Corporate Social Responsibility

Business is More of Love and Less of War


Is business synonymous with war- where two companies are constantly trying to out perform each other through competitive strategies? Or is Business love that has to be sustained through constant efforts- keep the romance alive in its relationship with the people for whom it is created.
When viewed through a narrow prism of profitability and competition- there is no room and time for emotions like love in a fiercely competitive environment. Market is a Darwinian world, where only the smartest survive. It is hard to argue against such pragmatic strategies, which are primarily the concern of the field managers confronting the business opponents on a daily basis.
Business leadership capable of looking beyond the horizon cannot afford to limit its vision. The leadership needs to look at myriad threats to the business than merely the one emanating from their immediate competitors. This mean that business is both love as well as war. To explain this dichotomy, I use the famous clausewitzian philosophy of war.
Clausewitz dialectical approach to understanding war suggested that- war is an act of violence- if not restrained, violence can attain absolute form. He then presents the antithesis and explains that this does not happen in reality, because- “war is a continuation of politics by other means”. Politics that is reason- restricts war from attaining ultimate violent form because the aim of war is never total annihilation.
War during the course of its execution encounters various impediments, which naturally restrain it from running its absolute course. In the end Clausewitz provides a synthesis of his theory and informs that war is a trinity- composed of passion, chance and reason. War stems from passion for violence-constrained by chance or friction from acquiring absolute form- politics instills in war a sense of reason, which makes it comprehend that the purpose of war is not violence but attainment of higher goal.
If we superimpose the theory of war on business, we see that the raw passion for profits can lead business to destroy environment as well as people that come in its profit maximizing ways. But we don’t see this happening. It is mainly because business encounters friction in the form of organized labour movements, vagaries of weather and regulators, which prevent it from being ruthlessly profit driven. Furthermore, reason informs business leaders that the ultimate goal is not profits but the sustainability of the rhythms of capitalism.
Therefore, when we view business merely as a passion for profits, we are forced to equate it with war. This passion forms an important element of business management and is therefore inculcated in every rookie entering the B-School.
As the manager moves up the corporate ladder, she learns to encounter frictions, which prevent her from registering maximum profits for her company. Her graduation from business manager to leadership status makes her comprehend the reasons, which often prevented her from being brash in the initial stages of her career. She now begins to understand that business is not merely profit driven war, which has to be won against competitors. It is love- a continuation of human welfare by other means.
It is at this stage she begins to appreciate the difference between shareholders interests and concern for stakeholders. She now understands that business has a task- the task is to be accepted and respected by the masses. The credibility and sustainability of the business lies in appeal-generated not through colorful advertisements but through sincere corporate social responsibility initiatives.