m-cause

 Photo from Pingnews

Hope you are having a great weekend.  Here in Geneva it has been rainy and dreary!

The Harvard Business Review recently posted a controversial conversation starter by Rakesh Khurana and Nitin Nohria called “Should Managers Have a Green Hippocratic Oath?”   Khurana and Nohria posit that business management should become more like the professions of medicine and law by adopting a professional code.  Such a code would help them better consider the consequences of their actions.   The authors also call for changes within management education as currently MBAs are more or less taught that they should be “the hired hands” of shareholders. 

I definitely agree that there should be more focus within management education on sustainability.  MBA programs should a require students to take at least 1 course in this area (many already do).  Regarding a code, I think the idea could be very useful and more debate on this should be fostered to work out how best to implement. 

At the end of the day, sustainability is incredibly interlinked.  Beyond just focusing on business leaders, wouldn’t it be great to get politicians and other key policymakers to take some type of oath?  Business plays within the rules made by our leaders…additionally, consumers (who are often shareholders at the same time) have a big role to play here.  The emergence of a more socially and environmentally conscious consumer/shareholder would be the easiest way to get many big businesses to change (especially FMCG companies).       

This is a great conversation starter…suggest you take a look.  I also highly recommend you read the comments section.

Below I have also posted what the World Economic Forum (WEF is headquarterd here in Geneva) advocated in 2003 as a possible code:  

As a manager of a corporation, an adviser or an entrepreneur, I pledge to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, the following covenant:

- I will safeguard the interests of the enterprise’s financial claimants and will strive to create endurable shareholder value.

- I will utilize natural resources in an efficient, sustainable way, thus ensuring the rights of future generations to enjoy a clean and resourceful planet.

- I will respect the rights and dignity of the individuals working for the enterprise, as well as the people that may be affected by its activities.

- In meeting my commitments with my clients, suppliers and allies, I will engage in honest and transparent transactions, respecting their rights and standing up to my promises.

- I will remember that I remain a member of society, and that, as a manager, an adviser or an entrepreneur, my actions may have great impact on the well-being of others. I will ensure that the operation of the enterprise contributes to the creation of wealth and progress for society at large. I will assume the responsibility for my acts in the execution of my duties and will respond to society for them.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art and personal success. May I be respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of business and may I long experience the joy of helping improve the lives of my fellow human beings. This pledge I make freely and upon my honor.

Geneva has gotten COLD again before we roll into the Easter weekend, but I am staying warm with Doris and we are watching a German state TV (ARD) documentary on the violence in Tibet. German state TV is really pitiful normally, but one thing they do REALLY well is make documentaries. German reporters seem to find their way into every nook and cranny on the planet. When there is an interview with a crazy world leader in an odd part of the world…normally he or she is German (or British).

So I am now starting to make good on my previous post where I promised to profile Fast Companies social capitalist winners. The Acumen Fund was near the top of the list, so I had a quick look into the company tonight. The Acumen Fund is a slick, well managed non-profit venture fund that believes “pioneering entrepreneurs will ultimately find the solutions to poverty”. Basically, the Acumen Fund supports social entrepreneurs…but they do not give grants. Instead, they give loans or equity that yield financial returns. Of course as a non-profit, they recycle their earnings back into new investments.

The Acumen Fund is focused on supporting entrepreneurs who deliver critical services - water, health, housing, and energy - at affordable prices to people earning less than four dollars a day. Their goal is to raise 100 Million USD by the end of the year.

I am quite impressed with the management team assembled at The Acuman Fund…plenty of Harvard-Stanford MBAs and socially engaged people. The fund also has a sexy advisory board with tech stars like tech star Niklas Zennstrom (Skype) and marketing guru Seth Godin. Really an “in-crowd”.

The Acumen Fund looks like they are at the top of this new venture philanthropy game…certainly a non-profit to watch in the future.