7gen Bloc

On the one-year anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers, President Obama summoned corporate America "to a new era of responsibility." Considering that 2009 marked new low points in the decline of business behavior, the growing mistrust of business by the public, and the outrage over executive compensation, we have no choice but to rethink corporate responsibility. It's more critical than ever before that we discover new ways to get past the greenwashing and lip service to truly put corporate values on par with profits. The costs of not doing better at doing good are simply too high.

The new book I have written with my co-author Bill Breen, The Responsibility Revolution: How the Next Generation of Businesses Will Win (Jossey Bass; March 15, 2010. $27.95), argues that for too long, our definition of what constitutes "responsible" corporate behavior has been dangerously timid. To confront the daunting challenges facing society and the economy, companies must do more than monitor factories, donate to charities, and trumpet efforts to be a little less bad. The Responsibility Revolution is a road map for reimaging companies from within: innovating new ways of working; instilling a new logic of competing; redefining the very purpose and possibility of business.

The book provides a blueprint for CSR 2.0 that details how revolutionary companies -- ranging from industry heavyweights like IBM, Nike and British merchandising giant Marks & Spencer to emerging dynamos like Linden Lab and Etsy -- are winning customers and driving profits by:

• Taking on a cause. Revolutionary responsible companies believe that what you stand for is far more important than what you sell. When Organic Valley organized itself around a mission that mattered -- saving the family farm -- it sparked employees' imaginations and became a magnet for powerful partners. The result: it's now the nation's second largest brand of organic dairy products.
• Daring to wear the see-through. To be a truly responsible company, you can't be opaque. So the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, the world's largest maker of insulin, invites animal-welfare activists to tour its labs and improve its protocols for animal experimentation. The drug-maker understands that by acting transparently, it stands a better chance of turning critics into collaborators.
• Scaling innovation. Green marketing campaigns don't cut it anymore; insurgent good companies focus on innovation rather than reputation. Nike harnesses the creativity of its designers through the Considered Index, which rates the ingredients for each product and suggests more sustainable alternatives. The 2009 Air Jordan XX3 is the first version of Nike's most celebrated sneaker to marry sustainability and performance -- and is expected to sell 500,000 pairs.

These and many more actionable strategies from the book will help businesses large and small win the race to the future. A recent study by A.T. Kearney found that during the recession, companies authentically committed to sustainability outperformed their industry peers by an average of 15%, adding an average of $650 million to their market capitalization. As the economy improves, doing good will be the key to doing well.

Why? Because responsible companies outdo their competitors at addressing the transformational forces that are changing the way business is done today. With Internet-savvy customers scrutinizing companies' activities and organizing boycotts at the slightest sign of misbehavior, "bad" businesses have nowhere to hide.

I hope you'll find it both an entertaining and inspiring read. Visit Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, Borders, or Books-a-Million to buy an advance copy or read the e-book version right now.

Please let me know what you think of the book!