Book Review: Citizen Capitalism: How a Universal Fund Can Provide Income and Influence to All Corporations have been hijacked by the wolves of Wall Street. A generation of Gordon Gekkos manage hedge funds that pressure corporations to cut corners in the name of ‘unlocking shareholder value’ for investors. Corporations, the environment, and the American Middle …
Human influenced climate change is real my friends. Regardless of Presidential policy. While U.S. government action on climate change oscillates based on party control, the marketplace has increasingly ruled in favor of science. Over the past decade more and more companies have pledged to fight climate change. The U.S. government’s withdrawal from the Paris climate …
In March 2013 Whole Foods Market put “a stake in the ground on GMO labeling” by announcing that by 2018 all products sold by the grocery chain would be labeled indicating any included genetically modified organisms in order to provide full GMO transparency to customers. The announcement occurred around the same time as failed efforts by consumer activists to petition the federal government …
The top priority of improving our transportation network is to reduce congestion which would improve the quality of life and make our region more attractive to top employers and professionals. Infrastructure and bus improvements short of rail will certainly assist with relieving congestion; and with continued political efforts can be brought to reality. But will these initiatives ever really ease …
During discussions about the Conscious Capitalism and Benefit Corporation movement or my own book Corporate Empathy the conversation often has some focus on social entrepreneurship and social enterprises and what the potential is for these kinds of businesses. According to Wikipedia, “a social enterprise is an organization that applies commercial strategies to maximize improvements in human and environmental well-being, rather than …
The United States Supreme Court decision (PDF) this week in favor of Hobby Lobby has struck a cord and again raised the level of discussion around the subject of corporations as people. For my religious conservative friends it is a win for religious freedom and my liberal friends an attack on women’s rights. This case would …
The terms “knowledge economy” and “digital age” have been thrown around by professionals, pundits, academics, and politicians in some form or another for at least 20 years. Until this week however not one of them has presented a real grasp of the nature of this new economy. Most everyone has attempted to measure and understand the knowledge economy …
It’s been just nine lightning fast quarters since I began writing Corporate Empathy and openly discussing whether corporations acting with empathy could profitably find solutions to big social challenges. In that time I’ve found solid examples of just that. Initiatives like Conscious Capitalism, Benefit Corporations, and Sr Richard Brandson’s, The B Team consist of businesses that …
This week Chipotle has made another move in their campaign to change the course of corporate agribusiness and continues to expand a brilliant case study in brand development. After the success of last September’s Scarecrow the restaurant chain has stepped into new territory again by debuting an original comedy series “Farmed and Dangerous” on Hulu and Hulu …
UPDATE: I just became aware today of JCPenny’s reintroduction of appliance sales a few months back in January 2016. Almost exactly two years after I published this suggestion below about letting companies die and brands to evolve. The announcement by JCPenney this week that they will close 33 stores and lay off around 2,000 employees is generating a …