Good medicine for bad behavior

Seasoned business exec demonstrates how good character AND competence can heal sick companies

January 22, 2003 -- From Good Knights and Squires-in-Training to Evil Barons and Henchmen, A Knights Code of Business: How to Achieve Character and Competence in the Corporate World reveals the truth about the soft underbelly of todays business world and presents in clear, concise terms the tonic needed to fix the accepted norms of compromise. Character and competence are the two key fundamental issues from which every single other aspect of behavior arises", states Gene Del Vecchio, the books author. This book was written to sharpen the moral perception, and make the lines of right and wrong clear again.

Using the images of chivalry, Del Vecchio defines, reveals and then challenges us to take the higher ground as we face daily choices making decisions that can truly break a company and its ranks. According to Del Vecchio, knighthood is a moment in time when an executive demonstrates high moral character, the intense desire for increasing competence and then provides such leadership examples for others to emulate."

For the book, Del Vecchio commissioned A Survey of 100*, interviewing 100 marketing executives across America on their perceptions of competence and character in their organizations. Among the findings:
• 47% say their company asks for new ideas but doesnt have the courage to use them
• 38% do not believe their day-to-day internal communications are excellent
• 30% believe employees are not fully aware of their companies vision or mission
• 26% believe their company is sometimes run like an aristocracy
• 25% of employees are aware of a co-worker whose productivity is adversely affected by some malady (angry outbursts, alcoholism, drug abuse, mental disorders)
• 22% believe top executives are often insincere with employees on corporate matters

Published by Paramount Market Publishing, A Knights Code of Business: How to Achieve Character and Competence in the Corporate World is one of the first books to arrive in the aftermath of high profiles disasters such as Enron and WorldCom. It presents the misadventures that befall corporations, as well as guidance for everyone in business to achieve high moral character and competence. The lessons discussed come from the authors 20+ years of experience, with stories contributed by nearly two dozen other business professionals.

Gene Del Vecchio is an independent consultant, specializing in brand strategy, advertising and research. Gene offers a unique perspective on the business world in general, having worked on the client side, the agency side, as researcher, as strategist, as employee and as part of management. Over his 20+ year career, he has also worked across many business categories and with some of the most prominent companies in America, including Disney, General Mills, IBM, Kraft Foods, Mattel, Microsoft, Nestle, Pacific Bell, and Paramount Pictures.

To interview Gene Del Vecchio, contact him at 661-287-9995 or email: genedv@aol.com