It was in 1997 that John Elkington coined the term ‘Triple Bottom Line’ in his book, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. At the same time, several companies have made path-breaking moves to combine money profits with social purpose and environmental stewardship. For more than a decade-and-a-half, many of us have looked hopefully at these trends and viewed them as a harbinger of what might become a paradigm shift. But what indeed are the prospects for corporate responsibility to expand sufficiently to actually make a difference in stemming the environmental crisis? In what ways would businesses have to be more socially responsible in order to address the rising aspirations of billions of people? And to address the critique that has been articulated by the “Occupy Wall Street” movement and which is feeding protests across the world? Are we in the midst of a paradigm shift? Or have the compulsions of business-as-usual proved to be stronger than the promise held out by the aforementioned trends?
On December 11, Gateway House hosted John Elkington, Founding Partner & Director, Volans Ventures and Author, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, in conversation with Rajni Bakshi, Senior Gandhi Peace Fellow, Gateway House, and author, Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom, to discuss ‘From Corporate Responsibility to Market Breakthrough.’
John Elkington is Founding Partner & Director, Volans Ventures, and author, Author, Cannibals with Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business. He is also the co-Founder, Chief Entrepreneur and Non Executive Director of SustainAbility Ltd. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on sustainable development and the ‘triple bottom line’ business strategy. He is active in a broad spectrum of research for companies such as (but not limited to) Nike, Shell, Unilever, and Volkswagen; government agencies; and civil society organizations.
Rajni Bakshi is a Mumbai-based author, and the Gandhi Peace Fellow at Gateway House. She published a Research paper in October 2012 titled ‘Civilizational Gandhi.’ Rajni serves on the Boards of Child Rights and You (CRY) and Citizens for Peace. Her literary works include the celebrated ‘Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom: for a market culture beyond greed and fear,’ which won two Vodafone-Crossword Awards, ‘Bapu Kuti: Journeys in Rediscovery of Gandhi,’ and ‘Long Haul: the Bombay Textile Workers Strike 1982-83 (1986),’ among others.
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