Module 4: Having constructive conversations with those who hold different views
Finding common ground to start the conversation
A third common concern is that moving to a wellbeing economy may ‘hurt’ healthy business environments, which in turn would lead to unemployment, putting other wellbeing outcomes at risk.
Businesses are fundamental for a wellbeing economy, especially foundational business sectors (e.g., in food, housing, care and health services, transport, energy, construction, and so on). It is how businesses operate, what their overarching goals are, and how they are designed to pursue those goals that will require fundamental shifts.
Points of constructive debate
A useful starting point is to discuss why a wellbeing economy would ‘hurt’ a healthy business environment and then find the most appropriate ways to address those concerns. Some points to consider include:
Businesses play a crucial role in a wellbeing economy
It is about changing government rules and incentives for businesses, not adding bureaucracy
Many businesses are already taking steps to become more ecologically and socially responsible and are calling for government actions to enable a broader transformation.
Click on the card to read more about each of these reasons.
Wellbeing economy avenues for exploration and collaboration
You can invite those who share concerns about ensuring a healthy business environment to explore how government policies can help foster more regenerative and distributive businesses. Watch the video by Erinch Sahan, Business and Enterprise Lead at DEAL, in which he gives examples of government policies that can supercharge the transition towards a wellbeing economy by helping regenerative and distributive businesses thrive.
If you would like to learn more, check out the DEAL tool Regenerative Business rising about how policymakers can unlock the potential of regenerative and redistributive businesses or the WEAll Business of Wellbeing guide, full of practical examples of alternatives to business as usual.
References
[1] Sahan, E. & Schneider, N. (2023). Regenerative business rising. How public policy can create an economy led by a different kind of business. https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools/public-policies-to-foster-regenerative-businesses
[2] Eccles, R., I. Ioannou and G. Serafeim (2014), “The impact of corporate sustainability on organizational processes and performance”, Management Science, Vol. 60/11, pp. 2835-2857, http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1984.
[3] Clark, G., A. Feiner and M. Viehs (2015), From the stockholder to the stakeholder: How sustainability can drive financial outperformance, University of Oxford and Arabesque Partners, London, https://arabesque.com/research/From_the_stockholder_to_the_stakeholder_web.pdf.
[4] Lyon, T. and J. Shimshack (2015), “Environmental Disclosure: Evidence From Newsweek’s Green Companies Rankings”, Business & Society, Vol. 54/5, pp. 632-675, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0007650312439701.
[5] BCG (2017), Total societal impact: A new lens for strategy, Boston Consulting Group, Boston, http://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/total-societal-impact-new-lens-strategy.
[6] IBM (2024). Beyond checking the box. How to create business value with embedded sustainability, https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/institute-business-value/en-us/report/sustainability-business-value.
[7] Sahan, E. Sanz Ruiz, C., Raworth, K., Van Winden, W. & Van den Buuse, D. (2022). What Doughnut Economics means for business: Creating enterprises that are regenerative and distributive by design, https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools/doughnut-design-for-business-core-tool#paper
[8] WEAll (2020). The business of wellbeing. A guide to the alternatives to business as usual. https://weall.org/transforming-business
[9] World Economic Forum (2024). The Global Risks Report 2024, https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Global_Risks_Report_2024.pdf
[10] For example, more than 8500 companies are taking actions to adopt science-based targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; one in five Fortune Global 500 companies now track three or more dimensions of environmental sustainability in their sustainability reporting. A growing number of businesses are also transforming more holistically, through ownership and governance models designed to prioritise the interests of their employees, society and the planet and use commercial viability for social and environmental goals.
[11] Business for Nature’s Call to Action, https://www.businessfornature.org/call-to-action