Paul Hawken Quotes

American business needs more conscience, not less, whether from religious motivation like Hobby Lobby or from secular intentions.

Companies and leaders are role models - not just with the business community - but in the broader world.

I'm less concerned about whether being a good corporate citizen burnishes a company's reputation. That's just an added benefit. I believe it's a responsibility, and there is no negotiating on responsibilities.

The question is, do corporate executives, provided they stay within the law, have responsibilities in their business activities other than to make as much money for their stockholders as possible? And my answer to that is, no they do not.

Doing good business - being ethical, being transparent, being caring, implementing values in your business - makes a difference, and you make money at the same time.

I think good companies can navigate being public and doing the right things for their customers.

Not only is self-regulation largely a fantasy, but repeated scandals across multiple industries have proved that companies are fundamentally incapable of self-regulating for the greater good.

Interest in business ethics courses has surged, and student activities at leading business schools are more focused than ever before on making business serve long-term social values.

A social contract is the way out of this dilemma for corporations that want to lead in the 21st century by showing consumers how seriously they take customer loyalty and goodwill.

The history of business has shown that companies usually only regulate themselves if they're forced to by legislation, or out of self-interest - often in the shape of a marketable message that will help sell more products.

It took a generation for companies to recognise their responsibilities in terms of labour practices and another generation for them to recognise their environmental obligations.

What today's business reality makes clear is that brands cannot survive in a society that is failing economically, socially, ethically, and morally.

A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.

Whole Foods Market tries to embody all of the principles of conscious capitalism all the time, but like any person or company, we sometimes fall short.

I think CSR, corporate social responsibility, is something that is becoming front and center.

A healthy corporation acts on the interests of its stakeholders and customers.

I don't think it's wrong for companies to work with the government. What's important is being trustworthy and honest with customers.

For millennials, conducting business with a purpose that goes beyond making profits is critically important in determining the kind of company they want to work for - and the kind of company with whom they are willing to do business.

As business leaders, we should not choose between profit or good; rather, we must choose to profit from good. And that requires connecting what we do with a purpose beyond profit - a reason to exist that meets our shared sense of 'doing good.'

I believe we must go further in redefining what United's corporate citizenship looks like in our society... and we intend to live up to those higher expectations in the way we embody social responsibility and civic leadership everywhere we operate.

We don't have to reinvent the wheel, just go back to what it was in terms of how corporations acted in terms of their collective responsibility just 20 years ago.

My own feeling is that a corporation has no right to have a political or social influence.

I'm not singing the virtues of corporations simply 'cause they exist. But by the same token I'm not gonna be like your average liberal and condemn them just because they exist.

Since when do corporations not have responsibility to the community? Since when to the not have responsibility to their employees?

Corporate executives need to re-frame their responsibilities to include the interests of all the stakeholders in society at large; not just shareholders, but also employees, the citizens of our communities, and those who care about the environment.