I don’t know about you, but I get excited and joyful when, as an academic economic activist, I come across a CEO, a major business leader, whose views on what is good, converges with mine. 

People like us, all of us, together will make the world great again

Paul Polman, Photo: Financial Times

‘We have ambitious plans to grow our company, creating jobs and income for all whose livelihoods are linked to our success. But growth at any cost is not viable. We have to develop new ways of doing business which will increase the social benefits from our activities’- Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever (2011)

'Mr Polman’s most significant contribution came from understanding just how badly business’s reputation had been damaged by the 2008 financial crisis and by the feeling of many that they had been left out of the supposed gains from globalisation and automation. He grasped the importance of talking to a younger generation about creating a more ethical and responsive business culture...'True leadership is putting yourself to the service of others and, if you can marry that with a very noble cause, to make this a better place for all.'... 'So if you buy into this long-term value-creation model, which is equitable, which is shared, which is sustainable, then come and invest with us. If you don’t buy into this, I respect you as a human being, but don’t put your money in our company, he once told his investors...'Mr Polman did not achieve all his goals — who of us does? But he helped create a new discourse that speaks to those disillusioned with business and its doings.'-Quotes from Michael Skapinker, Unilever’s Paul Polman was a standout CEO of the past decade, Financial Times, 11 December 2018

Photo: Uli Spalthoff

‘Globalisation for the common good will enable us to discover the urgent need for a new global ‘Bottom Line’. It will help us to acknowledge that the new bottom line must not be all about economic and monetary targets, profit maximisation and cost minimisation, but it should involve spiritual, social and environmental consideration. When practiced under these values, then, the business is real, viable, sustainable, efficient and profitable.

Therefore, the New Bottom Line that you should now believe in must read as follow: