I'd like to recommend the blog of my friend, mentor, and Naples Institute colleague James Fisher, Ph.D.:
www.fisherofideas.com.
Let me warn you now: you're unlikely to agree with Dr. Fisher's views much of the time. He is bound to infuriate you. He will also challenge you, and edify you as few thinkers can.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
About The Adam Smith Award
The Naples Institute is a think tank dedicated to fighting for social justice.
The purpose of a think tank is to produce and disseminate original thought to further humanity in a given sphere of interest, be that political, economic, military, or social. Some renowned think tanks include the Aspen Institute, Brookings Institution, Pew Research Center, RAND Corporation, American Enterprise Institute, Economic Policy Institute, and the Cato Institute.
The scope of The Naples Institute’s work is intended in each case to be international. Its method involves creating programs relevant to social justice which its members first test on a local or regional level. Once proven, these programs can be expanded by The Institute itself, or can be replicated by other organizations in other communities.
Most members of The Institute elect to focus their efforts on one program. The Steering Committee provides support and guidance to these programs, and oversight as appropriate. The Steering Committee also approves of programs at their inception, assigning program leaders.
In the future, The Institute will have paid Fellows heading up various programs. At present, all work is conducted by volunteers.
The Adam Smith Award for Socially Conscious Businesses
A Program of The Naples Institute
Socially responsible corporate management is a social justice issue. Companies do not exist in a moral vacuum. Whether management appreciates it or not, each company is a participant in its community’s well-being. As it relates to its employees, vendors, customers, stockholders, government, nonprofit community, and environment, each company has impact, either positive or negative.
The Naples Institute thinks it vitally important to publically recognize those for-profit companies that have the most positive impact on their community. These companies should stand as an example to other companies that may be inclined to be responsible community citizens, but uncertain how to proceed. With hope, the responsible companies will raise the bar for their competition, so that even those firms less eager to act responsibly will do so as a strategic decision.
Behavior, not intention, matters most at The Institute.
The ultimate goal of the Adam Smith Award, then, is to increase the net level of corporate giving, of company-sponsored volunteerism, of positive business practices and environmental stewardship; of general good-citizenship.
Criteria for the Adam Smith Award
The Adam Smith Committee spent months wrestling over the criteria the judges would use in selecting the single company in Southwest Florida that best exemplifies socially conscious business.
In the end, the decision was made to select an independent panel of community leaders who would use their best judgment to weigh what will certainly be a matter of apples and oranges. Instead of strict criteria, The Institute has issued guidelines for nominees.
Guidelines for nominating a company
1. The company must be for-profit.
2. It can be either privately or publically held.
3. It can be of any size, from 1 employee to 5,000 or more.
4. It must be headquartered in the 5 counties of Southwest Florida.
5. Company management can self-nominate, or firms can be nominated by employees or third parties.
6. The company should show exemplary performance in one or more of the following: charitable giving; employee volunteerism; employee, vendor, customer, or stockholder relations; environmental responsibility.
7. It cannot produce a negative result in any of the above categories. For instance, a firm that donates generously but pollutes egregiously will not qualify for consideration.
8. Winners cannot win the Adam Smith Award more than once in five years.
9. Nominations for 2009 close August 31, 2009.
Certified Socially Conscious Businesses
Only one company each year will win the Adam Smith Award. The winner is allowed to use the Adam Smith logo in its marketing and other literature for the following five years.
However, all nominees will be considered for certification by The Naples Institute as a Socially Conscious Business. Winners will be allowed to use this certification in all marketing material for the following year.
The purpose of this certification is to establish an independent and objective standard for consumers, employees, and investors to evaluate the companies they do business with.
Currently, there is no way for these stakeholders to determine the relative merit of a company’s social responsibility beyond its own marketing information.
Why Adam Smith?
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) catapulted him to iconic status for free-market capitalists the world over; most first-year business students are at least passably familiar with his articulation of “the invisible hand of the market.” Unfortunately, few so-called capitalists have read or mastered Smith’s works.
Thirteen years before the publication of Wealth, Smith wrote another economic treatise, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in which he explained that one cannot be a true capitalist without behaving in a morally responsible manner toward those less fortunate in society. It is a theme he repeats in Wealth, and a guiding principle of Smith’s own career: he donated generously to charity throughout his life.
In searching for an appropriate representative for socially conscious business leadership, The Naples Institute decided upon Adam Smith as the ultimate symbol of thriving capitalism on the one hand, and responsible practices on the other. Or, to be more precise, in Smith, The Institute found the person who best drives home the point that there is no true capitalism without moral responsibility.
An award unlike any other
Thorough research has led The Institute to the conclusion that there is no award for socially conscious business in the United States or most likely in the entire world.
A city unlike any other
Like Adam Smith, the very name of Naples, Florida carries with it powerful symbolism. There are purported to be more CEOs – currently serving or retired – in the Naples area than anywhere else in the world. Naples is also one of the most affluent small cities in the country, usually ranked ahead even of Palm Beach on Florida’s east coast. Unsurprisingly, then, there is an unrivalled wealth of intellectual talent, entrepreneurial energy, and philanthropic generosity.
…And there has to be, because Naples is “forty minutes and four billion dollars” west of Immokalee, one of the poorest towns in the country. Sadly, there is no lack of poverty closer to the coast, either, with pockets of abject poverty throughout the county and the region; some even within a short walk of the most fabulous mansions of Port Royal and Old Naples.
Naples itself is a social justice work in progress. Finding an appropriate name for The Institute that captured both its talent and its need was not hard to do.
The purpose of a think tank is to produce and disseminate original thought to further humanity in a given sphere of interest, be that political, economic, military, or social. Some renowned think tanks include the Aspen Institute, Brookings Institution, Pew Research Center, RAND Corporation, American Enterprise Institute, Economic Policy Institute, and the Cato Institute.
The scope of The Naples Institute’s work is intended in each case to be international. Its method involves creating programs relevant to social justice which its members first test on a local or regional level. Once proven, these programs can be expanded by The Institute itself, or can be replicated by other organizations in other communities.
Most members of The Institute elect to focus their efforts on one program. The Steering Committee provides support and guidance to these programs, and oversight as appropriate. The Steering Committee also approves of programs at their inception, assigning program leaders.
In the future, The Institute will have paid Fellows heading up various programs. At present, all work is conducted by volunteers.
The Adam Smith Award for Socially Conscious Businesses
A Program of The Naples Institute
Socially responsible corporate management is a social justice issue. Companies do not exist in a moral vacuum. Whether management appreciates it or not, each company is a participant in its community’s well-being. As it relates to its employees, vendors, customers, stockholders, government, nonprofit community, and environment, each company has impact, either positive or negative.
The Naples Institute thinks it vitally important to publically recognize those for-profit companies that have the most positive impact on their community. These companies should stand as an example to other companies that may be inclined to be responsible community citizens, but uncertain how to proceed. With hope, the responsible companies will raise the bar for their competition, so that even those firms less eager to act responsibly will do so as a strategic decision.
Behavior, not intention, matters most at The Institute.
The ultimate goal of the Adam Smith Award, then, is to increase the net level of corporate giving, of company-sponsored volunteerism, of positive business practices and environmental stewardship; of general good-citizenship.
Criteria for the Adam Smith Award
The Adam Smith Committee spent months wrestling over the criteria the judges would use in selecting the single company in Southwest Florida that best exemplifies socially conscious business.
In the end, the decision was made to select an independent panel of community leaders who would use their best judgment to weigh what will certainly be a matter of apples and oranges. Instead of strict criteria, The Institute has issued guidelines for nominees.
Guidelines for nominating a company
1. The company must be for-profit.
2. It can be either privately or publically held.
3. It can be of any size, from 1 employee to 5,000 or more.
4. It must be headquartered in the 5 counties of Southwest Florida.
5. Company management can self-nominate, or firms can be nominated by employees or third parties.
6. The company should show exemplary performance in one or more of the following: charitable giving; employee volunteerism; employee, vendor, customer, or stockholder relations; environmental responsibility.
7. It cannot produce a negative result in any of the above categories. For instance, a firm that donates generously but pollutes egregiously will not qualify for consideration.
8. Winners cannot win the Adam Smith Award more than once in five years.
9. Nominations for 2009 close August 31, 2009.
Certified Socially Conscious Businesses
Only one company each year will win the Adam Smith Award. The winner is allowed to use the Adam Smith logo in its marketing and other literature for the following five years.
However, all nominees will be considered for certification by The Naples Institute as a Socially Conscious Business. Winners will be allowed to use this certification in all marketing material for the following year.
The purpose of this certification is to establish an independent and objective standard for consumers, employees, and investors to evaluate the companies they do business with.
Currently, there is no way for these stakeholders to determine the relative merit of a company’s social responsibility beyond its own marketing information.
Why Adam Smith?
Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations (1776) catapulted him to iconic status for free-market capitalists the world over; most first-year business students are at least passably familiar with his articulation of “the invisible hand of the market.” Unfortunately, few so-called capitalists have read or mastered Smith’s works.
Thirteen years before the publication of Wealth, Smith wrote another economic treatise, The Theory of Moral Sentiments, in which he explained that one cannot be a true capitalist without behaving in a morally responsible manner toward those less fortunate in society. It is a theme he repeats in Wealth, and a guiding principle of Smith’s own career: he donated generously to charity throughout his life.
In searching for an appropriate representative for socially conscious business leadership, The Naples Institute decided upon Adam Smith as the ultimate symbol of thriving capitalism on the one hand, and responsible practices on the other. Or, to be more precise, in Smith, The Institute found the person who best drives home the point that there is no true capitalism without moral responsibility.
An award unlike any other
Thorough research has led The Institute to the conclusion that there is no award for socially conscious business in the United States or most likely in the entire world.
A city unlike any other
Like Adam Smith, the very name of Naples, Florida carries with it powerful symbolism. There are purported to be more CEOs – currently serving or retired – in the Naples area than anywhere else in the world. Naples is also one of the most affluent small cities in the country, usually ranked ahead even of Palm Beach on Florida’s east coast. Unsurprisingly, then, there is an unrivalled wealth of intellectual talent, entrepreneurial energy, and philanthropic generosity.
…And there has to be, because Naples is “forty minutes and four billion dollars” west of Immokalee, one of the poorest towns in the country. Sadly, there is no lack of poverty closer to the coast, either, with pockets of abject poverty throughout the county and the region; some even within a short walk of the most fabulous mansions of Port Royal and Old Naples.
Naples itself is a social justice work in progress. Finding an appropriate name for The Institute that captured both its talent and its need was not hard to do.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Another Nominee
Congratulations to Chico's, our newest nominee for the Adam Smith Award.
www.chicos.com
www.chicosfas.com
www.chicos.com
www.chicosfas.com
Monday, February 23, 2009
Updated Nominee List
To date, the following companies have been nominated for the Adam Smith Award for Socially Conscious Businesses:
Arthrex
The Bayshore Coffee Company
The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club
Wilson Miller
Tithe & More
Sunshine Pharmacy
TMI
Robert of Philadelphia
Planet Smoothie Naples Center (franchise)
Chick Fil-A Naples Center (franchise)
Whole Foods has also been nominated, as a corporation rather than just locally. As they are headquartered in Austin, Texas, they do not qualify for this award, which is regional in 2009. However, they will be honored at our upcoming award ceremony.
A few of the nominees have had to bow out of consideration for 2009. There is absolutely no dishonor in any of their situations. In each case, we look forward to reconsidering them in 2010 or 2011.
You will notice that all of our current nominees are based in Collier County, which after all is where The Naples Institute is based and where most of its members reside. For that reason, we are seeking reputable partners to help us spread the word and collect nominees among the other four counties in our region.
Arthrex
The Bayshore Coffee Company
The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club
Wilson Miller
Tithe & More
Sunshine Pharmacy
TMI
Robert of Philadelphia
Planet Smoothie Naples Center (franchise)
Chick Fil-A Naples Center (franchise)
Whole Foods has also been nominated, as a corporation rather than just locally. As they are headquartered in Austin, Texas, they do not qualify for this award, which is regional in 2009. However, they will be honored at our upcoming award ceremony.
A few of the nominees have had to bow out of consideration for 2009. There is absolutely no dishonor in any of their situations. In each case, we look forward to reconsidering them in 2010 or 2011.
You will notice that all of our current nominees are based in Collier County, which after all is where The Naples Institute is based and where most of its members reside. For that reason, we are seeking reputable partners to help us spread the word and collect nominees among the other four counties in our region.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Guest Commentary in News
For the record, I am not the author of this piece. I submitted it as from the entire think tank.
Still, it's nice to see our concept taking hold.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/jan/31/guest-commentary-we-need-recognition-socially-cons/
Still, it's nice to see our concept taking hold.
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/jan/31/guest-commentary-we-need-recognition-socially-cons/
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Two more nominees
The Naples Institute met today. In our discussion, we decided to limit range for the Adam Smith Award to five counties, rather than six. While we appreciate Sarasota County, it is a bit of a stretch, the group decided, to include them in the region of Southwest Florida - at least for the purposes of our award.
Also, the Adam Smith Nominating Committee has two more companies to consider:
* The Bayshore Coffee Company http://www.bayshorecoffee.com/
* The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club www.NaplesBeachHotel.com
More on both later.
Also, the Adam Smith Nominating Committee has two more companies to consider:
* The Bayshore Coffee Company http://www.bayshorecoffee.com/
* The Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club www.NaplesBeachHotel.com
More on both later.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Nominees to Date
To date, the following companies have been nominated for the Adam Smith Award for Socially Conscious Businesses:
* Bonita Bay Group
* Wilson Miller
* Tithe & More
* Sunshine Pharmacy
* TMI
* Robert of Philadelphia
* “B”
* Whole Foods
* Planet Smoothie Naples Center (franchise)
* Chick Fil-A Naples Center (franchise)
Bonita Bay Group is a large, privately-owned development company that has a high public profile for its charitable giving, its enthusiastic employee volunteerism, and its good business practices: they seem a natural for certification as a Socially Conscious Business. http://www.bonitabaygroup.com/
Wilson Miller is also a large company, based in Naples but operating throughout the state. Their good corporate citizenship, employee relations, and environmental focus recommend them for our award. http://www.wilsonmiller.com/
I have written about Tithe & More, the real estate brokerage, before on this blog. They are one of my favorite companies ever. http://www.titheandmore.com/
Sunshine Pharmacy has garnered excellent press for its helping the less-fortunate to fill their prescriptions. http://www.mysunshinepharmacy.com/
TMI is a remarkable firm, a business incubator in Immokalee started by two retired IBM executives, both members of Greater Naples Leadership, who are dedicated to making a difference in the economy of that less-fortunate town to our east. I am dying to get them a website! I’ll write more about TMI soon.
Robert of Philadelphia is an upscale hair salon that has a tremendous reputation for giving. To date, Robert has more nominations than any other business. One activity of note is their involvement in locks of love (http://www.locksoflove.org/) http://ropsalons.com
“B” is the still-hush-hush technology start-up I am helping launch. Written right into B’s corporate charter is a dedication to give 10% of its profit to charity. B will also employ disabled veterans – but I’ve already said too much. (For more of this type of “too much,” poke around the earliest entries of my business blog: www.savvycapitalist.blogspot.com).
As a firm based out of our region, Whole Foods is ineligible for the Adam Smith Award this year. However, I will be blogging about this remarkable company more in the future; you’ll see soon why we are going to recognize them with an honorable mention if nothing else, for the impactful work accomplished thus far by the team – and especially the team leader, Damien Garcia – at their North Naples store. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
Rounding out the list so far are two franchises. I am friends with both franchisees – no surprise there, as I’m attracted to giving people and, I'm grateful to say, usually vice-verse.
Jason Swinford, owner of our local Planet Smoothie of Naples Center, gave away well in excess of ten thousand dollars for fundraisers in his first year of business, before his shop was even profitable; now in his second year, he hasn’t let up that admirable pace. That commitment to the community has won him the good will of Naples. Ask Jason if doing the right thing pays.
Chick Fil-A of Naples Center, is similarly committed to giving back. Owner PJ Rodriguez is more engaged in giving than most companies I have observed, and his employee relations are admirable as well.
* Bonita Bay Group
* Wilson Miller
* Tithe & More
* Sunshine Pharmacy
* TMI
* Robert of Philadelphia
* “B”
* Whole Foods
* Planet Smoothie Naples Center (franchise)
* Chick Fil-A Naples Center (franchise)
Bonita Bay Group is a large, privately-owned development company that has a high public profile for its charitable giving, its enthusiastic employee volunteerism, and its good business practices: they seem a natural for certification as a Socially Conscious Business. http://www.bonitabaygroup.com/
Wilson Miller is also a large company, based in Naples but operating throughout the state. Their good corporate citizenship, employee relations, and environmental focus recommend them for our award. http://www.wilsonmiller.com/
I have written about Tithe & More, the real estate brokerage, before on this blog. They are one of my favorite companies ever. http://www.titheandmore.com/
Sunshine Pharmacy has garnered excellent press for its helping the less-fortunate to fill their prescriptions. http://www.mysunshinepharmacy.com/
TMI is a remarkable firm, a business incubator in Immokalee started by two retired IBM executives, both members of Greater Naples Leadership, who are dedicated to making a difference in the economy of that less-fortunate town to our east. I am dying to get them a website! I’ll write more about TMI soon.
Robert of Philadelphia is an upscale hair salon that has a tremendous reputation for giving. To date, Robert has more nominations than any other business. One activity of note is their involvement in locks of love (http://www.locksoflove.org/) http://ropsalons.com
“B” is the still-hush-hush technology start-up I am helping launch. Written right into B’s corporate charter is a dedication to give 10% of its profit to charity. B will also employ disabled veterans – but I’ve already said too much. (For more of this type of “too much,” poke around the earliest entries of my business blog: www.savvycapitalist.blogspot.com).
As a firm based out of our region, Whole Foods is ineligible for the Adam Smith Award this year. However, I will be blogging about this remarkable company more in the future; you’ll see soon why we are going to recognize them with an honorable mention if nothing else, for the impactful work accomplished thus far by the team – and especially the team leader, Damien Garcia – at their North Naples store. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/
Rounding out the list so far are two franchises. I am friends with both franchisees – no surprise there, as I’m attracted to giving people and, I'm grateful to say, usually vice-verse.
Jason Swinford, owner of our local Planet Smoothie of Naples Center, gave away well in excess of ten thousand dollars for fundraisers in his first year of business, before his shop was even profitable; now in his second year, he hasn’t let up that admirable pace. That commitment to the community has won him the good will of Naples. Ask Jason if doing the right thing pays.
Chick Fil-A of Naples Center, is similarly committed to giving back. Owner PJ Rodriguez is more engaged in giving than most companies I have observed, and his employee relations are admirable as well.
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