This is a summary of the book titled “Deeply responsible business: A global history of values driven leadership” written by Geoffrey Jones and published by Harvard UP, 2023. Global. The author is a Harvard professor who contends that business leaders and their companies can reimagine capitalism to be beyond profit seeking and prioritize social purpose and philanthropy. This is especially relevant now when there are many companies coming into new exploiting their wealth and position to manipulate politics and the law. This approach requires the company to demonstrate their stated values. History has shown that such reimagining has borne success. During the industrial revolution, some business leaders still valued human dignity more than anything else. Many business leaders outside the west became wealthy capitalists. A textile manufacturer in India helped build a better economy. After the second world war, US business leaders came to value social responsibility. Value-driven business demonstrate responsibility and better integrate into thriving communities. Social responsibility in business requires strong incentives. Strong values motivate responsible business leaders.

During the Industrial Revolution, some business leaders prioritized human dignity over profit. In Britain, workers faced stagnant wages, dangerous conditions, and child labor. Some employers believed that profits should not come at the expense of their impoverished workers. Textile manufacturer Robert Owen provided his employees with a community, schools, and cultural center, recognizing that improving their lives would benefit his company. Quakers in Britain were prominent entrepreneurs, running their own schools and apprenticeship programs. George Cadbury, heir to his father's chocolate manufacturing business, embraced religious and moral convictions, allowing workers to buy houses at cost and provide mortgages.

As industrialization spread across Western Europe and North America, a wealth gap had built up between the industrialized West and the rest of the world. Members of India's Parsi community excelled in responsible business and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of improving people's lives. Indian industrial pioneer Jamsetji Nusserwanji developed modern cotton textile factories and became wealthy, but his company focused on serving its communities, including employee housing, healthcare, and education.

Before India's independence in 1947, the country faced social and economic challenges. Textile manufacturer Kasturbhai Lalbhai, from an affluent Jain merchant family, supported India's independence and played a pivotal role in developing the country. Lalbhai launched India's first dye manufacturing company with American technical and financial help, aiming to generate jobs in rural areas and create residential communities. He believed in the importance of social responsibility in business and the moral and spiritual responsibility of business leaders to improve their communities. After World War II, some US business leaders began to value social responsibility, such as George Romney, who promoted the Rambler as an alternative to larger cars. However, the compact market was taken away by cheaper cars like the Volkswagen Beetle in the early 1960s.

In the 1960s, a new generation of businesspeople emerged, bringing new social and cultural norms, and rejecting the gray establishment of the 1950s. This generation included hippies, rock music acolytes, Vietnam War protesters, environmentalists, and feminists. They were critical of capitalism and the existing relationship between business and society. Values-driven businesses emerged in fields that could facilitate social or environmental change, such as energy use and retailing. Entrepreneurs like John Mackey and Anita Roddick aimed to transform the beauty industry and society's perception of women. Responsible businesses like Sekem and Ambootia incorporated into thriving communities, adhering to Rudolf Steiner's global principles. Social responsibility in business requires strong incentives, and the availability of capital is the principal enabler. Responsible business leaders who turn to social and environmentally beneficial practices can shape the availability of capital and create incentives to invest. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing is growing in global markets, but its practical relevance relies on voluntary information and can be easily distorted.

Responsible business leaders create products or services with social value, treating stakeholders with dignity and respect. They recognize business organizations as human social institutions and accept responsibility for employees, customers, and the natural world. These leaders value communities, provide dignified housing, educational opportunities, and cultural life, and improve people's well-being by improving life in their communities.