Social business is a new business paradigm. But when is business acting socially? Are the moral obligations of business changing? Does it mean beefing up existing corporate responsibility departments, or is it something entirely new?
This is the topic that Gayle and three other speakers were invited to explore at the Australian Business in Europe event in Paris last week. The other presenters were: Claudia Schulz, PhD candidate at HEC; Neil Barrett, Group Senior Vice President of Sustainable Development at Sodexo; and Armelle Weisman, Partner at Deloitte Development Durable
Moderated by Kelly Saunders, Senior Lawyer at Keolis and ABIE board member, the panel was asked to share our insights into a number of facets of this topic, including:
- defining social business and exploring how possible it is to be such a business
- understanding the place of profit in organisations and how it can be used for the greater good
- determining whether for-profit businesses and multinationals can genuinely partner with the community, not-for-profits and government for the benefit of all
- the role that senior leaders have in leading (or not) by example in moving towards this way of operating
- the role of business schools and academics in challenging and evaluating the impact of social business, and
- what is needed to support organisations and businesses that want to embrace this whole approach.
Given Global Leadership Foundation was created, and has operated, as a ‘social business’ since 2003, it was heartening to be in a place where there was genuine interest, dialogue and action around the topic.
Photo by Rodrigo Capuski on Unsplash
