Publications

Making meaning, they find, is a greater motivator than making money. This book puts the spotlight on enterprises that serve people and the planet instead of exploiting them; it focuses on leaders who have a positive vision and implement this in innovative ways that contribute to human flourishing.

Digging Deeper reveals the basic principles of how enterprises that create real value operate and why they are successful. It is a book that, unlike others in this sphere, unearths the roots of real value creation. The reader will recognize how six qualities neatly arranged in an easily understandable “6L”-framework (long-term orientation, lasting relationships, local roots, limits recognition, learning community and leadership responsibility) interact and contribute to building enterprises that create both societal value and sustainable profits for their owners.

Digging Deeper includes first-hand accounts of exceptional, yet less well-known examples of responsible enterprises from four continents including, for example, an Italian coffee roasting company dedicated to spreading beauty and goodness in the world, a knitting company that conquered the world of global high fashion from a rocky island off Ireland’s wild Atlantic coast, the ventures of a Benedictine monastery whose managers are thinking in centuries rather than in quarters, or an Indonesian enterprise that contributes to the protection of holistic farming and food diversity while providing local farmers and artisans with the opportunity to earn a decent living.

In Digging Deeper, readers meet many “practical idealists” who have been guided by their ideals to create enterprises that make a positive difference in the world; readers will be inspired by their stories to become part of the change they would like to see in the business world.

Michael V. Russo, Professor of Sustainable Management at the University of Oregon writes in his foreword to the book: “Digging Deeper will challenge your assumptions, lift your spirits, and leave you wondering why purpose-driven enterprises are not the subject of greater praise—and emulation.  . . . Any scholarly book can be judged by the extent to which it elicits more ideas, conjecture, and debates than it puts to rest. I am happy to report that based on this criteria, Digging Deeper is an outstanding book!”

By Dietmar Sternad, James J. Kennelly, and Finbarr Bradley