Good Business TV

Good Business Television

On this 30-minute show, I interview today’s leaders of ethically profitable companies. Such companies reward investors with profitable performance, and they pay genuine attention to:

• The environment: pollution reduction, environmental impact, recycling and energy-saving measures

• Community relations: philanthropy, foundations, community service, employee volunteerism, outreach and scholarships

• Employee relations: fair wages, paid benefits, family-oriented policies, workplace safety and diversity

• Customer relations: quality management, product safety, customer satisfaction, and harmful impact mitigation.

• Good Business named Best New Television Program of 2005 by Charter Communications

  •  Read media release here.

  Click here to watch a 3-minute video clip of Good Business.

Recent episodes:

• Benefactor Dr. Mick Ukleja of the new Ukleja Center for Ethical Leadership at California State University Long Beach speaks with me about excellence in business leadership, the intersection of ethics, morality and religion, and using personal affluence to positively influence the teaching of applied ethics at the university level.

• Ethics consultant Philip Henderson speaks with me about the importance of employees and employers taking the time to compare their intersection points of personal ethics and workplace ethics. Simple tests and contemplative writing exercises can help both parties to evaluate areas of ethical conflict and agreement.

• AngelPoints CEO Andrew Mercy speaks with me about corporations (including Toyota, CitiGroup, Deloitte, and B of A) that effectively coordinate and manage their employees’ volunteer activities for local communities and non-profits. The result is genuine corporate social responsibility, improvements in brand recognition and profitability, and improved employee retention and teamwork.

• Laserfiche CEO Nien-Ling Wacker and Senior VP Chris Wacker speak with me about document retention via electronic scanning/storage/retrieval, regulatory compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and the Patriot Act ("Know Your Customer"), plus leading a large high-technology corporation while maintaining a high quality of life for employees and partners.

• Halbert Hargrove Investment Counsel CEO Russ Hill speaks with me about socially responsive investing (SRI), and how well-researched investment in SRI funds (ex: Calvert, Domini) can result in both better-than-S&P financial return and the knowledge that your money is being utilized in support of corporate social responsibility.

• Emmy-award winning investigative reporter Judd "The Troubleshooter" McIlvain speaks with me about his experience reporting for CBS News, ABC News and CBS's 48-Hours, about ethical practices in television news, and about CEOs who often communicate poorly when confronted with ethical dilemmas.

• Venture & Technology Management Group CEO/founder Dr. William Salesky speaks with me about leading several well-funded start-ups, and how socially responsible executive management enhances corporate profitability.

• It's a Grind COO John Alderson speaks about rapidly growing a national coffee house franchise. IAG turns down most financially qualified (possessing $300,000 franchise fee) applicants due to lack of proven ability to focus on the highest levels of customer attraction, service and retention.

• Better Business Bureau CEO/President Bill Mitchell speaks about exposing, confronting and arbitrating unfair and unethical business practices, ranging from 'Make Money Stuffing Envelopes' signs on lampposts (send $75 for your "start-up kit"), to scams that take advantage of those with poor credit, to automobile 'Lemon Law' issues.

• CEO coach Paul Walker speaks about finding 'personal genius' in today's corporate leaders. By evaluating the Myers-Briggs personality types of CEOs, he guides executive team actions that focus on style meshing and combined focus on increasing profits in an ethical manner.

Tune in to Good Business

• Charter Cable channels 57/65/69/95, available to 500,000+ residents and businesses in the greater Long Beach, California area.

• DVDs of individual episodes are available at no charge for educators, meeting planners and the media.

• If you have a high-speed Internet connection, click here to view a 3-minute video from Good Business TV. (2MB file.)

Facts on Ethical Consumerism

The U.K. and the Rest of Europe are Leading the Way

Significantly more analysis and research on statistics and trends in ethical consumerism has been conducted in the United Kingdom and in other parts of Europe than in the United States.

In December 2004 a Cooperative Bank-funded study called the Ethical Purchasing Index (EPI) reported on UK marketplace trends in consumer purchasing of ethically produced goods and services. The report showed a strong growth in the sale of such goods and services.

In cooperation with the New Economics Foundation (NEF), the EPI report tracked the domestic consumption of food, energy, housing, household goods, cosmetics and toiletries, transport, charity and leisure.

Details from the 2004 Cooperative Bank Ethical Purchasing Index (EPI) include:

• Ethical consumerism in the UK is soaring and is now worth £24.7B a year.
• In 2003, UK consumers spent an additional £3.5B in line with their values, an increase of 16% over 2002. Over the same period, UK household expenditure increased by only 4%.
• Overall market share of ethical consumerism has increased by almost 40% in five years, since the EPI began in 1999.

Key Growth Areas from the EPI Study

• Sales of ethically-produced timber increased by £225M to £869M.
• Sales of energy efficient household appliances increased by £273M to £1.1B.
• Sales of Fair Trade goods (tea, coffee, bananas) increased by £29M to £92M, a growth of 46%. (In the last 4 years, Fair Trade coffee has become the fastest growing segment of the $18.5B coffee industry.)
• £1.4B was placed in ethical investments and deposited with ethical banks and credit unions in 2003, an 18% rise totaling £9B.
• Total value of boycotts rose to £3.2B, an increase of £600M on the previous year. (Boycotts of certain US brands, particularly those associated with poor environmental performance or unacceptable labor practices, increased significantly over the past 12 months. Value to those brands, in terms of lost sales, more than doubled to £1.8B in 2003.)
• In some areas, ethical products compete for market share successfully with non-ethical products. (Free-range eggs have 40% market share, and energy efficient household appliances have over 50% market share.)

Additional Facts from 2002 Market Assessment Publications study

• Women are more likely than men to buy products with regard to ethical or green issues.
• Levels of affluence and education parallel responsiveness to ethical and green issues.

Click here to read Lee's "Five Ways to Judge a Company's Level of Ethical Profitability"

More Media Releases

• Comments sought on nationwide Good Business Seal of Approval (Aug. '05)

• Good Business program featured in Ethical Corporation magazine (Jan. '05)

• New TV program launched to highlight ethical CEOs (Sep. '04)

tel. (562) 986-5163   Lee@LeeGodden.com