2024
• From the bestselling author of When Corporations Rule the World
• An extensively researched, powerfully argued, eye-opening critique of how today's corporate captialism is destroying the things of real value in the world-like cancer destroys life
• Portrays a hopeful future-alternatives to a corporate-dominated and money-ruled world-in showing how to resore health to markets, democracy, and every day life
• Offers practical suggestions for individuals who want to contribute to the process of change
• Co-published with Kumarian Press
There is a deep chasm between the promises of the new global capitalism and the reality of social breakdown, spiritual emptiness, and environmental destruction it is leaving in its wake. In this important book, David Korten makes a compelling and well-documented case that capitalism is actually delivering a fatal blow not only to life, but also to democracy and the market. Among his startling ideas:
Capitalism is a pathology that commonly afflicts market economies in the absence of vigilant public oversight. Since the economy internal to a corporation is a planned economy, the current consolidation of economic control under a handful of global corporations is a victory for central planning-not the market economy. The alternative to the new global capitalism is a global system of thriving, healthy market economies that function as extensions of healthy local ecosystems to meet the livelihood needs of people and communities.
Radical as such proposals may seem, they actually reflect processes that are steadily gaining momentum around the world. The Post-Corporate World provides a vision of what's needed and what's possible, as well as a detailed agenda for change. Korten shows that to have a just, sustainable and compassionate society, concentrated absentee ownership and footloose speculative capital as embodied in the global, for-profit public corporation must be eliminated in favor of enterprises based on patient, rooted, stakeholder ownership limited to those who have a stake in the firm as a worker, supplier, customer, or member of the community in which it is located.
Korten outlines numerous specific actions to free the creative powers of individuals and societies through the realization of real democracy, the local rooting of capital through stakeholder ownership, and a restructuring of the rules of commerce to create "mindful market" economies that combine market principles with a culture that nurtures social bonding and responsibility.
Like Korten's previous bestseller, When Corporations Rule the World, this provocative book is sure to stimulate national dialogue and debate and inspire a bevy of grassroots discussions and initiatives. The Post-Corporate World presents readers with a profound challenge and an empowering sense of hope.
By a trailblazing expert in green marketing
Demonstrates how to effectively market green to mainstream consumers
Filled with success stories from sustainability leader including Ottman's Fortune 500 and entrepreneurial clients
Green products have been around since the 1970s, but it's only in recent years that they've become ubiquitous. That's because savvy green marketers are no longer targeting "deep green" consumers with a "save the planet" pitch. Instead, they're promoting the added value their products provide: better health, superior performance, good taste, or cost-effectiveness. In this innovative book Ottman argues that emphasizing primary benefits -- the New Rules -- is critical to winning over the mainstream consumer.
Drawing on the latest poll data and incorporating lessons learned from her clients and other leading sustainable brands -- including GE, Nike, Method, Starbucks, Timberland, HP, NatureWorks, Procter & Gamble, Stonyfield Farm, and Wal-Mart -- Ottman provides practical strategies, tools, and inspiration for building every aspect of a credible value-based green marketing strategy. She covers such topics as spurring innovation through a proactive approach to sustainability, developing products that are green throughout their life cycle, communicating credibly to avoid accusations of "greenwashing," teaming up with stakeholders to maximize outreach to consumers, taking advantage of social media, and much more.
The New Rules of Green Marketing captures the best of Ottman's two previous groundbreaking books on green marketing and places it within a 21st Century context. Focusing on a new generation of marketers who likely grew up with an appreciation for sustainability, it provides in one place essential strategies, tools, and inspiration for connecting effectively with mainstream consumers.
2011