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Time to Get Cranky
by Bradley K. Googins, Ph.D., Executive Director, Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship
February 2008
A series of unrelated talks, speeches, and articles appearing over the past month point to some of the unease in the current configuration of global capitalism, opening up the existing order to a more reflective examination.
Each of them would certainly warrant a few hosannas by itself, but the serial nature of them leads me to believe that we are beginning to see the opening salvo in a new dialogue - that the existing order is somewhat out of sorts. I wouldn't want to define these sentiments as a tipping point, but not to see them as a clear move toward a new stage in the continuing evolution of corporate citizenship would be equally short sighted.
I would at least speculate that the focus on sustainability of just the past few years was but the first wave in a reassessment and reexamination of social and environmental issues that have taken too much of a back seat to dominant global economic forces and gains.
At the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Bill Gates talked about creative capitalism. Citing the wonderful benefits that the global economy has ushered in over the past few decades, he also observed that things have been great for only about a third of us, leaving the other two-thirds of the globe barely hanging on. Creative capitalism, he argued, is "making profits and also improving lives of those who don't fully benefit from today's market focus."
Perhaps this reflects Gates' imminent shift from focusing on his business to his foundation. Like many of the American titans a century earlier, Gates represents the desire of successful business leaders to move from creating wealth to having a more profound role of impacting society through civic ventures.
Then there was the equally show stopping remarks of Wal-Mart CEO Lee Scott in his talk about "The Company of the Future." His journey and that of his company over the past two years have been nothing short of transformational. I don't see a stronger corporate voice and a more passionate CEO on the issues of sustainability and the environment. He represents the cutting edge of corporate leadership in signaling a new day and new approach.
"We live in a time when people are loosing confidence in the ability of the government to solve problems," said Scott. He went on to say that he can't wait for others to solve the problems that "might hurt our business or affect our customers in a negative way." Scott's message to the business community is to lead or get out of the way, because he is not waiting and won't wait for others if they are not ready.
Scott's talk is a bold vision, and an even bolder challenge for the business community to adopt a new model of engagement and find ways to lead and scale up so that the issues that perplex society - including a business like Wal-Mart - will not continue to spiral down with negative consequences for both business and society.
Another voice was that of Klaus Schwab, founder and Executive Chair of the World Economic Forum, in his recent article, Global Corporate Citizenship, in the January/February issue of Foreign Affairs.
Schwab also argues that business frequently misses the real benefits of an integrated strategy for effective corporate engagement. Under the broad heading of "global corporate citizenship," he looks for today's business to focus on and integrate the core concepts of corporate governance, corporate philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, corporate social entrepreneurship, and global corporate citizenship that together define the different types of engagement in which business should be involved.
Bill Gates may have put it best when he said that he was feeling cranky because he believes that "we can only solve these problems if we rethink our approach from top to bottom and demand the same kind of creative problem solving and emphasis on accountability and results that we expect in the business world."
A complacent business sector that offers self-congratulatory kudos about the benefits of the global economy creates a very dangerous environment where critical issues erode from the inside, and sows the seeds of a more painful transition down the line.
Perhaps more important, however, is the exciting challenge to business of creating an even more powerful and equitable contribution to society by bringing its unique assets of innovation, speed, flexibility and adaptability, as well as its creative problem solving, to the very issues that will ultimately limit and destroy the gains of the current global economy.
The fact that this recent wave is coming at a time of extreme turmoil in financial markets may not be accidental. From strong signals of environmental degradation and growing income inequality, to the severe cracks in the complex financial models that hold the global economy together, there is a growing collective worry that just maybe things are not as some would have us believe.
Maybe it's time for all of to get a little more cranky.
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