Hassan Yussuff comments, “Make sure the business is successful which will give you a whole lot of leverage to do a bunch of other things.” John Bragg puts it simply, “Pay attention to the business. Make your numbers.” Another Business Leader is of the view that “Unless the rules of capitalism and the underlying assumptions are completely re-written – and I don’t see that happening anytime soon – you need to perform.” Nevertheless, most of the Survey Participants recognize that delivering profits to shareholders, capital providers, or owners albeit crucial to a successful business, will no longer be enough to be deemed successful or to maximize value creation in the long-term. They predict that the future role of business in society will go beyond profit creation and include delivering value and providing benefit to society more broadly. Martin LeBlanc submits, “There needs to be a definition of what it means to be a business that goes beyond pure profit growth.” The Right Honourable David Johnston believes this model to be necessary, “One must look beyond the bottom line, profit, and the reward of shareholders and look at something more long-lasting.” To this point, ‘misguided’, ‘short-sighted’, and ‘the wrong approach’ are just some of the negative reactions from Survey Participants when asked what they thought of the idea that the ‘leadership of a business needs to focus first on generating a profit and if they are successful in doing so can then think to support other things deemed important, such as the environment and social challenges’. The reaction of the Survey Participants to this assertion is yet another indication of what the role of business in society will be in the future and is a repudiation of the views put forward by Milton Friedman that the only social responsibility of a business is to “engage in activities designed to increase its profits.”31
3) Longer-Term Thinking “Short-termism is often a problem, but many investors would probably not invest in a business that doesn’t have quarterly reports.” – Helen Antoniou, Executive Coach and Chair of the Board of Governors of Concordia University Shareholders can ultimately apply considerable pressure on a corporation’s leaders and CEO. Plus, shareholders are ultimately investing in a given corporation – often, for a short duration - to see a return on their investment. This equation leads to shareholders applying immense pressure on corporate leaders and CEOs to concentrate on profit maximization which in turn can push a more short-term agenda and focus throughout an organization. As a matter of fact, ‘short-termism’ was raised as one of the largest challenges business leaders face to having their organization be more purpose-driven. “The whole system of a public company is geared towards the short-term,” cautions one Business Leader. “You don’t need a purpose for the next 90 days or the next quarter,” remarks André Beaulieu. Be all that as it may, plenty of the Survey Participants believe there will be pressure for business leaders to place a larger emphasis on long-term thinking. An important number of the Survey Participants advocate that it will be necessary to have businesses thinking more about the long-term for the world to overcome the global challenges before it. Some Survey Participants argue that as the public cares more and more about the challenges facing the world, the more pressure there will be on businesses to change their ways and think
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