The coronavirus outbreak has triggered the biggest global economic, health care and social crisis in centuries. This is a time for all sectors to reflect on their approaches and develop new ways of doing things. And it includes the private sector. In the post-pandemic world, the new business landscape is complex and uncertain. Amongst technological advancements, the widening gap between the have and have-nots, the rise in populism, and an increasingly crowded marketplace, businesses will be under pressure to reinvent itself and identify new engines of growth for some time.
While it is still a mainstream belief of the local business community that profit generation is the sole purpose of a business and “doing good” remains to be one-way giving or corporate volunteering, the world has become increasingly interconnected. Businesses, big and small, are beginning to co-create value with their employees, customers, suppliers or other key stakeholders based on shared interests and values
The Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum, Ernst & Young and InnoFoco Limited and Social Innovation Exchange have come together, with support of the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund), to understand the motivations of businesses in creating shared value and making recommendations on wider promotion of the business for a good concept.
We looked into the motivations and push and pull factors for companies to adopt a stakeholder-centric approach in doing business by examining 18 case studies.. The project also sought to understand whether the younger population are playing an increasingly important role in influencing business behaviour. The report provides concrete recommendations on how different stakeholder groups – particularly government, business, educators and the media – can help promote the wider applications of business for good in Hong Kong.
The report aims to define, analyse and recommend the different ways businesses have gone beyond shareholder values to embrace stakeholder and social values in 4 areas: (1) Legal structures/ new legal forms, (2) Standards and criteria, (3) Strategies, (4) Intentions and mindsets.
