Power of And Cover

The Institute for Business in Society (IBIS)

IBIS - The Power of And Book

The Power of And

The Power of And: Responsible Business Without Trade-Offs

A new narrative about the nature of business, revealing the focus on responsibility and ethics that unites today’s most influential ideas and companies.

 

Purchase The Power of And

 

Authors R. Edward Freeman, Kirsten E. Martin, and Bidhan L. Parmar detail an emerging business model built on five key concepts.

  1. Prioritizing purpose as well as profits

  2. Creating value for stakeholders as well as shareholders

  3. Seeing business as embedded in society as well as markets

  4. Recognizing people’s full humanity as well as their economic interests

  5. Integrating business and ethics into a more holistic model

Drawing on examples across companies, industries, and countries, The Power of And shows that these values support persevering in hard times and prospering over the long term. Real-world success stories disprove the conventional wisdom that there are unavoidable trade-offs between acting ethically and succeeding financially. 

The idea that business is only about the money doesn’t hold true in the twenty-first century, when companies around the world are giving up traditional distinctions in order to succeed. Yet our expectations for businesses remain under the sway of an outdated worldview that emphasizes profits for shareholders above all else.The Power of And presents a conceptual revolution about what it means for business to be responsible, providing a new story for us to tell in order to help all kinds of companies thrive.

Connect with the Authors

R. Edward Freeman headshot

R. Edward Freeman

University Professor and Elis and Signe Olsson Professor of Business Administration, UVA Darden School of Business

Kirsten E. Martin headshot

Kirsten E. Martin

Associate Professor of Strategic Managment and Public Policy, George Washington University School of Business

Bidhan L. Parmar headshot

Bidhan L. Parmar

Shannon Smith Emerging Scholar in Business Associate Professor of Business Administration, UVA Darden School of Business

MHM

"At a time when the role and even future of corporations in our society is being questioned, The Power Of And offers a timely and compelling argument that companies can and must take a broad and inclusive view of their responsibilities to all of their stakeholders if they are to maintain their social license to operate in the future."

Martina Hund-Mejean
Former CFO of Mastercard, Chair of the Mastercard Impact Fund
FWD Key art

The principles of the book are on full display in a new documentary, Fishing With Dynamite. Featuring Ed Freeman and Bobby Parmar, the new film will be available on digital platforms later this month.