TED – Michael Porter: Why business can be good at solving social problems

Why do we turn to nonprofits, NGOs and governments to solve society’s biggest problems? Michael Porter admits he’s biased, as a business school professor, but he wants you to hear his case for letting business try to solve massive problems like climate change and access to water. Why? Because when business solves a problem, it makes a profit — which lets that solution grow.

Please take about 16 minutes to listen to Dr. Porter and understand why our global  business environment has changed and why business needs to modify it’s models to reflect that change.

Michael E. Porter wrote the books on modern competitive strategy for business. Now he is thinking deeply about the intersection between society and corporate interests. He argues that companies must begin to take the lead in reconceiving the intersection between society and corporate interests — and he suggests a framework, that of “shared value,” which involves creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society.

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New Book Excerpt: Exploring A Sustainable Future

“Buckminster Fuller said that spaceship earth was so ingeniously designed that no one has a clue that we are on one, flying through the universe at a million miles per hour, with no need for seat belts, lots of room in coach, and really good food—but all that is changing.”  ~ Paul Hawken
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The 21st century will be a century of change, transformation, new ideas and innovation, and discoveries that will enrich our society.  We have entered a new industrial revolution.  An industrial change that acknowledges our environment, our current generation’s needs, our need to revisit best practices, our business need to transform and prepare our legacy to meet the needs for succeeding generations.

We currently have, in place, a budding Sustainability industry that will continue to grow, mature and expand in the next 20 years. This is not a siloed approach,  but an integrated solution approach that is tailored to fit each organization’s needs.

Ideas will come from Humanity and Nature will show us the path.  We will see a dance between Technology and Science that will build our economies as nothing before. Technological arrays, will focus on issues and resolution through the use of technology. From science, biological and “natural” views, will focus on how to restore our environment. It will continue to build on array and matrix foundations, which will holistically support industries, countries and the world in the transformation to a sustainable planet. Technological arrays will interconnect technologies for remediation of Sustainability issues (i.e.,  Transportation, Traffic, Internet, Water Purification, etc.). Environmental matrices will produce biological and “natural” views will make solutions for converting waste to bio-nutrients for the purpose of environmental restoration. This is a long-term mending and nurturing strategy to restore our planet.

In this century, business will be the true catalyst for pragmatic Sustainability transformation.  This is a systematic approach of eliminating waste, improve efficiency,  addressing customer needs, and recognizing corporate social responsibilities. Sustainability is a systemic framework to address economic, environmental, social and technological issues, to create a sustainable world and avoid declining ecosystems and the extinction of Humanity as we know it. The business community has begun to implement Sustainability and has proven that change can indeed be profitable.

For the first time in the history of humanity, we can see our survivability threaten by witnessing dramatic climatic change, scarcity of resources, overpopulation, and the ignorance and abuse of our planet. Humanity will be obliged to address these critical problems. Our population is growing at phenomenal rate and this key issue, which increases demands on all resources (land, water, food, air, etc.) will be the bane of the next two or three human generations. But we have a choice. We must change our approach to business, recognize resource limitations, and make decisions that ensure holistic understanding in order to make informed decisions that will benefit our biosphere and mankind. Four profound ideas will transform this century and lead us down a more secure path:

•     Creating A New Renaissance will bring new ideas and original thought
•     Creating Shared Value will redefine business and its relationship with society
•     Creating Disruptive Technology will bring innovation to the marketplace
•     Creating Technology For New Resources will bring new resources to the market
•     Creating A Gateway To Originality will bring new thoughts and meld with old ones

This is an excerpt of my new book “Building a Bridge to Benefits”. Publication date is scheduled for November 2013 and is planned to be available on Amazon. More to come …
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Jarvis Business Solutions, LLC
Contact Information
Email: Ralph.Jarvis@JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
Blog: http://horizons.JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
Web site: http://www.JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/corporatesocialresponsibility/

Lead Smart, Endless Opportunities when Sustainability is driven by Lean Six Sigma
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New Book Excerpt: Sustainability’s Engagement Strategy

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success.” ~ Henry Ford
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Learning how to adopt Sustainability principles to produce a corporation’s awareness of resource consumption like carbon, water, and electricity in order to run their businesses in compliance with existing laws and regulations is based on “lessons learned”.

Sustainability promotes awareness.
Awareness promotes learning and values.
Learning promotes forward thinking to anticipate the future.

If trends continue, Sustainability will be the new competitive tool for business in the 21st Century. It is an internal, external, and a forward facing conviction that embeds and integrates disruptive business practices and technology. Internally, it coordinates your Core Assets that are based on common values. Externally, it addresses externalities and builds outside relationships with those entities. As for forward facing facet, Sustainability always interacts in a dynamic environmental, economic and social environs. Last, but critical to success, is the evolution of innovation that is designed to fit you business needs. It should continue to adapt and provide services to produce products wanted by your customers and address marketplace opportunities based on Sustainability.

If ethical decision making is not part of your due diligence analysis, it should be. For it can be the bridge from your corporate values to the actual “go-no go” decision for a variety of projects and initiatives. It can help steer efforts into avenues that could otherwise be overlooked. Addressing Sustainability and Stewardship in context of approving funding would help ensure your strategic directions are met and align with other business constraints (i.e., ROI, cost reduction, new product development, etc.).

Understanding ethical standards, consequences in violating standards, and the impact on your core assets can have a positive effect on your corporate culture was implemented and enforced prudently. This regarding those values, can have an  underlying  perception that those values are not genuine. Regular discussion, execution for ethical issues in applying those issues and business cases are helpful in ensuring sustainable development and stewardship.

This is an excerpt of my new book “Building a Bridge to Benefits”. Publication date is scheduled for November 2013 and is planned to be available on Amazon. More to come …
_____________________________________________________________________
Jarvis Business Solutions, LLC
Contact Information
Email: Ralph.Jarvis@JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
Blog: http://horizons.JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
Web site: http://www.JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/corporatesocialresponsibility/

Lead Smart, Endless Opportunities when Sustainability is driven by Lean Six Sigma
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Invoking Shared Value – “Now that’s funny!”

“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.”  ~Paul J. Meyer
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According to Porter and Kramer, “shared value could reshape capitalism and its relationship to society.” It does not replace capitalism, rather it refocuses the areas of responsibilities and opportunities a corporation truly can have. Shared value is directly linked to how Sustainability, blended in Business and Government organizations will be the next wave of transformation. Our complete understanding of shared value is still in its genesis, but the potential is obvious and intuitive. It could very well open doors for efficiency and increased productivity.

It will leverage ingrained methods of innovation and productivity to stem the promote new growth in the global economy. It will be that magic moment, not by screaming “Eureka, I found it!” Rather it will be observed and when the analytical executives opens their eyes to immense human needs that must be met, large new markets to be served, and the internal costs of social deficits and then they will say; “now that’s funny!”

Then, shared value will be recognized as a catalyst for a competitive advantages available for the progressive corporation. Attaining it will require managers to develop new skills and knowledge and governments to learn how to regulate in ways that enable shared value, rather than work against it.

Porter has always thought through ideas and the concept of shared value was a very astute observation to our Sustainability paradigm shift. It is a very good article, well worth the time to read.  Please take a few minutes and read this well written article in the Harvard Business Review: Innovating for Shared Value

_____________________________________________________________________
Jarvis Business Solutions, LLC
Contact Information
Email: Ralph.Jarvis@JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
Blog: http://horizons.JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
Web site: http://www.JarvisBusinessSolutions.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/corporatesocialresponsibility/

Lead Smart, Endless Opportunities when Sustainability is driven by Lean Six Sigma
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