Does Being Ethical Pay?

Recently the Wall Street Journal explored one aspect of this perennial question. Will consumers pay more for products they believe are ethically superior to regular products or even products produced in an unethical fashion? I have known the answer to this question...

On the Road Again

I hate leaving home on Sunday afternoons. The weekend is short enough as it is. With spring in Vermont in full bloom, and my daughter home from college, I was sad to be taking off. My week began with a Monday morning speech at the Front End of Innovation conference,...

Blood on Their Hands

Recently the New York Times reviewed The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker, by Steven Greenhouse, a reporter for the newspaper. The book, published by Knopf last week, examines how companies like Fed Ex and Walmart bleed workers to reap hundreds of...

The Day of Reckoning

I recently spent a day and a half in our quarterly board meeting. Many more hours went into preparing for it. I have put more than 30 years of my life into pre-meeting stress and anxiety and post-meeting exhaustion and reflection. These meetings are almost miniature...

Meeting a Remarkable Man

Recently, I spent the afternoon talking with David Suzuki, a man whose brilliance is matched only by his humility. Overlooking the St. Lawrence River in downtown old Montreal, we sat for several hours. David Suzuki is a rock star of the environmental movement in...

We Sold Our Eco-Dream to Timberland

Who wins when multi-national corporations acquire small, natural-products companies? The anecdotal evidence suggests it’s not the entrepreneur. While there are a few potential success stories, such as Groupe Danone’s acquisition of a majority stake in...

Monsanto: An evil company?

I have often wondered whether a company can truly be evil. Not a company run by evil people, but a place where decades of evil have seeped right into the corporate fabric. Almost ten years ago, at a Business for Social Responsibility conference in Los Angeles, I...

It Was Bad, and It Wasn’t a Dream

It had all the makings of a nightmare: 
”Seventh Generation Battles Carcinogenic Chemical Controversy”
 “Organic” and “Natural” Consumer Products Found Contaminated with Cancer Causing Chemical!” Less than two weeks ago, I...

Forbes’ Capitalism 2.0 article made my day

“Do corporations exist solely to maximize their bottom lines? We don’t think so.” Forbes Magazine, February 2008 I’ve made statements like that for over 20 years. I’ve been laughed at, ridiculed, and have at times questioned my own...