Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose

Is it possible to build a business on love and care? Love and business in the same sentence might sound a bit sappy, but far from it. Authors Sisodia, Wolfe and Sheth in the book Firms of Endearment researched hundreds of companies truly loved by all who come in contact with them and showed that they outperformed S&P 500 firms 1111% to 123% over the last ten years.Many business people consider "love" to be a personal matter, certainly nothing that belongs in the corporation. Yet love forms the foundation of all human interactions. Without love, there is no teamwork, no leadership, no real commitment to customer service.The term Firm of Endearment is a metaphor standing for companies that operate with the principle of stakeholder integration in mind. They strive to endear themselves not only to shareholders but to all stakeholders (customers, employees, suppliers, environmentalists and the community) and in the process outperform non-firms of endearment in shareholder wealth creation. They pay their employees very well, provide great value to customers, have thriving suppliers and achieve great returns for investors and are highly valued in their community.There are four characteristics that distinguish a Firm of Endearment. The first is that they are driven by a higher purpose that transcends profit maximization. A compelling sense of purpose creates an extraordinary degree of engagement for all stakeholders and catalyzes tremendous organizational energy. As the philosopher Frederick Nietzsche said, "he who has a why can bear almost any how".Stakeholder orientation is the second characteristic. Stories like John Mackey's, founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods. In 1981, Austin experienced its worst flood in 100 years. At that time, Whole Foods had only one store, in that city, which was now under eight feet of water. The flood literally wiped them out, with no savings, insurance or warehoused inventory. Yet something unexpected happened: customers showed up with buckets and mops to help salvage the store, team members worked for free, suppliers offered to resupply on credit, investors made additional investments, the bank loaned additional money. The love from the community saved Whole Foods and shaped the essence of what Whole Foods is today. As John Mackey says, stakeholders embody the heart, soul and lifeblood of an enterprise.Finally, firms of endearment are led by conscious leaders and create a conscious culture where trust, authenticity, care, transparency, integrity, learning and empowerment flourish.A great book that teaches great lessons and makes a compelling case that running a Conscious Business is a sound good business practice..

For far too long, big business has dominated the money institution and neglected the people in this world. It is nice to know that things are changing and big business can and does do things with integrity, honesty, and with concern with the people they serve, and that they can make a lot of money by doing so, without secret meetings and getting Congress involved to help them rob the poor, while making themselves rich. I applaud the Firms of Endearment for letting us know about these good companies.

There are relatively few books on the development and maintenance of enterprise-level advocacy (Glen Urban's "Don't Just Relate - Advocate" is another, earlier, one), but "Firms of Endearment" absolutely makes, and supports, the strategic, competitive and financial case for building the organization around passion and purpose. Although written by academics, the book guides readers, in real-world language and excellent case studies, through insights and methods that will help any company build stakeholder loyalty and advocacy through honesty, authenticity, and transparency - and even love and joy. Enterprise advocacy is covered from every aspect: New-age capitalism impact, employees, customers, investors, partners, society, and culture.My personal gauge for how much enjoyment and learning I've gotten from a marketing or management book is the percentage of pages with yellow highlight and the number of pages I've dog-eared for reference. By that standard, this book is outstanding.This is my consistent 'go-to' source for all things customer-centric and value-driven, applicable for any business, of any size and in any industry

Anyone interested in what makes America's unique, profitable, and passionate commpanies successful will want to not just read, but study this paradigm shifting book. As a fan of David Wolfe for 20 years, I have long awaited this text which shares a maturity of both one of the authors and America's business culture. Traditionalists will definitely struggle with this outside-the-box look at the future; but these are the same people that subscribe to the business principles that brought us Enron, Worldcom, and the decline of former giants like Coke, McDonalds, Eastern Airlines, and General Motors. The aging of the population in the world's developed nations is changing the rules for successful marketing and business operations - these authors get it! A must read for business survival in the coming decades.

I see some attempts at this concept where i work (AT&T mobility). I believe the concepts in this book are soiund and the evidence presented is indisputable to any honest researcher. However, the author did not need this much manuscript to present the ideas. It is sometimes like watching the History Channel, where the 15 minutes before the commercial is reviewed. Redundancy aside, it is a good book with a fantastically honest and needed approach to business and to life.

Although written before the Great Recession, this book gives great insight into why people shop and woke for companies that seem to care about them as much as they do about profits.I would recommend this for college kids and people disgruntled in their current careers and for retirees. If you are looking to change your perspective on why you work, this could help.

I thought that the book was well written and very true in what a company should have as standards but unfortunately not many do. Profits and Lossmove more decisions than anything else. I hope the companies who were mentioned stay that way and think of their stakeholders!!!

I was recommended this book by a colleague and it was one of my best buys.Although written some time ago the ideologies explored in practical terms are scarily predictive of the current reasons for our worldwide economic climate.A must for all those who conflicted about empathy humility and compassion in the workplace.

Este libro es una prueba de la teoría de Edward Freeman publicada en 1984 sobre el modelo del Stakeholder. Presenta varios casos que demuestran que las empresas que se ocupan de sus empleados, clientes, proveedores y comunidad terminan dándole más ganancias a los accionistas que aquellas que trabajan sólo pensando en ellos.

Ce livre m'a été fortement recommandé et je ne saurais que vous le recommander également. Livre très intéressant et rempli d'exemples, de nombreuses sources et une belle vision de ce que devrait être le monde de l'entreprise.

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