How can businesses contribute to a better future rather than worsen it?

Our society is often shaped and guided by businesses, as they provide our services and products that shape how we interact with the world. As a result of this influence, businesses have a responsibility to ensure their practices do more good than harm to our planet. Moreover, their power and sway on the global stage are pivotal to creating a brighter future for everyone. From helping tackle climate change to acting in a more socially responsible way, businesses can do a lot to help contribute to a better future instead of worsening it. In this article, we’re going to look at a few ways that businesses can help rather than harm our future.

Local supply chains

Although we’ve quickly grown into a global society, switching to global supply chains has ended up creating a number of problems in areas like operational efficiency and the quality of offerings. This is particularly pronounced in industries like manufacturing, where optimisation and quality control are essential. So even though at face value global supply chains might look more cost-effective, when issues like product quality or disrupted supply chains emerge it wreaks havoc on operations.

Avoiding these issues can be encouraged by switching to more local supply chains, which can increase the resiliency of supply chains for the business while also investing in more local suppliers. It also eliminates the need to courier items across the globe, cutting back on energy consumption and emissions.

International collaboration

Even though it’s good practice for organisations to localise their supply chains wherever possible, that shouldn’t close the door to international collaboration. By working together with companies from across the globe, businesses are better able to leverage their influence and force governments to act more responsibly. This helps break down international barriers and encourages slower-moving governments to take action in areas like green energy. This helps address some of the biggest challenges for our future, but it can only be successful through international collaboration.

Demonstrate societal value

Corporate social responsibility is a big issue for companies looking to remain attractive to consumers who understand the societal impact of business. If organisations want to help make a better future, they should strive to demonstrate societal value and increase their corporate social responsibility. For example, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the luxury conglomerate LVMH pivoted its business model away from manufacturing cosmetics to help with hand sanitiser production. This commitment to helping society greatly improves public perception, but more importantly, it provides inherent value to society.

Commit to tackling climate change

Businesses have a large part to play in our fight against climate change, as they are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. If companies want to work towards a better future, they must tackle the issues that they’re most responsible for. There are lots of ways to do this, from investing in green energy suppliers to researching new technologies to encourage low-carbon infrastructure and processes. It’s down to the biggest organisations to make the most important changes, but it’s just as important for smaller businesses to demonstrate a willingness to tackle global issues like climate change.