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Stuart L. Hart, " Capitalism at the Crossroads: Aligning Business, Earth, and Humanity (2nd Edition) (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)"

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"Capitalism at the Crossroads is built on strong theoretical underpinnings and illustrated with many practical examples. The author offers a pioneering roadmap to responsible macroeconomics and corporate growth." -Clayton Christensen, Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator's Dilemma "I hope this book will be able to influence the thought processes of corporations and motivate them to adapt to forthcoming business realities for the sake of their own long-term existence. Besides business leaders, this is a thought-provoking book for the readers who are looking for solutions to capitalism's problems." -Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize recipient "Capitalism at the Crossroads is a practical manifesto for business in the twenty-first century. Professor Stuart L. Hart provides a succinct framework for managers to harmonize concerns for the planet with wealth creation and unambiguously demonstrates the connection between the two. This book represents a turning point in the debate about the emerging role and responsibility of business in society." -C. K. Prahalad, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, co-author of Competing for the Future and author of The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid "Stuart Hart was there at the beginning. Years ago when the term 'sustainability' had not yet reached the business schools, Stuart Hart stood as a beacon glowing in the umbrage. It is clear commerce is the engine of change, design the first signal of human intention, and global capitalism is at the crossroads. Stuart Hart is there again; this time lighting up the intersection." -William McDonough, University of Virginia, co-author of Cradle to Cradle "Professor Hart is on the leading edge of making sustainability an understandable and useful framework for building business value. This book brings together much of his insights developed over the past decade. Through case studies and practical advice, he argues powerfully that unlimited opportunities for profitable business growth will flow to those companies that bring innovative technology and solutions to bear on some of the world's most intractable social and environmental problems." -Chad Holliday, Chairman and CEO, DuPont "Capitalism at the Crossroads clearly reveals the essence of what sustainability means to today's business world. Hart's analysis that businesses must increasingly adopt a business framework based on building sustainable value speaks to the entire sustainability movement's relevance. Sustainability is more than today's competitive edge; it is tomorrow's model for success." -Don Pether, President and CEO, Dofasco Inc. "Stuart Hart has written a book full of big insights painted with bold strokes. He may make you mad. He will certainly make you think." -Jonathan Lash, President, The World Resources Institute "A must-read for every CEO--and every MBA." -John Elkington, Chairman, Sustainaility "This book provides us with a vast array of innovative and practical ideas to accelerate the transformation to global sustainability and the role businesses and corporations will have to play therein. Stuart Hart manages to contribute in an essential way to the growing intellectual capital that addresses this topic. But, beyond that, the book will also prove to be a pioneer in the literature on corporate strategy by adding this new dimension to the current thinking." -Jan Oosterveld, Professor, IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain Member, Group Management Committee (Ret. ), Royal Philips Electronics "Capitalism at the Crossroads captures a disturbing and descriptive picture of the global condition. Dr. Hart constructs a compelling new corporate business model that simultaneously merges the metric of profitability along with societal value and environmental integrity. He challenges the corporate sector to take the lead and to invoke this change so that the benefits of capitalism can be shared with the entire human community worldwide." -Mac Bridger, CEO of Tandus Group "Stuart L. Hart makes a very important contribution to the understanding of how enterprise can help save the world's environment. Crucial reading." -Hernando de Soto, President of The Institute for Liberty and Democracy and author of The Mystery of Capital "Stuart Hart's insights into the business sense of sustainability come through compellingly in Capitalism at the Crossroads. Any businessperson interested in the long view will find resonance with his wise reasoning." -Ray Anderson, Founder and Chairman, Interface, Inc. "This stimulating book documents the central role that business will play in humanity's efforts to develop a sustainable global economy. Professor Hart presents an attractive vision of opportunity for those corporations that develop the new technologies, new business models, and new mental frames that are essential to a sustainable future." -Jeffrey Lehman, Former President of Cornell University "The people of the world are in desperate need of new ideas if global industrial development is ever to result in something other than the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, with nature (and potentially all of us) suffering the collateral damage. Few have contributed more to meeting this need over the past decade than Stuart Hart by helping to illuminate the potential role for business and new thinking in business strategy in the journey ahead. Capitalism at the Crossroads challenges, provokes, and no doubt will stimulate many debates--which is exactly what is needed." -Peter Senge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chairperson of the Society for Organizational Learning, and author of The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of The Learning Organization New Foreword by Al Gore Brand-New Second Edition, Completely Revised with: *Up-to-the-minute trends and lessons learned *New and updated case studies *The latest corporate responses to climate change, energy, and terrorism Global capitalism stands at a crossroads-facing terrorism, environmental destruction, and anti-globalization backlash. Today's global companies are at a crossroads, too-searching desperately for new sources of profitable growth. Stuart L. Hart's Capitalism at the Crossroads, Second Edition is about solving both of those problems at the same time. It's about igniting new growth by creating sustainable products that solve urgent societal problems. It's about using new technology to deliver profitable solutions that reduce poverty and protect the environment. It's about becoming truly indigenous to all your markets, and avoiding the pitfalls of first-generation "greening" and "sustainability" strategies. Hart has thoroughly revised this seminal book with new case studies, trends, and lessons learned-including the latest experiences of leaders like GE and Wal-Mart. You'll find new insights from the pioneering BoP Protocol initiative, in which multinationals are incubating new businesses in income-poor communities. You'll also discover creative new ways in which corporations are responding to global warming and terrorism. More than ever, this book points the way toward a capitalism that's more inclusive, more welcome, and far more successful-for both companies and communities, worldwide. *Paths to profitable sustainability: Lessons from GE and Wal-Mart *Shattering the "trade-off" myth *New commercial strategies for serving the "base of the pyramid" *What enterprises have learned about doing business in income-poor regions *Becoming indigenous-for real, for good *Codiscovering new opportunities, cocreating new businesses with the poor *Learning from leaders: 20+ new and updated case studies *Best practices from DuPont, HP, Unilever, SC Johnson, Tata, P&G, Cemex, and more About the Author xii Acknowledgments xiii Foreword: Al Gore, Former Vice President of the U.S. xxiv Foreword: Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO, S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. xxvii Prologue: Capitalism at the Crossroads xxxi PART ONE: MAPPING THE TERRAIN Chapter 1: From Obligation to Opportunity 3 Chapter 2: Worlds in Collision 31 Chapter 3: The Sustainable Value Portfolio 59 PART TWO: BEYOND GREENING Chapter 4: Creative Destruction and Sustainability 87 Chapter 5: The Great Leap Downward 111 Chapter 6: Reaching the Base of the Pyramid 139 PART THREE: BECOMING INDIGENOUS Chapter 7: Broadening the Corporate Bandwidth 169 Chapter 8: Developing Native Capability 193 Chapter 9: Toward a Sustainable Global Enterprise 223 Epilogue 249 Index 254

Summary: Most relevant book in today's economy

Rating: 5

A great discussion on the problems of capitalism as it stands today -- and an insightful look at some of the solutions that lay ahead. The book, including it's Forward by Al Gore, is a must for any economics/sustainability intellectual.

Summary: Putting a new paradigm to work

Rating: 5

Stuart Harts' book is groundbreaking. It discusses on issues united under the umbrella term 'sustainability'. Hart describes those issues in a merciless way, as the gravity of the situation warrants. But he does not lead us into a pessimistic picture of doom. On the contrary, he shows avenues of avenues of hope. In other words, there are things to do to deal with the pressing problems facing the planet and its population.

Those processes towards solutions had better dovetail with the ways in which apparently people apparently satisfy their economic and social interests. Those ways, which could be brought together as 'capitalism', are not without problems of their own; problems which Hart discusses. He also sees the great potential towards improvement hidden within the dynamic of capitalism and makes us contemplate on ways of using that potential in dealing with the challenges of the planet.

Special mention has to be given to Harts' discussion of paradigms he connects with, especially Elkingtons' Triple Bottom Line and Prahalads' Bottom of the Pyramid; approaches which lie at the basis of this book, although Hart goes further.

The encompassing and at the same time practical approach in this book make it valuable reading to all people engaged in business and government, although not only to them.

Joop Remmé / www.knowdialogue.nl

Summary: Capitalism and the New World Economy

Rating: 4

Stuart Hart is an author, instructor, researcher, and lecturer who has written many books and essays on strategic management and the problems/challenges of globalism in the world economy. His consulting services have been utilized by many large companies including DuPont, Hewlett- Packard, and Proctor and Gamble and he has helped these and other companies like them to develop a more Earth- friendly, poverty- reducing approach to solving the world's problems while still maintaining enough economic momentum to stabilize or even improve the bottom line.

The primary focus of this book is the important task that businesses face in the twenty- first century; namely, the task of expanding the world economy, helping third world nations emerge from poverty, and improving the environment. To many, this idea of companies helping other nations, promoting recycling and environmentally sound business practices, and making a profit seems to be one big contradiction. When most people think of business, we think of the bottom- line goal of earning a profit by whatever means necessary; everything else be damned. But like Hart points out, the reality of environmental issues is too important and too critical for business to ignore. And if the left steps are taken, businesses can not only improve the world and its people, they can also reap profits and other rewards in the process. Thus, not only is it the left direction to take morally, it is also the left direction to take financially and if companies move quickly they can establish themselves as leaders in the global marketplace and enjoy the many benefits that their initiative will bring.

Globalism has been one of the most heated topics in economic discussion groups in the past ten to fifteen years. Proponents of globalism feel that it is the best way to spread prosperity all over the world and eradicate a large number of the world's poor. Opponents, however, have been very vocal in their opposition to globalism, citing many key areas where they feel the earth and its people are worse off when large companies expand to other nations. These activists feel that globalism depletes the world's resources at a faster rate; leads to deployment of "sweatshops" and other inhumane treatment of workers; and does little if anything to alleviate the problems of economic distress, inadequate health care, and the like. But like Hart demonstrates in this book, the pro- globalists and the anti- globalists can and must work together to solve these problems. And he feels that private businesses can make this happen by utilizing present technologies that will produce more abundant goods and services, improve standards of living, and leave the environment unaffected and possibly even better than it was before. Hart is a strong believer that much good can be accomplished if companies will simply change their strategy and embrace the idea of global environmentalism and responsibility. New growth areas exist all over the planet and by integrating some of the new technologies with profitable solutions, companies can make money and make a name for themselves as corporate citizens on a world- wide scale.

Much of what this book talks about seems reasonable now that I have finished it, but I admit that I was a little skeptical at first. How, I wondered, could a company implement all of these changes, pay good wages to foreign workers, protect the environment, and still make a profit? It seems like a very expensive proposition but like the author demonstrates, it really isn't a far fetched idea at all. We have to remember that much of the population of the world lives in conditions that are almost completely devoid of any use of modern technologies. Introducing these technologies can improve productivity drastically- so much so, in fact, that it will easily negate the initial expense of establishing the technology in the first place. One example stated in the book is that of Grameen Phone and Grameen Telecom- two businesses that helped establish a cellular phone network in Bangladesh. Money was loaned to women living in the poverty- stricken rural villages so that they could become private entrepreneurs to sell mobile phone service. The loan money was used to purchase a cell phone and a solar recharging unit and the women were then trained and sent out to sell this service. This business venture has proven to be a great success, profitable in many ways. It has raised many people out of poverty, extended modern technology to people who don't normally have this luxury, and protected the environment through the inclusion of solar charging units. All of this was possible simply because a company was willing to take a chance, grant loans, and extend a useful service to a class of people who would never be able to afford cellular phone service using existing business models.

Most of the information presented in this book deals with spreading economic success to the billions of people in the world who occupy the bottom levels of the economic pyramid but what the author talks about can easily apply to other situations as well. Corporate stewardship and environmental responsibility are admirable goals for a company of any size regardless of whether its customers are economically well- off or financially strapped. Hart concentrates mostly on the problems of the third world because it is here that most opportunity exists and where most of the challenges lie. But much of what he talks about could be applied to anyone, including those at the top of the economic pyramid who consume a large amount of resources with little regard for economic or environmental consequences.

I like the way Hart writes this book. It is well- organized with boldface text to break up different topics/subtopics and with notes at the end of each chapter. I also admire the sense of optimism. Hart is convinced that this approach is not only the left thing to do, it is imperative that corporations take action immediately and if they do so and do it left, they will easily reap the benefits. The old ideas that profit is the number one priority, that humans are disposable components of any business, and that the environment is the concern of governments have all become outdated in the modern world economy.

Overall, Capitalism at the Crossroads is a very good book about business and its critical role in shaping the world economy. Conventional wisdom about what works and what doesn't needs to be tossed aside in favor of (as the author refers to them) "disruptive technologies"- business models that go completely against the established way of doing things and present a fresh perspective tailored to the needs of specific people and cultures that protects the environment and still earns a profit. All of this is possible, and Hart feels it is very important that these large, multi- national corporations wake up and adapt to the new world economy. It is not only economically profitable, it is a necessary part of economic sustainability and world stability.

The bottom line of this book could be summed up as follows: Companies that help other people and protect the environment will be rewarded in many ways, including bottom- line profit, improved living conditions, and a better environment for all. Capitalism is at an important crossroad and the path taken needs to be the one that promotes responsible corporate growth for the good of all.

Summary: A Classic

Rating: 5

The book starts with a overview of the dominant position that is occupied by multinationals in today's global economy. Going by the definition of the term, 60000 multinationals produce a quarter of the global output of products and services. Yet they are owned by less that 1 percent of the worlds population and employ about 1 percent of the world's employable workforce. Meanwhile many of these companies in their race for short term earnings have sacrificed sustainable methods of production. In other words they have done irreparable damage to the earth's environment and created social tensions in many countries. In other words, the pursuit of economic gains is at loggerheads with local cultures and environmental interests.

Then comes the interesting hypothesis termed "The Great trade-off illusion". Earlier companies believed that a certain amount of pollution for example was inevitable and any efforts for its reduction will incur expenses for treatment. This is called "end of the pipeline approach" for treating pollutants. Similarly, large companies serving the top 800 million population of the earth's population adopted similar business models and products across countries and cultures. Two thirds of the population was ignored since it was perceived that this huge segment just cannot afford the goods and services offered by the multinationals.

The author offers a radical approach and introduces the concept of "Triple Bottom-line". How can companies win by offering goods and services that are culturally appropriate, environmentally sustainable and economically profitable. This is not wish or ivory tower theory, but a necessity and practically feasible path argues the author.

To serve the base of the pyramid (BOP) population, companies need to adopt disruptive technologies, incubate them in the BOP markets with appropriate functionality and price points. This also needs innovative business models. One should not look at what is bad ( corruption) or what is missing ( western style institutions) in the BOP segment, but understand and serve their needs through innovative products and services through appropriate business processes.

This is essentially a combination of Prof. Clayton Christensen's disruptive innovations ( The Innovator's Dilemma) and the concept of BOP ( The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid - C.K. Prahalad ).

In my opinion the main take away in terms of an excellent framework for business strategy is the concept of "Sustainable Value Portfolio". Defining the Organization's internal capabilities and external constituencies on the horizontal axis, and managing today's business and tomorrow's business opportunity on the vertical axis, we get four quadrants on which companies can operate. Companies typically operate only on the quadrant of internal capabilities and today's business. This is an approach of incremental improvements and greening. The other quadrant below the horizontal axis is the concept of "extended supplier responsibility" or Product Stewardship taking full responsibility for the product including its recycling, in close interaction with existing customers.

To win in tomorrows world, companies need to operate in and fully leverage on internal capabilities to introduce successful disruptive technologies that can cater to the needs of the un-served four billion population( that will grow to about 8 billion by 2050), or B24B, in a manner that is environmentally sustainable. Companies that understand all the four quadrants well and progressively plan their product portfolio are the winners of tomorrow.

Take the automobile industry for example. The author clearly brings out that till the 1970's this industry produced vehicles that polluted the planet with total disregard to fuel efficiencies. Then the focus shifted to emission norms and recycling of used automobiles. A huge opportunity awaits this sector in exploiting disruptive technologies like hydrogen fuel cells and simultaneously use such technologies to offer low cost transportation in countries like India and China.

The book then gets into a detailed discussion on the BOP realities and the left business models to serve this huge market.

A classic by any account, I personally rate it as one amongst the top 10 business books on my bookshelf. One can feel the author's sense of commitment, deep understanding of and a passion for the topic in every page of the book.

Summary: What Capitalism Could Accomplish

Rating: 5

This interesting and provocative book synthesizes several of the most influential ideas in modern business and distills a new idea: that disruptive innovation at the bottom of the pyramid will solve the crises of environmental pollution, business stagnation and international terrorism at the top. No one can accuse author Stuart L. Hart of thinking small or of lacking imagination. His big ideas are all in place. The only missing element, as he freely admits, is one small detail: how. Capitalism must take a new course, and it's pretty clear what the new course must be, but Hart presents only a vague notion of how businesspeople are to go about turning his vision into reality. We recommend that business leaders read this book anyway, because it will stimulate your thinking about what might be possible. Maybe you'll be the one to figure out how to make the difference.

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