The enlightened capitalists : cautionary tales of business pioneers who tried to do well by doing good /

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Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:O'Toole, James, author.
Edition:First edition.
Imprint:New York, NY : Harper Business, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, [2019]
Description:xliv, 545 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11787778
Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:9780062880246
0062880241
Notes:Includes bibliographical references (pages 483-510) and index.
Summary:James O'Toole, an expert on ethical leadership, analyzes the complicated history of businesspeople who attempted to marry the pursuit of profits with virtuous organization practices. He tells the largely forgotten stories of men and women who adopted forward-thinking business practices designed to serve the needs of their employees, customers, communities, and the natural environment.
Description
Summary:

An expert on ethical leadership analyzes the complicated history of business people who tried to marry the pursuit of profits with virtuous organizational practices--from British industrialist Robert Owen to American retailer John Cash Penney and jeans maker Levi Strauss to such modern-day entrepreneurs Anita Roddick and Tom Chappell.



Today's business leaders are increasingly pressured by citizens, consumers, and government officials to address urgent social and environmental issues. Although some corporate executives remain deaf to such calls, over the last two centuries, a handful of business leaders in America and Britain have attempted to create business organizations that were both profitable and socially responsible.

In The Enlightened Capitalists, James O'Toole tells the largely forgotten stories of men and women who adopted forward-thinking business practices designed to serve the needs of their employees, customers, communities, and the natural environment. They wanted to prove that executives didn't have to make trade-offs between profit and virtue.

Combining a wealth of research and vivid storytelling, O'Toole brings life to historical figures like William Lever, the inventor of bar soap who created the most profitable company in Britain and used his money to greatly improve the lives of his workers and their families. Eventually, he lost control of the company to creditors who promptly terminated the enlightened practices he had initiated--the fate of many idealistic capitalists.

As a new generation attempts to address social problems through enlightened organizational leadership, O'Toole explores a major question being posed today in Britain and America: Are virtuous corporate practices compatible with shareholder capitalism

Physical Description:xliv, 545 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 24 cm
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (pages 483-510) and index.
ISBN:9780062880246
0062880241