The Soul of a Business

Managers must maximize profits while satisfying stockholders' expectations. Can these goals be achieved while following moral principles and values? Chappell, co-founder and president of Tom's of Maine (a natural-ingredients consumer-products company) and former Harvard Divinity School student, presents a thoughtful and practical study of business ethics. His report bursts with ideas from the Bible, Kant and Martin Buber (he gave copies of I and Thou to introduce numbers-oriented managers to his values-based approach to business). Adroitly developing his ``middle way'' of management, Chappell maintains executives can ``use the two sides of all of us, the spiritual and the practical, to achieve whatever business goals you set for yourself.'' He explains the development of a media campaign that expressed the value of ``goodness'' on which Tom's is based and tackles issues from building a sense of community within the company to the obligations of citizenship in forming a new kind of business. This inspiring study neatly bridges the gap between theoretical ethics and managerial practices. (Oct.)