Marvin Bower Quotations

Convinced that behavior and conduct are every bit as important as skills and expertise, I sought to build the firm into an enduring, values-based institution.

The course of business shapes public opinion.

Decisions should be based on facts, objectively considered what I call the fact-founded, thought-through approach to decision making.

Decisions should be based on facts, objectively considered.

A business of high principle generates greater drive and effectiveness because people know that they can do the right thing decisively and with confidence.

A business of high principle attracts high-caliber people more easily, thereby gaining a basic competitive and profit edge.

The difference between a leadership and a command company can be very great indeed, because in a hierarchical situation, people who have concerns about reactions against themselves would simply not put forward negative information.

Leading fosters a working atmosphere that stimulates an open exchange of ideas and fosters dissent. People should show a genuine concern for one another and treat one another with fairness, as peers and friends. With such an atmosphere it should be a pleasure to come to work.

People should be judged on the basis of their performance, not nationality, personality, education, or personal traits and skills.

I believe that leaders and leadership teams working together in a proper design will run the business more effectively than by hierarchical, command-and-control managing. But I can't prove that. And there are no models.

If you are not willing to take pain to live by your principles, there is no point in having principles.

There is no such thing as business ethics. There is only one kind -- you have to adhere to the highest standards.

Basic philosophy, spirit and drive of an organization have far more to do with its relative achievements than do technological or economic resources, organizational structure, innovation and timing.