JEP Foundation

About

JEP Foundation is a thought leader in defining and promoting alternatives to predatory capitalism. Our goal is to take the sharp edges off modern capitalism to make it a viable economic philosophy that benefits all people.

Mission

Our mission is to define, promote, and disseminate the philosophies and principles of Humanistic Capitalism and Just Enough Profit so that companies and individuals may create, in their own way, a better world. We help corporations and executives understand how to apply these standards to their business and adopt a more enlightened operating model. We give companies the opportunity to attain a formal rating that demonstrates their practice of these uplifting principles.

Vision

Our vision is for Humanistic Capitalism and Just Enough Profit to become standard operating models for 21st century corporations on a global scale.

We as a nation, as a world, must make a choice: Do we continue to prey on others, or practice Humanistic Capitalism?

Direct Influencers

Humanistic Capitalism and Just Enough Profit have been significantly influenced by the works of the following key people. There are others too numerous to mention, but we are in their debt nonetheless:

• Adam Smith lived in the eighteenth century and is regarded as the father of modern capitalism. Despite often being misquoted and misinterpreted, Smith was not “all about profit;” rather, he cared about people and saw capitalism, moderated by virtue, helping rather than hurting mankind.^1,2
• Willis Harman was Director of the Center for the Study of Social Policy, Stanford Research Institute, and Professor of Engineering-Economic Systems, Stanford University. He was one of the most influential, yet obscure, intellects of the 20th century; in his early works he proposed an alternative economic system based on Humanistic Capitalism.³
• Muhammad Yunus is the 2006 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. He is the creator of “microcredit” and the Grameen Bank which lends money at low interest rates to mostly women in rural areas of impoverished countries to help them become more self-sufficient. He describes Humanistic Capitalism as a socially-conscious business world where investors are content to recoup their investments but do not expect additional dividends. [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Yunus]
• Bill Gates is the founder of Microsoft Corporation, and at one time the richest man in the world. After retiring and focusing on his philanthropic foundation, he coined the term “Creative Capitalism” as “an approach where governments, businesses, and nonprofits work together to stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or gain recognition, doing work that eases the worlds’ inequities.”⁴
• Ira Rohter was a professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Hawaii. He promoted Humanistic Capitalism as a way to restore power to the people of Hawaii and their environment. He advocated that all growth be sustainable, self-reliant, and not only focused on profit, but the needs of people. According to Dr. Rohter, a key concept of Humanistic Capitalism is a democratic economy based on “cooperation and openness.” [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanistic_capitalism]
• Daniel Yankelovich is the author of “Profit with Honor: The New Stage of Market Capitalism” and ten other books. He is widely known for his work in social research and public relations and believes that the modern market has reverted to a sea of self interest. He proposes “stewardship ethics” as a means of encouraging corporate social responsibility.⁵
• Mitchell Kapor, co-founder of Lotus Development Corporation, created a “private foundation with the mission to ensure fairness and equity, especially in low-income communities of color. [It] supports organizations and activism which illuminate and mitigate the conditions and dynamics of inequality.” [source: http://mkf.org/about/index.html]
• U2 rock star Bono created (RED), a campaign in which a percentage of profit from member commercial brands is donated to select charities, mostly serving the African continent. [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Red]
• Dennis Weaver, a famous American actor who “dedicated himself to serving humanity and the environment…co-founded the Institute of Ecolonomics to illustrate the marriage between our ecology and economy.” [source: http://www.ecolonomics.org/about_us/dennis_weaver/]

Indirect Influencers

The following organizations and theories, among others, have also influenced Humanistic Capitalism and JEP:

• Natural Capitalism is a concept developed by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins where “business and environmental interests increasingly overlap, and in which businesses can better satisfy their customers’ needs, increase profits, and help solve environmental problems all at the same time.” [source: http://www.natcap.org/]
• The Conscious Capitalism Institute (CCI) is a non-profit organization founded to advance the understanding and implementation of the principles of Conscious Capitalism in all forms of business and social organizations. [source: http://www.cc-institute.com/cci/]
• Ethonomics represents the combination of ethics and economics. It believes that the good points of modern capitalism should be retained but based on ethical behavior that is environmentally and socially sustainable. [source: http://www.ethonomics.org/]
• Fast Company, an innovative contemporary magazine, conducts its annual Social Capitalist Awards campaign looking for companies that excel in four areas: social impact, aspiration and growth, entrepreneurship, and innovation. [source: http://www.fastcompany.com/social/2008
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is a progressive movement in which companies regulate themselves in support of "law, ethical standards, and international norms." [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_social_responsibility]
• Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) is a broad-based approach to investing that recognizes that corporate responsibility and societal concerns are valid parts of investment decisions. SRI considers both the investor’s financial needs and an investment’s impact on society. SRI investors encourage corporations to improve their practices on environmental, social, and governance issues. [source: http://www.socialinvest.org/resources/sriguide/srifacts.cfm]
• ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, has developed an international standard providing guidelines for social responsibility. The need for organizations in both public and private sectors to behave in a socially responsible way is becoming a generalized requirement of society. Many stakeholder groups have participated in the working group to develop the standard, including industry, government, labor, consumers, non-governmental organizations, and others. The guidance standard has been published in draft form as ISO 26000 and is voluntary to use. It does not include requirements and thus is not a certification standard. [source: http://www.iso.org/sr]
• Social Accountability International (SAI) is a “global standard-setting non-governmental human rights organization dedicated to improving workplaces and communities” and provides certification to companies who adhere to its SA8000 standard. [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Accountability_International]
• Humanistic Psychology, which is based on existentialism and the belief that each person is responsible for their own behavior, growth, and self-actualization. One of the first references to Humanistic Capitalism was made by Willis Harman in his paper “Humanistic Capitalism: Another Alternative” published in 1974 in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology.³
• Several evolutionary psychology models, including Spiral Dynamics, developed by Dr. Clare W. Graves, and the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, created by Abraham Maslow. Each of these theories posits that people and cultures develop more enlightened models of understanding as they fulfill their needs or successfully address new problems.
• Taoism is a belief system in which the meaning of a person’s life is not found in material possessions; rather, it encourages humility, moderation, and compassion. The latter two are tenets of JEP.

1. Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations (originally published in 1776), [Ed. Edwin Cannan], Bantam Classic Edition, 2003.
2. Adam Smith, The Theory of Moral Sentiments (originally published in 1759), [Ed. Ryan Patrick Hanley], Penguin Classics, 2010.
3. Willis W. Harman, Humanistic Capitalism: Another Alternative, Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 1974.
4. Michael Kinsley [Ed.],Creative Capitalism: A Conversation with Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Other Economic Leaders, Simon & Schuster, 2008.
5. Daniel Yankelovich, Profit with Honor: The New Stage of Market Capitalism, The Future of American Democracy Series, 2007.

About the Founder

Colin O’Neill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, MD, USA in 1979 and served 10 years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. Colin has spent the last 20+ years as a Management Consultant to domestic and multi-national Fortune 500 firms. He has witnessed both the good and bad in corporate America and the recent economic downturn caused him to ponder why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and why we can’t meet somewhere in the middle. Colin’s professional ethos reflects his passion for honor, respect, and fairness; he desires Humanistic Capitalism and JEP to become global standards that will significantly improve the human condition.