The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Real Value in a Changing World
Published by Berrett-Koehler
The rules of business are changing dramatically. Success is no longer defined by the balance sheet. Reputation, trust and other intangibles drive business value, employees give voice to risk and competitive advantage, and culture is king.
“Business as usual” is not a viable option. From technology to supply chains, social impact to environmental limits, the landscape for business and the definition of success have both been upended. Many of the forces that define these new rules of business are already in play, and business, arguably the most powerful force in the world, is in desperate need of a new operating manual.
In The Six New Rules of Business: Creating Value in a Changing World, Judy describes the profound shifts in attitudes and mindsets that are redefining our notions of what constitutes business success, unraveling the old rules that focused solely on profits, shareholder mindset, and the bottom line.
“Business,” she writes, “is not moral or immoral—good or bad like a person; business decisions have good or bad results.” And the decisions are a function of the rules and incentives and metrics that influence behavior in the executive suite and on the shop floor.
They are also influenced by business leaders and what we teach in business schools. Internet-powered transparency, a more powerful worker voice, the decline in importance of capital, and the complexity of global supply chains in the face of planetary limits all define the new landscape.
Through real life examples and case studies tied to the work and research of the Business & Society Program, Judy outlines six new rules that are already in play and are needed to succeed in tomorrow’s economic and social landscape:
1. Intangibles drive value, not the balance sheet: Reputation, trust, access to talent and other intangibles drive value and cannot be measured in traditional ways.
2. Purpose over profits: Businesses serve many objectives beyond shareholder value but Purpose is more than a slogan; it is revealed by business decisions and operations.
3. Corporate Responsibility is defined far beyond the gates of the business: NGOs, employees and an anxious and engaged public conspire to redefine business responsibility.
4. Employees are more than 'stakeholders' - they are the business: Employees are business allies – they directly experience changing norms in the business ecosystem; they understand the risks of inaction and give voice to competitive advantage.
5. Culture is ‘King’ – it’s no longer about capital: We are awash in capital; competition for talent and a focus on innovation and the human element matter most.
6. Co-Create to win: When the system itself is at risk, co-creation and collaboration trump competition.
“Inaction is not a choice,” Judy writes. “It’s time to pick up the pace of change. We all, in fact, have a role to play, as investors, as consumers, as employees, as citizens. As the journalist and social activist Dorothy Day was known to say, ‘No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There is too much work to do.’”
Praise for Six New Rules of Business:
"prescient... a concise and interesting read."
– The Financial Times
"... a timely new book..."
– New York Times DealBook
“… encouraging and optimistic… Samuelson’s appeals for corporate responsibility ...are backed by examples of companies that have heeded the call for social and ecological responsibility and either thrived (Southwest Airlines) or floundered (Boeing). Business leaders struggling to keep up would do well to give this a look.”
– Publisher’s Weekly
“Judy Samuelson is asking the right questions and giving the right advice at the perfect time. As more business leaders realize that the old rules of operating solely for the bottom line are woefully insufficient for this moment, Judy’s ‘New Rules’ offer an urgent and actionable call for redefining what it means to create value across our communities.”
– Chip Bergh, CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
“Finding a new balance between positive total societal impact and shareholder value is one of the defining challenges for business in the decades ahead. Judy Samuelson highlights how evolved business models can be built to place equal importance on employees, communities, and nature. Through examples, anecdotes, and a call to action, she provides a strong framework for business leaders.”
– Rich Lesser, CEO, Boston Consulting Group
“Only with an appreciation for why business works the way it does can we begin to dismantle the systemic forces that business leaders face when trying to build a competitive organization and serve society. Transformation is never easy, and as Samuelson’s narrative reveals, the leaders who have made a difference have done so because of their moral imagination and courage.”
– Professor Linda A. Hill, Faculty Chair, Leadership Initiative, Harvard Business School, and coauthor of Collective Genius
“Samuelson’s call for new rules will be embraced by the best and smartest leaders, those who see the potential of business to be a profound force for good in the world.”
– Dan Heath, coauthor of Upstream, Switch, and Made to Stick
“Six New Rules of Business upends our assumptions about value creation—and through vibrant case studies offers both inspiration for change and practical guidance for leaders building businesses for our collective future.”
– Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
”In the two centuries since Adam Smith, businesses have become the most powerful institutions on earth. Samuelson crystallizes what we need to know and how business must move in the 21st century to avoid sowing the seeds of our own destruction. This book shows us a path forward.”
– Sally Blount, former Dean, Kellogg School of Management, and CEO, Catholic Charities of Chicago
“This short, engaging book translates the discussion of corporate purpose into actionable principles for corporate executives.”
– John Kay, economist, coauthor of Radical Uncertainty, and founding Dean, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
“While you can't put a price tag on Samuelson's intertwined "Six New Rules", adopting them provides a path to developing a broadly inclusive approach to value creation...”
– Jim Pawlak, Hartford Business Journal
“The idea of 'what's good for business' is changing. The 'walls between business and society' that kept companies shielded from a full accounting of their effect on society while maintaining an outsized influence over it, are crumbling. The 'core assumptions and dominant beliefs' of business are slowly evolving, being pushed by both outside activists and those within. Judy Samuelson is one of those champions."
– Dylan Schleicher, Porchlight Books
“As an editor, I am in awe.”
– Judy Warner, National Association of Corporate Directors
Now available internationally:
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