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GLOBAL PEACE THROUGH COMMERCE ROLE OF JAIN VALUES Traditionally, business has created a "world of goods" with a focus on profits. A new trend is emerging today where business is creating a "world of good" and becoming a partner in peace.
Today 1.2 billion people live in extreme poverty, despair, and deprivation. Another 3 billion people struggle for mere survival and livelihood. Globalization and technological advances bypassed masses of poor around the world. Until recently, businesses in general focused only on the remaining one-third of the world population. There are other global challenges as well. Our world is divided by religious extremism and inequalities based on race, gender, and wealth. We are losing our sense of community and finding more reasons for further subdivisions of humanity. Our environment is also eroded by our endless desires and lack of individual and collective responsibility.
Dr. Kokila P. Doshi 12628 Brookstone Court,
Poway, Ca. 92064 Phone: 858 679 7645 Email: kdoshi@sandiego.edu
Dr. Kokila Doshi is a
Professor of Economics at the University of San Diego,
CA. She holds Ph. D. from the University of Rochester, NY. She has served Jain communities through several publications, presentations at JAINA and Jain centers and by serving
as a JAINA director.
She has led seminars and workshops at area colleges and given interfaith presentations.
She founded Jainshala in San Diego and has directed
its educational and cultural activities.
However we are witnessing a powerful positive force, which is bringing new perspectives and new innovative business models to empower people and protect our planet. It is changing the very definition of successful leadership and success itself. In the 21st century, successful businesses will be the ones that find solutions to alleviate global suffering and lead us toward a sustainable world. This paradigm shift is reshaping corporate strategies and redefining the role of business in society. It is turning every "problem" into an "opportunity" and businesses have started "selling solutions" for global issues. The earlier belief that corporations serve the rich and that serving the poor is the responsibility of government and nonprofit organizations is also changing.
Another difference that emerges from these new models is that traditionally businesses followed a strategy of "gain" first and "give" later, i.e. first make profits and then engage in charity for social causes. Now, corporations are recognizing the fact that creating social value is compatible with profitability
With Bottom of the Pyramid strategies, socially conscious enterprises are bringing under their wings the 4 billion people living on less that $2 a day. Micro-credit and micro-insurance programs targeting disadvantaged groups are taking center stage. Grameen Bank founded by Dr. Yunus is a prime example of how powerful the societal impact of such an enterprise can be. It is lifting 22 million people out of poverty. No wonder the noble act of loaning $27 to villagers earned Dr. Yunus and Grameen bank a Nobel Prize.
The fusion of technology with compassion perhaps finds its highest expression in the work of Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty- a compassionate cardiac surgeon and the founder of Naryana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Banglore. Not only does he heal hearts by remote control, he keeps them beating at an affordable price. According to him, "A solution is a solution when it is affordable to a
14th Biennial JAINA Convention 2007 Jain Education International
173 For Private & Personal Use Only
PEACE THROUGH DIALOGUE
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