[Ailist] What is the Life Force (Vital energy/Prana) of Business?

[Cheri Torres]

Rob,

Totally agree with you. What i realize in your suggestion is that  
there must be an assumption that investors invest simply for the pay  
off, which is not one of my own assumptions about all investors.   
Raising this to the surface helps reframe the conversation about  
investors, I think.

Imagine what might happen if there was a mutual fund for organizations  
that were in business for passion and purpose, who sought balanced  
value for all stakeholders.  There would be an opportunity!

Cheri


Cheri B. Torres, Ph.D.

Collaborative by Design
135 Westwood Place
Asheville, NC 28806
828-225-5088




On Nov 10, 2009, at 4:29 PM, Rob Voyle wrote:

> Hi Cheri
>
> What would happen if we saw profit as simply a measure of efficiency  
> in
> manifesting our purpose ie. offering something of value to the world  
> and not as
> something to be sought in and of itself.
>
> Investors would be invited to invest in the offering of something of  
> value rather
> than simply investing for profit. That's not to say that they would  
> not make a
> profit, but the profit is secondary to the deeper purpose and value  
> the company
> offers to the community.
>
> It is interesting to reflect on Krafts attempt to take over  
> Cadburys. While in
> similar industries their core values are worlds apart. Cadburys is  
> committed to
> fair trade coca, Krafts rejects fair trade as an intrusion into free  
> trade for the
> purpose of making a profit. A merger of these two companies will do  
> violence to
> each other's values and potentially destroy that which is life  
> giving to the
> company.
>
> Rob
>
> Robert J. Voyle, Psy.D.
> Director, Clergy Leadership Institute
> For Coaching and Training in Appreciative Inquiry
> Author: Core Elements of the Appreciative Way
> http://www.clergyleadership.com/
> 503-647-2378 or 503-647-2382
>
>
> On 10 Nov 2009 at 13:52, Cheri Torres wrote:
>
>> Sachan,
>>
>> I love your insight about value as the life force of business.  The
>> stakeholder centered approach that John Mackey describes in Be the
>> Solution  is about creating value in five arenas--where no one area
>> gains value at the expense of the others.  The areas are:
>> 1.  Employees
>> 2.  Suppliers
>> 3.  Customers
>> 4.  Investors
>> 5.  Community and Environment
>>
>> Profit is the value stream for investors, but it is only one of five
>> and should not be maximized at the expense of value to the other
>> four.
>>
>> With regards to your other questions, I'm not clear what you are
>> actually asking or suggesting.  Could you please clarify what you
>> mean
>> by the following and how it relates to the issue of business:
>>> Would raising the collective consciousness level of the world be a
>>> common
>>> good? If not, what else can it be? And if yes, then are we at an
>>> inflexion
>>> point in evolution where the further journey is involution? Where
>> we
>>> start
>>> discovering ourselves at a deeper level of inter-beingness, from
>> the
>>> current
>>> peak of individuation of the Self?
>>
> 25-5088
>>
>