Courtney Zegarski's blog

Recent economic times have spurred uncertain thoughts and reactions around terms like “lending” or “investments.”  However, there is an emerging loan market that is working toward making a positive, significant impact on the lives of the impoverished globally.  The market that I am referring to is the “microlending” market.  Recent reports have estimated that there are more than 30 million microloans worldwide and at a growing rate of 30-40% per year.

So, why are so many individuals participating in microlending…

Last week Toyota’s president, Mr. Akio Toyota, testified before U.S. Congress regarding the company’s global recall.  Mr. Toyota repeatedly apologized for the recall of millions of cars, offering to take personal responsibility for what had happened.  As part of his testimony, Mr. Toyota stated that the company lost sight of its priorities, growing too large too fast.  He claimed the company’s original priorities were safety first, quality second and volume third.  However, over the years these priorities became scrambled, resulting in volume toppling safety.

This situation is a reminder that during times of growth organizations should continually review their founding principles and mission.  This can help to ensure that an organization’s current strategy does not lead it down a path it does intend nor desire.   Such an exercise may have helped Toyota keep its priorities in proper order.

Published on the Toyota Worldwide website is a set of  “7 Guiding Principles.” Principle #3 states: Dedicate ourselves to providing clean and safe products and to enhancing the quality of life everywhere through all our activities. Interestingly, none of the principles mention anything to the tune of “sell more cars than anyone else.”  Additionally, Toyota North America’s mission statement reads: To attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience in America. Again, the mission is not about volume—rather it is about value and customer satisfaction.

My recent reading of Dan Pink’s Drive has sparked some interesting thought around the purpose, benefits and unintended consequences of goal setting.  Traditionally in the business world, managers set goals and expect their employees to work toward them.  Typically the purpose of goals is to provide focus for employees and provoke progress.  However, goal setting can have a dark side and lead to stress, irrational thoughts and potentially unethical behavior.

Why I am posting about this?  More and more companies are developing and publically sharing annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports.  Included in these reports are goals such as “we will reduce our packaging by X% by 20xx” or “we will eliminate the use of X product over the next year.”  Upon first glance these goals sound great.  They provide focus and give companies (and often their suppliers) something to work toward.  However, these goals might also hinder progress.  Two thoughts…

Such goals put pressure on executives and managers to deliver promised results to stakeholders.  They want to publish in next year’s CSR report that the company accomplished the stated X% reduction in packaging.  However, this pressure may lead some executives to unethical behavior and greenwashing practices. Executives may get “creative” with the numbers, giving stakeholders the illusion that stated goals were met.  It is easy for companies to become overly focused on short-term progress and ignore the long-term practices that they should be implementing (sound similar to profit reporting traps…).