Laszlo Zsolnai gave a keynote presentation on “Business Responsibility and Future Generations” in the New Economy, Old Traditions: Caring Entrepreneurship international conference from September 4-6, 2017 in Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Zsolnai argued that future generations should be considered primordial stakeholders of business. This obligation should be reflected in the goals, priorities, policies, and impact assessment practices of business organizations. Improving the position of future generations also enhances the future of the present generations.
Gabor Kovacs and Andras Ocsai also participated in the conference.
In his presentation, “The Caring Attitude of Christian and Buddhist Entrepreneurs”, Gabor Kovacs described the results of a qualitative explorative investigation amongst Christian and Buddhist entrepreneurs in Hungary that analysed their spiritual value-orientations. He argued that the value orientations of Christian and Buddhist entrepreneurs have a different ontological background, as Christianity is an anthropocentric spiritual tradition, but from a Buddhist point of view sentient beings are organically interconnected. Nevertheless, caring for others is of major relevance to both value orientations in business as the value of solidarity of Christian entrepreneurs and the value of compassion of Buddhist entrepreneurs play central roles.
In a presentation entitled the “Value Orientation of Ecologically Conscious Businesses” Andras Ocsai reported the main theoretical and empirical findings of his PhD study. Andras believes that ecologically conscious businesses are able and willing to operate differently to businesses within the prevailing economic system, putting ecological aspects at the forefront of their operations. The preliminary findings suggest that the value orientation of ecologically conscious businesses is rooted in the personal commitment of owners or leaders. Their motivation is inspired by reference to superhuman natural law, or deep respect for Nature, God or the Source of Life. Their definitions of success appear to be multidimensional. Financial profit is not considered the ultimate aim, but a means of sustaining long-term operations considering the well-being of all stakeholders. Greater diversity in background values and business models can be found among ecologically conscious businesses, but their core forms of motivation may converge.