International Conference on Business Social Partnership

Syllogic Consultants participated at the 2nd International Conference on Business Social Partnership organised by the ISOL foundation that promote spiritual values in businesses. The conference was held from 7-9th September at the Delhi University and saw a range of topics discussed.
We presented a paper on enabling sustainable business practices in Indian SMEs, which was warmly received by the participants as most of the topics concentrated on corporate businesses rather than small enterprises.  We were further felicitated for our on-the-ground work in making a real impact towards achieving sustainable development in rural communities.  You may review our presentation below.

We also submitted a research paper on our work which will be published in the conference proceedings.

The art of Green-(eye)-washing

Is Nike a green brand, or Nestle, or even Coca-Col, or for that matter Shell (an oil company)??? One wouldn't really think so a priori.Yet, according to highly mediatised report by Interbrand, these are among the top 50 greenest brands in the world, or so they would like you to believe.

A new report by brand value management company Interbrand, a US based Media company that compiles reports on global companies.  The report, titled Best Global Green Brands 2013, has been conveniently marketed in world Media as the greenest brands in the world (see sample articles, here, here and here.

The methodology used in the above report is a little thin on details, although it contains the right vocabulary.  However, like all statistical analysis, much and anything can be conveyed and obtained from statistics, it all depends on how objective one is.  So without knowing who is sponsoring this report, it is difficult to evaluate its authenticity.  If you look at the clients of Interbrand (the company behind the report) many of them are global multinationals.

Another interesting aspect of this report is that it has only been applied to the top 100 global brands (selected in terms of brand value, economic profit, brand strength and role of brand) in other words we are talking about the most valued companies.  Top 50 Greenest brands are not the most sustainable brands, but rather the most sustainable of the most economically successful brands).

The nominees are drawn from Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report, which ranks the world’s 100 most valuable brands. (Quote from Interbrand report methodology.)

This finer point is conveniently left out of their Media report, letting consumers believe these are the greenest brands in the world.  So yet again, a lovely marketing eye wash that lets me believe that this report has been financed by top global brands as yet another exercise in Green-(eye)-washing.

Sustainable Growth for the Enterprise

At Syllogic we explore ways in which sustainable growth can be achieved in business, in an integral and inclusive way.  Here is the latest on this research.

Update of Syllogic site

Do check out the new sections on Business Transformation, a central theme of our work at Syllogic.

Compelling & Inclusive vision: seed to sustainable business

Why do we need a vision?

From a startup to a large corporation, any enterprise needs a vision.  We engage on a path for a reason, for a motivation, and it drives our quest. Expressing that reason in a simple and clear vision is formidable asset to arm oneself with in order to progress on our chosen path.  Any enterprise is frought with obstacles and cross-roads.  The danger lies in loosing our way and wasting our energy. A vision allows us to refer back to it in moments of doubt, in times when an important decision is required, by asking the simple question "is it aligned with my vision?"

How do I determine my vision?

An inspired article by Erika Andersen, New York based business thinker and author, beautifully illustrates the importance of leading with a vision in any enterprise.  She stresses on two key words to define a vision that will drive an enterprise: compelling and inclusive.  Such a vision is the seed to a sustainable venture, for it encapsulates the DNA required for growth that includes all its stakeholders. Recall this post on sustainable and inclusive enterprise.

A Compelling & Inclusive Vision

The author describes this as one that offers an alternate, plausible and enviable future that requires the participation of the stakeholders (leaders, managers, actors, viewers, and to a certain degree society at large).  In Enrika's words, a far-sighted vision, but more importantly a vision that inspires its stakeholders to aspire.  That is very important, for not only it becomes you in that it drives your own determination and passion, but it is infectious and people will naturally follow and contribute to this enterprise.  It is also important to realise that a vision belongs to all its stakeholders, not just yourself.  This last point draws a fine line between success and decadence.

Some guidelines to determine your vision:
1. On a blank sheet of paper start jotting down ideas and words that you feel passionate about when you evoke your enterprise/path.
2. On a second sheet of paper, extract keywords from the first sheet, words that are the essence of your ideas and notes.
3. On a third sheet of paper retain a handful of these keywords, maybe 5 or 6.
4. Finally, draw up a sentence which captures the reality of these handful of words.  The sentence does not necessarily include the retained words.
5. Review the first, second and third sheet at regular intervals, when you have a moment of quiet time, and let your inspiration flow.  Do not force yourself to think about it, rather let it spawn day-dreams.  Eventually, your vision will emerge as a single sentence.  Cherish it!

Examples of inspiring visions:

"Henry Ford’s vision of a nation where every family would have an automobile seemed laughable, impossible, and even dangerous. Only the clarity of his vision and his consistency in moving toward it brought the support from others that he needed to make his vision a reality."

"When Jobs and Wozniak founded Apple Computers in 1976, the personal computer was still new and untested. Moreover, the idea that almost everyone would one day have a computer and that computers would be as accessible and easy-to-use as televisions or telephones seemed like craziness. "

There are visionaries all over the world, and today more so than ever, we need inspired and  visionary leaders in India to awaken the tremendous potential of our nation.  Here is an Indian visionary in both the literary and actual sense:

"If Coca-Cola can sell billions of sodas and McDonald's can sell billions of burgers," asks Dr. V., "why can't Aravind sell millions of sight-restoring operations, and, eventually, the belief in human perfection? With sight, people could be freed from hunger, fear, and poverty. You could perfect the body, then perfect the mind and the soul, and raise people's level of thinking and acting."

Dr. Venkataswamy set up the Arvind eye hospital in "... 1976, facing the prospect of social shelving at age 57, he opened a 12-bed eye hospital in his brother's home in Madurai, India. Today, he runs five hospitals that perform more than 180,000 operations each year. Seventy percent of his patients are charity cases; the remaining 30% seek him out and pay for his services because the quality of his work is world-class. He is a doctor to the eyes and a leader to the soul." (extract from The Perfect Vision of Dr.V. by Harriet Rubin, senior write at the Fast Company).  At the bottom of Harriet's article is a set of guidelines that should inspire all of us to build India's future.

Socially Sustainable Business

There is much talk of the environment when business leaders talk about sustainability, dismissing the topic entirely as a fad, such as the green movement last year or the fair-trade one in the years gone by. Yes, we use solar energy, we have replaced all our incandescent light bulbs, we have a CSR program that plants trees and so on. These are all in all good actions, but they do not strike at the heart of the matter. Businesses need to ask what does sustainability means to their business. A manufacturing business has inevitably environmental obligations in order to follow a path of sustainable manufacturing, but what about a service provider? Sourcing solar power to run their computers isn't really addressing the issue, the one that is addressing the sustainable question is its power supplier, not the service business. Beyond environmental sustainability are two other aspects, economic and social sustainability. The first is ensuring that there is no economic exploitation of its human and social resources, in fact long term sustainability can only really be achieved if the resources in question perceive the sharing of economic gain as being fair... else the worst case scenario being the recent violence erupt at the Maruti car plant in north India. However, it is the social sustainability I wish to address in this post. How can a business be socially sustainable and moreover what are the incentives for being so.

What is social sustainability anyway?

The wikipedia definition is social development that retains equal access to social resources for future generations. It addresses labour laws, human rights and the likes. This is all well, but what does it means effectively? Of course, employees have rights, and many businesses do give them those rights, but yet there is something missing. The fundamental essence of social sustainability for a business is ensuring that society's perception of that business remains positive. CSR actions, efficient energy use, green energy sourcing is all in vain if society (your current and future employees/suppliers/clients) has a perception of being robbed by the product/service your business offers. This is a very subtle concept. It is one that is at best marginal on the short term and at worst catastrophic on the long term! Why should businesses sit up and pay attention? A recent survey in the US shows that 78% of internet users and a growing trend, research products online before making a purchase. The internet connectivity provided by social media is quickly tipping the balance in favour of a more and more pro-active consumer giving little scope for old-tactic marketing campaigns in order to sell a product. This gives raise to two evidences: (i) the need for sustainable marketing (see my previous post on this); and (ii) the need for social sustainability. Businesses cannot hid in the age of the internet. They have to adapt and revisit their strategy for long term success.

How does one achieve social sustainability?

Having established that social sustainability can only be achieved by ensuring society's positive perception and moreover, having understood that it is not possible to hide in today's internet age, it is self-evident that one needs to be sincere in giving fair adage to your stakeholders. How so? The general trend in the last decade has been to find the most competitive suppliers in order to maintain and in most cases maximise profits. In simple economics, buy at the cheapest rate and sell at the highest. Business need to revise this strategy, for it is leading invariably to catastrophic results in the long term. This strategy has been so well executed in China, that their own consumer market has suffered catastrophic negative social perceptions on a global scale in the last few years, re-evaluating many businesses' plans to set up shop in that country. (See the contaminated milk story, the poisoned toys, the Apple sweatshop... and many more). This is the fundamental weakness of capitalism today, and unsustainable in the long term. Businesses need to focus long term by adopting an old and mostly forgotten raison d'être for any business. Traditionally, business artisans in ancient times engaged themselves in their chosen trade because they were good at it and because they actually enjoyed it. The most successful among them where those that had the best skills, producing the best quality. They did not strive to find the cheapest manufacturing process, but rather they strived to improve the quality at the most competitive price. That, in my knowledge, is the way to be socially sustainable.

Adding value at no extra cost.  Businesses aspiring to be socially sustainable need to adopt a new thinking process which is to strive to add value to their product/services while retaining competitive pricing. The rest will happen automatically. From this single goal flows all other socially sustainable actions. Let me explore the repercussions on the various stake-holders. -- The employees first, to add value in any form and yet retain cost margins, a business needs empowered employees, employees ennobled to the goal.... the whole gamut of socially responsible management can be explored to achieve this symbiosis. -- The suppliers need to follow suit, poor service/material from their end will only result in loosing business, however they can also be encouraged by engaging and valuing their contribution to the business' product/service value. Empowering them and especially giving them credit for their contribution is the surest way to achieve sustainability on the long term. -- The client/consumer is the slowest to react, positive perception is a slow maturing tree, but once fully grown is not easily uprooted. Communication is key, and it is ever so important to be impartial and sincere. Blog and social media are best suited for this, and the communication should strive to educate and uplift the awareness of the reader, ie to empower the client. The bottom line is that in order for a business to achieve social sustainability it is imperative that it aspires to achieve the best quality at the most competitive price as an end in itself rather than a means to profits. This should not be confused with the natural requirement for a business to strive for financial stability, for any business that is not achieving reasonable profits isn't economically sustainable.

Quick-gains development for Chennai

This is a continuation of my previous post "What is ailing India?", more specifically looking at Chennai where I am currently settled.  Here are a few examples of where Chennai can make quick gains in development with a change of mindset, 

The garbage collection and recycling, as highlighted in this article, is the need of the hour, and visiting other cities like Singapore and Shanghai is good, but only talking about it does not convert into solutions.  A few years ago, a Singapore based company, ONYX, managed to do a decent job of city garbage collection, but they where replaced by a cheaper local company. Today the bins originally placed on the streets by ONYX are either broken or stolen, and overflowing due to lack of regular collection.

The corporation seems to be waking up, as show in this article and this one

Sustainable Health Care for all?

Over the last decade a number of governments of developed economies have questioned their health care model.  In the US, President Obama has gone out on a limb to set up a much needed Medicare service to ensure access to health care services for those that most need it.  In many European countries as well as Japan, the generous health care benefits that were a universal right where being questioned in the face of growing economic uncertainties.  On the one hand, the American system championing a free economy and private medical insurance that has left many of the poorer members of  its society without access to basic health service, while on the other the European model, which although long praised for its compassionate stance, turns out to be wholly unsustainable.

Can we evolve towards a more humane and sustainable health care model?  I believe a small experiment started off by an enterprising eye surgeon in Madurai (South India) which has grown into a world wide success may shed some light on the question.

I recall some 25 years back, Arvind eye hospital was already renown in the country for its service as my mother used to drag me all the way to Madurai for her annual check up on Glaucoma. Since, the hospital started by Dr. G. Venkataswamy, has grown into a network of several hospitals within India but also expanded its business model through out the world.  It is today recognised as the largest eye care hospital in the world!

If you have never heard of Aravind eye hospital, watch this video, it's well worth it!

The Aravind health care model

So what is so sustainable about this model?  Well it's very simple, if you can afford to, you pay for the service.  If you can't afford it, it's free!  The model started off in South India to save needless blindness which is rampant in the form of cataracts and such.  The hospital even had to set up free bus trips to surrounding villages as the poorer of the poor could not even afford to go to the service centres.

Aravind eye-care hospital is a for-profit business.  2/3rd of all its operations are done for free.  They have eye camps in villages that sort out patients, ferry them to the hospital for the operation, accommodate them and feed them during their time there and eventually bring them back to their village.  Everything is free.

People come from abroad to get treated in these hospitals.  The Aravind business model is now a case study in a large number of business schools and universities.

The McDonald of Eye-care

Dr. V kept talking about the need to organise a system that could reproduce the success of McDonald worldwide: enable the same quality of product and service irrespective of location.  He set off with his vision to enable his eye-care success to be reproduced anywhere in the world.  How does one enable such a vision with a such a complicated product and service as eye surgery?  This is what a recent study by Ninad knowledge architects set out to do.   Ninad is a research and consulting network that ideates Knowledge Management strategies to help entrepreneurs and organizations to become nimble and dynamic.   The case study has highlighted issues such as how to translate and communicate online teachings from Indian doctors to students from totally different cultural background such as in African countries? Through this work, the spirit and success of the Aravind will spread beyond India.

Sustainable Care?

Can the Aravind model serve as an inspiration for a more general approach to the problem of health care for everyone?  It is of course a long shot, Aravind has been successful because of the compassionate spirit that permeated the entire project.  A sustainable health care model based on a similar approach requires vision from both the decision makers as well as the corporates that supply the medical world.  Still, a roadmap exists and has proven to work!

Sustainable marketing?

Carton image link from  www.cartoonstock.com

I came across this article through a tweet, it reinforces other readings I have had around the net about the new forms of marketing that are being adopted.  Mainly, these are:

1. Build a web-site:  this is important to show case your ware, services and other offers you have.
2. Get your web-site to link to relevant page within itself, ie lots of cross linking to connect the site, this is useful for search engine rank.
3. Get other site to link to your site: this is very important in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and for certain key word searches your site should come up more prominently.
4. Start a blog to promote your knowledge:  this is not to market your services, it is to market your knowledge.  Blog about any important information that is relevant to what you sell or do, and this blog reflects your expertise in that domain, as well as being a repository to all things connected to what you do, like a single place to look for that information.
5. Be social: connect on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and various other social sites that may be of use to make contacts, promote your blog and knowledge.

However, there is one added piece of interesting information this article adds which is the reason for this post, and that is that it reports on the a recent survey in the US that 78% of internet users conduct online product research before making a purchase, stressing the the shift towards active participation of the consumer.  That is a very interesting results because it highlights the shift in awareness of consumers and the application of mind to the process of purchase.

Therefore there is one more point I think should be added to the above list:

       6. Be truthful and sincere:  there is no room for marketing gimmicks, the old school of marketing by insinuating half-truths in order to leverage consumer trends and aspirations is loosing grounds and one cannot hide behind false pretence.  We can still see so many product advertisement jumping on the sustainable and green bandwagon when clearly a little research online demonstrates the fallacy of these marketing campaigns.

Is Science Fundamentalist?

An opinion posted on the Hindu paper labelled The curse of science fundamentalism paints the woes of man made cataclysms as the rotten fruits of scientific fundamentalism. There paper sites Chernobyl & Fukushima nuclear disasters as well as the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs along with a number of quotes from Arundati Roy's book, The Greater Common Good. I cannot fully agree with the author of this article for I feel that there are a certain number of Non sequitur statements.

For starter, are we talking about the same science that has created the Internet, the telephone, the solar panel, the aeroplane, peniciline, the polio vaccine, and million other technological innovations sprouting on a daily basis from the meticulous research of academic scientist? If so, we have a dilema, and if not then what science are we talking about.

Cell imaging of mitosis
(cell reproduction) in progress.

AIDS virus through an electron microscope

Nano carbon-tubes will one day
replace steel cables and open the way
for a space elevator to be built

First picture of an extra-solar planet
taken by the ESO VLT telescope.

Merger of two galaxies as seen
by the Hubble space telescope

The nuclear bombs were a culmination of a race between Nazi Germany and the USA, the later won that race and we know the conclusion of it, however bitter the taste of it I fear to think of what would have happened had the Rakshasa Hitler crossed the line first.

The nuclear tragedies of Fukushima and Chernobyl are a direct consequence of human error and deceit, not of scientific blindness. Humanity's growth and thirst of energy combined with the greed of corporations have lead to these accidents. The lessons learnt are precisely that these technologies cannot be entrusted into the hands of business corporations controled by capitalistic market demands. in fact I would advocate the need for such nuclear stations to be under the control of independent scientific bodies, devoid of financial and political pressures. However, the real solution will only come when we are able to master sustainable sources of energy such as solar, wind, tidal, bio-fuels and even fusion reaction. Again, all these coming out of the realm of scientific research.

Finally, to respond to the article's example of the Bhopal gas tragedy, it is again a direct consequence of corporate greed and our own governmental agencies incompetence for letting such a dangerous plant operate without the required safety norms (see the report in the link)

A good point

Science does not have all the solutions, we need to learn from our inheritance.

However, Mr Sukumaran (author of the Hindu article) makes a very valid point, and that is that as a collective human race we fail to learn the lessons of our ancestors. For this he quote the very pertinent words of an Americna-Indian chief 160 years ago, and I quote:

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of a pony, and man, all belong to the same family. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

Chief Seattle, 160 years ago when his people were asked to leave their land now called Seattle

Mr Sukumaran makes the point that We have to learn precious lessons from tribal people on an eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle. But we have only displaced them, damming their rivers in the name of the greater common good. He goes on to argue that in the name of the Greater Good, many of our leaders have done wrong to the country. This is a very interesting debate, one that I would not like to take a categoric stand, for I feel that there it is all a question of balance between the pressures for the need of progress and the importance of preserving our heritage, cultural, artistic, social, economic, and environmental.

The bottom line I feel, and I think is also one of the points made in the article, is that our actions and decisions needs to be made in the name of sustainability. Should the introspection of the proposed actions reveal to be measures unsustainable for the future, then we should abandon or plan a programmed phase out of the process.

But one thing is for sure, Science is fundamental in our quest for understanding but not an exclusive path.

A new site for Sustainable consultancy

We have launched www.syllogic.in our main site for sustainable consultancy in India, based in Chennai.

The site is changing on a monthly basis as we keep updating it with new material, but this is a start.  We look to make a contribution to our nation.

If you are intrigued by the logo, do read our explanation.

Small claims court on the net.

I came across this web site the other day. judge.me, which allows two parties to enter into a legally binding contract over the internet.  Designed for small companies (usually individual consultants offering remote services) that do not have the wherewithal to remedy contract disputes with expensive lawyers fees.

Furthermore, the service is free to enter into a contract.  You only pay if you have to resolve a dispute.... and the fee is very reasonable, 150 USD per party.  The site claims it is valid in 146 countries, remains to see if they will be able to resolve a dispute in an Indian court.... good luck with that.

I spotted 2 relevant Qs in their FAQ for our readers,

Is Judge.me arbitration binding, and if so, how?Yes, judge.me arbitration is binding because both parties commit to being bound by the arbitration award at least once. That is, all our users sign our arbitration agreement during case filing (i.e. after dispute arises), but smart users also put our arbitration clause in the contracts they signed (i.e. before the dispute arises).

How is a judge.me decision enforced?After the judge.me arbitrator has decided the case ("rendered his award"), both parties are bound to make each other whole again. Statistically, 96% of the arbitration awards are honored, meaning the losing party makes a payment or delivers goods or services to the prevailing party as ordered by the arbitrator within the set time limits (most commonly 30 days).
However, in the 4% of awards that are not honored, the prevailing party must seek to enforce the award by asking a court where the losing party has assets to turn the arbitration award into a court judgment, upon which the judge can then issue a fieri facias ("fi fa" in short), which is an order to the local sheriff to seize enough property of the losing party to make the prevailing party whole again, as well as to (typically) cover the court costs incurred by the entire process of enforcement. (This is why 96% of losing parties pay immediately: Not complying will most likely only incur more court expense for them and cause embarrassment from a forced property seizure.)
Either party may also ask a court to recognize the arbitration award to prevent the other party from filing a lawsuit for the same dispute in that jurisdiction. Please note that the court should drop the lawsuit once you as defendant show them the dispute has already been arbitrated. Recognition of an award is simply a quicker and less costly prevention strategy for when you think the opposing party is likely to file a lawsuit against all odds.

Interestingly, the .me domain is that of Montenegro.... makes for a nice catchy site address.

Why isn't everyone using an Apple computer?

Reading the flourish of articles on the miraculous success of Apple products, the i-family (iPod, iPad, iPhone,iMac and soon to be iTV) one wonders why there aren't more poeple using i-computers out there.  I myself purchased a new laptop recently and got a Dell.  I want to upgrade my phone soon, but after my recent encounter of the third kind with the iPad I am squarely in the Android camp... in fact I am now looking at ways to hack my iPad to get Android running on it.  I liberated my iPad from its golden jail (appropriately known as jailbreak in the hacking community) but I still find it too restrictive in what this wonderful hardware could potentially achieve. In fact, I want to stress before I dive in that I am a real admirer of the Apple hardware, it is its soft component I abhor.   All the iHardwares out there are simple beautifully crafted, no doubt, however, Apple's extension of its hardware philosophy to the softer edges leaves me and I believe a lot of people out there a little hungry or angry at times.

There a number of articles out there that have compared the recent upgrades in the iWorld and Android (the iPhone 4S against the Android Ice Cream Sandwich platform).  What comes out of the article is that while Apple gives you a beautiful experience, it still restricts what you can do with your device.  Keeping the access to more complex operation tightly locked down in its pursuit of simplicity.  That maybe fine for a horde of Apple fans and technology phobic people.  However, Android has taken the other approach of diversity and openness.  Indeed, there are a plethora of Android devices and manufacturers out there all vying for a share of the pie.  This had led to many different approach to the user look and feel, further allowing the user to change, modify and adapt his device to his/her habits and taste.

So, while the Apple experience is pre-set for you, Android and more generally the Linux experience out there is striving for diversity in experience.  I think it is this fundamental difference which is the reason why we will not have a world filled with Apple computers.  Android variants (a flavour of Linux for mobile devices) and the open community are still searching for the right balance, for they still need to be economically sustainable, but it is the unity in that diversity that will bring about a revolution, and I do believe that mobile world is increasingly moving towards that diversity.  For all the trumpeting of Apple legions, there are many more Android devices on the market than 'I's

Unity in diversity is the road to sustainability for it creates the ideal eco-system to promote diversity.  Unity in diversity is quite straightforward in culture (as is exemplified in India  or experimented with in the European Union), but what does it mean in the world of business and technology?  The very ingredients that allow unity in the cultural world may give us some clues.  Respect for someone's beliefs, freedom in choice, justice, and most importantly choice!  We have plenty of the last one in our cut-throat consumer society, but maybe a little more respect and freedom would not hurt.  Freedom is quite obvious, and the very lack of it is what pushed the GPL licence and open source efforts in the computer world to take off.... but what about respect, what does it mean?  I think that when Apple respects Google, and it in turns respects Microsoft, which in turns respect the open community and vice versa in the true sense of respect, then comes acceptance  which leads to more doors being open such as compatible systems that can interact with each other instead of closing the door on each other.  Can we still make money in such a world?  I think so.  Can we make rip-roaring and unsustainable profits?  No, I don't think so.

Destroying the entrepreneur in you - a.k.a. killing the golden goose

In my earlier post, I had mentioned how removed we are from the original thought line the father of our nation had. Sarvodaya as the true Sustainable movement and how our economic policies have taken us in a totally diametric way.

The only way to go is to have Sustainability as a Mantra in Budget

For several years of our country’s economic was labelled as progressive and liberal. Now we seem to have hit the speed breaker suddenly. And that too while travelling at full speed.

There is a growing concern that our country’s administration has come to a standstill; economy is seeing a negative growth; people are artificially propped above poverty line by adjusting the poverty line. 

Just when you think that things cannot go any further wrong, comes this year’s budget. The Finance minister does fancy accounting. With the burgeoning expenses and keeping the Direct taxes constant, where do we go for the extra cash. Indirect taxes is the answer. 

Now the FM has gone one step ahead in his creative accounting and logic. They have started taxing on the investments. A classic case of killing the golden goose!!! 

It is a reminder to us that our fight for sustainable future is not such an easy one.

http://www.siliconindia.com/news/startups/Will-Budget-2012-Kill-Entrepreneurship-In-India-nid-109785-cid-100.html

Sustainable growth in business enterprise

This article is a good outline of what sustainable enterprise needs to aspire to.  It is a little thin on concrete steps, but nonetheless outlines the essence in a well written article.
What is sustainable growth for a business?  The article emphasizes the need to look beyond the shareholders paradigm of modern corporate business.  It is a most common practice for corporate business today to concentrate their efforts on maximising shareholders' returns, ie the mantra being "profit, profit, profit!".  Unfortunately this is too often at the expense of other stakeholders.  These ranging for the environment, to the society.  Even the employees are not spared in certain companies.

The article lists the need for all stakeholders to be nurtured and their best interest taken into account for the growth to be sustainable.  The upshot of this is long term growth and a strong foundation.  The article list these stakeholders as being the shareholders, the employees, the suppliers, the clients and the community.  I would add that the environment as an important stakeholder, for even those companies that do not have a direct effect on the environment, are nonetheless a responsibility to lower their carbon foot-print, their water consumption, their waste production and so on.

Another interesting point the author makes is the genuine need to recognise merit and reward good leaders in a company for they are the ones that will have the vision and inspiration to contribute fresh ideas for growth and competitiveness.

Sustainable growth in the enterprise needs to encompass all stakeholders... not just the shareholders!