Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good
    The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good
    The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good
    Audiobook19 hours

    The Enlightened Capitalists: Cautionary Tales of Business Pioneers Who Tried to Do Well by Doing Good

    Written by James O'Toole

    Narrated by David Marantz

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to ebook

    About this audiobook

    An expert on ethical leadership analyzes the complicated history of business people who tried to marry the pursuit of profits with virtuous organizational practices—from British industrialist Robert Owen to American retailer John Cash Penney and jeans maker Levi Strauss to such modern-day entrepreneurs Anita Roddick and Tom Chappell.

    Today’s business leaders are increasingly pressured by citizens, consumers, and government officials to address urgent social and environmental issues. Although some corporate executives remain deaf to such calls, over the last two centuries, a handful of business leaders in America and Britain have attempted to create business organizations that were both profitable and socially responsible.

    In The Enlightened Capitalists, James O’Toole tells the largely forgotten stories of men and women who adopted forward-thinking business practices designed to serve the needs of their employees, customers, communities, and the natural environment. They wanted to prove that executives didn’t have to make trade-offs between profit and virtue.

    Combining a wealth of research and vivid storytelling, O’Toole brings life to historical figures like William Lever, the inventor of bar soap who created the most profitable company in Britain and used his money to greatly improve the lives of his workers and their families. Eventually, he lost control of the company to creditors who promptly terminated the enlightened practices he had initiated—the fate of many idealistic capitalists.

    As a new generation attempts to address social problems through enlightened organizational leadership, O’Toole explores a major question being posed today in Britain and America: Are virtuous corporate practices compatible with shareholder capitalism?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 26, 2019
    ISBN9780062896582
    Author

    James O'Toole

    James O’Toole is the author of seventeen books, including Work in America and Vanguard Management. Professor Emeritus at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, and Founding Director of the Neely Center for Ethical Leadership. While at USC, he held the University Associates’ Chair of Management, served as Executive Director of the Leadership Institute, and editor of New Management magazine.

    More audiobooks from James O'toole

    Related to The Enlightened Capitalists

    Related audiobooks

    Corporate & Business History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Go Woke, Go Broke

      Oct 26, 2023

      WITH DONALD Trump’s improbable plotline so dominating the American political soap opera, little attention is being paid to the other characters seeking the Republican nomination for the White House. There is, however, one candidate who deserves to be

      3 min read

    • Article

      Capitalism To The Rescue

      Apr 16, 2020

      Capitalism To The Rescue
      3 min read

    • Article

      Power To The Shareholders

      Jan 21, 2022

      Power To The Shareholders
      10 min read

    • Article

      As the World Shifts, So Must Leaders

      Jan 1, 2024

      Great leaders are defined less by enduring traits and more by their ability to recognize and adapt to the opportunities created by a particular moment. They can sense the zeitgeist—the spirit, ideas and beliefs that define a period—and seize it. The

      3 min read

    • Article

      Disrupters

      Apr 1, 2022

      Disrupters
      11 min read

    • Article

      Disrupters

      Apr 2, 2022

      Disrupters
      11 min read

    • Article

      Just Because We Can, Does It Mean We Should?

      May 27, 2019

      Every business is faced with daily moral and ethical decisions. I once worked for a company whose claimed values were ‘customer first’ – yet at the end of the quarter our values suddenly became ‘sell all the crap you can to get our numbers up!’ Being

      3 min read

    • Article

      How to Save Capitalism

      Jan 24, 2020

      How to Save Capitalism
      2 min read

    • Article

      How to Save Capitalism

      Jan 24, 2020

      How to Save Capitalism
      2 min read

    • Article

      Capitalism Under Pressure: Why CEOs Rethink Corporate Purpose

      Sep 3, 2019

      When 181 CEOs at the Business Roundtable’s revised their view of a corporation’s purpose, it reflected social changes since the Great Recession.

      6 min read

    • Article

      What Post-pandemic Repair Could Look Like

      Dec 11, 2020

      Editor’s Note: This article previously appeared in a different format as part of The Atlantic’s Notes section, retired in 2021. The pandemic ravaged America’s big cities first, and now its countryside. The public-health and economic repercussions ha

      5 min read

    • Article

      Welcome To our Csi Edition

      Apr 19, 2023

      To the best of my knowledge, no other publication in the world delivers such 1 immediate and direct benefit to its vendors as The Big Issue. It’s a simple, yet brilliant business model as much as it is a good monthly read. This is just one of the rea

      4 min read

    • Article

      Heal Thyself

      Aug 26, 2020

      Heal Thyself
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Enlightened Capitalists

    4.5/5

    8 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 1/5
      What if the exploitation of labor by capital, but good!?