and many businesses flourish in them, sometimes for decades, before a new disruptive innovation comes forth and a new industry takes over.
Fourth, businesses have access to capital at levels that dwarf philanthropic resources – and sometimes governmental will and capacity – to scale solutions. The kind of investment capital that Coca-Cola can access to ensure the availability of clean water for its own global supply chains almost certainly supersedes what the most dedicated philanthropically supported nonprofits or separate government agencies can do to develop clean water systems and try to maintain them. And a start-up company may access more capital for social good than nonprofits that are many decades old, if it has a scalable business model. For a social change maker, this ability to scale what works and sustain it over time is the impact equivalent of pixie dust – magical stuff that dreams are made of. Although there are plenty of problems that cannot be addressed by business and for which government and nonprofit attention is essential, smart change makers look for the most effective solution agents, and increasingly they are turning to business as a key partner in their efforts.
With power comes heightened responsibility. Many believe it is in businesses' interest to wield their influence to provide social good alongside financial return. As Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin argues, “This new way of doing business extends beyond just the mainstreaming of ‘impact investing.’ The needs of business blend the lines even further, as businesses look to philanthropic models to keep their value chains sustainable and their customers and employees healthy and secure. As companies expand globally – especially into the developing world – it will no longer be profitable to exist without taking the community and the work force in which they work into consideration.”7
The profound role for business in society may seem obvious and has been a fact well understood for decades by titans of industry, such as Henry Ford. But we must remember efforts to include business in discussions about explicitly improving society and the world have been relatively recent. For example, the United Nations Global Compact, an initiative to encourage businesses worldwide to adopt sustainability policies and to report on their implementation, was not created until 2000. Financing for Development, a UN conference held in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2002, was the first meeting of its kind to include the private sector as a formal “interlocutor,” alongside the public sector (UN member states) and nongovernmental organizations.8
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
