We are proud of what we have accomplished in our first four academic years — new courses on entrepreneurship, business ethics, and free markets, 19 issues of our Kaizen newsletter with its extended interviews with leading entrepreneurs, and our Templeton Freedom Award for excellent program development.
The latest issue of Kaizen features my interview with the Jack Stack, CEO of Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation, one of the great turnaround success stories of this generation. The theme of the interview is Entrepreneurship and Open-book Management, of which Stack is a pioneer. Related post on Stack here.
If you would like to receive a complimentary issue of the print version of Kaizen, please email your name and postal address to CEE [at] Rockford [dot] edu.
Most journalistic accounts of the Enron mess focus on the accounting manipulations toward the end and miss the politicized business strategy and public-relations corporate culture that got Enron into trouble in the first place.
Robert Bradley worked at Enron for 16 years. For Enron’s last seven years he was director of public policy research. In that role he worked directly with Enron’s CEO, Ken Lay, for whom he also wrote speeches. Lay was convicted in 2005 of fraud and conspiracy.
Last month about one-third of my interview with Bradley was published in Kaizen. So for all the insider details Dr. Bradley has to offer about Lay, Jeff Skilling, Andy Fastow, and the other key players, enjoy the full interview.
Posted 1 year, 4 months ago at 9:32 am. Add a comment
I’m giving two talks later this week in historic Alexandria, Virginia, at the Free Minds 2010 conference, co-sponsored by The Atlas Society and the Free Minds Institute.
On Friday I’ll speak on “Ayn Rand’s Entrepreneurial Ethic,” and on Saturday I’ll speak on “CEE’s Mission and Strategy.”
Posted 1 year, 7 months ago at 8:49 pm. Add a comment
For venue details, please contact CEE [at] Rockford [dot] edu.
The image above links to a jpeg version of the flyer for all of this semester’s guest speakers. For the pdf, click here. Dr. Rasmussen’s talk is sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship.
Posted 1 year, 9 months ago at 10:52 am. Add a comment
William Kline of the University of Illinois, Springfield, is an expert on Hume, and he gave a talk recently at Rockford College on Hume’s ethical theory. Here is my follow-up interview with him:
Dr. William Kline, Assistant Professor of Liberal Studies at the University of Illinois, Springfield, gave two talks this month at Rockford College. Here is my follow-up interview with him on the main points of his talk on business ethics (3 clips):
Forthcoming: My video with Professor Kline on David Hume, who, according to a recent vote by contemporary philosophers, is the most influential dead philosopher.
Posted 1 year, 10 months ago at 7:09 am. 3 comments
My full interview with Ray Stata is now online at CEE’s site. (An abridged version of the interview was published in the December issue of Kaizen [pdf].)
Ray Stata is Chairman of Analog Devices, Inc., based in Norwood, Massachusetts. Working out of his basement, Mr. Stata co-founded Analog Devices in the 1960s. As of 2009, ADI serves over 60,000 customers, has 9,000 employees and a market capitalization of over $6 billion.
The interview’s theme is Entrepreneurship and Technology Leadership. Two sample excerpts, the first on the best kind of education:
“We’re finding that it is very, very challenging to be at the top of your game as an engineer. First, the technical knowledge required is both deep and broad, often cutting across multiple disciplines. And products are so complex that it often takes large teams of engineers with different specialties working across international borders. That requires human skills and communication skills to encourage collaboration and manage teams with quite varied backgrounds and experiences. And engineers must understand the financial implications of manufacturing and product development cost, as well as customer requirements and where products should be positioned in the market with respect to competition. The most successful engineers truly are ‘Renaissance Men’ and not just technical specialists.”
And the second on trust:
“First, one way or other you’ve got to be good at something, even though that something will no doubt change over time. As you enter your career, strive to achieve excellence at whatever you do.
“Back to some of the things we talked about, you soon find out that you don’t get very much accomplished in life on your own. Now there are exceptions, like musicians, artists and writers who can go off on their own and accomplish remarkable things. But most of us find that we accomplish more by working in concert with others to leverage our combined skills and competencies. “I’ve found that one of the most important factors in being a leader, or more generally in engaging with people, is to build trustful relationships. What does that mean? Trust is built on honesty, integrity, reliability, sincerity, competence. Conduct yourself so that people can depend on what you say and what you do, on the fact that you’re more often right than wrong, on the fact that you meet your commitments, on the fact that you are straight with people and tell it how it is. If people trust you and you trust them, you can get a lot more out of relationships and out of life.”
Readers of this site know that in addition to my philosophy professorship I am the Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship. We have launched a fundraising campaign for our 2012 activities. 
More Kaizen interviews with leading entrepreneurs are at 
Ray Stata is Chairman of 
