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Confirmation That What’s Good For The World Is Good For Business ... formerly How the hell is institute B going to work?

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Confirmation That What’s Good For The World Is Good For Business

Corporations exist to deliver profits to shareholders, right? Every business text book in every business school in the world tells us this. Corporations have provided to society the food you eat, the vacations you take, and the smart phones you use to avoid speaking to people when lining up for your $5 coffee – which you buy from a corporation.

So where is this entire backlash coming from against corporations?

There is enough evidence out there to support claims that corporations, left to their own devices, forsake scruples to deliver profits to shareholders. We read about short cuts that lead to oil spills, overworked and overtired employees that cost societies trillions of dollars in fatigue related accidents, cheap toys that cause sickness in children, poorly built schools that collapse, greed in the executive suites – on and on and on – resulting in the idea that corporations are bad.

institute B is a stand for something different. We operate under the premise that since people are mostly good and corporations are just groups of people, corporations are mostly good.

Instead, we are making a stand that the mandate of business must change. At institute B we are changing the definition of business. Corporations exist to add societal value and deliver profits to shareholders. One does not forsake the other. Our businesses are committed to integrating societal benefit into their corporate strategy, not as a token after thought.

Yet when we engage with the finance community and old school business people, we are met with mockery, disdain, skepticism, and cynicism. “Societal value is the good you do after you take your profits,” we are told. “Do not waste my money on adding societal value, that is my job,” they would say.

Why do we think we will change the mandate of businesses globally? Because we are making a business case for adding societal benefit in our eight partner companies. We will show that by making a concerted effort to create abundance throughout your supply chains you will actually deliver bigger financial results than only focusing on profits.

This is not green-washing and marketing. This is a fundamental shift in how businesses operate.

What is societal value? It could be supporting efficiency improvements in your suppliers’ factories. It could be generous compensation incentives for employees. It could be entrenched charitable contributions to your communities on a transactional basis.

We have already seen evidence of customer acquisition because of our philosophy and generosity. The more we deliver abundance in our everyday business affairs, the better our relationships will be with suppliers, employees and customers.

Keep reading. As our companies grow and develop, we will share many lessons of success and failure in our pursuit of changing the mandate of business.

Originally posted December 16, 2011 as: How the hell is institute B going to work?

Posted in The ChangeMakers | Tagged accelerator companies, audacious results, B-Corporations, Corporations, Darrell Kopke, entrepreneur vancouver, Institute B, leadership, Manfred Vollmer, new skool business, societal value | Leave a comment LEAVE A REPLY