Will Martha Stewart Sign the Business Ethics Pledge?
"A Nation of Marthas" Waits to Find Out

HADLEY, MA: At Christmas time, we are "a nation of Marthas": spending a vast reservoir of time, energy and talent on wrapping, decorating, baking, cooking. And during this holiday season, Martha Stewart is getting an invitation--to join a worldwide movement for business ethics and sign a pledge to behave with honesty, integrity, and quality in business...to treat all stakeholders--customers, employees, suppliers, stockholders, nearby residents--fairly, with compassion, and with a commitment to service...and to refuse to tolerate crooked practices in business.

The invitation/challenge comes from Shel Horowitz, author of the Apex award-winning book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. Horowitz is seeking 25,000 business leaders to sign an ethics pledge, with the idea of creating a social movement that will make future Enron and ImClone-type scandals impossible, because too few people would be willing to carry them out. He expects to reach critical mass and a social "tipping point" as each signer tells at least 100 others.

Horowitz, 48, wrote to Stewart, "Your signature would demonstrate your intention to keep your head held high, to bolster your claim of innocence, and to indicate a resolve from here on in to present unimpeachable ethics."

So far, the Pledge, soft-launched this summer, has attracted signers from six of the world's seven regions, and has been picked up by a number of popular e-zines and blogs. To read and sign the one-paragraph Pledge, please visit http://www.principledprofits.com/25000influencers.html

Horowitz's book demonstrates that honest, ethical, people-centered businesses are far more likely to succeed, especially if they understand how to market their ethical commitment. "Signing the pledge is one way that businesses can demonstrate they care about their customers, about the wider world, and about doing what's right even when it isn't easy. This public commitment can be a powerful marketing aid to any business--and not just at Christmas but all through the year," he said.