Philanthrocapitalists are to be applauded for their abundant generosity in seeking and funding solutions to some of the world's most daunting challenges, including poverty, healthcare, education and the environment, just to name a few. And all of our personal charity and volunteer service is vital. But to a great extent, we are often trying to fix problems that are being created anew every day.
At the root of these systemic social failures are the practices of some -- not all -- companies that degrade the lives of the poorest people in the world who have no voice. As some leading companies have shown, if other companies and their boards of directors truly commit to a corporate global vision of justice and peace, then businesses can make greater profits than they ever imagined, and people throughout the world would have food on their tables and live in peace.
I'm calling this a Corporate Global Vision (CGV). Heck, if everyone else can coin acronyms that take off on CSR -- corporate social responsibility -- let's do it right and think big. Let's talk about companies envisioning a better world and correcting their practices that are at the heart of the world's most serious issues.
Imagine if boards of directors of companies simply said no to mining minerals in ways that create incentives for violence and conflict, and no to employment practices that virtually enslave children. Imagine if instead, boards of directors insisted on fair wages, healthcare, clean water and education for their employees around the world. Not only would the world be a better place, but companies would have exponentially larger markets for their products. That's a lot of money for shareholders.
You and I are not bystanders in CGV. You and I are the key players every single day. We wear clothes, talk on phones, eat food and otherwise consume goods and services offered in the marketplace. Now that some companies are distinguishing themselves by improving their human rights and environmental practices, we can make choices and purchase from those companies. With new information, available through a variety of resources, we can become more educated consumers and investors and vote with our wallets.
CGV is on its way. Transparency and accountability are two forces that are helping as companies are expected to reveal information about their social and environmental practices. And corporate partnerships with NGOs and nonprofits that are experts in social and environmental issues help companies to achieve success with their CGV.
The smartest companies are leading the way, and the rest will have to learn and adjust. Together we can save the world.
Follow Alice Korngold on Twitter: www.twitter.com/alicekorngold
Rather than rename CSR, we need to get companies to realize this is the baseline and that no amount of philanthropy or service makes up for raping the land and killing people.
I do hope that companies will prove the cynics (see the other two comments) wrong. So how about it companies....What are your visions for a better world that you can drive through better business practices? And how can you drive shareholder value at the same time?
As one tweeter said, someday this might just be business as usual.
not sure the word means what you think it means.
to be cynical i would have to have the deeply flawed expectation that a predatory mechanism can be 'made nice' by way of internal transformation..first.. and then lose that deeply flawed expectation, become jaded.
in some contexts 'cynicism' is presented as antonym for naivete', perhaps this was your intended meaning.
instead i think of predatory mechanisms continuing to prey, because it is how they were designed to function from go.
thought experiment;
suppose i read an article about how a fraction of sexual predators expressed interest in creating a 'more sustainable', 'friendlier' version of their own predatory activity.
i would not have to be a cynic to suppose that the prospect is contrary to the core interests of the participants.
same thing for economic predators.. the usury is rule 1 for capital accumulation.. makes it pretty anti-math for rule 2, or any subsequent rule, to then produce 'justice'
at least we are not expected to refer to sexual predators as 'ambitious' as many continue to do with regard to economic predators.
in most such cases i would suspect that the author has either employed a corporate sock, (at worst) or pointed a sympathetic, well-meaning family member toward the article (at best)
[for the record, my comment above WOULD be an example of "cynicism"]
if i am mistaken i will no doubt see the account of KHNY flourish with activity here at huffpo in the coming months and years, no?
Nice try though.
ahh capitalism and justice- together again, like an old buddy film.. gonna fetch me some popcorn.
funny thing about justice however;
renting human beings and deriving profit (a privately levied TAX) from the difference between their production and whatever pittance they will accept in remuneration= usury
and
usury =/= justice
sorry capitalism,.. too many people have heard the good news,.. we will not be allowing economic predators onto the ark, that one is going onto the bone-pile of oppressive regimes with so many other deeply flawed economic and political systems.
truthfully, most of the young people are already leaving.. if capitalism runs quickly to the rail there may yet remain a small window during which 'corporate vision' might have an opportunity to wave goodbye at the departing future, but sorry- no tickets for the exploitative mechanisms of yesterday.
jubilee!!