Values-Driven Business
Book

Values-Driven Business

How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun

Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick
Berrett-Koehler, 2006

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Using examples from their personal experiences and from a wide variety of U.S. companies, Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick show how companies have incorporated socially progressive and environmental values into their daily business practices. The authors insist that companies can help their communities and make money at the same time, adding a new dimension to traditional business models, which focus only on profits. Although the authors’ enthusiasms sometimes carry them away - for example, they insist that customers who don’t share your values will respect you so much for them that they’ll stay loyal anyway - the "values-driven business" is an idea whose time has come. getAbstract recommends this book to business owners large and small who want the benefits of their work to extend beyond just themselves and their stakeholders.

Summary

Giving and Taking

A values-driven business focuses on profits, like any other company, but its bottom line also considers its employees, its community and the environment. Such businesses depend on give-and-take relationships with the following stakeholders:

  • Employees - Define the nature of the business in exchange for compensation.
  • Suppliers - As part of the "value chain," provide information and feedback in exchange for business connections.
  • Customers - These relationships are multidimensional. Customers help values-driven businesses bring about change by supporting their brands.
  • Community - Includes the local area and the citizens. By employing workers, paying taxes and contracting with suppliers, firms participate in local economies.
  • Environment - The quality of air, land and water, which matters to all businesses.

Successful businesses that promote social justice include Newman’s Own (foods) - which has donated more than $150 million to charity; Greyston Bakery; Tom’s of Maine (personal care products); Clif Bar (athletic energy bars); Seventh Generation (environmentally safe cleaning products) and Vida (fair...

About the Authors

Ben Cohen is co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream company, president of Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities and a founding member of the Social Venture Network. He is the co-author of Ben & Jerry’s Double Dip: Lead With Your Values and Make Money, Too. Business leader and consultant Mal Warwick is chair of the Social Venture Network Advisory Board.

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