Jeffrey Hollender, one of the founders of Seventh Generation, wrote an article on Friday about which businesses are (and aren't) worthy of admiration.
He wrote in response to Fortune Magazine's release of its World's Most Admired Companies list. Fortune's list ranks Apple the world's number one most admired company, and its top ten also includes Toyota, Goldman Sachs, and Wal-Mart. Hollender doesn't like it:
The ranking, which is based on a survey of business people and not the general public, contains too many firms who have littered the road to their success with significant environmental wreckage, serious labor abuses, and other unsustainable practices. Missing in action are most of the companies currently doing the heavy lifting on the cutting edge of responsible and sustainable corporate behavior--in other words, those that actually deserve admiration.
According to Hollender, the world doesn't need lists of businesses that are succeeding in ways that they have succeeded for decades. The world should instead recognize businesses like Organic Valley, Marks & Spencer, and Linden Lab, businesses that are "doing the innovating that matters and taking the risks that deliver truer rewards."
He wrote in response to Fortune Magazine's release of its World's Most Admired Companies list. Fortune's list ranks Apple the world's number one most admired company, and its top ten also includes Toyota, Goldman Sachs, and Wal-Mart. Hollender doesn't like it:
The ranking, which is based on a survey of business people and not the general public, contains too many firms who have littered the road to their success with significant environmental wreckage, serious labor abuses, and other unsustainable practices. Missing in action are most of the companies currently doing the heavy lifting on the cutting edge of responsible and sustainable corporate behavior--in other words, those that actually deserve admiration.
According to Hollender, the world doesn't need lists of businesses that are succeeding in ways that they have succeeded for decades. The world should instead recognize businesses like Organic Valley, Marks & Spencer, and Linden Lab, businesses that are "doing the innovating that matters and taking the risks that deliver truer rewards."
