By Richard Branson
When I was 16, I dropped out of school to start up a small magazine called Student. It was the height of the turbulent 1960s and my friends and I wanted to give our generation a stronger voice. Following the magazines success, we started a student advisory center where young people could get guidance on issues ranging from birth control to mental health. Looking back, its clear that I've always felt that business - small or large - has the opportunity and the responsibility to do good in a community.
Abuses are common, both by corporations and in the public sphere. Over more than four decades of doing business around the world, I have seen what happens when companies and corrupt officials conspire to serve their own selfish interests. They wreak havoc on our planet and its fragile ecosystems, destroy communities and perpetuate the cycle of poverty. As a result, many people distrust business and public institutions.
Good governance
Such practices arent only morally wrong, they are bad for business. Business should be a champion of good governance, taking a strong stand against corruption and lobbying for a better world. We should be fighting to build and support strong and healthy communities because the people who live in them are our employees, customers, suppliers and investors; a business and the community it serves are interdependent.
These days, Virgin is a lot biggerwe have launched more than 400 businesses over the years and we have learned quite a bit about the ways that big businesses can make a difference.
One is through sheer scale. Many large corporations control vast supply chains that involve thousands of smaller businesses operating in dozens of countries. Choices made by the management team at the top of the chainanything from using more sustainable raw materials to improving gender diversitytrickle down through the entire system, and can often bring about change faster than governments can.
An example that I learned from was Wal-Marts decision a few years back to source and sell more energy-saving compact fluorescent light bulbs. Their suppliers werent happy, of course, but they went along with it and started shifting production within months. By comparison, it took European legislators years to reach consensus on phasing out inefficient bulbs. Effective environmental regulations are necessary for sure, but big business can lead the way.
Innovation, opportunities
Taking a stand on something you know is right can lead to innovation and further business opportunities. Consider what Safaricom and Vodafone accomplished in Kenya and Tanzania with M-Pesa, a mobile payment and banking system. By providing branchless banking to people who previously had little access to financial institutions, the system has provided millions with new opportunities, which is driving economic growth and reducing poverty.
There is so much that large companies can do. A few years ago, we launched the Carbon War Room (CWR), an initiative to identify and scale up market-based solutions to climate change. The CWR team knew that the global shipping industry could save up to $70 billion per year and reduce carbon emissions and other pollutants by up to 30 percent if it shifted to more energy-efficient technologies and shipping vessels. Consequently, the team started working with some of the industrys biggest players, governments and NGOs to break down regulatory and systemic barriers to make ships more efficient. The result: More than 4 million tons in greenhouse gas emissions saved thus far, with the potential for much more.
Driving change
In the long-term, value or purpose-driven entrepreneurs stand a better chance of succeeding. As regulators everywhere tighten the rules, and consumers demand more sustainable products and services, global brands will find suppliers and partners who can demonstrate that they value people and the planet as well as profit.
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