Bob Dunn, CEO, Business for Social Responsibility People are holding companies to a higher standard today. And the context is even larger than just companies. People are holding public institutions to a higher standard as well. They're saying that if you're a government agency, or a community one, you ought to operate in a businesslike way. The flip side of that is that even if you're a business, you ought to operate in a public-serving way.
Business involves more than just creating wealth for some people and providing jobs.
The total impact has to be seen as adding value for society as whole. The recognition of this by a lot of companies is in part what's fueling the growth in our membership, which has grown from a couple hundred companies five years ago to 1,500 today, employing 7 million people. But it's not happening fast enough to prevent the demonstrations we're seeing against big companies. There isn't one simple answer as to why this is happening. One reason is that there's a sense that the role of government is shrinking, bringing a consolidation of power and influence in the private sector.