Shaping a Sustainable Future for Business

Despite ongoing debates about the role of business in addressing social and environmental issues, there is no question that the basic mindset of corporate leaders today is very different than it was even a decade ago.

Sustainability and impact are much more top of mind, and future-focused leaders are integrating sustainability, impact and profitability with a sophistication that stands out from more traditional approaches.

With more tools and skills at their disposal, such leaders are better able to prepare business for long-term success in an increasingly complex future.

Spotlight: Redefining Business: Judy Samuelson on Purpose, Culture, and Sustainable Advantage

In?this recent interview (podcast and transcript )?with BCG’s David Young , Judy Samuelson discusses “the evolving role of business in society, emphasizing the importance of intangibles like reputation and employee engagement. Judy highlights the need for businesses to embrace a purpose beyond profit and to integrate this purpose into their operations and decision-making processes.”?

How does she envision the changing role of purpose in organizations, and what’s needed to build new business models for more successful, more resilient futures?

News Roundup

1. Is the Era of Shareholder Primacy Over? ?(Yale Insights:?Ted O’Callahan) Which companies truly understand the stakeholder approach, and what is it about innovation and value creation that they do differently?
2. The Stakeholder Doctrine Is Flourishing Despite Attacks on ESG ?(Financial Times: Gillian Tett)?What does the recent Texas legal case suggest about the future of business models that consider both profits and purpose, and how can business keep from becoming political targets without sacrificing smart strategies for future success??
3. Prototyping the Future: How Next-Generation Enterprises Are Unlocking Solutions to the Polycrisis ?(Pioneers Post: Marjorie Kelly, Kate Raworth, Erinch Sahan) The future of business will require rethinking the fundamentals of structure, purpose and ownership design. Where to begin??(also see?Externalities Are a Choice: Why Society Should Expect Company Directors to Take Impact Responsibility )
4. Whatever Happened to … the Brazilian Besties Creating an mRNA Vaccine as a Gift to the World ?(NPR: Nurith Aizenman) They set an impossible goal with an altruistic mission. How are these entrepreneurs working to make it reality?
5. 50 Climate Leaders to Watch (Grist) Who are just some of the innovators “fighting back, bringing change to their communities, and inventing a better future”?

Also on Our Radar

What else caught our attention this week?

• The AI skills you should be building now
• Electric school buses are the future we deserve
• Why business students are getting to grips with geopolitics

One for the Road

How would you work to redesign business for the long term? Thanks for reading, forwarding and following. We’ll see you next week!

— The Business & Society Navigators

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Founded in 1998, the?Aspen Institute Business & Society Program ?works to align business decisions and investments with the long-term health of society—and the planet.