Begrudging private sector

At the outset, the recent Independent Power Plants (IPPs) controversy has magnified the bitterness and grudges that citizens have against business entities and business families.

This has diverted the attention from the genuine difficulties and issues faced by the industrial and business sectors. The capacity payments kerfuffle has pitted Chambers and Associations against the owners of these IPPs.

Media has also found a hot topic to promote this debate and has given extraordinary coverage to press conferences and press releases.

It is a fact that not all businesspersons and corporate entities generate resentment among the people and that the private sector is an indispensable partner in the economic development of a nation. Inequality and concentration of wealth with a handful of people is perhaps the most compelling cause for popular resentment against the business community.

If an enterprise is making huge profits, there is something wrong somewhere. Either the cost of raw material and national resources is being suppressed in connivance with the representatives of the people, or fair compensation is being denied to employees and intermediaries, or the end consumer is being overcharged, or to top it all the accounts are being fudged. Something sinister like money laundering, flight of capital or round tripping of money takes place under the cover of laws written to benefit those who take advantage of the loopholes.

Yes, there are those who resent successful businesses because they simply do not comprehend how businesses operate, become viable, and attain sustainability to be “successful businesses”.

Despite all these factors, Pakistan is not a dystopian society. There is immense goodwill, and this is reflected in the billions that the private sector contributes as a social responsibility.

Cynics and pessimists usually voice concerns about a cataclysmic decline in the country’s social, ethical, and political systems.

Yet, there is still a lot of positivity and a lot of resilience among the denizens that continue to deflect these negative attitudes. There is hope in the future.

Primarily, profit making as an objective of business is natural but the question is how much, and how it is shared. Sharing cannot be just with the shareholders and government; it also has to be with the employees and the community at large.

There is no problem if the profits are ploughed back into expanding the business or investing in the domestic economy for modernizing industry and creating more jobs.

The workers’ share is not just wages, but also investment in better housing for them, skill upgradation, health benefits, and education for their children.

A business doing well must provide a sense of security as well as social safety nets for its employees, who should be viewed as partners and an integral part of the business.

Wholesome organizations with a vision to collaborate in nation building must build structures of social safety nets, during and after the working tenure of their employees. These are referred to as Responsible Business Practices.

There is now an imperative need for the private sector to set up a structure of sustainable philanthropy, either singly or jointly, by business entities to have a transformational impact on people’s lives.

The idea is to broaden the fundamental purpose of companies from just making profits to creating social value. In other words, making profits and attaining societal good must converge to function in tandem.

The governments in the Capital as well as the Provinces have abandoned their welfare-oriented responsibilities to a significant extent.

Over the years, this abandonment has further exacerbated the distressing situation all over the country. Hence, the private sector must step in to fill the dearth of these insufficiencies by providing welfare infrastructure and support.

Nature abhors disequilibrium. Imbalances in distribution of wealth must be tackled on a war footing.

The rich cannot forever exploit the working people who toil and soil their hands. They must be given their legitimate share of the returns. Three words. Engage, engage, and engage with workers and communities.

To use a cliché, an enlightened corporate leadership alone can save the corporate world from the corporate world. The present sham development model cannot sustain itself forever.

The windfall profits and illegally accumulated wealth, an outcome of monopolization, cartelization, and cronyism, should be shared not only with those who facilitate these corporations but must also filter down to workers and the community.

The top moguls in the private sector unabashedly safeguard their turf by influencing elected leaders and buying out the opinion makers. Thus, they control policy making and perception management.

The tax havens cannot provide cover forever and whatever is the social system in any country. There is no place for ostentatious lifestyles and conspicuous consumption in a civilized world.

If the corporate sector wants free markets and minimal oversight, they have to stop creating monopolies and buying political support. Create a firewall between big money and the people’s representatives, if necessary, but the nexus needs to be demolished. Promote a culture of entrepreneurship by supporting start-ups of youth, through personal mentoring, technical knowledge, and partly financing these ventures.

By doing more CSR, such as giving scholarships to bright students for studying abroad, business ideas competitions in universities, or rewarding innovative business concepts, they can boost the enthusiasm and passion of these young people.

Businesspersons should also speak at and communicate with universities, highlighting their success stories and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs. They must upgrade the present economic model that is outdated and is a suppressed ecosystem. In the words of Henry Ford, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.”

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024