My parents, and their interest in making the world a better place for more people inspired me.

We need to take a close look at the relationship between the economic system of Capitalism and the political system of Democracy. A democracy with high concentrations of private wealth buys votes and interferes with the ability of Capitalism to perform well. It is no longer one citizen, one vote.

Your company does not belong inmarkets where it cannot be the best.

My primary early interest was in marketing and my aim was to improve its theories, methods and tools. Early on I pressed companies to adopt a consumer orientation and to be in the value creation business. I didn't pay much attention to the social responsibilities of business until later. Now I am pressing companies to address the triple bottom line: people, the planet, and profits. I found that companies were too much into short term profit maximization and they needed to invest more in sustainability thinking.

A country's middle class is its bedrock.

People who lack material wealth, who are poor, won't be very happy. They will be obsessed with meeting their bills at pay day. And people who have an abundance of material goods are often not happy.

Watch the product life cycle; but more important, watch the market life cycle.