The Value of Values: How Leaders Can Grow Their Businesses and Enhance Their Careers by Doing the Right Thing

by Daniel Aronson

Overview

How business leaders can grow profits and competitive advantage by doing the right thing.

Acting on values—doing good for the benefit of all—can substantially benefit the bottom line, but many business leaders mistakenly believe that doing the right thing lowers profits. This belief is the greatest barrier holding businesses back from being more financially and competitively successful—and delivering more good for the world. Not only can it be a winning business strategy to act on values, as Daniel Aronson suggests in The Value of Values, but it is also a savvy choice, increasing a company’s power, profit, and competitive advantage—in many cases with little additional investment or risk.

It starts with seeing what others miss. Using extensive research and real-world calculations, Aronson demonstrates that the “submerged value” of initiatives such as taking bold action to combat climate change, helping people find jobs, or creating an open, inclusive work environment is normally 4 to 10 times more than initially believed. Calculating and capturing the true business benefit of acting on values provides a much-needed update to the sustainability and responsibility playbook. Even more important, it shows executives how to harness the value of values to improve profitability, acquire customers, and turbocharge their own careers.

Written by a measurement pioneer and one of the world’s foremost experts on making ethical business count, The Value of Values trains leaders to respond smartly and credibly to today’s challenges, transforming how business can and should be done.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262048385
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	02/06/2024
Series:	Management on the Cutting Edge
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	1,049,839
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.35(h) x 1.09(d)

About the Author

Daniel Aronson is the creator of InVEST which quantifies value from sustainability and responsibility, and has helped clients quantify more than $2 billion in sustainability-driven business value. He is also the creator of Impact Science, Customer Science, Stakeholder Science, and True Plastic Impact.

Table of Contents

Contents:
Series Foreword vii

1 Introduction 1
2 Submerged Value 13

Part I: Now More than Ever 17

3 Closer to 2070 than 1970 19

Part II: CORE Customers 29
4 Customers’ Emotions, Experiences, and Behavior 31
5 Trust and Customer Economics 47

Part III: CORE Operations 65
6 More Efficient 67
7 More Innovative 79
8 Smarter 89

Part IV: CORE Risk 105
9 Threats 111
10 Vulnerability 129
11 Magnitude 159

Part V: CORE Employees 175
12 Magnetic Values 177
13 The Clean Energy of Purpose 191

Part VI: Leadership 213
14 Why Follow You? 215

Part VII: Coda 231
15 Moving Forward 233

Acknowledgments 241
Notes 243
Index 287

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“This amazing book is loaded with lessons and important ideas! Read it, apply it, and let it change your life.”
—Brian Tracy, Speaker; Consultant; author of Eat That Frog

“The Value of Values is a game-changing book that disrupts the notion that values are a luxury rather than a necessity in business. Through insightful research and real-world examples, Aronson reveals the quantifiable benefits of values-based actions and the significant risks of not embracing them. This book is a must-read for leaders who want to create a values-driven organization and unlock its full potential.”
—Marshall Goldsmith, Thinkers50 #1 Executive Coach; author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Won’t Get You There
 
“What's the value of increasing resilience in your business by relying less on fossil fuels? Or increase in employee or customer loyalty earned by addressing human rights issues in your supply chain? This book is a powerful tool for uncovering the vast business value from being part of the solution to environmental and social challenges and helping build a thriving world. Does sustainability pay? The Value of Values proves it does.”
—Andrew Winston, Sustainability Strategist; co-author of Net Positive
 
“Today, purpose—why an enterprise exists and how it brings it to life internally and externally – matters more, to more people, than ever before. The Value of Values makes an exceptional case for how to execute purpose through a values lens for decision making and action taking. Reading this book will help any professional see the world differently.”
–Carol Cone, CEO, Carol Cone ON PURPOSE; award winner at Cannes, CES, SXSW

“Understanding the true value of values helped NRS shape marketing, product development, and strategic decisions. Read this book and let it help you too!”
–Mark Deming, Chief Marketing Officer, Northwest River Supplies

Editorial Reviews

12/04/2023

Implementing ethical business practices can be a “tremendous source of power, profit, and competitive advantage,” posits this lackluster debut manual from business consultant Aronson. Prioritizing values creates benefits for customers and employees while reducing risk and improving innovation, according to Aronson, who notes that Meta suffered a $20 million revenue loss in 2020 after Unilever, a British consumer goods company, temporarily stopped advertising on Facebook and Instagram in response to the platforms’ inaction on reining in extremist content. Other case studies are less illuminating; for instance, Aronson suggests the outdoor gear company REI burnishes its relationship with employees by helping them “spend time with their family, outdoors,” but doesn’t specify how. Aronson covers informative research findings, including studies suggesting diverse workforces and executive boards are correlated with higher profits than less diverse competitors. Unfortunately, much of the advice revolves around the benefits of talking about doing the right thing rather than actually doing it; for instance, Aronson’s observation that brands perceived as trustworthy bounce back from public relations crises faster than less trusted brands elides the question of whether a brand in crisis deserved the trust in the first place. This doesn’t add much to the considerable literature on corporate responsibility. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly