World’s Most Ethical Companies

In my last post, I briefly mentioned some companies that have shown very poor examples of ethics in past business relations.

Just today, I came across an Ethisphere Institute report that instead, detailed the acknowledgment of companies who were the most ethical in 2010. The World’s Most Ethical (WME) companies were awarded because they demonstrated real and sustained ethical leadership within their field. There are no set maximum or minimum awards to be given out each year, but instead the award is just given to the top companies who are leading the way in terms of ethics and compliance programs.

The selection process was lead by a methodology committee, which reviewed over the course of the year, many possible candidates. They eventually narrowed the selection down to a semi-finalist stage, where then the companies would have to answer in-depth questionnaires. After further refinement, from viewing surveys, documents and other information, the resulting award winners were chosen because they scored the highest in the committees’ calculations.

The awarded companies were broken down by each industry. Here are a few of the companies who were awarded World’s Most Ethical:

Apparel: Nike, Patagonia and Comme Il Faut

Automotive: Cummins, Ford Motor Company and Johnson Controls

Banking: Rabobank, Standard Chartered Bank and Westpac Banking Corporation

Consumer Electronics: Ricoh and Xerox

Consumer Products: Henkel, Kao, L’ORÉAL and Mattel

Environmental Services: Waste Management

Food & Beverage: Campbell Soup Company, General Mills, PepsiCo and Solae

Food Stores: Trader Joe’s, Wegmans and Whole Food Market

Internet: Google and Zappos

Specialty Retail: Best Buy, Gap, Ikea, Target and Ten Thousand Villages

There were a few more companies also awarded, but these were some in more popular industry markets.

The Ethisphere Institution also made a chart, which shows that it is beneficial for companies to focus on ethics.

This chart compares the World’s Most Ethical awarded companies against the S&P 500 and FTSE since the year 2005. This clearly shows that the continued practice of ethics is not only good for relations, but for increasing profit in the company as well.

Very interesting things to consider!

The full report can be viewed here World’s Most Ethical Award

Evaluation of Ethics

We have to learn from the mistakes of our past. In looking back in history, we are witnesses to the destructive effects of unethical leadership from companies like Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and various banks. These companies not only brought a mess to their own businesses but to our whole country as well.

So how did this happen? And what can we do?

Well what we have to do is be more ethical. This basically means just doing the right thing.

In a business sense, the notion of ethics is primarily put on the standard of conduct by the individual business workers, not the business as a whole.

This is what went wrong in those companies. The leaders put too much emphasis on being profitable that they undercut many basic fundamentals of business relations.

So where we have to start is with the individual workers. The best way to teach ethics is by being a personal example. It is not as simple as just telling someone what to do. The way individuals handle themselves when dealing with others is aroused from a lifetime of behavior. Human beings are creatures of habit. We must turn this habit into being ethically sound to others.

There are many benefits that occur when individuals understand this true importance of ethics in our world. Bosses who treat their workers with more dignity and respect will only be gifted with individuals who are more loyal, honest and hardworking. Same goes for business relations between companies. If these relationships are improved to acknowledge the significance of ethics then business relations will only become more concrete and successful.

It’s a win-win for everyone when individuals begin treating others the way they want to be treated.

I mean that’s the golden rule after all isn’t it?

We must head into the new year of 2011 with a new profound sense of compassion and moral ethical principles.

Importance of Ethics in Business

Behaviors of Successful Business Owners

In this video, Ron Finklestein discuses how to create a profitable business and avoiding common mistakes.

-Common issues every business faces:
1) Making more money
2) Having more free time
3) Having productive employees

Ron relates a 3 level process for achieving success in those areas.
This process is essentially attitude, strategy and discipline.
Really a simple strategy but effective! Check out his speech.

Business Community

This week I searched the web to find related blogs and sites in my community. I found that many of these could be helpful to my readers in areas of their business, so I decided to review a series of them and included the link if it interests you.

Development Performance- a nice and organized site designed to help in areas of managing a company. Geared towards increasing success. Talks about new practices using technology to get better organized and increase performance.

 

Risk & Business- provides real facts and information about the owning of a small business. Discusses areas of insurance and liability of a company. Valuable and prudent information to know.

 

Small Business Branding- a site that details ways to appeal to a certain audience and how to shape your brand or product to fit that. Also goes over good relationship lessons when handling work with other businesses.
 

Secret Women’s Business Network- a fun site for women in the business field. This site includes business coaching and tips in a way that is mannered towards woman. A Whole discourse community between females.

 

Wealth and Wisdom- A site that promotes a balance of life with the goal of success through entrepreneurship. Very aimed at the self-employed individual. Stresses the importance of maintaining sanity through the adventure of work and life.

 

Shoe String Venue- A very in depth blog about the start up of a company. Contains many different aspects that would be of assistance to anyone in the position of creating a business.

 

The Power of Digital Media to Businesses

My dad actually showed me a report recently that detailed the new forefront of digital media and its relation and importance to the future of marketing. The report is titled Get Connected: How to harness the power of Digital Media by the company Jones Lang LaSalle.

The report begins about detailing the advancement of technology in our society. Technology has changed the way we, as humans, live and communicate between each other.  It has also changed the way we receive information and shop. Consumers have tailored the information they receive to fit what their preferences are. So what does this mean to the retail business industry? Well it can mean a lot if the company is willing to expand their digital capabilities to connect with their buying audience.

A recent IBM study involving 32,000 consumers in 6 different countries found that technology is not limited to a specific group of people anymore. It has spread rapidly through the generations and is now a steady part of our culture. The study resulted in the find that “78% of consumers say they are willing to ‘co-create or collaborate with retailers’ by offering feedback on product design, product selection and store layouts.” This is momentous because more then three-quarters of the study group would be open to helping the retail business. The consumers are ready to talk. They like their preferences and want to see more of them.

So how can we connect with our buying audience better? Well email and store websites are at the forefront right now.  The study found that 92% of the consumers use the web first in researching or browsing products. A common connection used over the Internet is through email. I know I receive many emails informing me of coupons I can use at the store or online. This is a great way to keep involved and excel business with the buyers. Other social media examples that companies use are Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube and social bookmarking sites like Digg. The importance of these is the two-way interaction between the buyers and sellers. The businesses can receive consumer feedback fairly quickly and can also expand their audience by viral growth.

In conclusion of the report, the new age of our society is a technological one. If you want your company or business to be ahead of the trend then this is the way you need to go. Our society is not going back, this is the future. When a good social media setup is made, it increases the effectively of communication with the consumers. This is the most beneficial thing that the business can get from this. By learning and adapting from the information the buyers give us, the business can head in a direction that is more appealing to the consumers. And that’s what we ultimately want! So get your business online folks, its time for change.

Review of a Book Review

I have recently been reading the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. It is set in a future society where things are quite different from our world today. It has been fairly entertaining, but after reading an article reviewing the aspects of the book, I have become even more intrigued by the novel.

An independent scholar and researcher, named Ben H. Wright, was the author of the article. His main point to be made is that the book is postmodernist. Wright defines postmodernism as the “emphasis on consideration of a person’s gender, race and sexual orientation” in society. Wright believed that these subjects were fairly common in the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Several well-known thinkers, Lyotard, Jameson and Baudrillard, have also distinguished certain tendencies that they believe typify a postmodern society. Wright has pointed out that all three of their notions are featured in the book. Lyotard narrows postmodernism to a mood of uncertainty and distrust, which is very prominent in the Dick’s android story. Jameson has concluded in his thoughts that postmodern societies are dominant with multinational corporations. This coincides with the book in the Western and Soviet governments’ inability to legislate against the Rosen Association. Baudrillard details the belief of the ‘simulacrum’, the copy with no original. Wright states that the book plays by this third belief of postmodernism by the viewing of the androids as copies of real humans.

Wright also believes that the book prevails a sense of ‘splitting’ of characters. Many of the characters and androids in the story can be viewed as double personalities of the main character Rick Deckard. For example, the character Luba Luft caused him to question his own humanity and Phil Resch’s character showed Rick insight about empathy or lack there of it. The character is presented with metaphorical divided personalities.

Ben H. Wright’s review of the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was very beneficial to my understanding. He stated his beliefs that the story largely followed many top theories of postmodernism. This review was only one of the many books and authors he has written about. Wright is very passionate about his readings and concepts and writes to an educated audience that is able to comprehend his thinking. His reviews are not for the casual reader, but for the person who wants to understand the deeper elements and aspects of a story and book. This review has undoubtedly expanded my thought and enabled me to realize the depth the author, Philip K. Dick, presented in his writings. His perception of a postmodern society so long ago is what’s truly amazing to me. I would strongly recommend this read to anyone who has time to spare.

Postmodernism in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

ALSO: check out my personal reflection of the book in terms of future business. Some good information to know!
My Review

Blog Analysis

The community one is involved in tells a lot about that person. It can distinguish whom they are and what they intend to say. In the case of online identities and communities, the same reasoning can be resulted. In a business blog community, one would find a similar group of people writing for similar yet various reasons. In the case of the blog Small Business Trends by Anita Campbell, a clear and decisive view point she believes in is quickly established.

Anita Campbell is now a middle-aged lawyer. Over her career, after attending law school and getting a degree, she has been a part of business. She has slowly but surely gravitated more to the business side of things. Eventually she started her own business and felt she had an advantage because of her law background and knowledge. This storyline gives the author a good sense of credibility. It tugs at the ethos of the readers because they feel as if she can be helpful to them.

Anita has aimed her blog at a very specific group of individuals. She has narrowed it to basically cover people who are considering, starting or are involved in maintaining a successful small business. She does not segregate a specific age group or gender; it is just to the small business owners. Anita’s audience is mostly uninformed about most of the knowledge she is dealing out, so this makes Anita look very credible again.

Anita’s blog is fairly basic, but there is a good deal of information on it. This is perfectly fitting towards her audience because she doesn’t mess around with frivolous things; she just lays out the points she wants to make. Her audience is able to pick up tips and strategies on a number of issues. This pulls at the pathos of the readers, because Anita is writing to help them. She includes personal anecdotes that the readers really value and find helpful based on their comments.

Anita also posts fairly often, even on the weekends. This continued and not forgotten sense of schedule is very appealing to the readers because they feel that they can continuously keep receiving tips and guidelines to running their business. This is comforting for the readers! They want to continue to come back and get help.

By examining a specific blog in a discourse community, I was able to distinguish why it was successful. This was useful because I can channel my blog, which is in the same online community, to use those features, which made her blog successful.
Small Business Trends