Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Last week we hosted a panel event on the real world challenges of doing business for good.
On the panel:
š Melina Morrison, CEO of the Business Council for Cooperatives and Mutuals or BCCM
š Daniel Flynn, Co-founder and Managing Director of social enterprise Thankyou
š Monica Becker, Director, Beauty, Personal Care and Household Products at the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute
Watch / listen to the full event here: https://www.thebusinesspickle.com/panel-event-business-of-doing-good
For leaders ready to do good. Research, case studies, podcasts, toolkits, actions: everything to help you fast track doing business for good.
You're listening to The Business Pickle.
Last week we hosted a panel event
on the real world challenges
of doing business for good.
I think business for good ultimately
is using the, the tool and the model
of business, to make a positive
impact on people on the planet.
On the panel: Melina Morrison,
CEO of the Business Council for
Cooperatives and Mutuals or BCCM;
I think capital, capital and regulation
are the two things that are really
going to drive systemic change
Daniel Flynn, Co-founder and Managing
Director of social enterprise Thankyou;
my feelings on this is it's urgent.
then there's a sense of great hope.
and Monica Becker, Director,
Beauty, Personal Care and Household
Products at the Cradle to Cradle
Products Innovation Institute.
If you don't have the budget to
do, let's say a detailed carbon
accounting effort, you know, pick one,
two or three things to get started.
You can access the full discussion on
our website, thebusinesspickle.com.
It would be great to begin with
what we mean by business for good.
All the way from, providing jobs,
essential products and services, for
others, it might mean becoming carbon
neutral, donating revenue or profits
to a good cause it might be reviewing
supply chain and thinking about ethics,
environmental, sustainable practices.
And just yesterday, we heard the news
from Patagonia that as of now earth is
their only shareholder, as they said, as
the Chouinard family gives the entire $3
billion company to a trust and non-profit.
Melina on what does business for
good mean for you in your context?
If you think about the whole context
for which we are trying to deliver
impact through businesses now, we
do live in market economies and
most economies are capitalist.
And that is the economic system
that's brought the world to
this perilous state of being on
the edge of a systems collapse.
I just wanna call that out because, you
know, that's why a business leader like
the CEO of Patagonia is responding.
Because what is the point of all of
this, if we're generating capital to
what end and I think it's just important
to take a moment to think about that.
For us in the cooperative and mutual
sector, unless you can actually resolve
the tension between the purpose of
the business and the impact it has
then you can't really have business
that is good for anything except,
negatively impacting overall on society,
the economy and the environment.
So I, I rather than sort of picking
off chosen causes, all of which are
critical for me, this doing business
for good is really about business.
Being able to resolve any tension between
its purpose and the impact that it creates
more broadly its stakeholders and more
broad broadly, the ultimate stakeholder,
which is, the planet that we live on.
Wow.
That's a powerful response.
And I love that idea of the
tension between purpose and
the impact that we're creating.
And Daniel, would love to hear your
thoughts on what business for good means.
I think business for good ultimately
is using the, the tool and the
model of business to make a
positive impact on people on the
planet at a real simple level.
And, uh, interesting kind of where
we're hitting hard on capitalism,
straight out of the gate.
And at Thankyou our business is owned
a hundred percent by our charitable
trust, similar to Patagonia's latest
move and, for us, we've sort of been
anti the way the world's become, but
actually interesting to see the role that
capitalism or capital markets has, have
helped lift some areas out of poverty.
And so there's an argument and
those that are fundamental on
capitalism would say no, no, no, no.
But can you see in the data,
it has been a force for good.
And like all good data you
can draw many things from it.
There's no doubt that business
and progress helps lift society.
However, it's got out of balance,
it's got absolutely outta whack.
Now there's the destruction of people,
planet, all for the pursuit of profit
for that ultimate shareholder gain.
And so I would say businesses that exist
for good have figured out how to lead
with purpose and have the business model
support that purpose, you know, while
also taking care of its stakeholders
from investors to employees and leaders.
It's a huge tension.
Everyone's talking about it.
Very few people are walking the talk.
And I think it's a something
for us to all wrestle with.
And to you, Monica.
Yeah.
So, you know, I'm glad Melina and Daniel
that you've kicked us off, at that level
of thinking about the business enterprise
and what business for good is all about.
What I wanna do is to dig in a little
bit more from my role in the Cradle to
Cradle Products Innovation Institute,
where our work is really supporting what
I think is a pretty bold and beautiful
sustainability vision with the focus
that we have, which is on products
and the systems that create them.
So, let me share our vision
with you, which I think nicely
addresses this question, Jill.
So our vision at the Institute is a world
where safe materials and products are
designed and manufactured in a prosperous
circular economy to maximize health
and wellbeing for people in planet.
And we use a shorthand statement as
well, which I really like, which is
safe, circular, and responsibly made.
To us business for good in the context
of businesses that are producing products
and materials and chemicals, and for
companies that are selling products
like retailers is business that is
keenly focused and is really marshaling
resources to bring forth products that
are safe, circular and responsibly made.
We'd love to know: how would
you answer that question?
What does business for good mean to you?
This is just a taster from our panel
event on the real world challenges of
doing business for good, but there's
plenty more to the conversation.
So to access the full recording, head
to our website, thebusinesspickle.com.
Thanks for listening
to The Business Pickle.