Conscious business enterprises and people are those that choose to follow a business strategy, in which they seek to benefit both human beings and the environment.
The conscious business movement in the US emerged from the theory of
corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethicall ...
, which pushes for a "values-based" approach where
values represent social and environmental concerns both locally and globally. This effort is related to not-just-for-profit business models, conscious consumerism,
socially responsible investing, and
Conscious capitalism.
There is an alternative way of thinking about conscious business emerging in the UK, and perhaps other countries, which tries to avoid
reification
Reification may refer to:
Science and technology
* Reification (computer science), the creation of a data model
* Reification (knowledge representation), the representation of facts and/or assertions
* Reification (statistics), the use of an id ...
, regarding it less as a thing or a type of business which can be categorised, and more as an ongoing process including
awareness,
self-awareness
In philosophy of self, self-awareness is the experience of one's own personality or individuality. It is not to be confused with consciousness in the sense of qualia. While consciousness is being aware of one's environment and body and lifesty ...
, awareness of purpose,
practice (social theory) and relationships.
In Italy, De Nardi Gianluca illustrates through the use of business cases how every company could adopt conscious business processes.
Conscious business criteria
Doing no harm
It is generally agreed upon that the product or service of a conscious business should not be intrinsically harmful to humans or the environment. However, it is possible for such a business to be taking part in the conscious business movement if it is taking conscious steps to be more aware of its social and environmental effects, and to adopt more beneficial social or environmental practices.
Triple Bottom Line Model
Most conscious businesses subscribe to a
Triple Bottom Line model of success. They aim to provide positive value in the domains of people, planet, and
profit
Profit may refer to:
Business and law
* Profit (accounting), the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market
* Profit (economics), normal profit and economic profit
* Profit (real property), a nonpossessory intere ...
.
The phrase "Triple Bottom Line" was coined by business
writer John Elkington in 1994.
Further reading
*Abergene, Patricia; ''Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism.'' Hampton Roads Publishing Company (September 2005).
*Burden, P and Warwick R; ''Leading Mindfully''. Burden and Warwick (2015)
*Dalai Lama and Cutler, H; ''The Art of Happiness at Work''.
Hodder and Stoughton (2003)
*De Nardi, Gianluca; ''The business model of 'conscious companies' The EcorNaturaSì case"".
Ca' Foscari University of Venice (2017)
*Haque, Umair; ''Betterness: Economics for Humans''. Harvard Business Review Press (December 19, 2011)
*Hawken, Paul; ''Natural Capitalism.'' Back Bay Books; 1st edition (October 12, 2000).
*Kofman, Fred; ''Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Your Values.''
Sounds True: September (2006).
*
Mackey, John; Sisodia, Rajendra; ''Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business.'' Harvard Business Press (January 2013)
*McInnes, Will; ''Culture Shock.''
John Wiley & Sons (2012)
*Price, John; ''The Conscious Investor.''
John Wiley & Sons (2011)
*Renesch, John; ''Conscious Leadership.'' Brown & Herron (June 17, 2002)
*Sisodia, Rajendra; Wolfe, David; Sheth, Jagdish; ''Firms of Endearment: How World-class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose.'' Pearson Prentice Hall (February 10, 2007)
*Sisodia, Rajendra;
Gelb, Michael J.; ''The Healing Organization: Awakening the Conscience of Business to Help Save the World.'' HarperCollins Leadership (September 2019).
*Stahlhofer, Nicolas; Schmidkonz, Christian; Kraft, Patricia "Conscious Business in Germany"
Springer (December 2017)
See also
*
B Corporation (certification)
*
Business ethics
Business ethics (also known as Corporate Ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business co ...
*
False consciousness
*
Marketing
*
Cognitive dissonance
*
Sustainable business
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conscious Business
Corporate social responsibility
Capitalism