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Some people find it confusing to read about socially conscious business, social entrepreneurship or values-driven business. Isn’t business just business – driven by profit margins acceptable to shareholders? What’s all this talk of values, social impact and community development? For the past decade or so it has become increasingly popular to talk about social purposes, […]
Marcus Mariota of the Oregon Ducks football team has been much in the sports news the past two months. Last month he won the 2014 Heisman Trophy in a landslide and on January 12 he led the Ducks in the national championship game. There is no question he is a talented record-breaking all-star quarterback. But […]
I am always intrigued with titles like this one I saw recently: The Top 20 Reasons Startups Fail. Why would I not be interested? We are in the startup business; and I don’t like failure; and it is the start of a new year! The study analyzed more than 101 startup post mortems for reasons […]
IBEC’s purpose is to help build sustainable businesses through consultative expertise that changes lives and transforms communities. We help build! IBEC leadership and consultants are committed to partnering to get the job done. We want to work together in collaboration with other individuals and organizations – and we do. We help – we do not […]
There are many ways to say “Merry Christmas” or to give a Christmas greeting in the languages of the world. The greetings above represent “Merry Christmas” in most of the languages served by IBEC consultants. Despite cultural and linguistic differences there is one commonality – the Christ of Christmas! The continuity of Christ – from […]
Today I received a text from our youngest daughter Trudy, “Back on US soil! Just landed in DC.” I am very thankful today. She had been in harm’s way this past month, serving the 1.7 million refugees in Northern Iraq as an HR Director for her organization. Two days ago a suicide bomber killed several […]
Today I was contacted by a bright young man in the banking industry. A university graduate in banking and finance, he has just completed his second year with a major bank. He asked me, “How can I use my experience and training to help make a difference with what you are doing?” We talked for […]
This question is sometimes asked by North American kingdom business persons who own or manage businesses: “What can I offer as consultant, advisor, mentor or coach?” It is a natural question for business persons living and working in a very different context from a business startup in Asia, Africa or the Middle East. What is business […]
This article by IBEC Ventures Training Director Larry Sharp was originally published in CPN On Point. The last edition of CPN On Point presented an introduction to Business as Mission (BAM), as a means of gaining access to strategic and unreached places through building businesses worldwide. This article takes that discussion to the next and […]
Once upon a time four business people flew to a faraway country in Asia to observe and encourage three kingdom businesses. They came as learners but also ready to share suggestions and consulting expertise as requested. They represented a cumulative 90 years of business experience, a recent MBA graduate among them and all four were […]