New Delhi: Companies should think on how they can increase the well-being and happiness of people in society, according to renowned Marketing Guru Professor Philip Kotler, widely regarded as ‘Father of Modern Marketing’. He said this was the time when companies and businesses were needed to move from being shareholder driven to stakeholders, and made it clear that by stakeholder, he meant planet Earth.
“Earth, this planet, is our stakeholder and companies should focus on making this world a better place by bringing in transparency as part of corporate social responsibility,” Kotler told students and teachers at the XVII International conference on “Management Strategies: Retrieval, Resilience & Re-modelling in Post COVID World” on May 22, 2021 organized by Jagannath International Management School, affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh University.
He emphasized: “No doubt, shareholders are very important to give a strong financial foundation to the business. It is important to think not just as profit machines but in terms of making world a better place to live and sustain, to be able to pass it to the next generation.”
While making a point that businesses that practice conscious leadership are businesses that ultimately grow and prosper and failure to evolve can kill or bring down the company in the market, he asserted though, that in the current scenario, companies should stress on the purpose which should be to create value to look after all their stakeholders equally – from employees to vendors, from agencies to customers, each and every one.
Professor Kotler discussed real life examples of some of the Business Greats and their philosophy of doing good for society and underlined the need to create a company culture that emulates the likes of Jack Welch (GE), or Paul Polman (Unilever).
“Understanding customer is the key, but creating a company that values all its stakeholders is what makes it great, memorable and loved by the customers,” he reiterated. He explained that as a customer, people want to know about values of the company and how well it is taking care of the employees at the time of crisis like the current times. “Companies cannot ignore social problems and need to work for making social impact for improving the lives of people. Also, companies that care for brand activism show a purpose that leads to action,” he said.
He regaled the students and faculties with a journey that encompassed capitalism, neo liberalism and finally the changed face of marketing today where the mantra is – Be Stakeholder, Not, Shareholder driven.
He also stressed that it is time for businesses to move from traditional to digital age and in the New Normal due to Covid 19 pandemic, companies need to cash in to new ideas of providing solutions.
Dr. Amit Gupta, Chairman JIMS, underlined the need for innovation and providing a culture that supports innovation. He spoke about the need to be agile and resilient. An entrepreneurial mindset is indispensable at times like this, he said. He insisted on preparedness for any kind of crisis.
– global bihari bureau
