Reinventing Capitalism and Companies for a Radically New World
Today’s era of economic crisis has sent a powerful message: The age of
“mercenary” capitalism is ending. We must finally embark on a new age of sustainable,
stakeholder-based capitalism. While enlightened executives and policymakers understand the
critical need for change, few have tangible plans for making it happen. In Capitalism at
the Crossroads, Stuart L. Hart presents new strategies for identifying sustainable
products, technologies, and business models that will drive urgently needed growth and
help solve social and environmental problems at the same time.
Drawing on his experience consulting with top companies and NGOs worldwide,
Hart shows how to craft your optimal sustainability strategy and overcome the limitations
of traditional “greening” approaches. In this edition, he presents new and updated
case studies from the United States and around the world, demonstrating what’s working
and what isn’t. He also guides business leaders in building an organizational
“infrastructure for sustainability”--one that can survive budgeting and boardrooms,
recharging innovation and growth throughout your enterprise.
Stuart L. Hart is one of the world’s top authorities on the
implications of sustainable development and environment for business strategy. He is
currently the Samuel C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise and Professor of
Management at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. He also serves as
Distinguished Fellow at the William Davidson Institute (University of Michigan) and
President of Enterprise for a Sustainable World. Previously, he taught strategic
management and founded both the Center for Sustainable Enterprise (CSE) at the University
of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School and the Corporate Environmental
Management Program (now the Erb Institute Dual Master’s Program) at the University of
Michigan.
Table of Contents
About the Author . . . xi
Acknowledgments . . . xii
Preface: Al Gore, Former Vice President of the United States . . . xxiii
Foreword: Fisk Johnson, Chairman and CEO, S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. . . . xxvi
PART ONE: MAPPING THE TERRAIN 1
Prologue: Reinventing Capitalism for the Post-Crisis World . . . 3
The Great Disruption . . . 4
The Best of Times, The Worst of Times . . . 5
Environmental Meltdown? . . . 8
The Demise of Development . . . 10
Implications for Corporations . . . 13
The Fork in the Road . . . 15
Chapter 1: From Obligation to Opportunity . . . 19
The Great Trade-Off Illusion . . . 21
The Greening Revolution . . . 23
Shattering the Trade-Off Myth. . . . 25
Breaking Free of Command-and-Control . . . 26
Beyond Greening . . . 30
Raging Against the Machine . . . 33
Smart Mobs Versus Smart Globalization . . . 35
Becoming Indigenous . . . 38
The Road Ahead . . . 41
Overview of the Book . . . 43
Chapter 2: Worlds in Collision . . . 51
The Three Economies . . . 53
Collision Course . . . 60
New Lenses on the Global Market . . . 62
Developed Markets: Reducing Corporate Footprint . . . 65
Emerging Markets: Avoiding the Collision . . . 68
Traditional Markets: Serving Real Needs . . . 72
The Value Proposition . . . 76
Chapter 3: The Sustainable Value Portfolio . . . 79
Sustainability Buzzwords . . . 80
Elements of Shareholder Value . . . 81
The Buzzword Sort . . . 84
Connecting the Dots: The Sustainable Value Portfolio . . . 87
Charting the Sustainable Value Portfolio . . . 97
The Road to Sustainability . . . 99
Pursuing the White Space. . . . 104
PART TWO: BEYOND GREENING 109
Chapter 4: Clean Technology and Creative Destruction . . . 111
Continuous Improvement Versus Creative Destruction . . . 112
From Textile Dyes to Biomaterials . . . 118
Using Carbon Dioxide to Change the World . . . 120
Developing an Ecomagination . . . 122
Whole-Systems Thinking . . . 124
Reinventing the Wheels . . . 128
Technologies of Liberation . . . 131
Eating Your Own Lunch . . . 133
Chapter 5: Innovation from the Bottom-Up . . . 137
On the Horns of a Dilemma . . . 138
Birth of BoP. . . 139
The Tip of the Iceberg . . . 141
Creative Creation . . . 146
Driving Innovation from the Base of the Pyramid . . . 149
Connecting the World. . . 151
Food, Health, and Hope? . . . 155
Power to the People . . . 158
The Great Convergence . . . 162
A New Development Paradigm . . . 165
Taking the Great Leap . . . 167
Chapter 6: Raising the Base of the Pyramid . . . 171
BoP Pioneers . . . 172
It’s the Business Model, Stupid . . . 173
Assessing Sustainability Impact . . . 189
Village Phones: The Triple Bottom Line . . . 192
The MNC Advantage . . . 196
A Common Cause . . . 197
PART THREE: BECOMING INDIGENOUS 201
Chapter 7: Broadening the Corporate Bandwidth . . . 203
Learning from Ladakh . . . 204
The Post-Development Challenge . . . 207
Radical Transactiveness. . . 211
Fanning Out: Extending the Scope of the Firm . . . 213
Fanning In: Integrating Diverse and Disconfirming Information . . . 217
Expanding Our Concept of the Global Economy . . . 222
From Alien to Native . . . 224
Chapter 8: Developing Native Capability . . . 227
Next Generation Strategies and Skills . . . 229
Engage First, Design Second . . . 230
Coinvent Custom Solutions . . . 234
Fail Small, Learn Big . . . 237
Fly Under the Radar . . . 239
Work with Nontraditional Partners . . . 242
Build Social, Not Legal, Contracts . . . 244
Moving Beyond the Multinational Model . . . 248
Chapter 9: Re-Embedding Innovation Strategy . . . 253
Comparing Apples and Oranges . . . 254
Toward a Base of the Pyramid Protocol . . . 257
Learning by Doing . . . 262
Taking the Initiative on Water . . . 267
The Three Big Challenges . . . 273
Leading the Next Great Transformation . . . 276
Chapter 10: Building the Sustainable Global Enterprise . . . 281
Making It Happen in the Real World . . . 283
Aligning the Organization . . . 293
Building the Cathedral . . . 300
Postscript . . . 302
Epilogue: Looking Forward . . . 307
Draining the Swamp . . . 308
The Next Tsunami . . . 310
Who Will Be the Twenty-First Century Watchdog? . . . 312
Index . . . 315
352 pages, Paperback