In recent years, a fledgling new style of business management has gained greater currency while remaining largely unexplored. Author David Bollier dubs this tradition "aiming higher," the title of his 1996 book published by AMACOM, which tells "25 stories of how companies prosper by combining sound management and social vision." The essence of this new breed of management is neither altruistic ("corporate social responsibility"; "business ethics"), nor financial and market-driven in character. "Aiming higher" is, instead, an attempt to develop a new synthesis: the development of profitable new business models that creatively combine people's personal and social values with core management objectives. It is an attempt to bring personal idealism, organizational imperatives and market forces into greater alignment, and instill the synthesis in a durable organizational ethos. The accent is on personal authenticity; socially engaged business leadership; the needs of people; long-term results; and qualitative considerations over quantitative ones.
The enterprise that "aims higher" tends to satisfy the growing search for "meaning" in people's work lives; address the nation's social and personal needs in creative new ways; and foster organizational cultures that are more robust, flexible and competitive. Over time, the character of entire markets often changes as these enterprises set new moral and cultural benchmarks for their industries and reap competitive advantages from their leadership. This can be seen in the growth of "eco-friendly" products and services; human rights standards in global outsourcing; the rise of work/family programs; and socially committed niche players that alter the terms of market competition.