Becoming a Changemaker

What’s a Business For?

In a Harvard Business Review from 2002, Charles Handy (Handy, 2002) wrote an article on the capitalist model of the business world. He explains the effects of scandals in big U.S. companies in the 1990s. These scandals and the changing rules in the business arena have caused many people to look at capitalism as greedy and an out of date system. To others these scandals show the need for all to be governed by integrity and virtue. Business leaders have lost trust of employees and shareholders. “Trust, too, is fragile. Like a piece of china, once cracked it is never quite the same. And people’s trust in business, and those who lead it, is today cracking” (Handy, 2002, p. 3.) Leaders with integrity will ensure that everything they do will be for the growth of the company and to help the employees.

Handy states that the purpose of business is “to make a profit so that the business can do something more or better. That ‘something’ becomes the real justification for the business. Owners know this” (Handy, 2002, p. 5). As more people come to understand that this is the real purpose of businesses, that their purpose is not just to make a profit, there will be great buy in to support these businesses.

Handy proposes several solutions to bring back the understanding of why businesses exist. One solution he suggests it to change laws of ownership for intellectual property. Existing law gives the business owners and financiers the rights of ownership to brands, patents and the skills and experience of its workforce (Handy, 2002, p. 5). Employees, by law, are treated as property of the business. With this mindset, employees are not motivated to excel or to think critically. If the laws were changed to allow employees more rights they would be likely to look for ways to help the companies, they work for. “A good business is a community with a purpose, and a community is not something to be owned” (Handy, 2002, p. 5) “…companies die because their managers focus on the economic activity of producing goods and services and forget that their organization’s true nature is that of community of people” (Handy, 202, p. 6).

Another proposal Handy gives, is to be more honest and real with the reporting of companies’ financial portfolios. He states “…when so many of a company’s assets are now invisible, and therefore uncountable, and when the webs of alliances, joint ventures, and subcontracting partnerships are so complex, it will never be possible to present a simple financial picture of a major business or to find one number that sums it all up” (Handy, 2002, p. 6). He suggests that truth telling needs to be demanded at all levels and that there should be “performance- related pay, for employees’ work. This would give individuals a reason to perform well and would bring more accountability to all levels.

Sustainability is another area where businesses need to make improvements. “Business needs to take the lead in areas such as environmental and social sustainability instead of forever letting itself be pushed onto the defensive” (Handy, 2002, p. 7).  As more businesses come to understand the need for sustainability they will influence the entire world.

Are We Not All Beggars?

In a conference talk in 2014, Jeffrey R. Holland talks about the command that Jesus gave to “look to the poor and …needy, and administer to their relief that they shall not suffer.” This is a remarkable talk that directs us to look beyond ourselves and to serve others with the means we have been blessed with. He explains that we are not able to help others if we are in need ourselves. We need to become industrious, thrifty, ambitious, and self-reliant first and then we will be able to lift others.

Part of our entrepreneur journey is to create the means to lift and strengthen our brothers and sisters. We can do much more with the Lord’s help and guidance. I want to be able to make a difference in the lives as others.

In a speech by Muhammad Yunus, we read: “Economics has committed a strategic mistake in conceptualizing a human being. It has abstracted away from the very essence of a human being. All human beings are creative beings. Each human being has great potential buried in him or her. Economics has reduced human beings to lesser beings than what they are, and consequently still lesser beings than what they could be” (Yunus, 1999, p. 3.) Yunus talks about how people who are ‘poor’ monetarily suffer because they do not have the means to pursue creative ideas that they have. He began ‘loaning’ money to poor people in his country, Bangladesh, who could not obtain a loan from a formal institution. He established the Grameen Bank, which today lends money to 2.3 million poor borrowers in Bangladesh. 94 percent of the borrowers are women. They have loaned more than 2.4 billion dollars with more than 97 percent repayment (Yunus, 1999, pg. 5). “All human beings are endowed with unlimited potential. Because of barriers created by our societies, individual people never get the full opportunity to bring out their potential” (Yunus, 1999, p. 5).

“I strongly believe that we can create a poverty-free world- if we want to. We can create a world where there won’t be a single human being who may be described as a poor person” (Yunus, 1999, p. 7).

Part of our entrepreneur journey is to create the means to lift and strengthen our brothers and sisters. We can do much more with the Lord’s help and guidance. I want to be able to make a difference in the lives as others.

Handy, Charles. “What’s a Business For?”, Harvard Business Review, December 2002.

Yunus, Muhammad, (1999)“Microlending: Toward a Poverty-Free World, “ BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 38:Iss. 2, Article 8. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byus1/bol38/iss2/8