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Entrepreneurship & Ecology
Unless corporations move in the direction of greater attention to social and environmental impacts and benefits in their planning and actions we will not have a world in which to do business. I quote Larry L. Rasmussen, Reinhold Niebuhr professor of social ethics at New York's Union theological Seminary from his book, Earth Community, Earth Ethics, as follows: To preserve the economic viability of the planet must be the first law of economics. To preserve the health of the planet must be the first commitment of the medical profession. To preserve the natural world as the primary revelation of the divine must be the basic concern of religion. To think that the human can benefit by a deleterious exploitation of any phase of the structure or functioning of the Earth is an absurdity. The well-being of the Earth is primary. Human well-being is derivative. But business must still remain profitable and there is growing evidence that social and environmental sensitivity can add to profitability. John Elkington in his book, Cannibals with Forks, presents evidence that those companies that pay attention to more than the one bottom line, profit, are more successful than those who don't. According to Paul Hawken in his book, The Ecology of Commerce, the environmental perspective is the only way business will prosper, and business may be the only way to achieve a healthy planet. Will corporations, especially large multinational companies, adopt the three bottom lines that Elkington proposes are necessary for the new millennium? Economic well being. Protection of the Environment Social equality. The new policies and actions of William Clay Ford Jr., the new chairman of the Ford Motor Company signals a positive trend in the direction of support for the environment. Maybe this will lead to a more environmentally and socially conscious company and ultimately a more environmentally and socially conscious industry. Who would have thought we would see the day when the chairman of the Ford Motor Company would be featured in the Utne Reader. But the following is from the March/April 2001 issue, pages 54-55: William Clay Ford Jr. has spent his first year as Ford chairman dropping a series of small bombshells on the American auto industry. He has warned that it risks becoming a pariah on the scale of Big Tobacco if it doesn't clean up its act, and he has invited everyone from Greenpeace to Amnesty International to come in and help him do just that. He has pulled Ford out of the steadfastly anti-environment Global Climate Coalition and made the case for a 50-cent a gallon rise in gas taxes. And his sense of mission seems to have infected his colleagues. In the foreword to the company's first corporate citizenship report, CEO Jac Nasser insists that "Ford can become a company whose decisions . . . restore the environment and contribute to the creation of social and economic equity in communities around the world." This is a car company, remember. On the practical side, Bill Ford is overseeing an investment program that is pouring R&D dollars into electric cars and alternative fuel vehicles. It's a long-term vision that could transform the company's core business from selling cars into selling mobility. The Ford initiative shows that it is possible for large multinational companies to work with environmental activists. The future will show us whether large corporations can be environmentally and socially conscious and profitable. It would seem they can, and the future of the earth and humanity would say they must. Now our business decisions determine not just our profit but the survival of our business, our community and our world. Not one but three bottom lines determine a successful business: Profit Environmental Benefit Social Benefit. The challenges we face are how we can: Diversify but not lose our focus Broaden our economic base Increase our income, and Provide Benefit to the environment and to society. Business planning that does not include considerations of environmental and societal impacts is deficient. Further, the corporation that includes these considerations as part of its vision and actions will be part of a successful future. Dr. George R. Marshall 523 Black River Road, Scotsburn, Nova Scotia B0K 1R0 Phone: 902-351-2137 Email: gmarsh70@yahoo.com Visit http://www.drgeorgem.us/ for information on myself and my writing. Visit http://class.universalclass.com/secure/312/10965/ for my online Entrepreneurship & Ecology course. Get your free subscription to your eZine, Winners Never Quit, Quitters Never Win at: http://www.freewebs.com/ezinexplosion/weeklyezine6.htm for guidance on starting and operating an online business, selecting income opportunities, and reading articles for entrepreneurs, budding and established
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