I think of myself as a very tolerant person. My family will hopefully agree with me that I am always listening to other people’s opinion and their point of views. But today I was fuming when I finished reading the Editorial column from Terence Corcoran of the National Post (A Canadian newspaper).
This is the link to the full column: http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion
Terence Corcoran is providing us with his opinion on how he views the situation in which business is at the moment. He suggests that through the influence of CSR and philanthropy, business is not tough enough and thus is not focussing enough on hard business objectives anymore. Those objectives are merely: to make money.
He continues by saying that business leaders of the future are not tough enough to deliver profits and value maximization but rather focus these days on maximizing the value they bring to society (in his view that is not a good thing as profit is everything).
Here is a quote:
‘In the last two decades, the North American business world embraced corporate policies and structures that removed hard business objectives — profits and value maximization — as top corporate priorities. Making good money, now generalized as greed, today takes a back seat to the pursuit of stakeholder engagement frameworks, mollifying shareholder advocacy groups and NGOs, bogging directors down in Sarbanes-Oxley procedures, trumpeting social responsibility and “ethical” standards, and putting outside directors in charge of setting corporate strategies.’
And it gets even better:
‘The indoctrination of tomorrow’s business leaders takes place at every school, although the Richard Ivey School of Business has set a special standard with its “Ivey Pledge.” To send a “clear message to new graduates,” all MBA grads are required to sign a mealy mash of squishy moralizing. “I will, to the best of my ability, act honourably and ethically in all my dealings… I will endeavour to act with moral clarity, grace and nobility…. I will aspire to make a positive contribution to my society.” Grads who sign the Pledge receive the Ivey Ring at a Ring Ceremony. If I were running a business, I’d only hire grads who refused to sign.’
How wrong you are Mr Corcoran!
The future business leaders are currently evolving into leaders that have a multitude of objectives they feel are important to consider for a business, not just sole profit maximization and continuous growth.
These days – who needs corporate leaders that are driven purely by greed and financial targets? Where was Mr Corcoran when the financial system went into meltdown not so long ago because of how these leaders did their business?
This might sound harsh now but I feel strongly that this needs to be said.
Please do us a favor Mr Corcoran and keep your opinion to yourself and observe how we, the younger generation, will build a business world that has more than just one purpose. A business world that is so much more sustainable then you will ever be able to imagine. This is what we need and what we are working towards, nothing more and nothing less.