Do you create value for society or destroy it?
A truly exciting new study was published by the New Economics Foundation. The study looks at how much creatain examined professions contribute to society, whether they add value or are destructive to society. This is exactly the kind of thinking that I outlined earlier in this blog: the line – in my mind – does not lie between nonprofits and for-profits, but between those businesses, that are socially responsible and environmentally safe and those who are not. In the case of the first one, it may even generate some additional profit, if it is done smartly. That is what I call responsible business.
I also like the self definition of the NEF: “an independent think-and-do tank”. That is again something that we aspire to be: being merely a think tank does not attract us, but before setting out and implementing a project helping organizations, communities and companies become more responsible, we carefully examine the possible solutions and base our proposals on valuable research.
