Sampoh-Yoshi: Happiness Times Three

Sampoh-Yoshi, loosely translated as the “Trinity of Bliss…of buyers, sellers, and the general public” is a business code for Japanese merchants dating back to the 12th century. In the medieval district of Ohmi, an area near Kyoto, the ancient business model of “Sampoh-Yoshi” lasted over eight hundred years.” The code declared that Ohmi merchants were honor bound to customers and society alike to sell items of quality at a fair price. If customers were not happy, then merchants had failed in their basic responsibility. Equally important was the seller’s obligation to the community it served. A product or business service must serve the greater society or the promise of “Sampoh-Yoshi” was unfulfilled.

According to Professor Hama Noriko of the Doshisha University Graduate School of Business, “The economics of greed has no place in the Ohmi spirit.” Western business models like “winner takes all” and “survival-of-the-fittest” were gradually embraced in the twentieth century and the blissful trinity of good business became a quaint memory. An ethics revival is reentering business schools in Japan where Professor Noriko teaches the principles of a 12th century honor code of business. In the wake of the financial crisis of the past year, ensuring that buyers, sellers, and the public are happy in business transactions makes a lot more financial sense than the western ethos of “buyer beware.” Sampoh-Yoshi is an ancient principle of business perfectly suited to modern times.

This whole idea was the subject of keen discussion in class last week at Doshisha University Graduate School of Business, and the subject of an article in the Japanese Perspectives section of Japan Times.

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HOME DEPOT CARES

Sometimes business, government, and civil society create a perfect synergy to solve difficult problems. Home Depot in cooperation with Habitat for Humanity will build 1500 sustainable homes in 45 states in the U.S. by the end of 2010. Government grants issued through the Obama “stimulus” plan of $3000 for Energy Star structures and $5000 for LEED certified structures support the efforts by Home Depot Foundation.

The Depot and Habitat partnered successfully this year in a pilot program dubbed Partners in Sustainable Building, to build 260 energy saving homes for low income families. The goal is to build 5000 more over the next five years. 

CEO Jonathan Reckford of Habitat for Humanity called the program “extremely successful.”

“Our mission is to provide decent, simple affordable housing to families and we’re committed to being able to provide affordable home ownership. By keeping houses highly energy efficient and by building small energy efficient homes lowers the total cost of ownership-- we are deeply committed to keeping not only the upfront expenditures, but also monthly costs affordable,” said Reckford.

The program has a double purpose: sustainable home building and common good initiatives for low income homeowners.

Home Depot public relations department issued this statement:

“The process will also be contributing to greenhouse-gas reductions, shedding 11 tons of annual household carbon and greenhouse-gas emissions when compared to standard home building, or the equivalent of plucking 250 cars off American roadways. Water consumption is also targeted by the program, resulting in reductions of up to a third-less demand due to high-efficiency fixtures. As businesses and government become further entrenched in sustainability, consistently meeting the needs of low income sectors has been shown to be a weakness.

Efforts like those by Habitat and Home Depot could provide options to those who need them most.”

All the sustainable products used are available at Home Depot stores. In these challenging economic times, the initiative reveals that a large corporation like Home Depot that has profited handsomely off the American public for decades understands its responsibility to give back to the community that supports it.

If only Wall Street would figure this out.

Read more 

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A Non-Profit Prophecy

GOOGLE INC., the corporate world’s primary innovator since its inception has done it again. This time with a philanthropic wing that operates “For Profit.” Google.org is using parent company Google’s immense resources to resolve some of the world’s most pressing social issues. Alleviating poverty, preventing the spread of disease, addressing global warming are just a few of Google.org’s initiatives. Google’s goal is to underwrite business ventures that tackle crucial social and environmental problems. Google.org has not filed 501C status to avoid the cumbersome bureaucracy and monetary restrictions that accompany non-profit status. To date one percent of the mother ship’s gigantic revenues are funneled into Google.org’s philanthropic endeavors. Google.org executive director Larry Brilliant encapsulated its focus by stating: “It’s an experiment to have a philanthropically oriented organization that’s part of the P & L (profit and loss) of Google.” Not only experimental for Google, it launches a brand new initiative and role model for publicly traded companies across the globe. For-profit companies that give back one to two percent of their gross revenues not for the tax write-off or publicity, but simply to benefit the world they operate in.

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