Omniquest Selection Spring 2014

As you all are aware, each semester Northwood University chooses a book to be read by all students, faculty and staff during the course of the semester that we hope will challenge us to think differently about our world or to learn from the experiences of others. The choice for the reading for each semester rotates among the various units of our University and this semester’s selection was made by our Florida campus. Similar to many previous Omniquest selections, CONSCIOUS CAPITALISM: LIBERATING THE HEROIC SPIRIT OF BUSINESS. (2013), John Mackey, Rejendra Sisodia, Bill George challenges us to examine our own ethical consciousness.

In this book, Whole Foods Market cofounder John Mackey, and professor and Conscious Capitalism, Inc. cofounder Raj Sisodia, argue for the inherent good of both business and capitalism. Featuring some of today’s best-known companies, they illustrate how these two forces can—and do—work most powerfully to create value for all stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, investors, society, and the environment.

These “Conscious Capitalism” companies include Whole Foods Market, Southwest Airlines, Costco, Google, Patagonia, The Container Store, UPS, and dozens of others. We know them; we buy their products or use their services. Now it’s time to better understand how these organizations use four specific tenets—higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership, and conscious culture and management—to build strong businesses and help advance capitalism further toward realizing its highest potential.

As leaders of the Conscious Capitalism movement, Mackey and Sisodia argue that aspiring leaders and business builders need to continue on this path of transformation—for the good of both business and society as a whole.

At once a bold defense and reimagining of capitalism and a blueprint for a new system for doing business grounded in a more evolved ethical consciousness, this book provides a new lens for individuals and companies looking to build a more cooperative, humane, and positive future.

We look forward to lively discussions both in and outside the classroom that are initiated by the reading of this compelling book. We know you’ll enjoy its challenges to all of us to make an effort to be “conscious capitalists.”