by Jeffrey Hollender | Oct 22, 2008
The Economist recently reported that from the early 1980’s to the peak last year, the financial services industry’s share of total American corporate profits rose from 10% to 40%. In other words, 40 cents out of every dollar earned by every company in the...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Sep 28, 2008
It’s a two-hour drive from Beijing to Tianjin, which is hosting the World Economic Forum. Otherwise known as the “Summer Davos,” the Forum’s stated purpose is to improve the state of the world. I’m here to find out what that means, how it’s supposed to happen, and...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Jul 22, 2008
James Gustave Speth, co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council, a Yale University dean, and a former White House advisor, has written a great book that everyone concerned with the fate of the world must read. Speth takes all of us to task — business,...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Jul 9, 2008
In February of 2008, on a trip to London for the Natural & Organic Products Exhibition, I stopped by to visit John Elkington, the founder of SustainAbility and an old friend. John has worked in the environmental and sustainable development fields since 1972. In...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Jun 27, 2008
Over the years, I have frequently spoken out against companies that preach a “we’re-all-in-this-together” ethos while tolerating Austrian-Afghanistan disparities in executive-employee pay. But I have offered little in the way of a real-world solution...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Jun 20, 2008
We simply buy too much stuff. I have more t-shirts in my closet than I could wear in several lifetimes. Yet someone always wants to give me another one. I have an iPhone, but the newest upgrade looks almost irresistible. In fact, so does the MacBook Air. Shoes, cars,...
by Jeffrey Hollender | May 12, 2008
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...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Apr 7, 2008
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...
by Jeffrey Hollender | Feb 28, 2008
“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...
