T1 Many faces of growth T1 Many faces of growth Greta Thunberg is leading her generation in a push to heal and protect the planet for today’s children and the generations that follow them. What’s going on? Investors, customers and employees are urging organizations to reconsider their view of the world and scrutinize their place in it. Unsettled by changing societal values, climate change and depleting natural resources, and economic and political instability, people are starting to question long-held beliefs – including the notion that growth at any cost is acceptable. As a result, capitalism is having a mid-life crisis. At the heart of the Many faces of growth trend is people power. People are fueling demands for change at a time when the wealth gap between the highest income population and everyone else is the widest it’s been since the 1930s. Those in the top 40 percent now have, on average, ten times as much wealth as the bottom 60 percent – up from six times in 1980. The good news is that those with the influence to change how we go about growth are listening and talking about the subject. Business Roundtable, (an influential association of nearly 200 CEOs from North America’s most prominent companies), recently redefined its mission, marking a major turning point. For years, its formal statement of corporate purpose put shareholders first. As of August 2019, its new purpose champions activities such as “value for customers”, “investing in employees” and fostering “diversity and inclusion” before shareholders even get a mention. “People are asking fundamental questions about how well capitalism is serving society,” said Business Roundtable The Financial Times launched The Corporate Governance Committee Chair and CEO of Johnson & New Agenda in September 2019 Johnson Alex Gorsky. Ex-Unilever boss Paul Polman and to help businesses understand Salesforce Chairman and CEO Marc Benioff have also spoken the new era of capitalism, which balances financial growth with publicly on this subject recently. wider definitions of success. 9 10