Is it possible to run a fair business?

A few months ago one of the investors we have been working with sent me a very thoughtful personal essay he had written. It was about the importance of fairness, how fundamental the idea of fairness is in so many human contexts, and how difficult it is to define. It made me think about our work with businesses. At Blueprint we have developed Five principles of a purpose driven business. These offer a picture of how a business might look if it was genuinely led by a purpose that benefits society, and behind the picture is a frame of mind – a way of thinking that puts the quality of human relationships internally and externally at the heart of business success. So it is not surprising that the principles use the word “fair” several times – being honest and fair with customers and suppliers, making a fair contribution on tax, a fair return to investors, fair pay. But we don’t define what we mean by ‘fair’.

“Its unfair” is often used simply as an emotive device, and because it can mean so many different things it can create more heat than light in decision taking. Still, the word “fair” resonates deeply with people and embodies a felt sense of how people should be treated in a decent and civilised society. So we decided to have a go at producing something that might help. We have just published a short paper “Fairness in Business” and it will be debated at an event at the RSA in London on 5th March. It is not a set of answers but a series of provocations about the expectations we want to have - in business and in society – about how businesses should behave and to whom they have a duty to act fairly.

It will be interesting to see if the debate sheds more heat than light!

If you are interested the paper can be downloaded here. The RSA event will be streamed live and available here or join the debate on Twitter: #RSABlueprint

I have also shared the core argument in this blog for the RSA: Is business fundamentally unfair?