Compassionate Capitalism: How Corporations Can Make Doing Good an Integral Part of Doing Well (Paperback)

by Marc Benioff (Author), Karen Southwick (Author) "Suzanne DiBianca, executive director of the Salesforce.com Foundation, was escorting a journalist writing a piece on the company around the office..." (more)
Key Phrases: doing philanthropy, employee volunteerism, corporate philanthropists, San Francisco, City Year, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
What if every corporation in the world devoted one percent of its revenues, one percent of its employees' time, and one percent of its stock to the communities it serves? What would happen? It would change the world. This book suggests that such a radical change is possible, and lays out the blueprint to do so, with a radically new model in which companies leverage all of their assets-including employees, equity, products, and relationships-in order to provide real value to the communities in which they operate. Case studies look at how both large and small companies, have structured their philanthropy programs for maximum effectiveness and true integration. We see what works and what doesn't. Here is the essential guide for everyone, from the newly minted entrepreneur to the Fortune 500 CEO who wants to ensure that doing business goes hand in hand with doing good.

About the Author
MARC BENIOFF is CEO and chairman of salesforce.com, a leading provider of online business applications, and creator of the salesforce.com Foundation. A former sales and marketing executive at Oracle Corporation, he is now enlisting his energy and ambition in building a new model for global philanthropy, as portrayed in this book..KAREN SOUTHWICK is an experienced journalist who has worked for several magazines, including Forbes ASAP and Upside, and metropolitan daily newspapers, including the San Francisco Chronicle. She has written four books on the business side of technology, most recently Everyone Else Must Fail: The Unvarnished Truth about Oracle and Larry Ellison, published in November 2003 by Random House/Crown. She is currently an executive editor at CNET News.com. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Career Press (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564147142
• ISBN-13: 978-1564147141
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #350,903 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, February 6, 2004

By	a reader from the other side of the Pacific (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews

I really hope this kind of book published in my country, too. Only a few companies realize that they should do good things in a community. Rather, most of companies still pour their resources for doing well here in Japan. This book is great firstly because, it states that, no matter how large the company is, there should be a way to become a good citizen in a community. I am working in a company with 30 peoples, which is not so large. This book suggests that there is a business-philanthropy integrating model that my company can follow. Secondly because this book points out that a company has a power to change the society better. Most of us do not aware but a company has much more resources and opportunities than we imagine. This book describes how a company takes advantage of their resources to give back to a community. That is the new model of integrating business and philanthropy.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PR Week Review, February 24, 2004

By A Customer

PR Week US

BOOK REVIEW - 'Compassionate' gives readers a lot
02.23.04

Andrew Gordon

A breath of fresh air amongst the many business books out there, Compassionate Capitalism is full of insight and trade secrets simply about building the bottom line. At a time when many corporations have cut back their philanthropy, Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff shows how giving back is always a good idea.

Benioff leads from example, demonstrating Salesforce's own philanthropic philosophy. He includes dozens of other examples from the likes of Hasbro, Timberland, and Cisco Systems.

While the book is repetitive at times, it ultimately proves insightful, using the examples to show how companies establish a culture of philanthropy, how they involve staff, how they reach out globally, and how they maintain their giving during tough times. Perhaps most importantly, the authors note that corporate philanthropy 'must be more than lip service or devotion to giving as a way to generate PR coverage.' The book is a nice reminder that shareholders are not the only ones who have a stake in a company's success.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars highly recommend, February 3, 2004

By A Customer

A terrific book with a relevant message to all of corporate America. This is a company who DOES IT and is leaving its mark on the San Francisco area and beyond. Kudos to Mr. Benioff, his model corporate Foundation, and his enthusiastic staff for giving the rest of us a model of corporate giving and employee commitment!