Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

In an interaction between <keyword id="209438" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amit-Kapoor">Amit Kapoor</keyword> and <keyword id="1535858" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Raj-Sisodia">Raj Sisodia</keyword>, one of the thought leaders of the <keyword id="437707" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Conscious-capitalism">Conscious Capitalism</keyword> movement globally, the latter shares his view on this concept. His book Firms of Endearment: How World Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose is considered a foundational work in explaining the precepts and performance implications of pursuing a conscious approach to business. 
 
Could you share a brief overview of your academic journey thus far, from The rule of Three to 4 A’s of Marketing and now Conscious Capitalism? 
 I did my engineering and MBA in India, my PHD in marketing from <keyword id="127671" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Columbia-University">Columbia University</keyword> and started teaching in 1985. My focus initially was on marketing of services, marketing of information technology and then evolved over time into areas such as marketing productivity and also strategy, which is where the Rule of Three book came in. I always had a broad perspective and was not focused on sub-disciplines within marketing. Looking at business gently; marketing is a function of efficiency and effectiveness. I did a lot of research projects on the image of marketing and the negative feeling that people have about marketing and came to the conclusion that not only we have problems of efficiency and productiveness but also in terms of public trust. This led to a project that was tentatively called “In Search of Marketing Excellence” which looked for companies that spent less money than their peers in marketing and still had higher levels of customer loyalty, trust and satisfaction. Most of the companies are opposite of that. Companies spend a lot of money but don’t have high level of customer loyalty and trust. So that project led us to a number of companies which we had to examine in more detail and we found that what was true of customers was true of employees. In other words the employees also had high level of loyalty and trust towards the suppliers and they had a strong deeply embedded presence within their communities. The other unique thing was that there was a sense of higher purpose that they were in business to do something beyond the ordinary industry. Also these companies had leaders who were more driven by their purpose and less so by power and personal enrichment. This led to the book “Firms of Endearment”. The other book was Rule of Three and the book on globalization, which was called “Tectonic Shift” that was published in 2006. I also developed a new framework for marketing called the 4 A’s of marketing which came out in 2011 which addresses many problems that one faces in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. It is a way of making sure that our marketing efforts are creating value for customers and for companies and ultimately for society. I have been talking business for 20 years without even using the word “purpose” because the purpose is given to us and I realize that every truly great enterprise starts with a purpose and transcends with it and makes it an enduring company. This journey led us to non-profit conscious capitalism link that is finding global resonance, as the ideas are quite universal. The phrase “conscious capitalism” is a natural coming together of two great traditions of capitalism; American–the epitome of global capitalism and Indian, the fountain of consciousness. The combination is very powerful as there is real natural synergy in terms of India and the perspectives from the US. Countries like South Africa and <keyword id="43918" type="COUNTRY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Korea">Korea</keyword> have responded very positively to this. 
 
How exactly are you looking at this synergy? 
 
There is a growing realization that there is a great wisdom that is embodied in the ancient traditions in general and which the world of modern business has tended to ignore or relegate to the sidelines. This was brought home most compellingly when I published “Firms of Endearment”. I have been studying the Bhagvad Gita for twenty years and most of the wisdom that we think there is today is actually been written about very deeply by some of the ancient sages. I believe in the theory of Karma and almost called this karma capitalism rather than conscious capitalism. There should be focus on community and actions without thinking of the outcome. Like wise the qualities of a conscious leader – and the idea of dharma or duty - are very powerful notions and resonate very well with audiences. During my talks in India, two common themes emerged – one was an advanced form of capitalism means we are still going through the growing pains of capitalism and this would take some time maybe 10-20 years when we are ready for this. We need to learn from mistakes of others rather than learning from our own mistakes. The second was that it was entirely consistent with institutional wisdom. In the future we expect lot of value and wisdom coming out of India, from scholars in India who will enrich our understanding of consciousness idea. Many western CEOs are into meditation and yoga which makes them highly effective leaders. There is a group of about thirty people from different walks of life who have come in as collaborators and set up “conscious collaborators” or “prasanga”. They view each other as travellers rather than competitors and this has a very important role to play. So many Indian academics who are in the US are using some of that wisdom in the work that they are doing with MNCs. 
 
Shared value suggests that corporates should share wealth while building enterprise and creating wealth for people around. How would you compare the two concepts of shared Value and Conscious Capitalism? 
 The shared value is consistent with conscious capitalism, but I don’t think it goes as far. It really refers to a pragmatic approach that says if you want a license to operate in the future you cannot be creating prosperity for shareholders while you are creating consciousness for society. The western analogy is very practical as it says that we should figure out a way to do what is good for the society as that would be good for you. The deeper spiritual dimension is a part of conscious capitalism and in other words it provides a meaning and purpose in our lives. There is a whole new deeper dimension if you look at the difference between profit driven organizations and self-driven organizations. Conscious capitalism is having that real tangible sense of high purpose, which includes society as one of the staples. I think the spiritual dimension is meaning and purpose at an individual level, which is conscious capitalism and conscious businesses operate on the idea of love and care. There is an atmosphere of love and care and absence of fear. People can truly flower and bring out their creativity. When we operate out of fear we are in a survival mode. Take as example, <keyword id="114046" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="General-Electric">General electric</keyword> which has the rule that bottom 10% people get fired every year. The fact is there is tremendous amount of fear within the organization as 30%-40% think they might get fired. Then they start to behave in defensive ways by not helping other people. I think the emotional and the spiritual dimension are two important ways in which conscious capitalism is beyond the idea of shared value. 
 
How would you react to the exploitative behaviour of organizations? 
 
As a generalization, businesses operate with a narrow perspective and a lot of it has to do with the wholesale importing of the old American style of capitalism. We have got this paradoxical situation in a country where we are running into the same kinds of problems that other companies have faced. So we have to raise the consciousness about this to get people to see that this is not about sacrificing performance for the sake of these other things but it’s about aligning all the forces together so that you actually create a lot more value for everybody including westerners. We really have a significant challenge to change those mental models that people have about business. I think a separation of work from rest of life is really probably much more pronounced in India. Where people behave one way in mission of work and money and then in an entire other way in their personal lives. We can blend self-interest with the need to care. I think it’s a big part of the journey in India. We have all the wisdom that we need. 
 
How can the government learn from the principles of conscious capitalism and become a conscious government? 
 I am working with a couple of co-authors on “Building of a conscious Society” that’s about taking the ideas of conscious capitalism from the domain of business and broadening them to other sectors that touch society. So, we need to have a higher consciousness in all the sections of society whether government, private, <keyword id="59810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Civil-society">civil society</keyword>, non-profits or a public sector. Every sector needs to operate with a high level of consciousness for its specific role and purpose. I think the unfortunate legacy in India is the government, which we have inherited from the British. Earlier, the government was there not to serve but to control, especially the administrative, the Indian <keyword id="96416" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="civil-service">civil Service</keyword> which finally got changed to IAS but the emphasis remained on controlling and not serving. People who work in the government service really need to have that higher sense of purpose. I think one of the challenges that India faces is the socialist way of thinking. There is a certain set of activities that the government must do like providing infrastructure, ensuring lawfulness, security etc. and also fulfilling the needs of the society as a whole. That’s where you find efficiency and effectiveness. I think in our system, the government does a lot of things and there is tremendous scope in efficiency and effectiveness. Along with this also comes tremendous corruption. All businesses can get corrupted in a country where government has too much of a role. It becomes a gatekeeper. 
 
You said that civil society is the third pillar for the whole system. How do you expect civil society to react? 
 
My advice to members of civil society who want to start non-profits is to start something which could generate some profits. If you can create a for-profit entity that can accomplish the same needs that you are trying to meet, then-in-then the business is sustainable and scalable in the long term. However there would still remain things that cannot churn out profit, therefore, they have to be done by real people who have a passion to serve. That’s where non-profits would continue to have a role. I think the key thing for non-profits is they have a sense of purpose but many of them don’t really operate in an efficient way. I think non-profits need to learn from the world of business. I also think there is a lot of potential for cross sector collaboration, through markets that require the coming together of for-profit businesses and non-profits. There is a lot of potential for creative collaboration across sectors. 
 
What are some of the critical changes you would recommend for the education sector? 
 
I do think that we also need to change our education sector. From an early age, one has to incorporate wisdom; the ideas that make for a meaningful life; technical skills. I do think we also need to teach the skills that constitute “systems thinking”. It is shocking to see that such few people have an understanding of systems. Many institutes do not offer courses on systems and yet every problem that we deal with in the world is systems problem. When we don’t have the systems perspectives and start to think of it as a cause and effect problem then we ultimately end up with the opposite results. When we understand the whole system that applies to business, health care etc., we know every sector has tremendous need for systems thinking. That’s something that we need to do. Of course our business schools have an important role to play. I think India has a high number of consciousness b-schools like the “School of Inspired leadership” in Gurgaon. We need to change the education system to incorporate training in these skills and there is still a long way to go. 
 
(This interview was first carried in Thinkers, a quarterly thought leadership magazine that features the brightest thinkers in the areas of economics and governance, philosophy and literature, science and technology, and management. To learn more about the magazine, please visit: <a href="http://www.thinkers.in">www.thinkers.in</a>)

Thinkers/Thinkers 50: Raj Sisodia says Indian businesses operate with a narrow perspective of wholesale importing the old American style of Capitalism

In an interaction between <keyword id="209438" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Amit-Kapoor">Amit Kapoor</keyword>, <keyword id="6364480" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chairman">Chairman</keyword> of the Indian Institute of Competitiveness and Jagdish Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt <keyword id="2851446" type="POSITION" weightage="80" keywordseo="Chair-of-Marketing">Chair of Marketing</keyword> in the Goizueta Business School at Emory University, the latter talks about his idea of India, weaving in his expertise in behavioral economics and management. 
 
Congratulations for being on the T50 list! Could you share the broad ideas behind your academic work over the years? 
My academic journey was accidental. I went to America to do my MBA in production management. There I was exposed to the theory of hierarchy of needs. M academic career primarily began in studying psychology of consumers and also physiological aspects, which is called behavioral economics. I began with this concept 50 years ago and it has evolved with time. The most definitive theory called the “Harvard shift theory of consumer behaviour” became the foundation in the marketing discipline. It actually became a paradigm shift because rather than taking a market perspective; the customer’s perspective was taken. In economics, the consumer must make choices and maximize the utility for the price they pay. This theory also says that consumers become loyal to a brand and this becomes a habit rather than a result of cognitive thinking. So this model is very much based on several factors of psychology that are integrated into a common frame 
work. 
 
What propelled you to move from consumer behaviour to economics? 
In 1968, I was a visiting professor at IIM Kolkata and taught international marketing in addition to consumer psychology. While teaching international marketing I was exposed to managerial issues as compared to consumer issues. So, the principles of economics in marketing began to shift towards managerial marketing. Immediately after that followed managerial economics. In my thesis work, beside behavioral, I also expanded into multimedia statistics and created a whole wave. In a mutual economy, we began to understand that in large organizations customer reaches were more important than customer acquisition. So I started looking at the whole notion of relationship marketing. My theory was again parallel to the theory of hierarchy but more on behavioral perspective. As transition economies were becoming a dominant domain, relationship became more critical. 
 
What was the idea when you moved into working on Chindia? 
My giving into Chindia rising was almost at the nation level and also more policy oriented as compared to behavioral. The book “Commanding Heights” which talks about future of emerging markets inspired me and then I went into the Chindia rising state. Even today I believe that resource advantage is a very cheap theory, instead we have to look at resource advantage that the nation can create. 
 
What was the biggest challenge that you faced? 
My main challenge was to motivate the academic community to shift their thinking as academics tend to be lot more orthodox – they are the orthodoxy of thoughts. The tectonic shift about how a discipline would shift its paradigm is not a linear model, not even an exponential model, but a curvilinear model wherein new ideas are born and there are bunch of people who challenge the thoughts. If we challenge the new classical economics towards behavioral economics, the editors of the journals don’t accept the thinking as the reviewers are all trained with the previous thinking. So this is one of the major challenges that I found as to how to push the traditional journal to accept this framework. Right now emerging markets is one, which I am propagating heavily and very well accepted by known universities. Overall, I would say, the challenges have not been as many as the opportunities that I have got. I became an administrator in 1971 -72. Because of lack of leadership I learnt quite a lot of administrative aspects. In the academic study I became like a director - more like a department head. 
 
There are two things that are hugely affecting academics. One as you say is orthodoxy of thought and the other is how to manage the faculty or resources. How do you react to this in the Indian context? I would make comments at three levels. At the macro level I was an advisor to the ministry of education, to bring about <keyword id="6375224" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="higher-education">higher education</keyword> reforms from a policy perspective. We all agree that there is a need for a perfect system but there was the AICTE. Apparently there was a policy document that went to <keyword id="36804" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Sam-Pitroda">Sam Pitroda</keyword>, Chairman of the National Knowledge Commission and the <keyword id="6365387" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="80" keywordseo="PMO">PMO</keyword>. So, from this you can see that you cannot change the orthodoxy. The private universities, the deemed universities and all educational institutes register with AICTE. The second loophole was that the AICTE, in the legislative process, anchored everything to the management process. So for instance, a one-year program was there instead of a two year program and there was nobody in charge of regulation. The third issue is Section 25 company wherein the dividends are not distributed and this is a huge loophole in AICTE legislation. At the university level I find there are four approaches. The first approach is to start something fresh new and try to break the traditional legacy of an IIM or IIT. It’s hard to change the faculty and which is also mentioned in my book “The Self Destructive Habits of Good Companies”. This book came out on a one to one meeting with the CEO when he asked the question – “why good companies fail?” It took me 10 years of research to come out with this book. The most common is denial of new realities, arrogance, and compliance. In many ways traditional, well-respected universities will probably become self-destructive. The dramatic transformation is already taking place. The faculty is becoming competitive, as they don’t need an institution anymore. They do independent work and come out with enormous research whether in science, technology, medical and now in management. 
 
How would you look at India on the aspect of denial, arrogance and complacency? And how would you really define the India growth story? 
If we have to map India into those seven bad habits, it is endowed with four of them. The first and biggest one is internal thought wars. In other words, one ministry against the other ministry. We are not aligned amongst ourselves towards a common goal or a common approach. Internal thought wars always happen within larger institutions. Second one is denial of new realities. I think India as a nation is in a denial stage. I also believe that India after the quick success of 1991 transformation became very arrogant. They thought they were bigger than life and the media unfortunately amplified this idea. India went through an accidental success and was not able to rationalize its success. Most success happens accidentally. People are at the right place at the right time, but you can’t say to the world I am just a lucky guy – nobody would bet their money on you then. He has to rationalize – why he succeeded – he has to have an explanation why he succeeded. I think India went through that. The last one is complacency. There is no sense of urgency in India at all. I think all that I can map is competitive myopia. We are always comparing ourselves to China all the time without being aware of other competitors which may even be coming from advanced countries. The last one is competence dependence. I found that whatever one is very good at, when that becomes irrelevant we are already trapped into that, and our competency itself becomes our liability. So that’s the one bad habit I am watching about India. Whatever we are competent in now is keeping us behind to go where we need to go. 
 
Where do you see India becoming complacent? 
The complacency is happening because of the sudden success of the educated class. There is a new generational shift and the young educated class do not work as hard as their fathers did and do not work on weekends as they have to maintain work-life balance. The instinct for survival for livelihood is moving away, except in the poor class. Today a young person is not bothered even if he leaves his job in four days. Though his father might have worked in a company with a very clear sense of obligation since he would be the only breadwinner of the family. So that’s a part of complacency coming in. Complacency also comes in terms of energy. If I feel good - like with success, I would splurge and be focused about what I want to do. So there are components of complacency. 
 
As an academic, people do not want to hear criticism in this country. How would you overcome that? It is very painful to see that we as a nation are very judgmental as people. We can make a comment on somebody with a political correctness. But if somebody else makes a comment on us we get very angry and agitated. How would you look at India going through the whole idea of social inclusion and the idea of societal value? I think that this is a worldwide movement wherein the senior most management is convinced that if we don’t have a healthy society we cannot have a healthy corporation. I think the shared value article that <keyword id="216576" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Michael-Porter">Michael Porter</keyword> wrote has become the way of thinking now. I am very grateful because you do need leaders like Michael Porter who have the credibility and access to government leaders. I think you need people like <keyword id="15149" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Ram-charan">Ram Charan</keyword> to validate, legitimate and propagate ideas. My book in 2007 called the “Sense of Endearment” with <keyword id="1535858" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Raj-Sisodia">Raj Sisodia</keyword> has now transformed into a second book called “Conscious Capitalism”. This whole movement of conscious capitalism very much matches Porter’s idea of the shared value. 
 
So you do agree that societal value would have to be created by companies across the board? 
Absolutely. The reason is the government is the enterprise and does not allow the private sector to nationalize. So government enterprise provide economic livelihood through employment in rail roads, the telephone companies and telegraph which are all government enterprises. Second thing was social investment, which means wherever I get my income from I need to subsidize the poor. Third measure was economic development in other words how do I lift people from poverty through government policy/resources/budget and the fourth measure is defence – i.e how do I protect my nation. Most governments are finding that they cannot do all four anymore because of the bandwidth / resources etc. Defence is non-negotiable so we begin to exit other endeavours. So, NGO’s were created to do the social service. The charitable activities done by the government like subsidizing education etc were given to the foundations. The industry people know how to leverage it and they are passing on their wealth to society and doing a social contribution. Government does not know how to leverage it. Lot of foundations has given billion of dollars to education and health. The third thing is to privatize everything. There are two roles that the government would have in near future - defence and domestic security. Government needs to be a policy maker rather than a political model. The current policy is one of compliance, one of watchdog. This changes the notion of policy in the govt thinking, as most of them are trained in the traditional economic thinking. To nurture capitalism in the positive way the governance mechanism should be inclined towards the citizens; otherwise revolts would be there. Though people want to participate in government, the politicians have not allowed them to participate, instead they have allowed them to represent them. After representation, the citizen feels that he is not participating. So Government should encourage citizen participation and this would make the government look very different 50 years from now. 
 
How will principles of capitalism change? 
The principles of capitalism will change and it will happen either through external compliance; reservation; or internal self-enlightenment as capitalism becomes self enlightened eventually. Self-enlightenment is a better theory of capitalism rather than self-interest. The self-enlightenment is that the huge disparity of wages/salaries in organizations is in our hands to control. From the lowest paid category - from the managerial class to the help line supervisor to the highest paid person CEO or Chairman the whole range should no more than 20 times. Similarly, in the factory, the person who works in the factory from the plant manager level the range should not be more than 10 times. We will learn to establish our own jurisdiction to say that if we increase the range of salaries / compensations it would be creating immediate revolt within the organizations. The people will sense lack of equity. The rich are getting richer within the company and the poor are getting poorer. So that’s one-way capitalism won’t respond when one company does it quite often. I believe that this kind of imitative behaviour created by outside consultants on how you should compensate is one way in which capitalism would become self enlightened. Also the shareholder would hold the corporation responsible to do good for the community/ suppliers who are involved in value creation. It’s a shared value kind of concept. We encourage corporations not to give out as charity but whenever we create any value, x% only goes to the shareholder of 100% and y% will be redistributed value. It is basically the same as value redistribution; what governments do with taxes and the monetary policy system. But here it is done by corporations through its own distribution mechanisms. 
 
What is your idea of India and how do you think we can achieve it? 
I can tell you one punch line, “The rest of the world needs India in many ways more than India even thinks.” rest of the world thinks that India is a very strategic nation. Not from the traditional view or the colonial view of resource rich continent in agriculture, animals, human, natural resources. I don’t think they are looking at India from a resource exploitation/ access point of view. India is a market and as a market it is so important in the global architecture of competitors that they have to focus on it whether they like it or not. 
 
(Jagdish N. Sheth is the Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Marketing at the Goizueta Business School of Emory University. Thinkers, a quarterly thought leadership magazine features the brightest thinkers in the areas of economics and governance, philosophy and literature, science and technology, and management. To learn more about the magazine, please visit: <a href="http://www.thinkers.in">www.thinkers.in</a> Learn journalism at Indias largest media house - The Times of India Group. Visit <a href="http://www.tcms.in">www.tcms.in</a> for details. Last date April 30, 2015.)

Thinkers/Thinkers 50: Jagdish Seth says India is endowed with four very bad economy crippling habits

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey thinks business is "judged and attacked" by society.</li><li>Mackey spoke at a conference, in one of his first appearances since stepping down as Whole Foods CEO.</li></ul>Whole Foods Market co-founder John Mackey has a problem: Society doesn't appreciate people like him.Mackey is one of the people who took Whole Foods from a single grocery store in Austin, Texas, to an Amazon-owned chain with hundreds of locations. As of 2021, he was worth an estimated $75 million, <a href="https://www.inc.com/christine-lagorio/whole-foods-john-mackey-keep-ego-check-ceo-success.html#:~:text=Mackey%20is%20worth%20an%20estimated,drove%20a%20Honda%20Civic%20hybrid." target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to Inc.</a>But Mackey said during a presentation at the NEXT 2023 conference by Intralox in New Orleans last week that the public should give him and others in the business world more credit."I always felt that business is misunderstood by society," Mackey said during the presentation, according to industry publication <a href="https://www.bakingbusiness.com/articles/58620-whole-foods-co-founder-reflects-on-storied-career-in-retailing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Baking Business.</a> "It's hated by the intellectuals, but we are the real value creators in the world.""We are the ones that are creating the prosperity that lifts everyone up," he added. "We're not understood but judged and attacked." He did not cite specific examples of those judgments or attacks, according to Baking Business.Mackey's comments are the latest iteration of the ex-CEO's philosophy, and one of his first appearances since stepping down as Whole Foods CEO last year. In 2013, he wrote a book titled "Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business" with Babson College professor Raj Sisodia.The book, which argues that businesses should make decisions with input from stakeholders other than shareholders, also focuses on those who run businesses as society's most important figures. "Entrepreneurs are the true heroes in a free-enterprise economy, driving progress in business, society, and the world," he wrote.Mackey has become an outspoken <a href="https://reason.com/2005/10/01/rethinking-the-social-responsi-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">free-market libertarian.</a> He called capitalism "the greatest invention that humanity's ever done" at a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-market-john-mackey-ceo-capitalism-rebrand-2020-10">2020 event</a> hosted by the Federalist Society. And he called the Affordable Care Act, which changed how healthcare was sold in the US, <a href="https://reason.com/2005/10/01/rethinking-the-social-responsi-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">both "socialism" and "fascism."</a>Last year, he told a libertarian podcast that "socialists are taking over" institutions from the US military to major corporations without citing examples, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/aug/11/whole-foods-ceo-john-mackey-socialists-taking-over" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian reported.</a>Mackey started selling health food in 1978 after living in a vegetarian commune in Austin and working at a natural foods store. His first venture, a supermarket called Safer Way, failed after he and then-girlfriend Renee Lawson <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/whole-foods-john-mackey-first-store-safer-way-2020-10">refused to sell meat, coffee, or anything that contained refined sugar</a>. When he co-founded Whole Foods two years later, Mackey agreed to sell those items and started opening more locations within a few years. That earned him the nickname "Darth Vader" from some of his former co-op buddies, <a href="https://features.texasmonthly.com/editorial/shelf-life-john-mackey/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Texas Monthly reported in 2017.</a>As Whole Foods CEO, he also shepherded the company through its 2017 acquisition by Amazon in a deal worth $13.7 billion. Now, he plans to start <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-08/whole-foods-mackey-is-building-chain-of-cafes-wellness-centers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a chain of health restaurants</a> in Southern California called Love.Life!, according to Baking Business.Amazon avoided making big changes at Whole Foods while he was CEO, Mackey said during the presentation. But he said that conversations with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-whole-foods-ceo-wants-open-30-new-stores-year-2023-1">Jason Buechel,</a> his successor, have pointed to "a little different story," he said."We'll have to see how that story plays out," Mackey added.

Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey, who is worth $75 million, says that business is 'judged and attacked' by society. 'We are the real value creators in the world.'

Twenty eight ministers have been sworn in at a ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Bhopal on Thursday morning. Governor Anandiben Patel administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers. Out of 28 ministers 20 are cabinet and 8 are state ministers. Those who have been sworn in include Gopal Bhargava, Vijay Shah, Jagdish Deora, Bisahu Lal Singh, Yashodhara Raje Scindia, Bhupendra Singh, Edal Singh Kansana, Brijendra Pratap Singh, Vishwas Sarang, Imrati Devi, Prabhuram Chaudhary, Mahendra Singh Sisodia, Pradyuman Singh Tomar, Prem Singh Patel, Om Prakash Saklecha, Usha Thakur, Arvind Bhadoria, Mohan Yadav, Hardeep Singh Dung, Rajyavardhan Singh Dittigaon were sworn in. Those present on the occasion include Chief Minister <keyword id="67701" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shivraj-Singh-Chauhan">Shivraj Singh Chauhan</keyword>, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, former Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP State President Vishnu Dutt Sharma among others. Now the total number of ministers has increased to 33 with 28 members taking oath in the state cabinet. The State ministers who were sworn in include Bharat Singh Kushwaha, Inder Singh Parmar, Ramkhilavan Patel, Ram Kishor Kanvera, Brijendra Singh Yadav, Girraj Dandotia, Suresh Dhakad and O.P.S. Bhadoria. Out of the 28 ministers who were sworn in, 11 are Scindia loyalists who joined the BJP along with Jyotiraditya Scindia in March. The cabinet expansion has been pending since March. The Shivraj government has been functioning with only five ministers since mid-April.

Full list of Madhya Pradesh's new cabinet ministers led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table click-to-enlarge"><div><div class="image on-image"><a title_source="Courtesy of Kip Tindell" title_caption="Kip Tindell, chairman and CEO of The Container Store." class="zoomin" href="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/543bd8dbeab8ea8074bc821e-960/kip-tindell-container-store.jpeg"></a>Courtesy of Kip TindellKip Tindell, chairman and CEO of The Container Store.</div></div></div>If launching a store that sells only containers is any indication, Kip Tindell has always thought outside the box.
The 61-year-old chairman and CEO of The Container Store founded the quirky retailer in 1978 with two friends and an initial investment of $35,000. Today, it has 6,000 employees, 67 locations in the US, and annual sales of nearly $800 million.
How has a wild idea from Dallas, Texas, achieved such growth? Tindell attributes the company's success to a few simple-yet-unexpected rules, like women make the best executives, business is personal, and companies have a moral obligation to their employees.
Tindell writes about this feel-good brand of leadership in his new book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Uncontainable-Commitment-Conscious-Capitalism-Business-ebook/dp/B00I829QBG/">Uncontainable: How Passion, Commitment, and Conscious Capitalism Built a Business Where Everyone Thrives</a>." He talks to us about what it looks like in practice.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Business Insider: In your new leadership book, you use words like "love" and "yummy" to describe your culture and write that after a business meeting with you, you might get a hug. Is that just who you are?
Kip Tindell: It is who I am. Intellectual intelligence is really important, but what's more important in a leader is high <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mistake-people-make-with-emotional-intelligence-2014-8">emotional intelligence</a>. That's why I think women make better executives than men.
BI: That's a bold statement.
KT: I'm glad to see the feminization of American business. Emotional intelligence is the key to being really successful. People who have it keep their egos in check; they're comfortable with surrounding themselves with people better than them. They're high on Maslow's hierarchy of needs. They aren't hungry or insecure. They're calm and have self-awareness. 
BI: How many women executives do you have at The Container Store?
KT: Roughly 70% of the top leadership positions at our company are held by women.
BI: That's a reversal of the gender breakdown at most major companies. Was that an intentional choice?
KT: We were just looking for the best leaders. Obviously, we have nothing against men. It's just that the skillset - communication, empathy, emotional intelligence, understanding what we stand for (Conscious Capitalism, servant leadership), and being like our target customer - really fits the bill with women. When we did our board, though, we did seek out women because we wanted the board to reflect company management.
BI: Hiring is a big part of your strategy. Tell me about your "1 great person = 3 good people" rule.
KT: We're talking about business productivity. Of course, no one person is better than another person as a person. But if you can, why not hire great people? And you can pay them twice as much and still save, since you get three times the productivity at two times the cost. They win, you save money, the customers win, and all the employees win because they get to work with someone great. These people are the best in the industry, and I can't wait to get up in the morning and work with them.
BI: Do you think that's why the company's turnover rate is just 10% compared to the <keyword id="6354851" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Retail">retail</keyword> industry average of about 100%?
KT: I think that's the biggest reason. People join this company and never leave. They make $48,000 a year on average. That's a lot of money for a retail sales clerk.
If you're lucky enough to be an employer, you have a moral obligation to create a great work environment. If people work for a company that treats them with respect, they go home and treat their families better.
BI: In your book, you detail the seven principles that the company is built on, and you also write that they all boil down to the Golden Rule: Treat others as you'd like to be treated. Why is that your guiding principle?
KT: Life isn't a zero-sum game, and business isn't a zero-sum game. People who think it is don't do well in business. It's much easier to succeed when people love you and want you to do well.
<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div></div>
BI: You managed to get out of the recession without doing any layoffs. Why was that important to you?
KT: We've never laid anybody off in the history of the company. We do fire people. We are a meritocracy and want excellence. But laying people off is a very distinct thing. When times are tough you do have to adjust your expenses to your sales. Laying people off is an easy way to do it, but it's not the best way to do it.
At the height of the recession I was at a big bank's conference and many top leaders were there; I was the least important person in the room. I didn't like what I saw. It was a testosterone-fueled competition for who was laying the most people off. It was very upsetting.
BI: How were you able to avoid it?
It was like holding hands at the dinner table as a family and talking about how we were going to spend less money. Salaries were frozen, and 401(k) matches were suspended for awhile. Employees were happy about it because they were saving their colleagues.
Sales over the two-year period from 2008 to 2009 were down about 13% to 14%. But we bounced back quicker after the recession because of the loyalty factor. [Southwest Airlines cofounder and former CEO] <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/southwests-founder-discusses-its-culture-2013-1">Herb Kelleher</a> is one of my heroes, and he said: You can build a much better organization on love than you can on fear.
BI: Some of your philosophies sound similar to those held by John Mackey, the cofounder and CEO of Whole Foods Market. I see that you're on the board there and even went to college with Mackey. How has he influenced your thoughts on business?
KT: We were college roommates! I thought he was the most interesting kid at the University of Texas [at Austin]. He and I were both really interested in philosophy. He majored in philosophy, and I majored in English. We wound up roommates and each went on to start a retail business, which is bizarre. We didn't talk about retail in college. We talked about girls.
Today, we don't agree on anything in politics, but we agree on everything in business. We both believe in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-that-practice-conscious-capitalism-perform-10x-better-2013-4">Conscious Capitalism</a>, that a win-win is what's most profitable, and that no one has to lose. Business schools have discovered it, studied it, and found that companies that practice it are more successful.
BI: What else has inspired you? What are some of your favorite business books?
Mackey and Raj Sisodia wrote a book called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Conscious-Capitalism-New-Preface-Authors-ebook/dp/B00GQDL7MA/">Conscious Capitalism</a>," which is a great primer, and before that Raj wrote "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Firms-Endearment-World-Class-Companies-Passion/dp/0131873725/">Firms of Endearment</a>." Danny Meyer's book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Setting-Table-Danny-Meyer-ebook/dp/B000OI0FCQ/">Setting the Table</a>" is one of the best books ever written and influenced our customer service. Roy Spence has a funny book called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/10-Essential-Hugs-Life/dp/1626340269/">The 10 Essential Hugs of Life</a>." I also like "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Discovering-Soul-Service-Sustainable-Business-ebook/dp/B000FC0NIC/">Discovering the Soul of Service</a>" by Leonard Berry, and "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Peak-Companies-Maslow-non-Franchise-Leadership-ebook/dp/B0067KS0VS/">Peak</a>" by Chip Conley explores Maslow's hierarchy of needs in business.
BI: This week, The Container Store opens its 68th location in the US. What's next? Are you focused on expansion?
KT: We like to expand, but I've always been the anchor. The way you know you're expanding too fast is when your store managers suck, because you can't keep up with HR needs. We have such interest in Europe and Japan, but I don't think you can go open a store in London before you have all the cities in the US first.
We do think we can have 300 locations in the US without changing our format or footprint. We're growing at a little over 12% square footage a year. Everybody's worried about brick and mortar, but we're doing better than ever.

You Searched For "Raj Sisodia" and got 5 results

Thinkers/Thinkers 50: Raj Sisodia says Indian businesses operate with a narrow perspective of wholesale importing the old American style of Capitalism

thinkers50

Thinkers/Thinkers 50: Jagdish Seth says India is endowed with four very bad economy crippling habits

thinkers50

Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey, who is worth $75 million, says that business is 'judged and attacked' by society. 'We are the real value creators in the world.'

Alex Bitter

Full list of Madhya Pradesh's new cabinet ministers led by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan

IANS

The Container Store CEO Says 'Women Make Better Executives Than Men'

Jenna Goudreau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides