Books and Arts -- Book ReviewBusiness Ethics -- Virtue’s rewardNet Positive. By Paul Polman and Andrew Winston.What is the purpose of a company?For some, the answer is simple: to make as much money for shareholders as the law permits.But many modern companies take a much broader view.They argue that business should also serve workers, consumers and society at large, and that profit should not be pursued at the expense of the environment or social justice.One figurehead of this movement, dubbed sustainable capitalism, is Paul Polman, ex-chief executive of Unilever, the consumer-goods giant.In that role he unveiled Unilever’s sustainable-living plan, which made commitments to cut its environmental footprint by half and help a billion people improve their health.Together with Andrew Winston, a writer, he has produced a book on his approach, defining “net positive”, the catchphrase of the title, as “a business that improves well-being for everyone it impacts and at all scales”.Such grand statements attract criticism from both the right and the left.Conservatives disdain the philosophy as “woke capitalism”, which wastes shareholders’ money on gestures that make executives feel good about themselves; left-wing critics view it as a smokescreen that allows businesses to keep raking in profits by misleading consumers.
