March 23, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun
by Ben Cohen and Mal Warwick
The business of business may be business, but companies large and small should try to be socially responsible as well as profitable, write Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s, and Mal Warwick, president of Mal Warwick and Associates, a fund-raising and direct-marketing agency.
“We believe that values-driven business requires attention not to profits alone but to the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits,” the authors write.
They profile a variety of companies that place a high priority on the environment, employees’ quality of life, and giving money to charity. For example, BetterWorld Telecom, a telecommunications company, devotes 3 percent of its revenue to supporting social-justice and environmental organizations, and the actor Paul Newman, through Newman’s Own, the food-products company he founded, has donated all of the group’s profits after taxes to charity—more than $175-million since 1982.
While most of the corporations examined are privately held, a few are traded publicly.
The authors also explain the philanthropy-friendly business practices at the companies they founded, such as Ben & Jerry’s investments in low-cost housing. The company also designed their ice-cream cartons to feature information about the Children’s Defense Fund, a promotion that has helped the advocacy group attract new members and charitable contributions, Mr. Cohen says.
“There’s a limit to how much money you can give away, but there’s no limit to how much you can integrate a concern for the community into the way you do business,” they write.
Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 235 Montgomery Street, Suite 650, San Francisco, Calif. 94104; (415) 288-0260; fax (415) 362-2512; http://www.bkconnection.com; 192 pages; $12; ISBN 978-1-57675-358-3.
