Overview

Simple but powerful advice on how and why to rethink your business structure in a time when traditional capitalism is no longer working forpeopleor the planet. Vincent Stanley, Patagonia's Director of Philosophy,withYvon Chouinard, founder and former owner of Patagonia, draws on 50 years' experience at Patagonia to challenge all business owners and leaders to rethink their businesses in a time of cultural and climate chaos. Patagonia over and over throughout the years has been recognized as much for its ground-breaking environmental, social practices as for the quality of its clothes. And then, in an unprecedented action, in 2022, the Chouinard family gave their company away, converting ownership to a simple structure of trusts and non-profits, so that all the profits from the company can be used to protect our home planet and work to reverse climate chaos. In this exceptionally frank account, Stanley with Chouinard recounts how the company and its culture gained the confidence, by step and misstep, to make its work progressively more responsible, and to ultimately challenge other companies, as big as Wal-Mart and as small as the corner bakery, to do the same. In plain, compelling prose, the authors describe the current impact of manufacturing, commerce, and traditional capitalism on the planet's natural systems and human communities, and how that impact is forcing business to change its ways. The Future of the Responsible Company shows companies how to reduce the harm they cause, improve the quality of their business, and provide the kind of meaningful work everyone seeks. It concludes with specific, practical steps every business can undertake, as well as advice on what to do, in what order. out this captivating business book.

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9781952338113

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Reviews

"""If you have any doubt at all that doing right by the natural world is good for the bottom line, please, stop right now, wherever you are, find a seat, put the smartphone on mute, and read this freaking book. Yvon and Vincent aren't here to bum you out about a planet turning to desert, or to shame you into anything. They affirm that the ingenuity and hard work required to clean up our offices and industries will be the most rewarding (and profitable) work we do.""--Brad Wieners, Executive Editor, Bloomberg BusinessWeek (about the first edition)"

"""If you have any doubt at all that doing right by the natural world is good for the bottom line, please, stop right now, wherever you are, find a seat, put the smartphone on mute, and read this freaking book. Yvon and Vincent aren't here to bum you out about a planet turning to desert, or to shame you into anything. They affirm that the ingenuity and hard work required to clean up our offices and industries will be the most rewarding (and profitable) work we do.""--Brad Wieners, Executive Editor, Bloomberg BusinessWeek (about the first edition) “The Future of the Responsible Company is an instructive guide articulating the essential elements of business responsibility for these ecologically perilous times—and it is far more ambitious than a traditional business book… [The] authors challenge organizations to prioritize not only shareholders and customers, but also workers, the community, and—most critically of all—the Earth."" —SHELF AWARENESS"

If you have any doubt at all that doing right by the natural world is good for the bottom line, please, stop right now, wherever you are, find a seat, put the smartphone on mute, and read this freaking book. Yvon and Vincent aren't here to bum you out about a planet turning to desert, or to shame you into anything. They affirm that the ingenuity and hard work required to clean up our offices and industries will be the most rewarding (and profitable) work we do. --Brad Wieners, Executive Editor, Bloomberg BusinessWeek (about the first edition)

Author Information

In 1973, Yvon Chouinard founded Patagonia, a purpose-driven company known for its quality clothing products and commitment to advancing solutions to the environmental crisis. The company was nearly 50 when Chouinard decided it was time for another improvement. In September 2022, Chouinard and his family made a historic announcement: They had adopted a purpose-driven ownership model, locking in the company’s values and dedicating the excess profits to protecting our home planet.  Since 1957, Chouinard and his family have lived in California and Wyoming. Vincent Stanley has been with Patagonia on and off since its beginning in 1973, for many of those years in key roles as head of sales or marketing. More informally, he is Patagonia’s long-time chief storyteller. Vincent helped develop The Footprint Chronicles, the company’s interactive website that outlines the social and environmental impact of its products; Worn Wear; and Patagonia Books. He currently serves as company philosopher and is a resident fellow at the Yale Center for Business and Environment. He is also a poet whose work has appeared in Best American Poetry. He and his wife, the writer Nora Gallagher, live in Santa Barbara and Brooksville, Maine. 

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