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Good Company: Business Success in the Worthiness Era
Author(s): Laurie Bassi (Author), Ed Frauenheim (Author), Dan McMurrer (Author), Larry Costello (Contributor)
- Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
- Publication Date: September 6, 2011
- Language: English
- Print length: 264 pages
- ISBN-10: B008PHNFPM
Book Description
Firms foul the planet but keep raking in revenue.
Reckless greed on Wall Street goes largely unpunished.
More evidence that bad guys finish first in business?
No. A different story is unfolding.
Noted economist Laurie Bassi and her coauthors show that despite the dispiriting headlines, we are entering a more hopeful economic age.
The authors call it the “Worthiness Era.” And in it, the good guys are poised to win.
Good Company explains how this new era results from a convergence of forces, ranging from the explosion of online information-sharing to the emergence of the ethical consumer and the arrival of civic-minded Millennials. Across the globe, people are choosing the companies in their lives in the same way they choose the guests they invite into their homes. They are demanding that companies be “good company.”Proof is in the numbers. The authors created the Good Company Index to take a systematic look at Fortune 100 companies’ records as employers, sellers, and stewards of society and the planet. The results were clear: worthiness pays off. Companies in the same industry with higher scores on the index—that is, companies that have behaved better—outperformed their peers in the stock market. And this is not some academic exercise: the authors have used principles of the index at their own investment firm to deliver market-beating results.
Using a host of real-world examples, Bassi and company explain each aspect of corporate worthiness, providing senior executives with the tools to adapt to the new road rules for business. The authors also describe how you can assess other companies with which you do business as a consumer, investor, or employee. This detailed guide will help you determine who the good guys are—those companies that are worthy of your time, your loyalty, and your money.
Good Company is a gold medal winner in the Business/Leadership category of the 2012 Nautilus Book Awards.
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Laurie Bassi is an economist and expert in human capital analytics. She is CEO of McBassi & Company, a consulting firm that applies Good Company concepts to help businesses improve their results. Bassi also chairs Bassi Investments, which invests in companies that make significant investments in their people. She holds a Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University and spent the early years of her career as a tenured professor of economics at Georgetown University. She is the author of over 80 published papers, including two articles for Harvard Business Review.
Ed Frauenheim is a journalist with 15 years of experience writing about topics including technology, work, business, and education. He has written for CNET News.com, the Oakland Tribune, Salon.com, and Wired magazine. He currently is Senior Editor at Workforce Management magazine.
Dan McMurrer is the chief analyst at McBassi & Company and chief research officer at Bassi Investments. Prior to cofounding McBassi & Company, Dan worked in research positions at the Urban Institute, Saba Software, the American Society for Training and Development, and the U.S. Department of Labor.
Lawrence Costello is the founder of consulting firm The Lawrence Bradford Group. Previously he held top management positions at Campbell Soup Company, PepsiCo, Frito-Lay, and American Standard.
