In search of a business for business....

Is doing business the only business of the business? From Milton Friedman to The Future of Industrial Man(Peter Drucker, 1942), the concept of responsibility and conscious of nations has come a long way. Why do corporations have to be socially conscious. Is it a mere legal compliance or a philanthropic attitude of Companies is well taken by its stakeholders?  
David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard remark perhaps seems to answer this beautifully, “I think many people assume, wrongly, that a company exists simply to make money. While this is an important result of a company's existence, we have to go deeper and find the real reasons for our being. As we investigate this, we inevitably come to the conclusion that a group of people get together and exist as an institution that we call a company so that they are able to accomplish something collectively that they could not accomplish separately- they make a contribution to society, a phrase which sounds trite but is fundamental.”
And Hewlett-Packard is not a not for profit Organization. It makes profit like any other company. It is after all in the business of making money. But it is in the business of making something more then money and that is 'contribution to the society'. The important question is does this responsive behaviour has any value for the company.
Organizations do not work in vaccum. They work in a dynamic environment wherein the various elements of the environment inter-play and interact. A pro-active and responsive behaviour by corporations is not just a good PR exercise, it can also be a great value-creator. The concept then is to visualize Corporate Responsibility as social in essence and strategic in content. Examples galore of Companies that have successfully implemented this strategy and leveraged from it. Working on its mantra of triple bottom line: profits, people and presence, Cicso has successfully managed to meet the shortfall of talented IT professionals by collaborating with local schools and universities and providing industry-relevant education.

The concept of Triple Bottom Line refers to the three important elements and value creation for them: The People, The Planet and The Profits.

From Adam Smith to Milton Friedman, it was largely believed the only people that a corporation was answerable to was its shareholders; but with the changing times, increased public awareness and business impact increasingly felt on the everyday functioning of society, the presence of Corporations was no longer confined to boardroom decisions or shareholder meetings, 'people' other then shareholders too seemed to become important. These people other then shareholders involved the employees, the suppliers, the local community, the consumers. The vast ambit of this people was collectively referred to as the stakeholders. Stakeholders are people who simply put effect and are in turn influenced by the presence and functioning of the Organization. Thus, the organization must be seen to benefit them or atleast not harm them through its presence.

The Second P... that is the Planet... refers to the Environmental Impact that the activities of an Organization has on the Environment. Thus, with this second P in the Triple Bottom Line, emerged the concept of Eco Labelling and Fair Trade Companies.

The Third P is the Profit.. with Milton's eternal mantra, that profit is the only business of the business, the importance of a profitability of a business can not be overemphasized.

Thus, today for an Organization to exist it must not only exist in harmony with its Balance Sheet, it has an even larger and more accountable role to play.... the profitabilty of an Organization must resonate in terms of contribution to its stakeholders and environment as well. Simply, we need organic organizations that are soulful in spirit and humane in approach.