tagged w/ Good Business
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Greetings!
It's official. Japan's long recession has finally ended. The small but highly productive nation has suffered enormous economic set-backs over the past two decades. To pull themselves out of the downturn, the Japanese business community and its government have followed a consistent and socially responsible course to economic recovery. The Japanese business model has emerged as an important example for how to create long-term profits while maintaining a clear code of ethics and honor.
No Apeing of America
Japan's new Financial Services Minister, Shizuka Kamei took office this past month and vowed that, "There would be no apeing of America." Kamei declared the official Japanese business model would embrace "social meaning." Mr. Kamei called for Japanese corporations to turn away from the American model of "self-interest" and return to the old spirit of "unity and cooperation" that once made Japan's economy great. "Japan became No 1 in the world and it is an objective and historical fact that Japan achieved that because of a typically Japanese style of corporate management...I insist that we should return to the traditional Japanese style of management."
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Sampoh-Yoshi: Happiness Times Three
Sampoh-Yoshi, loosely translated as the "Trinity of Bliss...of buyers, sellers, and the general public" is a business code for Japanese merchants dating back to the 12th century. In the medieval district of Ohmi, an area near Kyoto, the ancient business model of "Sampoh-Yoshi" lasted over eight hundred years." The code declared that Ohmi merchants were honor bound to customers and society alike to sell items of quality at a fair price. If customers were not happy, then merchants had failed in their basic responsibility. Equally important was the seller's obligation to the community it served. A product or business service must serve the greater society or the promise of "Sampoh-Yoshi" was unfulfilled.
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Jobs for Life
Jobs for life are becoming as quaint and old-fashioned an idea in modern Japan as they are in the United States. For three decades, the old concept of "Jobs for Life" has eroded in the U.S. only to be replaced with a brutally harsh job-cutting culture that is corporate America. In the US, companies increase earnings by slicing staff with abandon. Long term employees are famously given 10-20 minutes to pack up years of belongings and "exit the premises." To ensure compliance, uniformed security guards escort them to the door. Not so in socially conscientious Japanese corporate culture where dignity remains the word of the day.
http://3blmedia.com/theCSRfeed/Kinder-Gentler-CapitalismGreetings!
It's official. Japan's long recession has finally ended.... more
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America used to be the vanguard for change and innovation. Apple, Microsoft, Google, just to name a few, were companies that changed the way we do business. Well, innovation is still coming from the U.S. (i.e. GoodB)! Yet progress in "Better World Business" practices is more important than ever since the economic crisis this past year. This week GoodB reports on some innovative endeavors from the other side of the Atlantic...
Europe Saves the Planet
You know all those extra cell phone chargers that you don't know what to do with? Now these useless gadgets can go to the great charger resting place in the sky aka: the dump. Unfortunately, they are not recyclable or biodegradable. Not to mention how costly they become every time we "upgrade" our phones. A waste of money, waste of plastic, and just plain waste!
Well, the environmentally savvy European Union has done it again and come to the rescue! Europe saves dollars and our planet on the plan for a universal cell phone charger. Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson, and five other companies struck a deal with the European Union (EU) this year.
The Gold Standard
French-based luxury jeweler Cartier has vowed to buy only "sustainable gold" for their gems. Similar to Fair Trade coffee, Cartier is working with the non-profit PACT to buy gold from smaller miners to improve their economic conditions. Pact's stated mission is to help poorer nations "build empowered communities."
Additionally, Cartier has joined ranks with a consortium of civic-minded gem companies, the Responsible Jewellery Council (RSJ), to promote "responsible ethical, human rights, social and environmental practices in a transparent and accountable manner throughout the industry from mine to retail."
The Holy Grail of Free Markets: Competition
Antitrust laws in Europe and the U.S. are very clear that competition in the marketplace is a fundamental value of modern business. Much of the criticism surrounding global banking and official bailouts has been centered on the interference with free market competition in the wake of government aid.
Competition is held so sacred that Microsoft was aggressively litigated in the U.S. and Europe for anti-trust infringement. The tech company was forced to pay hundreds of millions in penalties to the EU and the U.S. Simon Johnson, former IMF economist and MIT professor, expressed a persuasive view in The "Quiet Coup" that financial institutions, particularly in the U.S., are monopolies.
A one day annual conference, European Competition Day, was held in early October in Stockholm to encourage European countries and the EU to keep market competition open.
http://3blmedia.com/theCSRfeed/Better-World-Business-Europe#America used to be the vanguard for change and innovation. Apple, Microsoft, Google,... more
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