I went online to learn more about
the Whole Foods Market, and there
I discovered that the concept had
taken off across the US and it was
not just a one-off store in Seattle. I
also learned that the founder, John
Mackey, had written a book entitled
Conscious Capitalism, which I bought
and read. At the same point in time,
EuRA was increasing the requirements
for certification under the Global
Quality Seal and we had just added
a requirement for a Corporate Social
Responsibility policy.
Since this time I have been researching
the processes involved in how
businesses become conscious entities.
During this case study I hope to show
what we have done to implement the
philosophy into EuRA and how we hope
to bring this concept to our industry.
I hope to show in this case study how
conscious capitalism can transform
the world by integrating profit, good
governance in businesses and wider
societal values, thereby demonstrating
the positive impact it has had on my
organisation.
Conscious capitalism is based on the notion that
free enterprise capitalism is the most successful
system for innovation and social cooperation that
has ever been devised. It has led to incalculable
benefits for mankind including:
Reducing the population of
the world living in extreme
poverty (less than $1 per
day) from 85% in 1815 to
16% in 2015 Average life
expectancy across the
globe has risen from
30 to 68 years since
1800 The percentage of
undernourished
people has dropped
from 26% to 13% since
1970
(Bourguignon & Morrison 2002) (United Nations 2011) (Population Reference Bureau 2010)
Capitalism has come under sustained attack as a philosophy and it seems to many
that corporations have come to dominate and control societies, leading to an erosion
of individual rights and effective government control over big business. There is no
doubt that this has happened and the balance needs to be redressed. As the world is
(hopefully) coming out of an eight year recession, it is not surprising that we have seen
grassroots organisations such as the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement getting headlines
across the globe.
www.theglobalphoenix.org
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