Business for Sustainable Development and the Middle Path

In the age of materialism, while on the one hand consumer goods are being produced with such speed and quantity that far exceed the real needs of the people and on the other hand a substantial portion of world population is striving just for two square meals a day. The philosophy of materialism has led to a kind of short-sightedness in the corporate world which is primarily concerned with quarterly financial statements’ numbers and makes the management shudder at the mention of recession and global financial crisis. A multitude of human lives suffer during such man-made economic crisis because of doing business that is based upon the strategy of enhancing the desire or craving among people, both employees and consumers, for a variety of things. Craving inevitably leads to suffering, particularly during difficult economic conditions. Globalization has resulted into emergence of more linkages that determine how an economic unit performs. In the wake of that an elevated consciousness is necessary to aim for sustainability of human welfare and not only the narrower goals. Seeking sustainability with too narrow a perspective leads to overlooking many factors which influence it. All such approaches to sustainability can at best be helpful in formulating a self-defeating strategy which may seem win-win in short term. For example, over emphasis on ensuring high GDP growth has neither been proved successful in tackling the inter-related issues of poverty, inequality, gender-discrimination and environmental degradation nor resulted in sustaining the well-being of a majority of the population. The challenge for ensuring sustainable development is to prepare successive generations to look beyond self-interest which is somehow antithetical to the theory of invisible hand. It calls for striking a balance between human values and materialism and aiming for intra-generational and inter-generational equity in terms of availability of resources, clean environment and happiness. Sustainable development is not focused upon excellence of individuals rather it is about good of the collective and that requires being mindful of the consequences of one’s work upon others and being disciplined in good and bad times. It is in this perspective where Buddhist principles and practices can provide a framework for enabling individuals to do well for oneself and fellow human beings and enabling corporates to secure maximization of shareholders’ wealth in consonance with socially desired outcomes. Mushrooming growth of NGOs and a semblance of unanimity towards wishing corporates to be more socially responsive, through CSR activities, point to the failure of market and governance in taking care of their negative externalities on environment and society. Sustainable development has to be understood from different angles not only from the perspective of an economist or environmentalist. We should seek sustainability not at the peaks or troughs of the business cycle but somewhere in between while at the same time ensuring that varied aspects of human life are taken care of. Following the Middle Path, also referred to as the Noble Eightfold Path, may provide a holistic approach to sustainable development. This paper advocates for incorporation of Buddhist principles into business practices and philosophy to hope for a new world view that is more humane. Buddhism’s ancient wisdom may prove to be 21st century humans’ salvation