-edge ideas that leaders need to maximize their contributions to social causes and do the most good. With personal stories from twenty-five business leaders from socially responsible companies, this is the bible for today¿s good corporate citizen.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent and Enlightening.......2007-07-21
This is an enlightening book on corporate social responsibility by knowledgeable authors. As a manager you bring with you your own concept of what is right and what is wrong to your organisation. Every decision that you make is the application of these values to the question at hand. This is made more difficult by the pressures of organisational life. These are the pressures of rapid changes, the pressure for greater productivity, competition and superiors, among others. Sometimes managers make decisions which conflict with their own or society's values because of what they see as the pressures of the business world. Dealing with ethical and moral issues is often perplexing. This excellent book provides guidance on how we should we think through an ethical issue, the questions we should ask and the factors that we should consider and how we can ensure that corporate social responsibility issues receive the attention they deserve.
The ways that the authors suggest to enhance corporate social responsibility are practical and simple to implement and should enable companies to benefit from a favourable corporate image which should translate to benefits to the bottom line.
This is a well written book that is easy to follow and understand that is well recommended.
At last: a reference work for corporate philanthropy.......2006-04-05
The days of corporate irresponsibility are past. The public now expects companies to behave according to a higher social standard. And guess what - operating a business built on socially responsible principles pays off. Decision makers at companies large and small are learning that when they build their businesses according to the dictates of social conscience, they reap rewards such as increased profits, an improved corporate image and happier employees. And, they sleep better at night. Author and marketing expert Philip Kotler and social marketing consultant Nancy Lee describe six ways you can develop and implement a corporate social program. They clearly explain and analyze each initiative in its own chapter, including illustrative examples of successful campaigns from leading companies such as Ben & Jerry's, The Body Shop and American Express. Their methods do overlap and they are, at times, redundant. Yet the points are important enough to bear repeating. We think every professional whose company is engaged in corporate social marketing - or needs to be - will find a treasure trove of applicable information in this book.
An invaluable resource on Corporate Social Responsibility.......2005-04-01
Phil Kotler and Nancy Lee have created an invaluable guidebook for companies, nonprofits and their advisors to enhance corporate reputations while improving society. Besides demonstrating how corporate social responsiblity has boosted the bottom line and added value for investors on all sides of the cause world, the authors provide detailed "how to" models for every type of business and nonprofit. This book has quickly become the "must read" bible for CSR and those involved with marketing in the nonprofit sector.
Book Description
Leading Corporate Citizens, Second Edition, explores the insight, vision, values, and learning that it takes to add enough values to a company so that it becomes a leading corporate citizen. This innovative text operates at three levels of leadership: individual, organizational, and societal. The premise is that businesses operate successfully in society when they respect and are responsible to stakeholders, a balance is needed among sectors in society and with nature, and that vision and values can result in distinctive competencies that lead to value-added for companies of the 21st century.
Customer Reviews:
Nothing New.......2003-10-06
I am using this textbook for an MBA course on Social Issues in Management. Convincing MBA students of the importance of social issues is a difficult yet important task. Unfortunately this book is not up to the challenge. Its concepts are overly simple - attempting to reveal a framework in which business exists that once understood should magically reveal win-win opportunities for all stakeholders.
Book Description
This title is a unified approach to corporate sustainability, combining ecological and human sustainability. Key areas covered include HRM, strategic, organizational and environmental issues. Not only valuable to students, it will also prove invaluable to practitioners as a practical guide for change agents in bringing about sustainability in a systematic way. Practice and theory are carefully balanced; uniquely the authors provide a combination of insight into the subject and practical assistance with implementation.
Customer Reviews:
Mandatory Text for All Business Majors.......2006-06-03
This book is a must read for all management students and should be a mandatory text at the Masters level. Besides providing the basic theories of business ethics and corporate social responsibility, the authors have included a number of thought-provoking issues that are relevant today at all levels within corporate management. These issues must be addressed by the reasonable and responsible managers if they are to serve the best interests of their corporations, the employees, their customers, the community, and society at large. This book is a guide for managers in making informed and educated decisions on the moral dilemmas that face them. It provides insights into a safer path through the twisting road of compliance policy not on what the law permits or prohibits but on reasoned ethics of corporate responsibility.
Book Description
Check out reviews and testimonials for this book by clicking the reviews to to the left
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment provides faculty and students with a comprehensive, stand-alone text to support traditional and innovative courses in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Integral to the book's unique format is the real-life “mini-case-study” approach across the spectrum of CSR topics, backed by Internet accessible references. Adopting a stakeholder approach to CSR, the content and format of this sourcebook defines CSR within the global communications environment in which multinational corporations operate today.
Key Features:
- Provides 45 Web-based case-studies linked to relevant Web sites for further exploration
- Recognizes cross-cultural trends developing throughout the world
- Encourages a multidisciplinary approach
- References to the Wall Street Journal throughout
- Includes
Instructor’s Resources on CD with PowerPoint slides, a test bank with answers, answers to in-text questions, suggested team or individual projects, and in-class surveys/activities ISBN: 1-4129-2477-4
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility provides a flexible and up-to-date teaching tool for upper level undergraduate and graduate CSR courses in Management, Marketing, Business Law, and Political Science.
Sign up to receive a weekly newsletter featuring articles related to CSR and specific areas within the text. Email author David Chandler for more details at david.chandler@phd.mccombs.utexas.edu
Customer Reviews:
AN OUTSTANDING BOOK IN EVERY RESPECT........2005-12-11
This book presents a stakeholder perspective for understanding the big picture of corporate social responsibility (CSR). These stakeholders are grouped as follows:
organizational (employees, managers, stockholders, unions);
economic (e.g., customers, creditors); and
societal (e.g., communities, government and regulators, the environment).
The book examines the scope of CSR, and views it through the lens of the needs and values of stakeholders. It puts forth the arguments against CSR.
CSR is examined in a strategic context, placing the subject in sharp focus from a business perspective. The authors examine a long list of issues that define CSR in practice, each associated with a specific stakeholder group, using a real-life case study with supporting sources. Vivid examples of CSR strategies in action are provided.
The book is a treasure trove of information and insights. It is comprehensive, and extremely well organized-an outstanding book in every respect. For anyone interested corporate social responsibility, this book is must-reading.
Book Description
Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility
What and whom is a business for? This collection of articles gathers the latest thinking on the strategic significance of corporate social responsibility. Readers will develop an understanding of why businesses should continue to give money away even while laying off workers, how companies play a leadership role in today's social problems by incorporating the best thinking of governments and nonprofit institutions, and how community needs are actually opportunities to develop ideas and demonstrate business technologies. Readers will see how corporate responsibility can lead to new markets and solutions to long-standing business problems.
The Harvard Business Review Paperback Series
The series is designed to bring today's managers and professionals the fundamental information they need to stay competitive in a fast-moving world. From the preeminent thinkers whose work has defined an entire field to the rising stars who will redefine the way we think about business, here are the leading minds and landmark ideas that have established the Harvard Business Review as required reading for ambitious businesspeople in organizations around the globe.
Customer Reviews:
Harvard CSR .......2007-05-14
As an educational leadership professor, I am interested in learning about corporations and how they impact educational settings. This text was one of the most comprehensive collections of essays to offer a wide range of perspectives on the issues of corporate social responsibility. With its researchers and the commentary, this text provides a novice, like myself, with the background, application and insight as to how the business world perceives CSR within its own environment. For those of you who are new to this field, this is a must read.
Dr. Joan Jackson, Asst. Prof. Ed. Leadership, ODU
8 articles on Corporate Social Responsibility.......2006-11-07
This collection of article opens interesting lines of reasoning and might just get fresh ideas in front of decision makers who can use business as a tool for good on the global scale. The eight articles cover a broad range of topics and vary in tone from sweeping philosophical musings to rigorous academic pieces. The first article is a very strong lead-off, I will try to summarize this piece in hopes of giving you a flavor for the whole collection:
* Serving the world's poor, profitably - C.K. Prahalad & Allen Hammond
How can companies profitably serve a market where consumers live on $2000 or less per year? On the other hand, how can companies afford to ignore a market of 4 billion potential customers? This article explores reasons why companies have in the past shied away from trying to serve the "bottom of the pyramid" (BOP) markets, why major growth opportunities exist in this niche, and how typical strategies need to be adapted into new thinking that will benefit the world's poorest communities and those who compete for their business. There is a distasteful element to imagining multinational corporations, the most powerful institutions of our time, engaging and profiting from the most economically powerless. The authors make the case that the poor suffer more from being ignored by the global marketplace of the multinationals than by engagement with it. They illustrate how prices charged by the informal economy that serves poor communities are typically much higher for the same goods than prices in more affluent communities served by efficient distribution. When BOP strategies are done correctly, corporations also benefit in more ways than simply generating additional sales: BOP markets can serve as incubators for new products, ideas and approaches that can revitalize productivity and leadership in the developed (and saturated) markets as well. An innovative approach for reaching poorer customers is to de-aggregate ownership from use by exploring "pay per use" models. Another strategy, that runs counter to mainstream thinking, is to deploy some of the most cutting edge wireless technologies in the least developed markets to overcome the isolation of poor rural areas.
8essays that see corporate responsibility as an opportunity.......2003-10-22
Traditional corporate executives may shudder when they hear the term "corporate responsibility". In their view, the corporation's responsibility is to maximize shareholder value within the bounds of the law. That's a tall order as it is, so resistance to the thought of additional sources of responsibility and additional relevant "stakeholders" isn't surprising. The writers gathered in this collection of papers from HBR see corporate responsibility less as a burden and more as an opportunity. The opportunity lies in creating new markets, resolving age-old business problems, improving public perception, strengthening brands, and melding the best ideas for governments and nonprofit institutions for doing well while doing good.
This collection of eight essays provides a firm foundation in both critical and creative thinking on issues of corporate responsibility and active philanthropy. If the terrain is unfamiliar, the collection's fifth essay - "The Path of Kyosei should be a comfortable entry point. Canon's honorary chairman, Ryuzaburo Kaku, sets out five steps along a path toward a "spirit of cooperation". Practical but still intellectually not so challenging is Rosabeth Moss Kanter's "From Spare Change to Real Change: The Social Sector as Beta Site for Business Innovation". Craig Smith in "The New Corporate Philanthropy" sees philanthropic strategies as giving a competitive edge. A similar perspective, worked out in some detail, comes from Michael Porter and Mark Kramer in their contribution, "The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy".
Charles Handy takes his turn at defining the extent of corporate responsibility in "What's A Business For?". A more impressive piece with far more potential payback for the executive reader comes from C.K. Prahalad and Allen Hammond in their recent essay, "Serving the World's Poor, Profitably". Also of high quality is Roger Martin's "The Virtue Matrix: Calculating the Return on Corporate Responsibility". For the more philosophical, a challenging and well-presented argument for strong corporate responsibility appears in "Can a Corporation Have a Conscience?" by the fittingly-named Kenneth Goodpaster and John Matthews. With a couple of weaker spots, this collection succeeds in bringing together some of the best recent thinking on the issue in recent years. To fill in the gaps, be sure to look at the best pieces from other publications.
Book Description
The former CEO of Ben & Jerry's tells how two '60s holdovers built a single ice cream store into one of America's hottest companies. "Deftly and compassionately captures [Ben's] genius in all its entrepreneurial splendor...This tale will keep you entertained."--
New York Times Book Review.
Customer Reviews:
Good view of the how Ben and Jerry's developed.......2003-10-13
A good recount of how the company got going, but the last few chapters dragged.
There are things to learn about how Ben and Jerry developed their company:
1)They are geniuses at this. They actually figured out mass production without knowing what they were doing, they figured out marketing from scratch, they encountered financing and survived.
2)They had a near masochistic willingness to work. Boy did these guys work hard (it would kill me to do what they did, even if I had the will to do it).
3)They could adapt incredibly.
4) and finally: There are pitfalls and prices to trying to make social profits and business profits at the same time and to not planning your company to be as big as it already is.
You can learn about businesses in their growth phase from this book. You can learn about making sure a company has sufficient controls in place for its size. You may be able to learn whether you have what it takes to be an entrepeneur.
The first 3/4th of the book were fun to read but for some reason the last couple of chapters, when Ben and Jerry were playing less of a part in the business, were slow and boring (I don't exactly know why but I know they dragged).
Not for serious business interest.......2003-04-24
I read this book at the suggestion of a business school professor. It was supposedly a great illustration of the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurs.
I found that the book tried more to be humorous than to convey any business knowledge to the reader. Everything seemed to be an inside joke. Rather than producing a well thought-out account of a business experience, the book fell flat with dumb humor. I was very unimpressed with how the company was run, and I don't feel like I got much from the book.
The Inside Scoop is just that !.......2001-02-26
It's a chronicle of the intriguing journey of junior high friends who split the $5 cost of a home study course in making homemade ice cream and turn it into a $237 million company (1999 sales). Ben & Jerry's antics of giving away ice cream so they can 'get the ice cream into people's mouths so they will buy it,' take on some unusual situations. Free cones are offered to folks who register to vote, donate books to Head Start, or send postcards to elected officials for a variety of causes, and to celebrate at Fall Down Festivals with block long stilt walking races, music and other amusements. Solar-powered mobiles are used to transport the ice cream and a show on the road. They still sponsor customer appreciation day once a year when free cones are dipped all day.
It's hard to resist a bowl or cone of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough or Cherry Garcia as you read this humorous show and tell of two guys who really want (and do) make a difference. You'll be ready to book a snow shoe tour of the Vermont plant by the time you finish reading about these guys' mission. Their values-led business (in addition to having fun) is to produce the best ice cream from Vermont dairy products, to increase the value of the of the company for the stockholders and create career opportunities and financial rewards for employees, and to improve the quality of life for the community. (They donate 7.5% of pretax profits to Ben & Jerry's Foundation that supports a variety of causes that improve the quality of life for children.)
I'm using this book as a project for an organizational communications course and enjoyed the reading (and eating) more than I ever expected. It was the most fun I've had doing homework!
the subtitle says it all.......2001-01-24
This was a really good book that shows "How Two Real Guys Built a Business With a Social Conscience and a Sense of Humor." This should be required reading for MBA's along with Hawkin's Growing a Business.
Hope for the Little Guy.......2000-04-04
Although Ben & Jerry's: The Inside Scoop was a little long-winded at times, I thought it was a good easy-to-read book for non-business majors wanting to start a business. Lager's style of writing makes Ben & Jerry seem like two regular guys up the street who had a dream and went after it with all the gusto they could muster. The book would not serve as a business plan protocol necessarily, however, it does display the true entrepeneriual spirit needed in order to make a business successful. Lager does a wonderful job of showing how Ben & Jerry fed off of each other and when one door closed in their face, they found another way in through a different door or window -- exactly what has to be done if you are going to grow a successful business.
Lager captured the realism of the trials and tribulations experienced by most individuals who begin their own business. I would recommend this book to anyone who was thinking of beginning his/her own business because it gives a look at the real side of starting your own business by making Ben & Jerry two real guys who simply wanted to start their own business so they did not have to work from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for someone else. By putting all the business jargon aside, I felt this was a worthwhile read for someone who needs the reassurance that anyone can start a business and this is how Ben & Jerry started theirs.
Books:
- Chaos and Order in the Capital Markets: A New View of Cycles, Prices, and Market Volatility (Wiley Finance)
- Constructed Wetlands in the Sustainable Landscape
- Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole
- Cracking the AP Economics Macro and Micro Exams, 2006-2007 Edition (College Test Prep)
- Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
- Crafting and Executing Strategy : The Quest for Competitive Advantage - Concepts and Cases (Strategic Management: Concepts and Cases)
- Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse (Lynn Sonberg Books)
- Customer Experience Management: A Revolutionary Approach to Connecting with Your Customers
- Design for Sustainability: A Sourcebook of Integrated, Eco-logical Solutions
- Drugs-From Discovery to Approval
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
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- History: Fiction or Science
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- Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes
- Kaplan NCLEX-RN Exam 2007-2008
- Fatlands: A Hannah Wolfe Crime Novel
- Tiny Houses: or How to Get Away From It All
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Policy & Current Events
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time
The Market for Virtue: The Potential And Limits of Corporate Social Responsibility
Harvard Business Review on Corporate Responsibility (Harvard Business Review Paperback Series)
The Triple Bottom Line: How Today's Best-Run Companies Are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success -- and How You Can Too
