Being from a developing country myself, where the rights of people are put second to the firms objective of gaining profits, Crispin’s blog titled ” Business is about the people” caught my eye. He brings forth the importance of sustainable development and how it is a firms obligation to conduct business in socially ethical ways.
In his blog he presents an example of Starbucks who offer fair trade coffee to University Students, and how this educates the youth to develop into individuals who care for society. After reading his blog, one concept that struck me immediately was that of “The Triple Bottom Line”. Triple Bottom line is an accounting framework that includes “environmental and social dimensions” [1] It links the performance of a business to the three P’s of Profits, People and Planet. [2]. What that means is businesses through the use of this concept should function in a way that “people” and the”planet” are not compromised in an effort to raise”profits”; all these three dimensions should move parallel to one an another.
Crispin in his blog concludes that businesses need to be more than “profit maximisers”. The solution to that I believe is by using this concept of the triple bottom line. Firms will look to maximise profits, which is fine because that is the primary objective of a company. The future however is where firms can maximise their profits while also being socially ethical. It is tough but it is the only option, because those firms who continue to exploit the environment for the sake of profits might cut costs but will be driven out due to negative customer perception. You’ve got to to remember the “customer is always right” and his needs must be put in front of everything else.
Works Cited:
[1] http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html
[2] http://www.ibrc.indiana.edu/ibr/2011/spring/article2.html