The Role of Consciousness in the Evolution of Business as an Agent of World Benefit

Abstract

The call of our times is no longer for businesses that produce goods (the “widgets” of neo-classical economics) to satisfy material consumption, irrespective of the harm done to society. It is for an entirely new form of economic organizing, whose purpose of existence is to create positive-impact value, defined as “increasing economic prosperity while contributing to a healthy regenerative environment and improving human wellbeing”. It is a call for business as an agent of world benefit. The proposed research explores the factors for bringing back into management a manager who is more self-aware and conscious of how his or her actions impact the world around them. In line with MSR’s mission, we are searching for drivers of pro-social and pro-environmental behavior in organizations along with individual behavior that is more empathetic, caring, and in service of creating a better world.