Today's businesses must be prepared to do good

Today, Speak Up for Change features the words of Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, who is demonstrating social responsibility and contributing to international development through Virgin Unite.

On his blog, Branson shares an important message about big business and social responsibility. With an ever-changing world full of needs, today's businesses must be prepared to do good!

By Richard Branson

In Business Stripped Bare, I have written a chapter which tells you about Virgin’s recent adventures in the territory where business and politics meet, and asked a few questions about where the forces of entrepreneurism might be headed in the next ten to a hundred years.

I don’t think for an instant that big businesses would make good governments. I know for sure and from personal experience that governments don’t make great businesses! But somehow we need to close the circle. We need government and business to work together for the benefit of everyone. At the moment, in some parts of the world, there is no stability, no infrastructure, no ‘business as usual’, and bribery is the usual way of doing business or getting things done. It’s not good enough, and we can do better.

I believe that today’s businesses – regardless of their size – must be prepared to do good in societies around the globe. I am cautiously optimistic that we can make the world a far better, safer and more equitable place – but business and enterprise must sit at the heart of this process.

Sir Richard Branson is the founder of Virgin Group, a leading branded venture-capital organization and one of the world's most recognized and respected brands. The group includes Virgin Unite, a not-for-profit entrepreneurial foundation that focuses on entrepreneurial approaches to social and environmental issues.

Article text originally posted on December 18, 2008 on entrepreneur.virgin.com, titled as Social responsibility - just business.