By Patricia Sellers
You've probably heard of inclusive capitalism. That's the call for companies, in all their decision-making, to consider what's good for society.
Photo: Asa Mathat
There's also creative capitalism. That's Bill Gates' rallying cry for a new economic system where, as he said in a 2007 speech at Harvard, "market forces work better for the poor."
Now Neville Isdell, the former CEO of Coca-Cola (KO), is floating another name for "how business has to change," he says. He brands his twist "connected capitalism."
"It's beyond CSR," Isdell said, referring to the well-worn concept of corporate social responsibility, during a panel about fostering social equity at the Global Forum here in Cape Town. Isdell (who, a half-century ago, went to college in this shiny South African port city) called for businesses to "build links" with civil society and government.
This isn't ordinary altruism from any ordinary CEO. Isdell is the guy who revived Coca-Cola, after years of dismal performance, both financially and in terms of its social-responsibility profile. (During Isdell's CEO tenure from 2004 to 2008, Coke returned to Fortune's list of Most Admired companies; it ranked No. 12 last year.)
Coming from Coke, Isdell also knows a bit about branding and selling an idea. Now retired and dividing his time between France, Barbados, and Atlanta (as well as Detroit, since he's on the General Motors board), Isdell is working with Coke and several other Fortune 500 companies -- General Electric (GE), Home Depot (HD), and UPS (UPS), among them -- and Georgia State University to, um, connect business and academia with his brand of capitalism.
Charging that universities and business school focus way too narrowly on financial metrics, Isdell says, "Youth are asking, 'What's your value system? What do you stand for?" He adds, "The companies that will win are socially conscious."
"I'm not a certified social worker for nothing," Isdell joked when I ran into him at the Global Forum this morning. Social worker? When Isdell was 22 years-old, he was trained to be a social worker, he told me, and he has a framed certificate to prove it.
"When Ed Whitacre decides, it's not negotiable. If he decides against you, you're done."
--Coca-Cola (KO) exec Wendy Clark, about General Motors' (GM) new CEO, whom she worked for when he headed AT&T (ATT). Today, the GM board ousted CEO Fritz Henderson, who was in the post just eight months, and installed Whitacre, GM's chairman, as the new chief executive.
No doubt, Whitacre had a key role in the power shift.
And hearing MORE
Patricia Sellers - Dec 1, 2009 6:11 PM ET
I was not in Germany for the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago today. But I got a front seat to business history-in-the-making three months later, when I went to East Germany to report a story about Coca-Cola's (KO) aggressive ramp-up in Europe following the Communist collapse.
It seems like yesterday.
Talk about a capitalist invasion. I remember how euphoric--genuinely euphoric--East German consumers and shop-owners were to suddenly have access MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 9, 2009 2:22 PM ET
by Patricia Sellers
Greetings from Atlanta. I'm here for Fortune's "Most Powerful Women Evening With..." Atlanta is tonight's stop in a series of regional dinners that we're hosting annually in addition to the main event, the Most Powerful Women Summit. I'll be interviewing Food Network star Paula Deen, the silver-haired, Southern-cookin' entrepreneur and star of the Food Network. Also with us: the top women execs at companies like Coca-Cola (KO), Home Depot (HD), Delta Airlines, (DAL), UPS (UPS), and MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 2, 2009 3:55 PM ET
"Is it authentic? Money is not the issue...I don't want to do it if it doesn't feel authentic."
-- NBA star LeBron James in a 2007 Fortune cover story. Last night, James became the fastest player in NBA history to score 12,000 career points--at the ripe age of 24 years and 35 days. He eclipsed Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, who held the record at 25 years and 220 days. MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Feb 4, 2009 6:53 PM ET
I took a 7 a.m. Acela from New York to Washington, D.C. this morning to meet with D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and then attend the Fortune 500 Forum, beginning this afternoon. My train was on time to the minute; Rhee's red-eye from the West Coast was delayed by D.C. fog, so she and I are now due to meet Wednesday. I'll share my thoughts later this week about Rhee, who MORE
Patricia Sellers - Dec 1, 2008 2:05 PM ET
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Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). Since its launch in 1998, Pattie has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" cover package.
A specialist at dissecting larger-than-life personalities, she has also profiled former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack, and countless CEOs.
Pattie co-chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big brand companies.
In Pattie's blog, Postcards, she provides insight into the lives of super-achievers through commentary, career advice, and Guest Posts by CEOs and other leaders.
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