Right Makes Might

Reviving Ethics to Improve Your Business

By Dorothea E. Gaulden, PhD.

ISBN10: 1933538864
ISBN13: 9781933538860
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: August 1, 2007
Publisher: Bridgeway Books



The application of strong ethical practices will make a business more successful in many different ways, writes Dorothea E. Gaulden in her provocative book Right Makes Might: Reviving Ethics to Improve Your Business. She describes the importance of becoming an ethical company for the benefit of shareholders, employees, customers, and society in general. The author also sets out a solution to the dilemma of how to become a business that practices ethics as a way of life.

Dorothea Gaulden begins her book with a discussion of the decline of ethical values in all areas of modern life. Whether it's students cheating in university courses, or executives in huge corporations engaging in illegal and unethical practices to improve a short term quarterly report, ethical behaviour is lacking in modern society. While painting a gloomy portrait of today's society, Dorothea demonstrates clearly that dishonesty provides at best a short term gain. As we see from the current financial headlines, illegal and unethical corporate activities are unraveling at an alarming rate.



Dorothea E. Gaulden (photo left) makes a powerful case for establishing strong ethical practices as core company values. To achieve this goal, business leaders must move far beyond the lip service paid to their alleged codes of conduct. All too often, the ethical words are derailed by tacit or even overt rewards for employees stepping outside those best practice guidelines. Instead of active support of unethical behaviour, good ethics must start at the top, by example. If leadership involves facilitating change in company practices, then the establishment of impeccable ethics is a good place to start.

With so many industry leading companies in the financial and housing communities, teetering on the edge of financial ruin, there is no better example of the failure of unethical practices. They simply don't work over the long term. When unscrupulous business techniques are uncovered, the resulting loss of confidence in the company results in its often very rapid demise. Regardless of the size of the organization, the establishment and adherence to strong ethical principle would have prevented disaster. At the same time, ethical companies gain customers and clients because of their cleaner image.

For me, the power of the book is the development of a program for successful implementation of total ethical behaviour within a company. The author's unflinching dedication to moral and ethical actions is vindicated by current events within society in general, and the economy in particular. Being ethical in business is demonstrated clearly as being good business. People prefer to business with other people whom they know and trust. A strong sense of ethics is essential to creating and nurturing that trust. As we have seen in the business news, unethical companies are failing at an alarming rate. On the other hand, being ethical in your business pays.

I highly recommend Right Makes Might: Reviving Ethics to Improve Your Business by Dorothea E. Gaulden for any business person who is serious about incorporating ethics into their company culture. Ethics must become a way of life for successful organizations in the future. This book helps guide your business on that important high road to improved company culture.

Read Right Makes Might: Reviving Ethics to Improve Your Business by Dorothea E. Gaulden, and feel good about how you conduct your business, and how you live your life.

Tags: Dorothea E. Gaulden, Right Makes Might, business ethics, business book reviewsi.

READ MORE - Right Makes Might by Dorothea Gaulden - Book review

Author and conversational marketing expert Lois Kelly, of The Foghound Blog, and author of the insightful book Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing shares ideas for improving your conversations with your customers, and for listening and learning from them to enhance your marketing. Lois Kelly is my internet radio show guest on Blog Business Success; hosted live on Blog Talk Radio.



The show airs live on Thursday, November 8, at 8:00 pm Eastern Time; 5:00 pm Pacific Time.

Lois Kelly shares ideas for building word of mouth marketing campaigns through improved messages and enhanced communication techniques. You will learn:

* Why it is vital to open the lines of communication with your customers

* How to engage your customers in real and meaningful talks

* How to use blogs and other social media tools to facilitation conversations

* How to employ the new marketing techniques in your own company

Lois Kelly, (photo left) is the author of Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing. She believes the root cause of many business and marketing problems is communications. She’s dedicated her career to helping companies talk about their companies and issues in ways that get people to buy, believe and change, no matter how complex the topic or how competitive the market. Her clients have included SAP, Sun Microsystems, Sapient, FedEx, The Business Innovation Factory, Hyperion, eRoom, Copernicus, Orange, and SAS Institute.

Lois’ articles have appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Brandweek, Advertising Age, and Adweek, and she frequently speaks at conferences on marketing and communications throughout the world. Lois Kelly is a board member of the Tony-award winning theater, Trinity Repertory Company, and is an advisor to Northeastern University’s fast-growing Communications Studies program.

My book review of Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Lois Kelly



If you miss this very informative show, it will be available for free download as a podcast for iPod, iTunes, and MP3 players; or play it right on your computer. To download this, or any other of my guest interviews, go to the Blog Business Success host page and click on Archived Segments. Once there, click on the podcast icon at the end of the episode description, to download the show free of charge for your listening enjoyment. You can also subscribe to the show feed.



To call in questions for my guest, the number is: (347) 996-5832

Let's talk with Lois Kelly, of The Foghound Blog, and author of the insightful book Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, as she shares ideas for improving your conversations with your customers, and for listening and learning from them to enhance your marketing and to boost your business success on Blog Business Success Radio.

Tags: Lois Kelly, Beyond Buzz, marketing conversations, Blog Business Success, Blog Talk Radio.

READ MORE - Lois Kelly: Beyond Buzz - The Next Generation of Word of Mouth Marketing - Blog Business Success Radio

This week sees a small business approach to the traveling business show, recognized by one and all as Carnival of the Capitalists and arrives at the small business information blog known as Small Business Essentials.

This week's edition of Carnival of the Capitalists highlights some of the best bloggers writing on the internet today, as well as some of the best and most popular entries ever to the Carnival.

Blogging topics presented include entrepreneurship, management, market trading, internet commerce, marketing, the national economy and personal finance.

As you would expect from Carnival of the Capitalists, there are many discussions of economics, marketing, business, and small business.

It's always great to read and discover the many high quality blogs out there in the blogosphere.

We don't always get to them all, and this edition of Carnival of the Capitalists has introduced many of us to some brand new ones; as well as some long time contributors.



If you wish to submit an entry to next week's, or any Carnival of the Capitalists edition, e-mail your entries to the new address:

thecotc -at- gmail -dot- com

You can always use the handy entry form at Gongol.com where all you have to do is fill in the blanks. Talk about making it easy to be included!



If you are searching for new and exciting ways to expand your blog's readership, you should seriously consider sending an entry to Carnival of the Capitalists.

Merely being included in the company, of the first rate regular Carnival of the Capitalists contributors, will enhance the reputation of your blog.

The extra visitors sent to your blog won't hurt either!

The growth and staying power, of Carnival of the Capitalists, is beginning to catch the attention of people outside the blogging community. Each hosting, brings a fresh assortment of new readers, to the various blogs involved.

The visitors aren't only bloggers anymore.

Readership is expanding to include the mainstream media, various government and private organizations, many businesses, and other interested people from beyond the blogging community.

Many people are introduced to some tremendous blogs that they might otherwise have missed.

Next week's Carnival of the Capitalists will be hosted at the UK based entrepreneurial blog known as Business Opportunities and Ideas.

In the meantime, click your mouse over to the Small Business Essentials hosting of Carnival of the Capitalists.

If the great posted entries don't convince you to click, or the possibility of finding some brand new blogs to read doesn't do it, then visit Carnival of the Capitalists and get into business for yourself.

Tags: carnivals, capitalism, business, marketing.

READ MORE - Carnival of the Capitalists again at Small Business Essentials

Beyond Buzz:

The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing

By: Lois Kelly

Published: Feb 28, 2007
ISBN: 9780814473832
Format: Hardcover, 228pp
Publisher: Amacom Books



New marketing is about conversations, and not hiding behind outmoded corporate speak, writes Lois Kelly , in her insightful book
Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing. Talking with customers as if you really mean it, and listening to their thoughts and ideas, are how new marketers learn what is important about their companies and products.

For marketing expert Lois Kelly, the importance of engaging customers in real and meaningful conversations is crucial to successful marketing campaigns. While the tools of marketing, including blogs and the many social media sites are important, they are only the vehicles to help facilitate an honest discussion. A successful marketer seeks ways to open lines of communication, around topics of interest to the customer. Letting go of control of the marketing message, and becoming more open to ideas outside of your company and its products, helps the marketer to learn what is important to people.



Lois Kelly (photo left) makes a convincing case for listening to customers and learning their needs and desires, as the keys to successful marketing. The only way to learn is to talk, and to create comfortable and meaningful ways to open up real discussion. It is not enough to place advertisements, write a few blog posts, or join a social media network.

Without engaging customers and clients in the conversation, the entire point of the new talk based marketing is lost in the shuffle. Engaging with customers on a deep emotional level requires talking and listening to their ideas about needs. For many traditional marketers, that is a radical step in thinking that is essential in the modern marketplace.

For me, the power of the book is in its direct approach, to conversation and talking with customers, as the crux of successful marketing. Lois Kelly sets out concrete examples of successful conversation building marketers, demonstrating the effectiveness of real discussion. She also provides a workable framework to help any marketer talk on a meaningful level with customers. The book is a concise crash course in conversational marketing that can be used by anyone in any business.

I highly recommend Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Lois Kelly for anyone who is really serious about engaging customers in meaningful conversations. If your goal is to listen to your customers, and you are not sure how to create the right climate, this book sets out a myriad of ways to help you talk and learn from your own customers and clients.

Read Beyond Buzz: The Next Generation of Word-of-Mouth Marketing by Lois Kelly, and start some real conversations with your customers today.

Tags: Lois Kelly, Beyond Buzz, marketing conversations, business book reviews.

READ MORE - Beyond Buzz by Lois Kelly - Book review

Management decision making is crucial to the success of an organization. While that statement may appear moot, the decision making process is often taken for granted in many companies. In a few businesses, the process is even short circuited to gain support for some very questionable policy choices.

Instead of helping the company move forward, the options provided are often self serving at best, or damaging to the business at worst. The choices presented to the manager are very often placed in the form of two false choices. The manager, CEO, or board are expected to select either Option A or Option B. While that dual selection process may appear reasonable on the surface, it can miss other better alternatives. In any situation, there are always more than two possible courses of action. The alternative choices just may not appear so obvious at first glance.



The scenario usually unfolds with the manager being told to select between two possible courses of action. Surprisingly, the manager very often accepts those two choices as the entire universe of options. Agonizing over the pair of bad choices, the legendary lesser of two evils is chosen with reluctance and great trepidation. When the alleged lesser bad is selected, the organization suffers as a result. Instead of narrowing the universe down to what amounts to a rock and a hard place, other better courses of action should be sought for the good of the organization.

It is often surprising how many people will accept, without further evidence or questioning, that only two possible solutions exist for any problem. The reasons for that phenomenon are many and varied, and are deeply seated in society. For example, news programs show what they consider "both sides" of an issue. In reality, far more than two points of view exist, and are often far removed from the ones presented on the ubiquitous split screen. The same multiple decision thinking holds true for other aspects of life and business as well.



In many cases, the false choices offered are part of a personal agenda on the part of a decision maker. That personal ambition can manifest itself at any level from the CEO and the boardroom to the custodial closet. In many companies, personal agendas outweigh the good of the company and its customers. My manipulating the decision making process into dual false choices, the personal agenda takes precedence over the company.

In other business situations, the two bad choices may result from faulty data, poor record keeping, or a failure to embrace creative thinking. Incomplete data and flawed accounts paint a false picture of the company. Using that incorrect information to make policy choices can lead to disaster. In these troubled situations, the decision makers will seek the proverbial magic bullet. All too often, because the decision makers failed to look more deeply into the real company problems, the supposed cure only has two options. Very bad things are the usual result.



Don't let your thinking be limited to only two options. Your management team must look further, and seek other more viable alternatives. Include the entire staff, or a team selected from a representative overview of the company personnel, as your creative task force. The selection of people will vary with the size of the business. Smaller companies can brainstorm with the entire staff. Larger organizations will have to select and rotate individuals from every department. Let ideas and thinking run free. Don't limit thinking or suggestions. Usually, the very best ideas are the ones that appear most outrageous at first blush.

With total company involvement in the decision making process, the false dichotomy of two choices, will become a thing of the past. Look beyond narrowing your scope to only a pair of lukewarm or even bad choices. Seek the ideas from every department in your company. The right answers already exist for the problem. It is only a matter of letting your people help you to discover them.

You will no longer be faced with the pain of deciding upon the lesser of two evils again.

Tags: decision making, management, business choices, staff involvement.

READ MORE - Decision making: Avoiding two false choices