Good business is better business
WHO CARES WINS: WHY GOOD BUSINESS IS BETTER BUSINESS
LAUNCHES IN CHINA
CHINESE LANGUAGE VERSION OF BOOK BY DAVID JONES, GLOBAL CEO HAVAS, SETS OUT A SURVIVAL MESSAGE FOR BUSINESS AND LEADERS IN
“THE AGE OF DAMAGE”
Left: Mr. Zaho, Chairman of AdFaith Consulting, 2001 Global Leader by World Economic Forum, Member of China Economic Forum, Middle: David Jones, CEO Havas, Right: Mr. Zhonghua, President of Post and Telecom Press.
Business leaders are being urged to re-evaluate their role in society or face unprecedented criticism and damage, according to David Jones, Chief Executive of Havas, one of the world’s largest global marketing and advertising groups.
In the new Chinese edition of Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business, which launches today, Jones argues that global corporations risk their commercial future unless they address their role in society and operate responsibly and transparently under the lens of a new generation of digitally empowered consumers.
Who Cares Wins probes the fundamental shifts unfolding around the world and the increasing calls on business to make a positive contribution to society in order to achieve profitable growth. It also makes a powerful case for the opportunities presented by a world of connected consumers.
Jones says: “It’s extremely exciting to be able to bring the ideas in this book to a Chinese audience at a pivotal time in the country’s business development, not only because they echo the inflection point that the broader global business community has reached but also because I believe they represent a major opportunity for China.
Jones added: “As China becomes the world’s most important economy, it has both a great opportunity and a great responsibility. The opportunity is for Chinese business to be more successful by out-behaving its global competition. The responsibility is to create a better future and better world than the West was able to. I truly hope China will succeed in this.” Jones continues: “China’s online population is already larger than the actual population of the European Union and more people are using social media services in China than live in the United States. While this exponential growth is truly phenomenal, it has important ramifications for business leaders as they adapt to this rapidly changing environment.”
Business cannot simply opt out and social media, Jones says, marks the biggest transformation to business in a generation – an era where those corporations that fall foul of their customers and consumers will suffer swift, unprecedented punishment as a result.
“Just as in other countries around the world, people in China now have access to a level of information that was unimaginable only a few years ago. This has created a world radical transparency – not only can people find out everything about companies, and then in real-time, share it with others – they can and will take action against the businesses and leaders who don’t behave in the way they want them to.”
“In simple terms, social media has taken corporate social responsibility out the silo and put it into the profit and loss statement. Interestingly it is invariably young people who are leading the way,” Jones added.
Who Cares Wins explores some of the challenges that business leaders must now address and presents an action plan for success:
- Doing good to do well: the new price of doing well is doing good. In the future if you do not set out to do good and behave responsibly you will find it harder and harder to do well.
- Transparency, authenticity and speed are not just the rules of social media, they are the rules of running a modern business
- From image to reality: Today reality is everything. You can no longer have an image that is out of step with your reality
- Leaders can’t opt out: Progressive leaders make clear that it is possible to do good and do well; they put corporate social responsibility at the heart of business strategy rather than leaving it in a silo
- Creating good: the business world is witnessing the rise of the social entrepreneur who sets out to do good and make money
- the Social Business IdeaTM that defines the strategic purpose of a business at the intersection of doing good and making money
- We-volution: the shift from control to collaboration. The most successful businesses will be those that collaborate and share the most, not those who control the most
- Big is good: the more successful a business is, the more impact it can have. Big business can have a big impact
- The Age of Damage: businesses and leaders that are not socially responsible will be held to account and may not survive
A global study of 20 year-olds conducted by YouGov in 2011, for One Young World, the youth leadership platform, found that:
- nearly three-quarters (73%) of the young Chinese people who responded strongly agree that, in the next five years, online social media networks will open and change the global media landscape beyond recognition.
- 75% of them agree that activity by companies that is socially beneficial is unlocking a brighter future for their community and 78% for their planet.
- 2/3rds responded that they take time to ensure they don’t buy from companies who are not transparent in the way they work (eg how they treat their staff, where they source their products)
The launch of Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business in Chinese language follows successful launches in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Who Cares Wins: Why Good Business Is Better Business has received endorsements from a number of leading Chinese business leaders including; Zhenhong He, the Chief of China Entrepreneur Magazine, Prof. John Yang, Dean, BiMBA (Beijing International MBA at Peking University), and Xiang Huang, Executive VP, IDG China.
For more information please contact Lorella Gessa or Howard Zhang: lorella.gessa@havas.com / +33 6 22 11 21 85
howard.zhang@eurorscg.com.cn / +86 10 5923 2799
About Havas
Havas (Euronext Paris: HAV.PA) is a global advertising and communications services group. Headquartered in Paris, Havas operates through its two Business Units, Havas Worldwide and Havas Media, in order to optimize synergies and further reinforce Havas’ position as the most integrated of all of the major holding companies. Havas Worldwide incorporates the Euro RSCG Worldwide network (233 offices in 75 countries, including the Euro RSCG, Euro RSCG Life, Euro RSCG 4D and Euro RSCG WW PR brands), the Arnold micronetwork (16 agencies in 15 countries on 5 continents) as well as other agencies with strong local identities.
Havas Media operates in over 100 countries and incorporates the MPG, Arena Media, Havas Sports & Entertainment and Havas Digital networks. A multicultural and decentralized Group, Havas is present in more than 75 countries through its networks of agencies and contractual affiliations. The Group offers a broad range of communications services, including traditional advertising, direct marketing, media planning and buying, corporate communications, sales promotion, design, human resources, sports marketing, multimedia interactive communications and public relations. Havas employs approximately 15,000 people. Further information about Havas is available on the company’s website: www.havas.com
