50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trending Toward the End of Greed, October 13, 2005
This review is from: Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Hardcover)
In their 1982 title Megatrends, Patricia Aburdene and her former husband John Naisbitt talked about the birth of the Information Economy; in Megatrends 2000, published in 1990, they predicted the networked, technology-driven Internet era. The coming megatrend, Aburdene asserts, will not be driven by external, social, or technological forces so much as "the internal dimension of change" that will reinvent free enterprise. And she's predicting that this spiritual megatrend will take firm hold of the American way of business by, say, 2010.
In seven chapters the book identifies the major facets of the new megatrend, including:
* The Power of Spirituality - From Personal to Organizational
* The Dawn of Conscious Capitalism
* Leading from the Middle
* Spirituality in Business
* The Values-Driven Consumer
* The Wave of Conscious Solutions
* The Socially Responsible Investment Boom
Along the way, Aburdene offers many intimate portraits of the people behind the spiritual evolution in business, from meditating CEOs to value-driven consumers and socially responsible investment counselors. In "Leading from the Middle," Aburdene suggests that conscious capitalism will spell an end to the era of high-profile CEOs who are outrageously overpaid not only to provide symbolic leadership of corporations, but to take virtually all the credit and blame for their companies' fortunes.
The question is what this and all the other "conscious capitalism" trends really portend for the future of American commerce. To Patricia Aburdene, this future will be one in which "the spiritual transformation of capitalism" will shift the American way of doing business "from greed to enlightened self-interest, from elitism to economic democracy, from the fundamentalist doctrine of `profit at any cost' to the conscious ideology that espouses both money and morals." If the author is overly optimistic, one hopes that she's not too far off the mark. In a time when natural disasters and accelerating environmental decline are colluding with exceptional political ineptitude to stress the great American experiment as never before, it might just be the approaching enlightenment of capitalism that illuminates a sane, sustainable path ahead for us all. -- From the Fearless Spotlight Review by D. Patrick Miller
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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A new kind of MegaTrend, November 17, 2005
This review is from: Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Hardcover)
I've been a fan of the MegaTrend series since the beginning.. but was apprehensive when I saw that John Naisbitt was not involved in this book.
Even while reading, I kept thinking.. this isn't what I expect from a Megatrends book.
Despite this disconnect.. and especially upon further reflection, I've found that MegaTrend 2010 has indeed followed the major trends and is very appropriate for today.
Amazing research is sited showing that more and more people are expecting good corporate citizenship. Aburdene tells us this proves Milton Friedman wrong "A corporation exists for the benefit of it's shareholders"... though I'd compromise and say that now "A corporation exists to benefit it's shareholder according to their current values"
Besides, several examples are cited where a corporation doing the right thing MAKE MORE PROFIT. That's got to benefit the shareholders.
This is one of the trends. Thought provoking, important issues for our time, and great for planning ahead.
If you're going to be around for a few years... read this book.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Hopeful Megatrends, December 6, 2005
This review is from: Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Hardcover)
Megatrends 2010
by Patricia Aburdene
Aburdene writes of Megatrends or "large, over-arching directions that
shape our lives for a decade or more." She says, "changing values and
economics are changing capitalism." She gives examples that convince her
that the world is becoming more compassionate, businesses more
other-oriented and people in general more spiritual." She writes
"Spirituality is the world's greatest megatrend."
She quotes authors Ray and Anderson's book, The Cultural Creatives, as
saying this culture, that of the Cultural Creatives, is 26% of the
population and growing 1% a year. She describes the Cultural Creatives as
folks who value nature, authenticity, spirituality, peace, relationships,
feminism, social justice and social responsibility.
In this book, Aburdene gives as models many companies, businesses and
individuals who are working at making changes from greed and selfishness,
power and materialism to more lasting kinds of satisfaction, to more
gentleness and consideration.
As examples of individuals becoming more conservative in their
materialism she writes about the Green movement in business and industry,
organic and natural food focuses, the CERES Principals, hybrid autos and
many areas where humans can help make huge changes.
I hope she is right. Since she doesn't list any of the many companies
and CEOs who are still into greed and corruption it is not possible for
me to believe that the majority are or will become less self-oriented. I
don't remember her once mentioning the corruption and crookedness of so
many in our officials in government at present or their inattention to those less well off than themselves.
I suggest you read this yourself, and decide whether her view is one that
is acceptable and makes sense to you.
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