16 Days of Activism: Essential resources from the Business Fights Poverty resident gender expert
The United Nations is marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence under the global theme “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” The 16 days kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. We invited our resident […]
16 Days of Activism: Essential resources from the Business Fights Poverty resident gender expert
The United Nations is marking the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-based Violence, under the global theme “Orange the World: End Violence against Women Now!” The 16 days kicks off on 25 November, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and runs until 10 December, Human Rights Day. We invited our resident […]
The shifting expectations of business: aligning strategy, business model and culture with a sustainable purpose.
These vulnerabilities are likely to be exposed further by global trends that, on our current trajectory, look set to get worse. As Unilever’s CEO Alan Jope put it “the other big problems in the world, things like climate change and inequality, are not going away”. This year UN conferences in Glasgow and Kunming will seek to further the intergovernmental ambitions and […]
Purpose and Investors: Collaborating to #RebuildBetter
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is creating the worst humanitarian and economic crisis in a generation, threatening the lives, livelihoods, and learning of hundreds of millions of people around the world. While the final impact is hard to predict – as it will depend on the future pattern of the disease spread and potential resurgence, […]
The Real Meaning of ‘Business with Purpose’
‘Business with a purpose’. ‘Stakeholder capitalism’. ‘An economy with a conscience’. These are the catchphrases I hear on everyone’s lips this week at Davos. We could certainly do with stakeholder capitalism. Capitalism’s great engine of growth has also become one of obscene inequality. This week Oxfam revealed that the world’s billionaires own more wealth than 4.6 […]
SURVEY: How Can We Embed Purpose Authentically into Business
Being Authentic About Purpose: From Words to Action
Recently, a group of 181 CEOs, collectively representing over 15 million employees and more than $7 trillion in annual revenues, declared that they are no longer putting shareholders before everyone else. The “Statement of Purpose of a Corporation”, issued by the Business Roundtable, is a bold re-imagining of the principles of corporate governance that they […]
How Can We Save Purpose from Purpose-Wash?
The common ground between the critics and champions of purpose is the desire for authenticity. Our Challenge on Purpose asks how we can move beyond rhetoric to embed purpose meaningfully and consistently across business. We initially identified Five Pillars to build authentic purpose within organisations and sought the opinions of the Business Fights Poverty network […]
Raising the Purpose Banner (Again) is Only the Start
It’s great to see my partners @MartinJenkins and their clients in New Zealand making strides forwards (see here). It is progress when communications and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) teams unite under the purpose banner*. But to deliver sustainable success for all it is critical that Executive Teams and their Board’s grasp the initiative and hot-wire purpose into […]
Five Ways Companies Embed Purpose into their Business
Zahid Torres-Rahman, CEO and co-founder of Business Fights Poverty, opened the event stating: ‘Purpose is not CSR …confined to the sustainability department. It is this all pervasive force that can drive, and inspire and align how businesses operate and what they do.’ But how exactly do companies embed purpose into their business strategy and operations? […]
Connecting People to Purpose Creates Value for All Stakeholders
Earlier this year Larry Fink, of Blackrock investors wrote to CEOs of companies, including GSK, in a letter entitled “purpose and profit”. He said, “purpose is not a mere tagline or marketing campaign; it is a company’s fundamental reason for being – what it does every day to create value for its stakeholders.” In my […]
Can Profit and Purpose Really Go Hand in Hand?
It’s fair to say I believe that, despite all its considerable limitations, capitalism is the least bad economic system around. But I also agree strongly with Martin Wolf, who wrote a piece in the Financial Times on 11th December 2018 with the view that businesses which only pursue profits lead to dire outcomes. The global […]
Five Pillars for Embedding Purpose Authentically into Business
There is much talk about purpose, sustainability and business as “a force for good”, but is it for real or just rhetoric? The common ground between those who believe in the impact of purposeful business and those who question it is a desire for authentic action; the recognition that we need to move beyond words […]
Purpose Goes Hungry Without Culture
Business Fights Poverty is currently asking: “How can we embed Purpose authentically into business.” But what can this look like in practice, and where do we go from here? First, the Purpose has to be worth embedding! In other words, it has to be inspiring and convincingly explain how the business creates value for itself […]
Business as Usual – Or Business with Purpose?
While the debate on business’ social and environmental impacts (both positive and negative) is not new, when the CEO of Blackrock, one of the world’s largest investors, and the head of Oxfam International are both talking about the potential for business to help achieve inclusive and sustainable development, it feels like we’re at a tipping […]
The Purpose Statement: Necessary, but Insufficient
Many organisations, big and small, put a lot of work into discovering their Purpose and crafting their Purpose Statement. They’re also defining or refining their Values, as a star chart to guide the positive evolution of their culture. Done thoroughly and inclusively, this is critically important work. But my question is: will a well-crafted Purpose Statement and […]
Why Purpose Must be at the Heart of Business Strategy
So much for a gentle start to the new year. Early 2019 has been a challenging time for those of us who strive to make organisations a force for good – whether we call it purpose, CSR, sustainability or inclusion. We kicked off the year in the midst of heavy fire from Anand Giridharas, journalist […]
How is Business Rethinking Generation Purpose?
Who are millennials? A generation of people who reached young adulthood in the early 21st century (born between 1981 and 1997) Millennials make up 27% of the global population or about 2 billion people (Pew Research Center, Global Business Policy Council) By 2025 75% of workforce will comprise millennials (Brookings Data Now) Why might millenials […]
Are B Corps an Elite Charade for Changing the World?
Recently, I was in public conversation with Anand Giridharadas, former columnist for The New York Times, about his new and important book, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. In provocative style and with compelling substance, Giridharadas speaks truth to power, calling elites to account for giving so much lip service to “changing the world,” […]
On Purpose
Larry Fink’s annual open letter to corporate CEOs is fast-becoming a fixture at the start of the year. Fink’s views matter. They carry weight. He is, after all, the co-founder and now Chairman and CEO of BlackRock – the biggest money-management firm in the world with more than $6 trillion in assets under management. His […]
