Investors will want to take at least a quick read through Patricia Aburdene's recently revised book Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism. Aburdene has isolated seven trends she sees will drive business and investor behavior for the near future.
1) Power of Spirituality in individual lives. People do not want their work and their personal morality to be in opposition to one another.
2) Strengthening of Conscious Capitalism that is responsible to both shareholders AND stakeholders.
3) Leading from the Middle in which middle managers acquire more voice and moral authority over business decisions.
4) Spirituality in Business leading to a wider acceptance of faith at work.
5) Values Driven Consumers who shop with their values as well as their dollars.
7) Socially Responsible Investing will continue to grow as more people reject the late, great Milton Friedman's opinion that corporations exist solely to make money for their shareholders.
To be sure, much of what Aburdene discusses is quite "touchy feely" and would be thought ludicrous in many corporations. But she provides numerous examples of companies that practice one or more of these megatrends and do so at a profit to the corporations and their shareholders.
Aburdene's thesis is that the clearest indication of a long term profitable company is the degree of social engagement actively practiced by its senior management. According to Aburdene, consciously capitalist companies outperform their competition over the long haul while building value for shareholders in ways that are sustainable for stakeholders. She provides many examples to support her claim, giving investors many opportunities for due diligence.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-03-2008 @ 2:36PM
Terra Andersen said...
Looks interesting - thanks for sharing!
4-03-2008 @ 11:24AM
Michael Schneider said...
Finding trends can be a very important concern for the business world generally as well as the investment community in particular so a work like this has value. Most of the items above do focus on the view that there will be increased spirituality and religious influences though-- not too surprising given the aging population. I just wrote an item on "socially responsible' investment in a new section called the Barrel Report (white label, top right at http://www.Barrelomoney.com). I have some concerns with what people call socially responsible investing but I think if there will be a transformation in what this form of investing takes. Essentially, the point is that it should become more specialized just as forms of media have grown more specialized and more empowering to individuals.