Today, Fortune releases its fourth annual Change the World list, which highlights more than fifty companies that are doing well by doing good. You can see the full list here. Trust me, it will give you hope for the future.
Just the top ten offers a fascinating mash-up of industries and world-changing strategies. At number one is telecommunications giant Reliance Jio, who made the top spot for radically expanding access to the internet for rural and low-income customers in India. Bank of America (No. 3) has been fueling the green economy by financing low-carbon businesses; and Weight Watchers International (No. 9) built a $1.3 billion business tackling obesity in a sustainable, dignified and healthy way.
The companies were chosen with help from our partners at the Shared Value Initiative based on measurable social impact, business results, and degree of innovation, so it’s not just a feel-good exercise. The commitment it takes from senior executives to incorporate these impacts – environment, poverty alleviation, conservation, whatever it may be – into their core businesses is significant. Bobbi Silten, the managing director of the Shared Value Initiative breaks it down this way:
What you don’t always see in the stories of this year’s Change the World companies is the hard work that goes into making the change. When a company commits to delivering shared value, it has to be ready to reflect on its purpose and strategies, its practices, and how it engages and deploys its people to make this shift. Sometimes colleagues think you’re just trying to “do good,” and don’t see the business value, but you can’t give up. Other times there is great enthusiasm, but the resources are still tied up in the old way of doing things, so you have to find seed resources to get the idea off the ground.
Oftentimes you will need to find new metrics and ways to measure them to know if the effort is actually delivering results to society and business. You’ll want metrics to show your shareholders, too. Usually you’re working to build internal knowledge, capacity and buy-in, as well as that of external partners, because you are trying something that’s never been tried before. One thing proves true every time: Achieving shared value is less difficult when enlightened and committed leaders champion the work, shift the organization’s mindset, and tolerate the inevitable mistakes and missteps, while never losing sight of what’s possible.
What you don’t always see in the stories of this year’s Change the World companies is the hard work that goes into making the change. When a company commits to delivering shared value, it has to be ready to reflect on its purpose and strategies, its practices, and how it engages and deploys its people to make this shift. Sometimes colleagues think you’re just trying to “do good,” and don’t see the business value, but you can’t give up. Other times there is great enthusiasm, but the resources are still tied up in the old way of doing things, so you have to find seed resources to get the idea off the ground.
Oftentimes you will need to find new metrics and ways to measure them to know if the effort is actually delivering results to society and business. You’ll want metrics to show your shareholders, too. Usually you’re working to build internal knowledge, capacity and buy-in, as well as that of external partners, because you are trying something that’s never been tried before. One thing proves true every time: Achieving shared value is less difficult when enlightened and committed leaders champion the work, shift the organization’s mindset, and tolerate the inevitable mistakes and missteps, while never losing sight of what’s possible.
So, if you find your company on this list and it makes you hopeful, feel free forward it along with a note to your CEO and let them know. If not, send along the list anyway and tell the big boss you believe you’ve all got what it takes. As Fortune Editor-in-Chief Clifton Leaf says so eloquently, this is “about solving problems through the only sustainable and scalable problem-solving machine we know of: business.”
Let’s get to work.