Book Description
At a time when unethical business practices continue to dominate the business press, PROFITS WITH PRINCIPLES offers persuasive proof that when businesses combine profit making with a concern for values and the greater good, they do better in the marketplace than those that concentrate only on the bottom line.
In PROFITS WITH PRINCIPLES, Ira A. Jackson and Jane Nelson show the quantifiable and enduring business advantage to “doing the right thing.” The companies profiled in PROFITS WITH PRINCIPLES–including Starbucks, Citigroup, Alcoa, General Motors, General Electric, Dupont, and Dell–come from different industries and have implemented different strategies to build trust and gain a competitive advantage. What they share, however, are basic operating principles of making values integral to the way they do business. By focusing on creating societal as well as shareholder value, they have built market share, improved risk management, enhanced innovation, strengthened consumer loyalty, and attracted the best talent.
Jackson and Nelson’s seven principles include Harness Innovation for the Public Good, as in the simple, low-cost water purifier from Proctor & Gamble that has the potential to save thousands of lives; Spread Economic Opportunity, exemplified by Marriott’s “Pathways to Independence” program that creates job opportunities for former welfare recipients and gives the company a competitive advantage in the marketplace for low-skilled employees; and Put People at the Center, a value practiced by Alcoa that reduced its lost workday injury rate by more than 90% since 1988.
This breakthrough guide on how companies can build trust and grow market share by making a difference opens the door to a new kind of capitalism, providing a wealth of infinitely useful and practical recommendations a company of any size can adapt.
Customer Reviews:
Toward A Compassionate Corporation.......2005-01-26
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)-how well businesses behave in the marketplace as citizens and what they contribute, beyond how they actually run their businesses-has been on the corporate agenda for several decades, and served as a proactive way for corporations to demonstrate core `values' beyond the profit incentive. Some companies, such banking institutions, came to table reluctantly, and only after being coerced by the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, which mandated that banks increase lending broadly in inner-city (and often impoverished) communities where they did business. Other international companies, such as Anita Ruddick's worldwide chain, The Body Shop, took it upon themselves to aggressively do business in a principled, values-defined way.
Not all corporations were so inspired, of course, to do good; and most businesses viewed CSR as being limited to charitable donations and philanthropy, not to a systemic and strategic choice for embracing social values to create core value for stakeholders. In the late 1990s, when American saw their financial wealth increase by $3 trillion a year for the years 1998-2000, at a time when the Dow had rocketed to the11,000 level, stakeholders were less concerned with how well the corporation was doing for society.
But those days are over, at least for the foreseeable future, and businesses now must react to public demands for better governance, transparency, and accountability. They have to do this on their own, building trust from stakeholders, enlarging their reach to fuel economic growth, tapping their `distinctive competencies' to harness innovation for public good, and do so while adding real value (in the form of profits) while they create values, grow stock price, improve employee satisfaction, and enhance their global brands as a fundamental part of doing business.
A new approach for helping corporations to achieve that ambitious task is Profits With Principles: Seven Strategies for Delivering Value With Values, by Ira A. Jackson and Jane Nelson, both fellows at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, a book that uses case studies of companies that have created incremental value for their firms while bringing values into the way they do business.
They also suggest that companies have to react to a crisis in confidence facing business, that while "two-thirds of Americans think that corporations make good products and compete well in the global economy . . . only one-third feel large corporations have ethical business practices." Those attitudes inevitably affect share price and sustainable competitive advantage, issues that reflect directly on company worth, shareholder return, and brand equity. In fact, Jackson and Nelson suggest that intangible assets-the very kind CSR activities help create-contribute significantly to corporate value, with some 50 to 90 percent of value being based on those assets, depending on industries. "They are often spoken about in terms of different types of capital," they say of these intangible assets, "intellectual capital or human capital; social capital or relationship capital; and environmental capital."
To leverage these assets, businesses have to start thinking in a new way about creating long-term profitability and sustained competitive advantage. In fact, corporations have to begin thinking more like entrepreneurs, who exploit opportunities to create a new way of doing business, and who use what is termed "incongruous situations" to drive growth strategies in innovative, revolutionary ways. For businesses, this will mean fostering an intrapreneurial effort from within the organization, using the techniques and vision of entrepreneurs and driving change from inside existing corporate models.
One important prescription being suggested is external innovations corporations can use to create value while effecting positive social change and benefits. Jackson and Nelson's suggestion, for instance, to "spread economic opportunity," shows how companies can have a profound and direct effect on economic and social systems, not only in the immediate communities in which they do business, but also beyond with a national and global reach.
A salient example the authors provide is the case study of how BankBoston achieved a startling resurgence in profitability and influence "consistent with values and a concern for purpose beyond profits." The case study describes how the Bank established a new paradigm by beginning to address serious societal concerns, among them the difficulty experienced by inner-city minority residents of obtaining credit and mortgages. BankBoston proactively answered that need by setting up First Community Bank, a bank-within-a-bank designed to address the specific needs of the once-marginalized, largely-minority population of urban Boston.
What has now become Fleet Community Bank since the 1999 merger of Fleet and BankBoston, Jackson and Nelson note, "has grown to 157 inner-city branches, with 1,500 employees in five states. It has $5 billion in deposits, a $14.6 billion commitment to mortgage and small business lending-one of the largest by any bank-and an innovative inner-city investment bank." And the value created for shareholders by embracing values? BankBoston's share price, which in the early 1990s had been as low as three dollars a share, by the late 1990s climbed to $118 a share and saw a market capitalization exceeding $15 billion.
Another innovative principle, "engage in new alliances," calls for shifts in thinking about social responsibility and the way businesses impact on the communities where they operate. Here the authors suggest a change in the way corporations make philanthropic contributions, so that instead of the "stand-alone, one-way transactions" common to traditional corporate giving, `strategic partnerships' are established between the business and the recipient. These relationships are much more dynamic, sustainable, and beneficial-both for the recipient nonprofits and for the businesses who become their sponsors.
The core belief here is that companies concerned with both profit making and providing social benefits-creating value and values-outperform businesses that focus exclusively on financial gains. That view is supported by other studies which looked at the relationship between the financial and social performance of ninety-five companies. Reviewing the findings of that research, Lynne Sharp Payne, a professor at Harvard Business School, wrote "that only 4 of the 95 studies found a negative relationship between social and financial performance. Fifty-five studies found a positive correlation between better financial performance and better social performance."
No one suggests that transforming corporations into socially-responsible entities is an easy task. But each time a Ken Lay walks into a Federal courthouse to answer for grave corporate misconduct, it is yet another compelling argument why companies that do not embrace a strategy for delivering value with values do so at the risk of losing competitive advantage, brand equity, and a leadership role in the global marketplace.
A Definitive Handbook.......2004-10-20
Finally, one place to turn to for a scholarly yet inspiring look at the social responsibility movement. Jane Nelson and Ira Jackson have pulled together the fractionated resources, rationales and best practices into a cohesive guide. It's the big shoulders on which the next iteration of capitalism can build. A valuable resource for the practitioner, and inspiration for the 'global citizen' in all of us. Elsie Maio
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book to read! Excellent ideals for business!.......2005-10-14
Anita Roddick is truly an amazing woman. This book is like a mini-biography about Anita Roddick and the creation of the Body Shop. This is a great book for people who believe in social responsibility and have concern for the well being of people and the earth. It is rare that one will ever read about a busineess woman that will use her business not just for power and profit but as a vehicle to social awareness. I bought this book for a management class and it is a great reference book for non-traditional management. Roddick truly draws humanity and spirit back into the white collar world.
No BS.......2002-10-18
This is very unconventional business book. This is a story about Anita Roddick and her leadership role at cosmetic company called The Body Shop. Anita Roddick exposes the common myths about management. She illustrates perfectly that to be successful we need the only tool - a vision. When her first The Body Shop opened in 1976 in Littlehampton, England, this hippie woman borrowed money for a beginning of her business. She wants her stores to be clean, exciting, and the people who work there to be passionate about their work. And now she do not like to hire anybody from Harvard Business School, but her The Body Shop today is comparable with Revlon or Este Lauder, her unachievable rivals.
Inspiring story of a vionary woman talking common sense.......1998-08-05
I loved it.
Anita Roddick exposes the myths about mangement. She illustrates pefectly that to be successful we need a vision. Her vision was simple. Employ people who care, employ people who are proud, employ people who will question, employ people who will rattle the cage from within. She perfectly illustrates, in her story about borrowing money, how fickle the typical bank manager was in the 1970's - how we would like to think things have changed.
She is also a realist - she pulls no punches she says.... "Im in this for me!" - yes sure she has an ego to satisfy .... dont we all? - her great quality is that she admits it. Most people do not have the honesty to say it.
I just love how she roots her beleifs about business success in common sense ...... like welcoming new ideas and original thought, trusting your staff and listening to your customers - and then change things.
She also has values that are explicit and wants people who work with her to! also work from a values base
Thank you Anita for a wonderful read - here's to the next edition!!
Profit DOES go with true liberal business ideals........1998-03-16
Interesting to note how few reviews there are of this book. The Body Shop does not kiss the ring of greed and avarice, but shows how holding true liberal priciples of social justice, economic growth through trade, local effort, AND profit go together. Given the lack of female role models in the business world, I would have Body and Soul as a part of any business curriculum. In fact, I am going to do that in my own company's internal training work.
A unique approach to business/A good book!.......1997-11-09
This is the noteworthy story about Anita Roddick and her founding, and leadership role at The Body Shop. More than any single point, she stresses the importance of PASSION (in what you do) with religious zeal.
You'll enjoy reading about the life of this fascinating entrepreneur, and the loyal and dedicated people that helped elevate The Body Shop into the international success that it is today.
This is not a conventional business book. Just thumbing through, you'll notice page-after-page of illustrations, photographs and an inspiring and unique way of looking at the world--both in a business sense and a humanitarian sense. I was so inspired after reading this story, that I felt compelled to visit The Body Shop nearest my home.
Anita Roddick isn't afraid to tell you how she feels. I wish I could've been there when she delivered her speech to an audience of advertising executives and their clients on, "Why I would never use an advertising agency."
Funniest Line in the Book: "I'll never hire anybody from Harvard Business School." You've got to read the book to appreciate it.
She wants her stores to be clean, exciting, and the people who work there to be passionate about their work. This book should be recommended reading for WAL-MART executives, and there employees.
Actually, it's a good book for anyone interested in business, the environment or serving as a didactic for what women can achieve in this world. I plan on encouraging my daughter to read it when she grows up. Good work Anita!
Book Description
Anita Roddick is one of the world's most outspoken, controversial, and successful entrepreneurs of the age. Her autobiography, Business As Unusual, charts the story of Roddick and her company The Body Shop through all the highs and lows since 1990. It also examines the parallel growth of vigilante consumerism and predicts how businesses can evolve in this millennium.
Roddick tackles a wide range of personal and political issues—from self-esteem to human rights abuses associated with globalization—and offers her own vision for dealing with the demands of an ethical economy. She proposes that the power of public pressure to create change must never be underestimated and argues that waves of public consciousness are steadily forcing corporations to re-evaluate their actions. By expanding the role and responsibility of the entrepreneur, as well as the definition of business ethics, the corporate world will be compelled to change. In this new edition Roddick brings the story up to date.
Product Description
At time when investors are wondering who to trust, L.J. Rittenhouse has written the first-ever guide to identifying trustworthy business leadership. She examines the letters that CEOs write in their annual reports to show readers how to spot executives with clear sight, wise judgment and the ability to balance profits and principles. While many people complain that these letters are a waste of time to read, Rittenhouse shows investors how to read between the lines to ferret out useful information that management may be trying to hide. Quoting from the letters of Warren Buffett and other trust-building CEOs, she establishes standards of disclosure that readers can use to determine the worth of other company communications. In Do Business With People You Can Tru$t readers are invited to be part of a movement to instill improved business disclosure and accountability. This is the Fifth Year Anniversary Edition.
Customer Reviews:
Not thorough enough.......2003-12-26
LJ's book is mostly a regurgitation of Warren Buffett's letters combined with a few exerpts from the Enron and other shareholder letters. She's clearly fallen under the spell of the Oracle from Omaha. I wish there were new insights here about evaluating people for business partnerships, but there isn't anything of the sort. Rather, we get a childlike and skin deep analysis of a few shareholder letters spliced into a sparse review of Buffett's letters. Very disappointing.
A European perspective on a US problem.......2003-01-19
Laura Rittenhouse has done us all a great favour in her book "Do Business with People you can Trust". It should be required reading for all CEO's and corporate communicators. At last we can see the propects for creating shareholder value by full and honest disclosure and she has created a useful technique for assessing the value (or lack of it)implicit in the shareholder letters published by CEOs.
All those who have had the uneviable task of writing reports or letters to shareholders know the temptations of the fashionable phrase or the piece of internal jargon. They are easy to write and get the job done - but we should all learn to stand back and ask "exactly what does that mean?"
Disclosure requirements are increasing in all countries but no amount of rules or legislation will prevent the use of meaningless phrases or words. The author helps us understand what works and what doesn't.
I only have two suggestions for improvement. First, I think we are benefiting here in the UK from additional disclosures about risk management and many companies are now reporting on the major risks they are taking and how they manage them. More on that would have been helpful. Second, She has focused on the "goodies" strongly represented by Berkshire Hathaway, and the "baddies" represented by Enron. The emphasis on these two companies is heavy and I would have preferred something a little more balanced.
Other than that I enjoyed the book immensely, it is well and intelligently written with a mischievous sense of humour. I hope Ms Rittenhouse will persevere with her theme and continue her analysis for an update in a year or so.
Mining the Nuggets of Knowledge from Shareholder Letters.......2002-09-15
Tru$t should be required reading for anyone interested in leadership, communications or investing. In fact, many Wall Street analysts could offer significant added value in their reports by applying the lessons in Tru$t to their research. My hope is that in subsequent books Ms. Rittenhouse builds on her analysis of success to provide more insight into the art of creating new businesses - or leading any worthwhile organization.
Do Business with People You Can Tru$t involves readers in the possibilities of trustworthy and ethical business practices through entertaining and illustrative analysis of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letters. The premise of this analysis is that these letters do not just represent a unique and interesting form of communication - they are also the best barometers of the qualities of the manager that writes them. This premise is illustrated with examples of how Berkshire approaches its business issues and needs contrasted with other approaches and the relative success of each.
Do Business With People You Can Trust.......2002-06-17
Ms. Rittenhouse has provided a valuable tool for responsible investors. This book speaks directly to the reader in an honest manner. One never gets the feeling they are being "talked down to". The eye-opening experience of applying the tools to consecutive annual report CEO letters helps one determine if the company is one to be trusted even before looking at the financials. This is a must have book for all investors!
A fascinating new approach to doing Business with principles.......2002-06-14
Drawing on examples from extreme ends of ethical spectrum in todays's bussiness world--Berkshire Hathaways and Enron--Ms. Rittenhouse puts forth a compelling argument about the benefits of remaining principled in one's business dealings.
Thanks to this book, I no longer believe that good CEOs must live in an ethical gray area in order to turn a profit in today's business world. This book should be the basis for a complete reevaluation of current accepted business practices.
The author also illustrates how an average person can thoughtfully gauge the ethics of a company through careful analysis of its annual report.
Bravo Ms. Rittenhouse!
Product Description
At time when investors are wondering who to trust, L.J. Rittenhouse has written the first-ever guide to identifying trustworthy business leadership. She examines the letters that CEOs write in their annual reports to show readers how to spot executives with clear sight, wise judgment and the ability to balance profits and principles. While many people complain that these letters are a waste of time to read, Rittenhouse shows investors how to read between the lines to ferret out useful information that management may be trying to hide. Quoting from the letters of Warren Buffett and other trust-building CEOs, she establishes standards of disclosure that readers can use to determine the worth of other company communications. In Do Business With People You Can Tru$t readers are invited to be part of a movement to instill improved business disclosure and accountability. This is the Fifth Year Anniversary Edition.
Product Description
Microeconomics: Principles and Applications is about economic principles and how economists use them to understand the world. It was conceived, written and for the third edition, substantially revised to help your students focus on those basic principles and applications. The Active Learning Guide provides numerous exercises and self-tests for problem solving practice. It is a valuable tool for helping students strengthen their knowledge of economics, and includes a sample multiple-choice final exam, with answers and explanations.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Ivey Business Journal Online, published by University of Western Ontario on November 1, 2004. The length of the article is 3340 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Values-driven performance: seven strategies for delivering profits with principles.
Author: Ira A. Jackson
Publication:
Ivey Business Journal Online (Refereed)
Date: November 1, 2004
Publisher: University of Western Ontario
Page: 1(8)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Like the author's best-selling, highly regarded International Economics text, this book integrates a clear and concise presentation of economic theory with an abundance of real-world cases and applications. Rather than discussing economic theory in the abstract, and then including real-world applications in separate sections, the text weaves applications into all theoretical discussions. There is no other Survey text that emphasizes real-world applications to this degree.
Customer Reviews:
Well, it's an Econ book...........2007-06-28
and it's a very very good introduction to economics. Has lots of real life examples in it, shows you simple formulas, how to plot economic supply & demand graphs - not much different from 3rd edition though. (got that one on accident first) and if it's not for a class, you might consider getting that one as the price would be substancially cheaper. :-)
Average customer rating:
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