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A conscious approach to business
By Wu Jiayin |
August 8, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IN the current global economic crisis, many enterprises are in hot water, and some have even become bankrupt.
Their failure to develop sustainably is largely attributable to their "unconsciousness," Dr Fred Kofman pointed out in his speech co-organized by AXA-Minmetals Assurance and China Europe International Business School in Shanghai on Tuesday.
Kofman is co-founder & president of Axialent (a United States-based management consultancy) and author of the book "Conscious Business."
"We use the word 'unconsciousness' for partial consciousness, oriented to the short-term, that blinds people, blocking them from seeing the consequences that their thinking, doing and living have in the mid-and-long term," Kofman said.
For example, the Sanlu Group was unconsciously involved in the tainted milk scandal last year. To pursue short-term gains, the company insensibly put at risk its reputation and the health of its consumers (babies) all over China.
To help business avoid the severe result caused by such unconsciousness, Kofman presented the concept of "conscious business" in his book, which refers to a business that uses the capacity of every employee to think about reality and make the best possible choice given the information that is available.
Nowadays, it is often the case that consumers feel they are exploited by companies. And employees tend to feel that they are just part of their company's machine rather than an important asset.
So the importance of creating a conscious business to win customer trust and to engage employees is self-evident.
This requires the business to hold concepts of sustainable development and have the courage to shoulder social responsibilities, Kofman observed.
Shouldering social responsibilities does not necessarily mean philanthropy or avoiding profits, though.
Rather, Kofman's definition of the goal of a socially responsible business is to make as much money as they can today and in the future.
This may sound somewhat unreasonable. But a second thought shows that it couldn't be truer: a business won't be sustainable if it concentrates solely on short-term profit. Instead, it must strive for mutual benefit with its customers as well as its employees to sustain a long-term relationship with them.
In fact, what business is doing in a market economy, as Kofman said, is that they take relatively more abundant and therefore less economically valuable goods and services and transform them into less abundant and therefore more economically valuable goods and services.
By doing that, the business not only makes profits, but also serves a certain social purpose.
However, sometimes the temptation to make money is so strong that companies forget about their social responsibilities.
In such cases, "it is absolutely essential that every company spend a lot of time in finding what is their noble purpose that they pursue and what are the noble values through which they would constrain their selfishness."
To help business build values, Kofman prepared in his book seven conscious attitudes that business should develop, namely, unconditional responsibility, essential integrity, ontological humility, authentic communication, constructive negotiation, impeccable coordination and emotional mastery.
With vivid illustrations and clear-cut explanations, Kofman made it convincing that those attitudes are essential for a business to build a conscious team with responsible and attentive staff and distributors full of integrity and a sense of social responsibility, adhering to sustainable business development.
Business that sticks to its values is more likely to win the trust of its customers and retain the loyalty of its employees.
Their failure to develop sustainably is largely attributable to their "unconsciousness," Dr Fred Kofman pointed out in his speech co-organized by AXA-Minmetals Assurance and China Europe International Business School in Shanghai on Tuesday.
Kofman is co-founder & president of Axialent (a United States-based management consultancy) and author of the book "Conscious Business."
"We use the word 'unconsciousness' for partial consciousness, oriented to the short-term, that blinds people, blocking them from seeing the consequences that their thinking, doing and living have in the mid-and-long term," Kofman said.
For example, the Sanlu Group was unconsciously involved in the tainted milk scandal last year. To pursue short-term gains, the company insensibly put at risk its reputation and the health of its consumers (babies) all over China.
To help business avoid the severe result caused by such unconsciousness, Kofman presented the concept of "conscious business" in his book, which refers to a business that uses the capacity of every employee to think about reality and make the best possible choice given the information that is available.
Nowadays, it is often the case that consumers feel they are exploited by companies. And employees tend to feel that they are just part of their company's machine rather than an important asset.
So the importance of creating a conscious business to win customer trust and to engage employees is self-evident.
This requires the business to hold concepts of sustainable development and have the courage to shoulder social responsibilities, Kofman observed.
Shouldering social responsibilities does not necessarily mean philanthropy or avoiding profits, though.
Rather, Kofman's definition of the goal of a socially responsible business is to make as much money as they can today and in the future.
This may sound somewhat unreasonable. But a second thought shows that it couldn't be truer: a business won't be sustainable if it concentrates solely on short-term profit. Instead, it must strive for mutual benefit with its customers as well as its employees to sustain a long-term relationship with them.
In fact, what business is doing in a market economy, as Kofman said, is that they take relatively more abundant and therefore less economically valuable goods and services and transform them into less abundant and therefore more economically valuable goods and services.
By doing that, the business not only makes profits, but also serves a certain social purpose.
However, sometimes the temptation to make money is so strong that companies forget about their social responsibilities.
In such cases, "it is absolutely essential that every company spend a lot of time in finding what is their noble purpose that they pursue and what are the noble values through which they would constrain their selfishness."
To help business build values, Kofman prepared in his book seven conscious attitudes that business should develop, namely, unconditional responsibility, essential integrity, ontological humility, authentic communication, constructive negotiation, impeccable coordination and emotional mastery.
With vivid illustrations and clear-cut explanations, Kofman made it convincing that those attitudes are essential for a business to build a conscious team with responsible and attentive staff and distributors full of integrity and a sense of social responsibility, adhering to sustainable business development.
Business that sticks to its values is more likely to win the trust of its customers and retain the loyalty of its employees.
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