Business As A Force For Good
Last Updated on October 11, 2020
TED Recommendation
Michael Porter: Why Business Can Be Good at Solving Social Problems
A Clear Message
This is one of my favorite TED Talks. It succeeds in pulling together the various factors that are currently impacting society, and simplifying it into digestible form. The speaker, Michael Porter, is considered a management guru. Likely, anyone who has taken any formal business classes has already heard his name or read one of his articles.
Porter’s biggest claim to fame is his expertise in business strategy and the establishment of what is now referred to as Porter’s Five Forces model. It’s essentially a tool for assessing the various external factors that will effect your business. In his talk, Porter extents his analytical framework to the social realm. What are some of the biggest problems facing the planet today, and how can we solve them?

Corporations Have the Power to Help
According to Porter, the solutions lie in harnessing the power of business. The welfare of our societies and the natural environment need not be at odds with businesses’ pursuit of profits (see Sustainability is Profitable).
Despite certain opinions, the desire for profitability is not inherently evil or detrimental to society! That’s not to say corporations haven’t done some despicable things in the name of profits. But such vile actions were likely the result of egregious and unethical practices, rather than the nature of profitability. Generating profit isn’t the antithesis of sustainability.
On the contrary, achieving and maintaining profitability is how corporations can actually ensure their own sustainability. It should come across as good businesses sense to wish to be both profitable and sustainable. If not initially in the environmental sense of the word. Sustainability is a mindset and a practice. It’s evident that corporations will need to apply sustainable business practices to perpetuate their operations and their profits. It is within their interests.

A Force To Be Leveraged
As described by Porter, industry has the scale and expertise to effectively address many of the social problems we face. When you consider this, it’s clear that they’re needed to help alleviate our current global issues. This applies to the climate crisis of course! As such, it becomes increasingly obvious that business & industry are needed in the development of sustainable solutions.
Because of this, business leaders will need to adopt a creative and proactive approach when implementing & evaluating sustainability. To that effect, environmentalists can also exhibit a similar mindset as they recognize the need to collaborate. Given the gravity of the climate crisis, scientists, governments, industry, and the public at large must all find common ground to cooperate where they can.
Clearly, when examining industrial operations, there exist some pretty bad actors. These nefarious companies, or illicit corporate practices, have contributed to the exasperation of contemporary social problems. Porter isn’t coming to the defense of such industrial practices. Rather, he attempts to highlight some basic principals of business in order to explain why this doesn’t have to be.

Shared Goals
In advocating for optimism, Porter points out that most companies aren’t inherently good or bad. They’re just looking to make money. They are, after all, highly motivated by profit. As a result, Porter suggests that we use this motivation to focus on social and environmental problems.
If we can harness this force, then we can use it towards achieving our shared goals. Doing good has proven to be more profitable in the long run. As a result of this understanding, corporate power can leveraged for social good. Through effective alignment, we can direct the best business minds towards tackling the climate crisis. It’s an inspiring proposition!
5 Responses
[…] other strategic thinkers (see Michael Porter), they advocate finding opportunity in the existing challenges, and environmental concerns are […]
[…] This book makes a powerful declaration for the role of business in sustainable development and environmental management and protection. Contrary to common belief, industry and ecology need not be at odds with one another (see also Michael Porter Makes the Case). […]
[…] as financial objectives, then we would have greater alignment between society and corporations (see The Business Case). Such alignment could prove highly effective on limiting a corporation’s ability to do harm […]
[…] exciting and inspiring to think that one of our planet’s leading industries can also be a force for good. That they can see potentially see past the current balance sheets, and understand what their […]
[…] through the examples set by companies that do not wait for our government to set down the laws. The business case for sustainability is a great one, and there are indeed companies that have discovered this and are already reaping the […]