Innovative Learning Solutions, Inc. blog

Dr. Raj Sisodia is currently a professor and chair of marketing at Bentley University in Waltham, Mass. He also serves as the chairman of the Conscious Capitalism Institute. As the author of seven books and over 100 published articles, Sisodia rightly earned recognition as one of the “50 Leading Marketing Thinkers” in 2003 and one of ten “Outstanding Trailblazers of 2010.” Sisodia is a conscious thought-leader perpetuating the standards for a conscious society by pioneering the conscious capitalism movement.

What is Conscious Capitalism?

Conscious capitalism is a new way of thinking about business that goes considerably beyond the traditional way that most executives and business teachers think about it. It basically has three elements.  They include:

• A higher purpose for the company’s existence,
• A stakeholder orientation that focuses on joining, aligning and finding synergies rather than trade-offs across stakeholders, and
• Leadership that is servant-oriented, or service-oriented.

The first element is that business operates with a higher purpose that goes beyond profit maximization. The reason a company exists is not simply to make money or to maximize returns. It actually exists to achieve a broader goal in the world.

Take for example, Southwest Airlines. When it first was established in the early 1970s, their purpose was to democratize flying. They wanted to make flying accessible to the ordinary American. When they began, only 15 percent of Americans had ever flown in an airplane. Today, that number is about 85 percent. A large part of that increase can be attributed to the approach Southwest used, and that others subsequently emulated. It is important for businesses to have a higher purpose, one that resonates with all of the different stakeholders.

The second component of being a conscious business is to operate with a stakeholder orientation. We describe stakeholders in our framework using the acronym SPICE. SPICE stands for society, partners, investors, customers, and employees. Society is mentioned first for a very important reason. Businesses have to be on the favorable side of society. They have to have a net positive impact on the world. This also correlates to having a higher purpose as an organization.

These stakeholders not only have to be considered in terms of the emphasis the company places on them, but also in terms of joining and aligning their interests with those of the company. It is not about trade-offs.  In the past, we may have overemphasized our investors and our customers. We need to place more focus on the relationship with our employees. The real magic comes from figuring out a way to actually create synergy, so that what is good for employees is also good for customers, investors, partners, communities, the environment, society, and so on.

The third element has to do with leadership. We are finding that the days of the traditional imperial, command and control CEO are numbered. We do not find many examples of companies today practicing this form of corporate leadership. Instead, we have found servant leaders, or conscious leaders. These leaders exist to serve the company’s higher purpose and also in service of the corporation, the employees, and the stakeholders. They view their function as developing the potential of other people within the company. They work to ultimately align everything the company does around the achievement of that higher purpose. They tend to be paid more modestly compared to CEOs of the old leadership model. These leaders tend to have a much deeper and more passionate commitment to the basic purpose of business.

In summary, there is a movement that seems to be under way that reflects a different way of thinking about business. It uses words like conscious, and caring, and creative, and compassionate, words that normally we did not associate with business. It is called Conscious Capitalism. One must realize that success is not running after the biggest bank balance. Success is about having a positive impact.

By Hillary McDaniels

The negative effects of avid video game usage have been under scrutiny for years. However, new research shows playing video games can affect our brains in positive ways. A study at the University of Rochester in New York asserts that violent games, which have often been a source of concern for many parents, have the strongest beneficial effects on the brain.

“There has been a lot of attention wasted in figuring out whether these things turn us into killing machines,” said computational analyst Joshua Lewis at the University of California in San Diego. “Not enough attention has been paid to the unique and interesting features that video games have outside of the violence.”

Gaming provides a creative outlet for developing minds and sharpens users perception and decision-making skills. According to research, people who played action-based video games made decisions 25% faster than others without sacrificing accuracy. In fact, the most apt gamers can make and act upon decisions four times faster than the average person.

Image courtesy of the Wall Street Journal

“These are not the games you would think are mind-enhancing,” said cognitive neuroscientist Daphne Bavelier. Bavelier studies the effects of action games at Switzerland’s University of Geneva and the University of Rochester in New York.

Video games require an intense amount of concentration, which heightens the surges of neurotransmitters, like dopamine and adrenaline. The continuous surges strengthen the neural circuits of the brain; similarly to the way exercise strengthens muscle. University of Rochester researchers found that practiced gamers can pay attention to more than six things at once without getting confused. This is compared to the four things that the average person can focus on at any one moment.

“Video games change your brain,” said University of Wisconsin psychologist C. Shawn Green. Green studies how electronic games affect abilities. “Games definitely hit the reward system in a way that not all activities do.”

There are numerous activities that change your brain: learning to read, playing the piano, or navigating a map. These all have shown to change the brain’s physical structure.

A three-year study by Michigan State University’s Children and Technology Project included 491 middle school students at 20 different Michigan schools. The study found that the more a child played computer games, the higher their scores were on creative sections of standardized tests. This was true regardless of race, gender, or the type of game played. “Much to my surprise, it didn’t matter whether you were playing aggressive games or sports games,” said psychologist Linda Jackson, who led the study. In contrast, research showed that using cellphones, computers, or the Internet for purposes other than gaming had no effect on creativity scores.

In the largest public study of electronic gaming to date, Mark Blair at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, is analyzing the behavior of 150,000 people who play StarCraft II. He is pulling together more than 1.5 billion data points of attention, movement, perception, and second-by-second decision-making skills.

By analyzing the enormous amount of diverse data, he hopes to learn how people become experts in an online-gaming world. This research may shed light on how new skills, knowledge, and experience can become second nature and an intuitive process.

Consumerist.com, a online forum focused on consumer issues, is hosting an online bracket-style competition to deem the “Worst Company in America 2012.” This tournament focuses on issues of poor customer service, unreliable products, excessive surcharges and fees, and overall distrustful business practices. Four contestants remain, including:

• a cable/internet/phone provider with a reputation for poor customer service and high surcharges
• a substantial financial institution plagued by controversy and hidden fees
• a multi-national retailer tarnished by labor practices and unreliable products
• video game developer and distributor known for buying and destroying smaller companies.

Consumerist 'Worst Company in America' 2012 Bracket

Watching the tournament unfold is almost as interesting as viewing the comments posted below. Voters express a deep-seeded distrust with these organizations and associate their companies with corruption and irresponsibility. The comments express that profit is the only goal of these companies, and little else matters. However, this negative view does not translate to all corporations.

Companies you do not see in the running for “Worst Company in America” are Zappos, Whole Foods, and The Container Store, perhaps because these corporations have achieved a conscious capitalist business model and affiliation with Conscious Capitalism®. The Conscious Capitalism organization says these companies are generating every form of value that “matters” – emotional, social, and financial. These companies are not green washing or showcasing corporate social responsibility; they are sincere in their complex business model to make a positive impact on the lives of all of their stakeholders.

Conscious Capitalism is a growing movement, as well as an expanding organization, whose leaders believe a new and more elaborate style of capitalism is gaining momentum. Not only will companies work to advance society and stakeholder’s quality of life, but they will do this in congruence with becoming a more profitable and better performing organization. While still advocating the foundations of free market capitalism, practitioners of Conscious Capitalism believe companies that adhere to the four tenets of conscious business will achieve a synergistic win-win approach. The four tenets are: higher purpose, stakeholder orientation, conscious leadership, and conscious culture.

At the forefront of the Conscious Capitalism movement are business professionals, instructors, CEOs, and thought-leaders. However, the true pioneer of the initiative is the Conscious Capitalism Institute itself. The Conscious Capitalism Institute describes itself as “a community of learning and practice, of research and teaching, of deep conversation and reflection – a rapidly growing global group of scholars from leading business schools, corporate executives, and CEOs, as well as consultants, entrepreneurs and thought leaders.”

The Conscious Capitalism Institute began in the summer of 2009. Their international mission is spread through research, education, and development of programs and practices. The institute hosts a number of multi-national events and conferences, allowing users to attend online or in-person. An international community of advocates is being created to share best practice and an online media outreach is currently in development. A series of teaching material is currently being produced to assist academic instructors, business leaders, and consultants in articulating the conscious capitalist message. They hope to have a master’s class available in the near future, as well. The goal of the Conscious Capitalism Institute is to develop an abundance of resources, including books, videos, conferences, classes, simulations, programming, documents, presentations, newsletters, social media, and networking platforms to assist companies beginning the journey towards a conscious business model.

Knoxville, Tenn.

The Spring Train-The-Trainers workshop is scheduled for April 29th through May 1st, 2012. The seminar will be held in Knoxville, Tennessee.

The Train-The-Trainers seminar is free of charge to all interested parties. Participants are expected to pay for their own travel expenses and lodging. ILS provides meals, training, and seminar materials.

Dr. Ernie Cadotte, the author of Marketplace, leads this Train-The-Trainers seminar with the help of the Marketplace development and support team. The workshop provides instructors with an in-depth understanding of the Marketplace simulator.

Participants will play several decision rounds of our newest Marketplace Live simulation, Conscious Capitalism. At strategic points along the way, Cadotte will discuss the pedagogical options available to instructors.

The training seminar will provide instructors with various learning strategies and tactics that have proven successful with other faculty. The event also includes a friendly beach volleyball game, a reception, catered meals, and a final award ceremony.

Participants from the Fall 2011 Train The Trainers

If you would like more information on the Train-The-Trainers event, please email Jeanine Schmierbach at jschmierbach@ilsworld.com.

In March, a few instructors reported a continuous busy tone when they attempted to call the ILS main support number, +1-865-522-1946.

The problem occurred on the side of our phone provider. When we added an additional line, the call forwarding configuration disappeared from our current lines. This produced a continuous busy tone for some. Normally, the call would be answered by ILS support specialists or go to voicemail.

As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we contacted our phone provider. Unfortunately, it took them four calls and four days to remedy the issue. We have taken measures to ensure this will not be a problem in the future.

We apologize if you experienced any inconvenience during this time. We do not anticipate any problems of this nature moving forward. If you would like additional information on this event or have any comments, please email Ashley Rae Needham at aneedham@ilsworld.com.