This is a question that was going through my head repeatedly yesterday at the inspiring and thought-provoking Comment Conference organised by Editorial Intelligence at the Cass Business School and Lloyds Banking Group in London.

The conference brought together opinion formers, industry leaders and entrepreneurs to discuss the future of Enterprise in the UK. Panels debated The Skills Agenda, Women in Enterprise, and Entrepreneurship.

An interview with Charlie Mayfield, Chairman of the John Lewis partnership, one of the largest co-operatives in the UK illustrated a radical approach to good business. John Lewis are owned by their employees whom are called 'partners' and the management team, whether at local or national level, are accountable to their employees, not the other way around. In fact, the mission of John Lewis is to 'create the happiness of their members' through meaningful employment and great working conditions. In this they recognise that organisations are essentially collections of people and without the buy-in of their people they would not be as an effective business. Financially John Lewis have a goal of making 'sufficient' profit for their partners instead of maximising profit for a few shareholders possibly at the expense of the planet or other people. This is where 'greed' gives way to 'enough' - a lesson for many businesses.

Stephan Chambers, Director of the MBA at the Said Business School and Chairman of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship spoke of his belief, that I share, that business can change the world. He said that governments and NGOs have been unable to solve some of the world's most endemic problems such as climate change, poverty and food security, problems that are going to radically change the world we live in. If these organisations have failed, perhaps business can step up to the challenge and create radical and sustainable solutions to these pressing problems.

Corporations simply going about doing business as usual is quickly becoming untenable in today's climate. More and more businesses are beginning to realise that doing the 'right thing' can be good for the planet, their people and the bottom line. Ian Chesire, CEO of DIY chain Kingfisher/B&Q called for a radical reappraisal of capitalism in the Guardian in March moving from a maximum linear growth model to one of 'maximal well-being for minimal planetary impact'. If only all companies were so forward thinking.

In one of the Thoughts for the Day, Giles Gibbons, founder and CEO of Good Business made a plea for getting away from unhelpful labels like 'social enterprise' and instead working towards helping more businesses be social and more third sector organisations be entrepreneurial.

I think he's right. My vision is of a world where all business is social, that doing the right thing is demanded by employees and consumers and that there is nowhere for the dinosaurs of the 20th century to hide.

So yes, I think that all businesses can be social. And soon, they will have to be.

 

 

 

March 8th marks the Global Centenary of International Women's Day (IWD)- a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.

We have come a long way since 1911 when women's oppression and inequality was rife and women (and men) took to the streets to campaign for women's rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and to end discrimination.

The IWD site bears witness to the huge societal changes over the last 100 years:

"The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women's and society's thoughts about women's equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that 'all the battles have been won for women' while many feminists from the 1970's know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women's visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.  

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

Yes, we have come a long way and there is much to celabrate. But the daily hardships endured by many women around the world today, still tell us that there is work to be done. This is a snapshot of the world women live in:

• In Africa, 3 million girls undergo Female Genital Cutting (FGC) as a rite of passage to adulthood and marriage every year.
• Young women in Bangaldesh can have acid thrown in their faces if they refuse the advances of a man or reject a proposal of marriage.
• Here in the UK, 1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime and on average 2 women a week are killed by a current or former male partner.
• Women face street harassment ranging from comments and shouts to flashing and assault every day.
• After having a family, women find it a struggle to find flexible or part-time work that uses their skills and talents.
• The gender pay gap in the UK is 22%, only 22% of MPs are women and less than a third of public apointments are held by women.

I have written before about the power of women to make real change in the world and so on Tuesday 8th March I am asking 100 women to come together to co-create ideas for change.

We will kick off the evening with some inspirational women speakers on how they are making a differnece in the world and then move to an Open Space format for discussion and action.

You can book your FREE ticket for the event at here: