...Conscious Capitalism Conscious businesses focus on their purpose not their profit. As stated on the Conscious Capitalism website, “By focusing on a deeper purpose, a conscious business inspires, engages and energizes its stakeholders. Employees, customers, and others trust and even love companies that have an inspiring purpose” (http://www.consciouscapitalism.org/). It is not always about the money. A conscious business cares about its employees, suppliers, investors, community and the environment. The first of the four tenets of conscious capitalism is that a business has a greater impact on the world when it is based on a higher purpose rather than profits. Core values are essential, and should be the foundation of how a business should operate. The core values of a business are those values on which they perform work and conduct themselves. Higher purpose and core values are at the center of a conscious business. Sometimes businesses become so preoccupied with making money, they forget their purpose (Mackey & Sisodia, 2013). Whole Foods Market depicts an organization that deems core values to be what is truly important to them. Their core values include selling high quality products, satisfying the customer, supporting team members, increasing shareholder value, care of the community and the environment, partnerships with their suppliers, and promoting health through healthy eating. Whole Foods Market puts higher purpose and creating value for the stakeholders...
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...Organizational Climate The Fortune 100 is a compiled list of the top 100 companies to work for. According to "100 Best Companies To Work For" (2015), Google has been named number one for the sixth consecutive year. This paper discusses the research found by learning team B regarding amplifying effect, pro-social behavior, positive deviance, and conscious capitalism. Amplifying Effect Google has been recognized for its extraordinary organizational culture, which is designed to promote both loyalty and creativity (Thompson, 2015). Their informal slogan is "Don't Be Evil," and several of its policies and business decisions are founded on trying to live up to this motto (Topolsky, 2012, January 25). Although it may appear unconventional to practice such an approach in a company atmosphere where revenue is always the ultimate concern, employees state that they feel differently about being employed with Google as opposed to other businesses (Thompson, 2015). Google has still been able to maintain the small business feel that many employees love. Google uses a cross-functional organizational configuration mixed with a distinctive philosophy (Young Peoples Pavillion, 2013, November 10). Their cross-functional organizational structure is more of a group or team approach to administration and is structured horizontally (Young Peoples Pavillion, 2013, November 10). They view each employee as a valuable hands-on contributor and an evenly significant component of Google's success (Young...
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... 17-12-12 PHILOSOPHY,SOCIOLOGY;PSYCHOLOGY AND BUSINESS CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM: Lecture: Josè Alarcòn EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Conscious Capitalism: A more complex form of Capitalism that hold within itself the possibility to enhancing corporate performance while contributing to advance billion peoples’ quality of life...or...just good business. When approaching to this “new” horizon we have to know that is not new...capitalism doesn’t involve avidity and disrespect, it just has been corrupted. When Kant and Montesquieu were talking about the reducing of conflict through commerce, they were talking about just good business. This is a really important thing that has to enlighten everyone while approaching to capitalism in general and, obviously, to Conscious Capitalism. This philosophical and economical theory has to be understood in all its details because it seems there are no trap this time, we have eroded our world till today but maybe tomorrow we can began to “reconstruct” it. In fact, now, we can see our reality and our future “on the shoulder of the giants” (passage from Bernard de Chartres) and of the other tall...
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...role at Whole Foods. According to our textbook, Organizational Behavior, by Robert Kreitner and Angelo Kinicki, and the company’s primary mission directives, Whole Foods goal is for upper management to share the responsibility with their frontline managers in the development of a successful work environment (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013, p. 30). Whole foods promotes their employee teams to be self-directed and take initiative and responsibility for operating together for the benefit of their entire business organization. To this end John Mackey, Cofounder and Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market promotes through the application of McGregor’s Theory Y the happiness and growth of all employees within their organization. Through the use of "Conscious Capitalism", that purposely seeks to maximize the innate social and human potential of its employees Mackey sees workers as a capable resource. No viable business structure can thrive and survive if its employees fail to perform and meet company goals successfully. In employing...
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...point, Singer’s categories represent shifts in the way society addressed the physical and social environment through cultural apparatus, facilitated by advances in technology and philosophy. These themes amount to a structure of modernity, or a set of conditions that constitute a new conceptual lens to view human activity. While they remain connected to the history of the west as a source of examples, the themes are not necessarily fixed in time, depicting modernity not as a historical age, but as a developmental stage that happened to be reached by the west in the last 200 years. Indeed, while the event and developments depicted in Singer’s themes happened in a certain time in western history, they do not preclude those events being replayed at a later time. Singer’s work presents modernity outside the temporal perimeters established in the earlier works he cites, but as an absolute set of conditions. In Singer’s argument, the modern moment depicted by Kern and others is not identified in a specific event or series of events that epitomized a confluence of cultural and intellectual change, but rather a outline of conditions that constitute “modern” from “pre-modern” in the same way that one can determine...
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...Danny Whitford Francis Bacon, an English scientific philosopher of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, is best known for his advocacy of the scientific method during the scientific revolution. Also known as the Baconian Method, his scientific method revolves around inductive reasoning through which a series of conclusions can be made. He is known as the “Father of the Scientific Method” and the “Father of Experimental Science”. One of Bacon's most famous works is his History of Life and Death, in which he explains his observations and experimental conclusions about the prolongation of life by use of natural medicines and practices. His experimental approach to science with the use of inductive reasoning and trust of his senses was very influential in the Enlightenment during the 18th century. Bacon's scientific method formed the basis for modern science, and nearly all major scientific conclusions today rely on the inductive reasoning through observations of the senses that Bacon advocated. Nicolas Malebranche (Mal-brahnch), a French rationalist philosopher of the 17th and early 18th centuries, focused on rationalizing God's existence by means of the natural world rather than purely on faith and spirituality. His works, comparable to those of St. Augustine and René Descartes (Day-cart), attempt to show the active role of God in all aspects of the world and of human nature itself. Malebranche (Mal-brahnch) asserted that all human reasoning, thought, and cognitive...
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...role in the way that John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Food Markets runs his business. McGregor theorized that people would become committed to organizational objectives if they were rewarded for doing so. Mackey believes similarly. He believes that it is the manager’s job to seek out and hire the most appropriate person for the job. He believes that if you train them well that they will be happy in the workplace and will provide better customer service as a result. He believes that happy employees make for happy customers and happy customers make referrals to other people, which make happy investors (Kreitner & Kinicki, p. 30). Mackey didn’t emulate McGregor’s Theory Y completely. He came up with his own philosophy and called it conscious capitalism (Chertis & Muitaba, 2014). His theory is based on purpose rather than profit (Sacks, 2009). Mackey believes it is important to factor in the needs of all that are involved with the business: employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers, the community and even the environment (Sacks, 2009). Mackey has implemented generous health and retirement benefits for his employees besides above average pay. Non-executive employees...
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...Karl Heinrich Marx Submitted to: Mr. Felipe Submitted by: Eugenio, Marquiel Ivan M. II-2BSBA Philosophy BIOGRAPHY Karl Heinrich Marx was one of nine children born to Heinrich and Henrietta Marx in Trier, Prussia. His father was a successful lawyer who revered Kant and Voltaire, and was a passionate activist for Prussian reform. Although both parents were Jewish with rabbinical ancestry, Karl’s father converted to Christianity in 1816 at the age of 35. This was likely a professional concession in response to an 1815 law banning Jews from high society. He was baptized a Lutheran, rather than a Catholic, which was the predominant faith in Trier, because he “equated Protestantism with intellectual freedom.” When he was 6, Karl was baptized along with the other children, but his mother waited until 1825, after her father died. Marx was an average student. He was educated at home until he was 12 and spent five years, from 1830 to 1835, at the Jesuit high school in Trier, at that time known as the Friedrich-Wilhelm Gymnasium. The school’s principal, a friend of Marx’s father, was a liberal and a Kantian and was respected by the people of Rhineland but suspect to authorities. The school was under surveillance and was raided in 1832. Education In October of 1835, Marx began studying at the University of Bonn. It had a lively and rebellious culture, and Marx enthusiastically took part in student life. In his two semesters there, he was imprisoned for drunkenness and disturbing...
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...Assignment 1: What Makes “The Container Store” the Best Place to Work and Why Ralph L. Stout BUS 322 July 26, 2015 Professor Issam Merhi Assignment 1: What Makes “The Container Store” the Best Place to Work and Why The Container Store established in 1978 with the goal of working towards creating retail store experiences that are unlike any other retail stores. The differentiated shopping experience offers the customers an innovative, time, and spacesaving solutions coupled with astonishing customer service from happy, welltrained, and wellpaid salespeople. This simple road map has rocketed past all expectations in the 35 years since. The Container Store made the Forbes best company to work for 16 times in a row. The store operates 70 stores in 22 states and has over 10,000 products for everyday use ranging in price from $4000.00 to as low as $3.90. The store employee’s make double the industries salary. Taube (2014) says “the average Container Store retail salesperson makes nearly $50,000 a year compared with what the Bureau of Labor Statistics says is a national average of just above $25,000” (para. 3). This store’s culture is female friendly, and about 70 percent of the company’s employee base is female (Gupta, 2014). CEO Kip Tindell feels women are better at being team players and they understand the needs of the clientele; evident by the fact that about 70 percent of top leadership positions are held by women for this retail store. The Container Store adopted...
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...How sustainable is Whole Food’s competitive advantage? What factors will be the most crucial in maintaining it over the coming decade? Whole Foods can sustain its competitive advantage over the next decade on the basis of following four questions that will address about its resources and capabilities. The question of value: The Company has built a reputation for being selective in the products sold and only providing its customers with the highest quality natural and organic foods available. It appeals to upscale and affluent shoppers and has managed to evoke the kind of lifestyle brand. Moreover, Whole Foods strives to make shopping engaging, fun and interactive store atmosphere where community can interact, educate and grow, whereas its counterparts emphasize on low cost and abundant variety foods. For the upcoming decade, as customers are being more aware about the idea that low-priced foods from conventional sources costs more to the environment, communities, and animal welfare, the overall company’s outlook looks very positive. The question of rareness: The Company is in the customer-centered business, where customer happiness is pursued with greater interest, passion and empathy as compared to profit-centered businesses. The employees are organized into self-directed teams and employees are empowered to decide what products to stock in their section. The individual freedoms and positive reinforcement is far more philosophical, and therefore more difficult to replicate...
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...century. In collaboration with his friend, Heinrich Engels, he produced the The Communist Manifesto, written in 1848. Many failed countries' political and socio-economic structures have been based on Marx's theories, for example the USSR, East Germany etc. Many people believe that Marxism is not applicable to today's society, as Karl Marx put forward his ideas not anticipating the type of society we have today. The welfare state system has effectively nullified Marx's arguments, and made them irrelevant. Karl Marx, born on May 5, 1818, died on March 14, 1883, was a German economist, philosopher and revolutionist whose writings form the basis of the body of ideas known as Marxism. In his youth he was deeply affected by the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel, and joined a rebel group called the Young Hegelians, which contributed ideas towards the movement against organized religion and the Prussian Autocracy. Later on in life, he was influenced by the writings of Ludwig Feuerbach, who wrote that God was invented by humans as a projection of their own ideals, and that in creating such a 'perfect' being, in contrast to themselves, mankind lowered themselves to lowly, evil creatures who needed guidance from the church and government. He said that, in creating God in their own image, humans had 'alienated themselves from themselves.' Karl Marx applied this alienation theory to private property, which he said caused humans to work only for themselves, not for the good...
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...Ethics in Corporate America Ethical v. Unethical, Compare & Contrast The organizational performances of companies who deal with unethical business as opposed to companies who have leaders who consistently behave in an ethical manner have significant differences. One must, first, take into consideration how ethics are looked at as it pertains to the business community. Because terms dealing with the ideal behavior of leaders are used so loosely, it is helpful to define what these terms have generally come to mean in the business community. Ethics is the study of moral obligations, or of separating right from wrong. Ethics can also be a plural noun meaning the accepted guidelines of behavior for groups or institutions (Dubrin, 2010). Therefore, when dealing within organizations, if unethical behavior is not frowned upon, it can easily form at the highest level of the organization and trickle down throughout the organization, effecting employees on all levels. A leader who values fairness will evaluate group members on the basis of their performance, not personal friendships. And a moral leader will practice good ethics (Dubrin, 2010). In turn, if the leader has established good ethics and displays those in all fronts for the organization then the majority of the employee within the organization will be motivated to do the same. To further suggest the idea of the importance of the amount of ethical behavior displayed by the leader of the organization, the text provides...
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...“Explore the ideas of Karl Marx, discussing his theories and views toward capitalism. Discuss how these matters compare to modern day economic conditions, and consider the ethical and sustainability matters that are raised for today's managers.” Karl Marx; an economist, sociologist, revolutionary and historian, whose theories continue to influence economic thought for managers today. Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5,1818 – March 14, 1883) put forth many theories with regards to economics, politics and society that established the base on which Marxism was formed. His critique of the philosophies of other theorists and critical analysis of capitalism has influenced economic perception, and contributed largely toward the current understanding of capital and labour and the relationship that exists. In Karl Marx’s criticism of capitalism, he discussed many social matters such as ‘alienation’, the dominance by the ‘bourgeoisie’ over the ‘proletariat’; issues with regard to labour, such as the de-skilling and dehumanisation of workers as technological advances came about and capitalists strived to maximise ‘surplus value’ through the ‘exploitation’ of human labour. Although times have changed and this type of work environment is not as common, it is still an ever present situation in places such as China and India where cheap labour is employed to maximise the return for those in ‘control’. Advancements in technology continue, to the extent where the duties of workers can be performed...
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...Big Business Corporatism Versus Free Market Capitalism Right now, there is a lot of talk about the evils of “capitalism”. But it is not really accurate to say that we live in a capitalist system. Rather, what we have in the United States today, and what most of the world is living under, is much more accurately described as “corporatism”. Under corporatism, most wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of giant corporations and big government is used as a tool by these corporations to consolidate wealth and power even further. In a corporatist system, the wealth and power of individuals and small businesses is dwarfed by the overwhelming dominance of the corporations. Eventually, the corporations end up owning almost everything and they end up dominating nearly every aspect of society. As you will see below, this very accurately describes the United States of America today. Corporatism is killing this country, and it is not what our founding fathers intended. Corporatism is actually not too different from socialism or communism. They are all “collectivist” economic systems. Under corporatism, wealth and power are even more highly concentrated than they are under socialism or communism, and the truth is that none of them are “egalitarian” economic systems. Under all collectivist systems, a small elite almost always enjoys most of the benefits while most of the rest of the population suffers.The Occupy Wall Street protesters realize that our economic system is...
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...an influential literary review, Critique, which he edited until his death. George Bataille’s “Theory of Religion” is an attempt to sum up religion in as succinct a manner as possible. To be all things to all religions, the book is very vague and difficult to understand. Bataille created a chart or table to explain what he was doing and to give body to the work. ALAS! The chart is not in the book, lost to time. Thus, as it exists, Bataille’s book is a glimpse into the inner workings of a genius mind. It is a colorful attempt to understand “religion,” whatever that is. Further, it is an off-the beaten path romp through the daisies of the study of religion, sweet flowers that often remain unromped. Theory of Religion brings to philosophy what Bataille’s earlier book, The Accursed Share, brought to anthropology and history; namely, an analysis based on notions of excess and expenditure. Bataille brilliantly defines religion as so many different attempts to respond to the universe’s relentless generosity. Framed within his original theory of generalized economics and based on his masterly reading of archaic religious activity, Theory of Religion constitutes, along with The Accursed Share, the most important articulation of Bataille’s work. Theory of...
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