Theme 1: The Role of Business in Advancing Peace Through Commerce

Peace
101

It is an honour for me to be part of this noble global platform which afford me the opportunity to how businesses can be married hamoniously to thier society and environment. Most of my experiences I will be sharing on this platform will be bias towards business practices and their are conducted in the least developed countries and the wayforward to achieving the objectives of this conference.

In the first place the least developed countries are characterised by abject poverty, sicknesses and diseases, wars and corruption. And very often the blame is put on the shoulder of the political wheel. Partly, the businesses must also be blamed for the circumstances that faced people living in the societies they operate in. Especially, in Ghana, where I hailed from and currently staying, the needs often identify by businesses are geared towards profit but not the welfare of the people. I made this observation based on the type of social responsibilities most of these businesses engaged in. If a business practice end up corroding the culture of the people, could there be peace!

102

Hello to all!

It is a very interesting topic and stimulating discussions.

My submissions to the forum are:

  1. Business cannot grow if there is no peace because investors and entrepreneurs hesitate and apprehend to invest where there is insecurity. Hence, business community needs to understand that working towards maintenance or establishment of peace is a mandatory responsibility for them. Therefore, the policy and strategy followed by business establishments should ensure that no contribution in cash or kind is given to any agency that works against peace; and, as far as possible build up ancilliary industries through supply chain or product/service delivery chain, as appropriate to the type of business,that would generate more employment, which, in turn, would facilitate to alleviate poverty and build an inclusive society.

This approach is especially of relevance in the potentially turbulent region of Central and South Asia, Latin America and Africa - all of which has huge market, significant natural and human resources, and considerable business potential that can be better harnessed in a more peaceful and stable scenario.

  1. Global economic melt down demands reduction of extravagant and redundant expenditure, rightsizing as opposed to retrenchment, and introduction of innovative schemes of productivity-efficiency based incentives that would assist to improve output effectively, efficiently and economically so as to serve the customers by passing on a part of the benefits/savings attained through this means.

It is a time to follow constructive approach rather than drastic steps that lead to further deterioration of the present situation.

  1. Should not the companies discontinue “target” driven management or reconsider setting realistic growth figures because the “target” driven management approach exerts undue pressure on employees, leads to raise the ambition and greed of top executives, and results in corporate misgovernance causing fraud on unsuspecting minds as have been seen in different countries in the recent past.

I look forward to your valuable inputs.

103

Dear All,

Yes, i would agree entirely that asking businesses to contribute to peace is part and percel of CSR.In fact, it should be a key component of businesses that operate in conflict zones.

In Kenya, east Africa, a number of large Corporates like EABL Kenya Breweries Have for year supported the so called Peace Runs in parts of the country affected by ethnic clashes in conjunction with International athletes.These are marathon races through the counryside that bring together the two or more warring communities in a peaceful contest and where the winners are rewarded.

It has worked very well with the partnership with foreign embassies, notably the US Embassy.

The Global Financial Down Turn is likely to render such events unlikely because of flagging profits, sales,massive layoffs and loss of markets all of which will shrink revenues that would have been used in such noble ventures.

Solomon Mpapale,
London,UK.

104

Amitava,

I cannot agree more with your first point. It is naive to think that any business will go into a war zone, or even an unstable, angry zone. To think that one can “make” peace by doing business is lacking in understanding of the fundamentals of business. I cannot see how “peace” can be made (mandated to be?) part of “corporate social responsibility” as some posters are suggesting.

What does happen is that people in war zones see a higher standard of living in other places, which is brought by healthy trade. They want what they see. This becomes a motivator for peace, but it is only that.

The question is still and always, how can you stop a war or an oppression? You can have all the motivation in the universe but that has a hard time stopping bullets. In America, our own Revolution in 1776 only succeeded because England was such an incredibly long way away. That, and incredible good luck on top of determination and motivation.

I think we all must admit that business cannot “make” peace happen. Business, done with ethics and integrity, can prevent wars, and today’s internet connectivity can make shame a more common punishment for nasty governments.

War can only be stopped by people with the courage and resources to terminate people like Idi Amin, Josef Stalin, and Adolf Hitler. And again, given the deadly effectiveness of modern weaponry, that is a very tall order in any situation.

To consider your second and third points, greed and flamboyant extravagance have been with us from the beginning of time. We are not likely to get rid of it any time soon. Individuals are afflicted with greed and governments are obnoxiously greedy as well, so the present attempts to shame corporations for greed and self-indulgence are quite disingenuous. Jesus of Nazareth was quite right to point out that those who point fingers usually have as much or more to be ashamed of.

It is our responsibility as consumers and stockholders to vote with our dollars and our feet in dealing with business as well as with governments and individuals with respect to their integrity. One person’s purchases and one person’s feet may not seem to be a whole lot, but there are over twelve billion feet on this planet and we can collectively change the course of anything.

I am very much in agreement with the Conscious Capitalism principles espoused by John Mackey’s FLOW initiative (http://www.flowidealism.org), and those same principles drove my own venture (described elsewhere in this discussion) ansd will do so again. Business should operate best when all of its stakeholders are getting the fairest shake possible, by design. In my opinion, that’s the way everything in life should run, but many of our cultural institutions and organizational systems are sadly locked into woefully authoritarian, psychotically pathological models because people are afraid to declare that the naked emperor is greedy and insane and should be induced to retire gracefully.

105

I believe that a business conducted in a responsible way in a stable environment moves towards peace. I do not think that a business must go out of its way to create peace; peace will come when there is stability. The question that must be asked, however, is how is stability created? As Mr. Sullivan points out, market capitalism is essential for the success of business. There is quite a clear correlation between free markets and economic stability. Therefore, the first step a country must take is to give business a stable environment and prosperity and peace will emerge.

106

I think the recent global economic downtown will either propel or deter corportate social responsibility. As green mangement is also efficient, there may be a rise in this type of management. But corporate social responsibility programs that are extremely costly may experience set-backs. A facet of CSR is providing quality employment opportunites for those who do not have the oppportunity for employment, so in the years following the downturn, we may see a lot of that. Despite the downtown, CSR efforts are a growing trend that contribute to firms’ reputation and thus can be profitable as well.

107

It is interesting that Iceland was ranked highest on the Global Peace Index for 2008, when in 2009, it country has been the European country that has been hit the hardest by the recession. Will Iceland hold its title in the 2009 Global Peace rankings? Or will the country be hit so hard by the recession that its rankings will drop? What do you think?

108

I fully agree with you on this count.
I have also been trying to get to the root cause of major unrests/conficts to find a solution. Apparently, the most important reasons of all conflicts are rooted in three areas -

  1. Unsatisfied Youth
  2. Unequal wealth distribution
  3. Cornering of resources (natural, capital and energy) to have more power

The only way to bring peace thus lies in

  1. Education that connects to livelihood
  2. Capacity building at all levels of the stakeholders in a community
  3. Efficient and judicious use of resources

One of the ways to achieve this is the use of eBusiness to connect minds/transact business and manage resources.

Women are the key to making this happen as they are born with an art of combining development, harmony and education in a seamless bundle.

109

I agree with your three reasons for conflict, Dolly Bhasin. And would like to suggest one more: poor human health which I believe ultimately plays an important underlying role in the first three.

I suggest that women are also, in addition to possessing the art of seamless bundling (which may come from eons of multi-tasking in the home), most able to affirm the health issue.

I believe women could play an especially important role in questioning the impact that business products and practices can have on health… and on the creation of unequal wealth distribution and the misuse of resources. Is a product or business practice that damages human health a wise use of resources? While it may produce large profits for some, it weakens the fabric of our common existence, and someone… often the poor and ultimately governments and their economies … must pay for this.

I wonder if the women in this group might take the lead in promoting health as important for long-term solutions to conflict and unrest?

110

So, okay, Dolly and Nancy. I agree with you both 100% that women are the ones who realize these negative impacts. Absolutely correct! Usually have deeply sensible answers, too. Unfortunately, women – especially in places where conflict is rife – have little power. How can women “go on strike”, so to speak, without getting the crap beat out of them, or worse in some uncivilized nations?

I would suggest that this would be a good project to pursue to dramatically improve conditions. It seems to me that with the Internet and video it is easier to publicize violence, but it is not easy enough that violence does not happen. There is still a long way to go and publicity is only a small piece of the picture.

I do think you have a great seed of a powerful idea!