Inclusive
Capitalism
At
the dawn of the 21st century, world commerce finds itself on
the horns of twin dilemmas. First, with the unprecedented performance
of equities over much of the prior decade’s bull market, shareholders
now expect double-digit returns as a matter of course. Yet, with the
global economy still sleepwalking at an annual average rate of growth of
2-3%, how will companies consistently expand shareholder value in a
manner and at a rate that meets these expectations? Indeed, the majority of large companies seem to be mired in
saturated markets that have few significant growth opportunities.
Second, the rapid
rise of global capitalism over the past decade has been accompanied by
mounting concerns over environmental degradation, labor exploitation,
cultural hegemony, and loss of local autonomy, particularly in the Third
World. Furthermore, in comparison to earlier conflicts, the recent
spate of demonstrations—from anti-WTO and IMF protests in Seattle, Davos,
Prague, and Cancun, peasant farmers’ protests in the Third World against
Monsanto’s genetically engineered seeds, to the high-profile Indian
revolt in the Andes region of the Americas—are distinct in both their
constituency and their objective. Protestors today are as likely to
include smallholder farmers, women’s coalitions, and other formerly
marginalized sectors from across the Third World, as they are American
college students and European “greens.” Even more ominously, growing
numbers of those in the anti-globalization movement now seek to
dismantle rather than to reform corporations and the multilateral trade
institutions.
From these twin
dilemmas thus emerges a question of singular importance: Must
corporations’ drive to expand shareholder value serve only to further
exacerbate the anti-globalization movement? We believe that this
increasingly polarized discourse, one likely to escalate over the coming
years, presents MNCs with a unique opportunity – a “license to imagine,”
to re-conceptualize the corporation in a manner that can recognize and
serve the diversity of needs and values of people across the globe. By
creating a new, more inclusive brand of capitalism, one that
incorporates previously excluded voices, concerns, and interests, it may
be possible for the corporate sector to become a catalyst for a
truly sustainable form of world development—and to prosper in the
process.
