A Productive Private Sector: Aligning the Free Market with the Common Good

The goods and services that in many ways define our daily lives come with a collective cost. Every time a company outsources jobs, pollutes, donates to a politician, moves production to a cheaper labor source, pays for commercials, fires people, etc, in some way the public is impacted on the national and local level.

The relentless pursuit of profit at any cost has led to exploitation and environmental degradation. It’s led to growing inequality, to the lobbying culture that runs Washington, a healthcare sector that doesn’t heal, a broken media that drives polarization, technology that has devastated mental health, a financial system that has left many behind, and many other modern societal ailments.

Undoubtedly, capitalism has led to some great outcomes. But it’s also led us to where we are today.

Individuals and groups should be rewarded when they produce things that others want, but does it have to be so destructive? Making a profit shouldn’t come at the expense of our collective well-being. Taken one step further, could business be more of a force for good?

Isn’t it possible for companies to sell goods and services while at the same time lifting humanity as a whole? What if the private enterprise was aligned with our collective desires, rather than those of a few?

How can companies put profits into perspective—with an emphasis on people? How can we use business processes to create positive change for everyone?

Aligning a productive private sector with the common good requires consumers to take a stand. To #DemandMoreforYourDollar.

Business is surely able to have a meaningful, fundamental positive impact on our culture. Given the dire state of the country, we need all hands on deck. A private sector aligned with the common good is not only possible but necessary. If we have any hope of reversing all the nonsense happening and building a better future for ourselves and our children, we need business to do more.

What is the Free Market and How Does it Work

The Free Market is one of the core principles of economics. It allows people to choose what they buy based on their preferences.

When functioning optimally, a free market encourages competition, drives innovation and creativity, and serves as a check on prices by ensuring competition. In theory, the free market system generally leads to fairer outcomes for buyers and sellers alike. At its best, it creates long-term economic progress and prosperity for everyone involved.

While it might be great for customers and businesses, collectively the free market presents many issues. For many reasons, the free market doesn’t always yield the justest outcomes. Short-term profits and individual gain often come at the expense of long-term sustainability, healthy competition, and fairness.

The challenge going forward is to strike a balance between empowering individuals to make their own choices and ensuring that those who benefit from them internalize the costs of those choices rather than externalizing them to society.

The Power of Aligning the Free Market and the Common Good

Owners who perceive their company not just as a profitable venture, but also as an ethical one, will have an advantage with modern consumers and employees, who are taking a more holistic view of their impact.

Aligning the free market with the common good creates several benefits for the entire population.

By promoting transparency, we can reduce the impact of money in the political arena. We can encourage open, honest collaboration between businesses, employees, community groups, and politicians to ensure that everyone is getting what they want and need out of the deal.

When businesses create an atmosphere of trust, it leads to increased loyalty from customers and employees. We can help foster a spirit of cooperation rather than the extreme anger so prevalent today. This sense of security—that we’re all in this together—is essential if we are going to build a better future.

The environment will benefit from businesses focusing on sustainable practices. Carbon emissions, pollution, waste, and other environmental issues can all be addressed with a focus on corporate responsibility.

We can reduce inequality by working towards more equitable and inclusive opportunities. Groups historically on the receiving end of unfair treatment and marginalization, such as immigrants, minorities, women, and people with disabilities, can have access to better opportunities.

It’s A New Age

The mantra of the business community for the past half-decade is that the business of business is to make money. Sure, there is a logic to that. But just because they teach it to MBAs doesn’t make it true.

This is a Democracy, we get to decide what’s important. If consumers like you and I demand that businesses need to do more to improve our society, smart companies will comply. This has been happening slowly, but now is the time to kick it into high gear.

Think of all the jobs that could be created helping companies do more to help us all.

Ultimately, when companies invest ethically in their communities rather than solely financially, everyone stands to benefit from a more productive private sector.

Challenges with Enlisting the Private Sector

Corporate responsibility has gotten more and more attention recently. But we are still a long way away from businesses being aligned with the common good. ESG, or “woke” investing still gives power to the already wealthy.

We need to bring the power down to the individual level. The stakes are too high to let the investor class decide the priorities.

Impact Consumerism is the idea that individuals have the power to shape a business. Read about the Rise of Impact Consumerism.

Pursuing a successful business in the private sector presents a unique set of challenges. As businesses strive to maximize profits, they can sometimes be at odds with the common good. Running a successful business is hard enough, without having to deal with the ethical minefield of today’s divided culture. The stakes are certainly high, that’s why it’s all the more important for businesses to be a part of the solution.

Forward-looking entrepreneurs understand competing interests while having an appreciation of society as a whole. A nuanced approach and comprehensive strategizing enable businesses to navigate today’s business and social climate and achieve profitability while maintaining strong alignment with the public interest.

And the public is ready for it:

 

Creating a Productive Private Sector

The idea of a corporate environment that is fundamentally aligned with the common good might seem like a radical departure from the corporate orthodoxy.

Many, particularly the ones that have most benefited from the status quo, will resist the idea. Poo-poo it as naive, communist, or socialist, or just hippy-dippy nonsense.

But there’s no reason why capitalism and our collective well-being need to be in opposition.

Surely both can thrive together.

Creating A More Responsible Private Sector?

  • First and foremost, businesses must create a culture of integrity within the workplace.
  • Companies need to define their values and articulate them to consumers.  The best companies will understand the values of their target customers, and ensure that their business practices support those values. Management needs to emphasize dedication to company values and goals through their actions. Lip service without action won’t cut it anymore.
  • Transparency and honesty need to be at the core of the corporate message. Years of work could be undone by one misstep, even a simple misunderstanding could lead to catastrophe. With a vicious media eager to bring anyone down for any reason, companies need to be sure they are not only communicating their values clearly but living up to them.
  • There should be an open dialogue between leadership and employees, customers, and local communities. Businesses should develop strategies that consider all stakeholders, and prioritize values-based decision-making.
  • Companies that take an interest in the environment1because the values are informed by customers, not all businesses need to have the environment as a priority – as good as it would be if they did. need to invest in sustainability initiatives and take responsible action to reduce their carbon footprint. This includes reducing their energy usage, using sustainable materials, minimizing full life-cycle waste production, using recycled materials when available, and promoting a circular economy generally.
  • Building an effective team able to align both individual and collective interests is paramount. Businesses should cultivate a corporate culture that values transparency and diversity of thought.
  • Organizations need to foster collaboration between departments and use planning techniques based on productive and effective management principles.

It’s a new word out there, one that needs a lot of help.

By taking steps like the ones above, enlightened companies can bridge the divide between the public and private sectors in service of a unifying common good.

The hope is that as these companies earn more customers, competitors will have no choice but to follow suit or fail.

Measuring and Tracking Success

The best way to get consumers to believe you are for real is to show results. Measuring and tracking success is essential to fully enlist the private sector in the fight to make the world better.

Several different tools exist that can enable accurate tracking and measurement, including surveys, customer feedback, benchmarking processes, and quality assurance testing. The impact / ESG / woke investing and corporate responsibility crowd has already made some if limited, progress.

It is important to employ a variety of these processes and continually work to make them better.

But the reality is that discovering what and how to measure is part of the challenge. If a company wants to convince potential customers that it cares about what they care about, they need to figure out how to do that.

It’s not up to the government, or a specific non-profit. It’s up to the business community to figure out how to describe the issues and explain to their target audience what they are doing.

Lucky for them I have some ideas:

The Humanity Index

There is certainly a place for third parties to help consumers understand the impact of different businesses. One of these “rating” agencies is The Humanity Index, devoted to helping consumers understand the full impact of a company.

Companies are “graded” across several areas:

  • Employee relations – How do employees feel about their employer? How fairly are the profits of that company distributed?
  • Environmental impact – including sub-metrics regarding sustainability, pollution, wildlife, ocean preservation, etc.
  • Political activity – Is the company working with others in its sector to lobby the government for rules that help everyone, rather than themselves?
  • Civil rights – Does the company contribute to moving toward equal rights for everyone? Sub metrics for disaffected groups.

Read the full details here >>

How We Fix Everything

To make meaningful progress toward improving life for everyone, we need a way to organize our priorities. How We Fix Everything is that plan.

Read all about it here >>

Identifying Opportunities for Growth and Expansion

Investing in the private sector for the common good is a powerful way to bring about positive changes both economically and socially.

The stakes are too high for the wealthy to sit on the sidelines counting their money.

By engaging in thoughtful analysis, opportunities for growth and expansion can drive the private sector toward success while simultaneously promoting public welfare.

With careful consideration of investment options, generating lasting economic benefit that serves both corporate interests and the interests of society can become a reality.

By understanding how the private sector operates and recognizing how investments can address broader challenges, strong partnerships between business and society can be established to help build a sustainable future.

It’s Time to #DemandMoreforYourDollar

By creating a productive private sector aligned with the common good, businesses can benefit from increased profits and financial stability.

This alignment between the private sector and the common good is essential to ensuring a strong economy, greater opportunities for citizens, and more equitable outcomes within our society.

The only way we’re going to realistically create a positive and lasting positive change is by enlisting the private sector to promote the common good. We as citizens and consumers need to encourage companies to be a part of the solution2 or at the very least stop making things worse. Corporate leaders must continue to be creative in how they identify growth opportunities and expand upon existing models of success as we make progress.

It requires collaboration between individuals, institutions, and even governments to create change at scale.

But it’s the best chance we have.

What do you think?

Be a Part of the Solution!

Clearly, there’s a long way ahead for Less Bad, and I’d love for you to join the ride.

Please signup for the newsletter, it’s the best way to learn about what is going on.

Please share the site on social media, you can find the links in the footer. I really appreciate any help spreading awareness.

And feel free to drop a line at hey at lessbad.org.

Learn more about the site >>
0 comments… add one

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *