ethics

Can Practical Self-Interest Lead to Higher Ethics?

Shel Horowitz — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:09:53 -0500

A recent LinkedIn discussion around ethics started when someone asked participants to list a few ethics
books they’d found helpful. I posted several titles, culled from the
archives of my Positive Power of Principled Profit newsletter, where I review one book per month on ethics, Green business, or service (scroll down).

One of the group members, Professor Allan Elder, wrote back with a long comment; here’s a piece of it:

Social Responsibility

Put Ethics and Integrity at the Center

The Delphian School Oregon — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:53:16 -0500

Ethics and integrity orient every aspect of one's activities and relationships. In education, they have a particularly pivotal role. Even the best of programs can fail if these fundamentals receive little attention. Having vast amounts of information at one's fingertips doesn't ensure one has been well educated; much less that one will be successful in life.

CUSTOMER SERVICE IS KING

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 02:53:36 -0500

I just finished reading the book Trust Agents from Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Obviously it is a must read for everyone in the business world.

When I reflected on the content I had some kind of epiphany. Most corporations and organizations do think that when the crisis is over that they will return to the previous state of ‘business- as-usual’. We just have to focus on some more cost cutting and then we will be good for the next phase. Not much will change.

Consciousness in Leadership: The New Edge for 21st Century Business

Norman Wolfe — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 14:36:38 -0500

I returned recently from the C3 Summit in Austin TX - that’s the Catalyzing Conscious Capitalism Summit. In attendance were some well known CEOs such as John Mackey CEO of Whole Foods, George Zimmer of Men’s Warehouse, and Casey Sheehan of Patagonia, to name just a few. In addition, we had such luminaries as Jean Huston and Deepak Chopra as some of our keynote speakers.

COMMAND AND CONTROL: INNOVATION NEEDED!

Arnold Beekes — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:04:49 -0500

HOW TO GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL TRAP

Arnold Beekes — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:32:04 -0500

One of the main constraints that managers and executives face is time and related to that priority. The day-to-day business and its challenges, small fires and other problems are consuming all their energy and time. They are always so busy and their agenda’s are fully booked. There is hardly any time left to get lunch or even to go to the bathroom.

HOW TO GET OUT OF THE BUSINESS-AS-USUAL TRAP

Arnold Beekes — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 05:31:39 -0500

REFRESH YOUR BUSINESS PARTNERS

Arnold Beekes — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:44:08 -0500

Most organizations do have a fix set of partners. They cover many area’s:

-
Accountants

Why Values Trump Rules and Regulation

Dov Seidman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:59:36 -0500

Everywhere I travel, I hear the same refrains: "We need more regulation," or on the flip side, "If we hadn't deregulated, we wouldn't be in this financial mess."

It looks like the White House is of this mind-set. Citing Wall Street for helping to create a "culture of irresponsibility," President Obama wants to impose more rules on the financial industry by, among other things, creating a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

CHANGING? YOU FIRST……….!

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:16:28 -0500

It is an open door to talk about all the change that is necessary and all the change programs that are work in process.

However, there is also plenty of evidence (McKinsey, IBM) that the majority of the changes do not deliver the required results. There are two main reasons for this issue.

WHAT KIND OF INNOVATOR ARE YOU?

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 04:59:51 -0400

In the book ‘Old Masters and Young Geniuses’ by David Galenson there are two types of innovators researched. His analysis of the life cycles of creativity has considered painters, sculptors, poets, novelists and movie directors.

HOW TO CLOSE THE CORPORATE GAP? BRIDGE BUILDERS NEEDED!

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:33:37 -0400

It looks like the gap, the divide is getting bigger instead of getting smaller.
Which gap? Well, between on one hand the Corporate leaders and managers who are not open to change, who continue to do business as they have done for many years now and on the other hand mostly the consultants, bloggers and entrepreneurs who know that the 21st century requires a new way of doing business.

So, what is needed are bridge builders. People who can bridge the gap and thus connect the merits of both approaches.
What is needed to be a great bridge builder?

HIRING FOR AWESOMENESS OR FOR AVERAGENESS

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:00:13 -0400

Most recruiting companies list in their job requirements exactly what experience the candidate should bring. They prefer to hire someone who has done exactly the same job in another company, but in the same industry.

They think that they play it safe in this way. When there is a fit, they think that there is hardly any risk, as the person has done that particular job before.

How to Drive a Stake into the Hearts of Shareholders

John A. Lee — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:16:32 -0400

Recently, I received an email from a reader of an article of mine who thanked me for being an Evangelist of Ethonomics. Evangelist of Ethonomics? I thought, hmmmm. . . is that what I am? Sounds like a 60s kind of guru, a cross between John Maynard Keynes and Aristotle.

According to Wikipedia, Ethonomics goes down as the “provisional name for the discipline of formally mapping and defining the prioritization of values within value systems.”

MARKET SAVVINESS IS CRUCIAL FOR A LEARNING ORGANIZATION

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 04:15:01 -0400

On one hand it is clear that changes are speeding up, in business, technology, the market, legislation, demographics and so on. It is a challenge to keep up to date with all these new developments.

On the other hand there is an increased focus on the inner workings of an organization. Most of the attention is directed towards restructuring, lay-offs and financial survival.

Sustainability: It's Not About Light Bulbs

Dov Seidman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:05:45 -0400

The owner of a McDonald's franchise made news recently by opening an eco-friendly restaurant in Cary, N.C. It has energy-efficient refrigerators, low-flow toilets, tables made from sunflower seeds and even recharging stations for electric cars.

This McDonald's is surely going green. But that doesn't make it sustainable.

LISTENING: THE FORGOTTEN BUSINESS SKILL

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 04:03:04 -0400

More and more we are busy, very busy. As a consequence we read and write quickly and superficially, because it seems that we are always in a hurry.

HOW TO ORGANIZE AN INTERNAL INNOVATION TEAM?

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:49:24 -0400

More and more organizations are becoming
convinced that innovation is no longer a nuisance, but that it is the only way out of the misery.

Once you have taken the decision the next
step is to think about how you are going to organize that activity (if you haven’t done that already). There are four keys to organizing innovation:

HOW TO ORGANIZE AN INTERNAL INNOVATION TEAM?

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:49:24 -0400

More and more organizations are becoming
convinced that innovation is no longer a nuisance, but that it is the only way out of the misery.

Once you have taken the decision the next
step is to think about how you are going to organize that activity (if you haven’t done that already). There are four keys to organizing innovation:

(UN)PROFESSIONAL SERVICE IMPACTS YOUR BRAND

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:55:06 -0400

(UN)PROFESSIONAL SERVICE IMPACTS YOUR BRAND

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:54:53 -0400

Application Progamming Interfaces Are Not a Substitute for Ethics

Jamais Cascio — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:14:41 -0400

If you follow my Twitter feed, you might have seen a post come through recently offering, without context, this observation:

APIs [Application Programming Interfaces] are not a substitute for ethics.

INNOVATION AND CONTINUOUS LEARNING ARE INSEPARABLE

Arnold Beekes — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:52:07 -0400

The enormous amount of change requires an
almost equal speed in learning. Changes are in so many areas like new
technologies, new government guidelines, global markets or social
media/networking. Also it is crucial to not only check your competition and
your customers, but also noncustomers (if you are interested in creating blue
oceans…). Fortunately there is so much knowledge available on or via the
internet.

Landlord and Tenant Issues: Students at risk of being scammed

Sandy Hutchens — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:20:20 -0400

Students looking to rent accomodations before school starts are being targeted by an internet scam, according to Ottawa police.

The fraud involves dozens of apartment listings posted on the internet, such as one that university student Mr. Yeaman found on Craigslist, describing a fully furnished condo right downtown at a rock bottom price.

"I was happy," Yeaman recalled. "I thought I'd found kind of the diamond in the rough."

HOW STIMULATE IDEAS

Arnold Beekes — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:00:19 -0400

In earlier posts I did mention the
importance of using your own employees as a valuable source of new ideas. They
can for instance come up with ideas for new offerings based upon changed
customer needs, and also ideas how to speed up internal processes.

How can you stimulate ideas?