Essays by Charles Handy, featuring corresponding photography by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, on business and society. He offers some reflections on five photos and what they suggest about the role of business in a changing world. The article begins by explaining the backgrounds of the authors and what their respective accomplishments are. Handy’s first essay discusses how Brazil is a potentially rich nation, but that capitalism in itself cannot create wealth as wealth does not naturally trickle down to the rest of society. Instead, Handy suggests that a way needs to be found so that wealth trickles upward by turning the least wealthy parts of society into creators of wealth in order to close the gap between the very rich and the poor. Handy states that a significant step in the direction of creating such wealth and closing the gap is for favela (slum) dwellers to legally recognize the ownership of their dwellings. Handy states that they have houses, but not titles, along with private businesses that lack incorporation, and that without legal ownership of their properties and/or businesses, they have no collateral to borrow against. He concludes that the favelas--and the people that inhabit them--should be looked upon as a challenge to capitalism. Handy begins the next essay discussing how the Aegean Sea area has been affected by tourism, which Handy states is a product of globalization. He proceeds to argue that as people continue looking for more remote or unusual locations for their holidays, the dangers of physical and social erosion will spread, and predicts that destinations such as Venice may one day engage in rationing by limiting the visitors entering the city, which would have the effect of reintroducing privilege. Such a reintroduction of privilege would, according to Handy, defeat one of the benefits of global capitalism--the opportunity offered to the many to enjoy the goods and pleasures of the few. Handy begins the next essay discussing how the area of new growth in jobs and work will be the personal-services sector. He goes on to note that as education levels advance in developing counties, so, too, will the sophistication of the services they can offer. As this local economy of personal services cannot be exported, Handy contends, it will grow, develop, and increase in sophistication as countries become richer. Handy notes that the consequence of this development will be that such personal services become increasingly offered by independent businesses. The next essay concerns the wine-making country of the Canary Islands, and notes that wine-making and the vineyards are environmentally friendly while also being in high demand. Handy observes that, because the wine industry is increasing and new to many areas, it is not influenced by nationality or gender differences. He concludes that the wine business is atypical because it generates sizable profits while remaining local, small, and personal. Handy moves on to discuss businesses in the next essay, arguing that the twentieth century was the Organization Century, with a person’s identity being tied to the company he or she works for. Handy notes that the best businesses are marathons in that their workers are there by choice rather than necessity. From this choice of working comes pride and joy in having been a part of something bigger than themselves and worthy of celebration. Handy’s last essay explores camel caravans, and, according to Handy, shows what people risk losing as more of the world becomes caught up in the industrial economy. However, Handy also acknowledges that the industrial economy has made the world a better place for most people over the last two centuries, which has created, and will continue to create, competition for resources. He argues that only governments can make the necessary decisions on behalf of generations yet unborn to handle the increasingly globalized, industrialized world and the competition that comes with it, and concludes that only through close cooperation can government and business productively harness the energies of capitalism.
Handy, Charles B Arthus-Bertrand, Yann Harvard business review book series Brazil IBM Capitalism Favelas (aspectos sociais) Favelas--Rio de janeiro Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) Aegean Sea Hadrian's Wall (England) Greece Saint Lucia Ireland India China Photography Lanzarote (Canary Islands) Canary Islands Wine Organizational behavior Organizational change Capital productivity Globalization Global economy and development Global warming Venice (Italy) Harvard Business Review
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Essays by Charles Handy, featuring corresponding photography by Yann Arthus-Bertrand, on business and society. Handy offers some reflections on six photos and what they suggest about the role of business in a changing world, 2003; Charles Handy Papers; Box 20, Folder 17; 14 pages
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