‘Profit with Purpose’ – three key learnings
By Rachel Brown
I was honoured to speak at the NZ Asian Leaders event on ‘Profit with Purpose’ on 9th March, alongside Ranjana Patel, Mitchell Pham and Rebekah Craig. I took away three key points from the discussions, which I’d like to share as I think they’re highly relevant for everyone in today’s business world.
First, both Ranjana and Rebekah spoke about the need for more care about social issues. When we do this well it becomes a critical part of future business success. The coming together of people-centred services has resulted in business growth and greater care for people at the same time. Rebekah talked about the terrible conditions and child labour that some major brands have been involved in, which has highlighted how important it is for business to care for others. People will support companies that do the right thing.
Secondly, we heard that although technology has a strong representation in New Zealand business, with around 30,000 tech firms, we are not good at integrating technology into NZ business. Technology has the potential to either knock business sideways or be the catalyst for new business models. Either way, it absolutely must be part of any business strategy. We are currently behind on this in New Zealand.
Finally, we recognise that the environment is essential for New Zealand’s long term success – and indeed our own success. It means that the way we do business needs to change.
There are things we can do in businesses to improve our long term success – especially when we collaborate. So I’d love for New Zealand’s Asian leaders to get involved in our work at the Sustainable Business Network, and bring your skills and expertise with you. We have hundreds of business members – large and small – who connect through events, resources and projects. Our role is to help our members do better business – by looking after our communities and the environment and growing their business as a result.
If you’re interested in being a part of the future of business here in New Zealand please contact me to find out more.
Rachel Brown, CEO, Sustainable Business Network
rachel@sustainable.org.nz
