What does come to your mind when you think of Kenya?

What successful small to large companies come to mind when you think of businesses working with their communities resulting in both successful businesses and successful communities?

• Communities and small businesses are symbiotic. What businesses, in any vertical, come to mind that grew to be successful, scaled and work together with their communities to this day?

• Answer:

  Unfortunately, I don’t’ know a small to large business for this question but I can supply a big company that has worked with their community. McDonald’s has worked with non-governmental organizations (NGO) to make their practices more sustainable. They created a sourcing strategy like Marine Stewardship Council’s principles to guide the company to source fish from companies that fish sustainably.  McDonald’s is a very successful company that cares about the community and the society at large. According to McKinsey and Company there are four visions of business and society in 2020. In order to be successful it seems that companies will have to be up to par with expectations of businesses across geographies and also be proactive on social issues. Businesses that are not in line with these issues will be less successful than the ones that are. The companies that are of optimal stature will develop robust voluntary standards and build partnerships with governments, NGOs and other businesses, which is similar to what McDonald’s has already done. This will keep their consumers’ trust, the social issues will then improve, and the economy as a whole will benefit. At the end of the day we must all understand that there are limited resources that will eventually run out and a global economy that will shift the markets based on the job force and a change in productivity.     “Pathways to Sustainable Value Creation in 2020” Based on research by McKinsey & Company, 2010