In our time of dramatic worldwide change, can business leaders meet the challenges of the marketplace and the needs of people, communities, and the planet? Merchants of Vision profiles 40 business leaders who are successfully working to do just that.
James Liebig interviewed dozens of business women and men in 70 organizations from 14 countries. He found executives, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and consultants who recognize business's pervasive global influence and have found ways to use that influence to affect positive change in people's lives and meaningful growth in their businesses. In Merchants of Vision they share their beliefs, experiences, and creative actions.
Visionary yet down-to-earth, these real-life portraits provide viable business strategies for:
o enhancing social equity,
o protecting the natural environment,
o fostering human creativity,
o serving higher purposes, including spiritual, service, and community values,
o behaving ethically,
o providing transformational leadership.
Representing a variety of business enterprises in the United States, Latin America, Europe, and Asia, innovators profiled include, for example:
o Elliot Hoffman, president of Just Desserts in San Francisco;
o Jacqueline Cambata, president of Phoenix Chemical in Virginia;
o Mara Adela Palcos, director of Rio Abierto Institute in Buenos Aires;
o Marjorie Kelly, editor and publisher of Business Ethics magazine;
o Eckart J. Wintzen, president of BSO/ORIGIN, computer custom software services in The Netherlands;
o Joe Jaworski, head, Business Environment Section, Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd., in London, England;
o Jagdish Parikh, managing director, Lemuir Group of Companies in Bombay, India;
o Carol Frenier, president, The Advantage Group, Inc., specialty advertising in Vermont;
o Meryem Le Saget, directeur, Institut de L'Expansion, Group Expansion, business seminars and conferences in Paris, France;
o Heini Lippuner, chairman, executive committee, Ciba-Geigy Limited, chemical manufacturing in Basel, Switzerland;
o Robert V. Adams, president of Xerox Technology Ventures in California.
These are people of action and integrity who sustain themselves with the creative friction between their idealism and their knowledge of the real world. Their experiences-addressing issues of personal responsibility and product quality, expanding markets and shrinking natural resources, technological advancement and cultural preservation-reveal ways businesses must adapt to survive, thrive, innovate, and lead.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
Chapter 1: What in the World is Happening?
The Diffusion of Power
Mother Nature Is Calling
This Mind-Stretching Era
The Search for Balance and Harmony
Chapter 2: Addressing the Social Frontiers of Business
Re-Mapping and De-Mything
From Ephrata to Jakarta to Kilimanjaro
Enhancing Social Equity Through Micro Transformation
Information Markets for Solving World Problems
Chapter 3: Protecting Life's Context
The Environment & Poverty Linked
The Environmental Business
In Search of Productive Contexts
Environmental Evangelism
Environment-Inspired Corporate Renewal
Freeing People & Doing Eco-Accounting
Chapter 4: Unleashing Creativity
Midwifing Xerox Babies
Achieving Creativity Through Consciousness & Transformation
Ownership + Focus on Quality = Creativity
Integrating Spirit & Work
Openness = The Proof of Trust
Freedom and Responsibility
Chapter 5: Corporate Ethics: Values, Attitudes & Behaviors
Value-Based Ethics
Clear Identity
TOTAL Quality
Values, Learning & Creativity
Integrity
Progress vs. Perfection
Chapter 6: Transformation Through Consciousness
Wholistic Transformation
Seeking the Flow of Life
One Woman's Experience
Combining Will and Heart
Achieving a Global Vision
The Lessons of Curaao
Chapter 7: Serving Higher Purposes
Leadership and Responsibility
Service and Spirit
Love and Service
Community and Spirit
Company and Community
