Social Capital

Although not directly related to this class, I found this story about the Indian based multinational corporation Tata very interesting. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31057308

The company places social responsibility and charity on an equal footing with profitability as goals for its business.  As the Tata example points out, this is not an entirely new idea.  Indeed, the structure and history of the Kaiser-Permanente health care conglomerate is perhaps an interesting comparison with the Tata group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiser_Permanente

Although, not entirely novel, there does seem to be an increased interest lately in exploring business models that are more socially responsible.  The social entrepreneurship movement, for instance, is an example.  I think these alternative business models and approaches dovetail nicely with changes in how we think about using resources and management the planet’s systems.