Summit Proceedings: A record of the event covering key issues and perspectives that arose during the two-day Summit which was attended by 200 individuals from 15 countries representing business, civil society, finance, labor, law, and the media.
Summit Paper Series: A collection of 10 papers exploring key components of corporate design, prepared in conjunction with The Summit on the Future of the Corporation.
Corporate Design: A new report that challenges conventional views regarding the purpose and structure of corporations, and proposes “corporate design” as a new framework for shaping 21st century business. See www.summit2020.org for more information.
What would a corporation look like that was designed to
sea mlessly integrate both
social and financial purpose?
Corporation 20/20 is a new multi-stakeholder initiative that
seeks to answer this question. Its goal is to develop and
disseminate corporate
designs where social purpose moves from the periphery to the
heart of future organizations.
www.summit2020.org
Most debates about corporate responsibility narrowly define a
stark choice between government regulation and free markets.
Corporation 20/20 posits a third path: system redesign.
This path is grounded in recognition that the existing
corporate form – directors duties, capitalization, liability,
accountability – are in urgent
need of redefinition. While the corporate responsibility and
governance movements have achieved some notable progress, a more
systemic, integrated transformation is both needed and plausible
at this moment in history. Redesign aims at such transformation
by shifting the focus from the "what" and "how" of
wealth creation to the nature and purpose of the corporation itself.
Corporation 20/20 acts
as:
-
A
forum of leading thinkers, practitioners, and
activists
-
A
visionary building long-term, coherent pictures of the
future corporation
-
An
advocate for fulfilling such visions
The initiative
is premised on the view that societal expectations and needs in
the 21st century demand greater corporate focus on urgent global
imperatives—economic, environmental, and social. In the face of
both peril and promise for the future, it is no longer enough to
ask, “What is the business case for social responsibility?”
Now the question must become, “What is the social purpose case
for business?”
Six principles of corporate redesign inspire and guide
the work of Corporation 20/20:
Principles of Corporate Redesign
1. The purpose
of the corporation is to harness private interests to serve
the public interest.
2.
Corporations shall accrue fair returns for shareholders, but not
at the expense of the legitimate interests of other
stakeholders.
3.
Corporations shall operate sustainably, meeting the needs of the
present generation without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their needs.
4.
Corporations shall distribute their wealth equitably among those
who contribute to its creation.
5.
Corporations shall be governed in a manner that is
participatory, transparent, ethical, and accountable.
6.
Corporations shall not infringe on the right of natural persons
to govern themselves, nor infringe on other universal human
rights.
For more detail and explication of these
Principles, please click
here.
Learn more about Corporation 20/20 by exploring
this website. To download a Corporation 20/20 brochure, click
here. For
information on the broader framework that inspires Corporation
20/20, please visit
www.gtinitiative.org.
www.Corporation2020.org |
