Authentic Business – an Inspiring Challenge

Citation

Moore, G. (2006), "Authentic Business – an Inspiring Challenge", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 67-68. https://doi.org/10.1108/17422040610644180

This is a “how to do it” book. As such, it is probably atypical of the kind of book reviewed in this journal. There is no theory (at least, no overt theory – there's plenty beneath the surface) and it is all about practical knowledge combined with exhortation and inspiration to “go out there” and apply it. It has some similarities with (American) books of its type, but is different partly by being British and partly because of the subject matter – the book is not about “success”, personal or business, in the conventional way.

The book follows from an earlier work by the same author – Authentic: How to Make a Living By Being Yourself – and is part of a much larger project called the Authentic Partnership, of which more below. Its focus is on the creating and sustaining of authentic businesses. It begins with a brief critique of the capitalist system which, in a fashion typical of the book, is summarily dismissed as being unsustainable. Not so much “in its place”, but more as a working model of “how things might be different if  … ” authentic business is offered as something which has a profoundly held purpose that goes beyond profit, a purpose that is socially and/or environmentally positive, where there is integrity between communication and action, respect for others and the avoidance of exploitation of resources and customers. This is business with distinct and unique qualities: “being authentic does not necessarily make a business the most efficient at redistributing wealth from the population and the environment to a few senior executives and shareholders. What it does offer is greater value in more dimensions to more living creatures, including the participants in the business and, for many people today, that is what is most important” (p. 115).

In exploring the different aspects of authentic business, the book suggests that there are limits to their application. The five main areas where authentic businesses may be found are: climate change, sustainability and the environment; social justice and poverty reduction; biodiversity; energy and fossil fuel depletion; and education, inspiration and authenticity. The last of these is somewhat obscure except for the education part but there is then an acknowledgement that there is a sixth area to do with helping others to live in comfort and safety – you can be an authentic plumber, apparently.

The substance of the book is taken up with fairly standard stuff on starting and running a small business. The examples are drawn from organisations that are all small and there is more than a hint that this won't work with large organisations, although this is claimed to be not a matter of size but of dilution of purpose. Most of this material, however, identifies some unique characteristics of authentic business – in raising funds, in employee recruitment and retention, in marketing and so on. The exception seems to be in finance and accounting where the material is all rather conventional – perhaps being creative in the accounting area doesn't sound as attractive as in most of the others!

Scattered among the substantive material is a number of “process” suggestions – exercises for coming up with purpose, for planning, for meetings. The book concludes with five case studies and some further information on the Authentic Partnership.

It is easy to be critical of this kind of book. It lacks any kind of theoretical basis, is highly critical of conventional (“inauthentic” or “exploitation‐based”) companies and its application is limited to “do‐good” types of business. (I read the book while travelling and mused whether authentic airlines, airports, railways or taxi services could exist and, if so, what they would look like.) It's also not at all clear that authentic business would make much impact on the systemic problems identified at the outset of the book. There's also no link with the growing social enterprise movement, only a limited connection with the Fair Trade movement, and not much by way of acknowledgement of the co‐operative movement or other previous attempts to do just the same kind of thing. Robert Owen, Titus Salt and the Rochdale Pioneers might feel this was all rather old hat.

That said, it's not that kind of book. Links with theory, if that's what we're interested in, are there to be found – I could make some direct connections with the critique of modernity that Alasdair MacIntyre makes, and with Martin Parker's Against Management, for example. But it's better to take the book at face value, enjoy some of the rhetoric (“Like most predictions the cash flow forecast is a work of pure fiction”; “Modern business practice often uses suppliers as short‐term profit margin enhancement opportunities”; “All too often [meetings] are used as opportunities for showboating, politics and bitching”) and take on board some of the practical wisdom that is to be found there.

For, Neil Crofts is an experienced businessman. He's in the process of building a unique organisation – the Authentic Partnership – which entails authentic guides (of which this book is one), an authentic business network, access to authentic capital, authentic centres for a novel kind of retreat, and educational materials which will include the Authentic Business School! The examples of authentic business which he gives (Good Energy, Doves Farm, Neal's Yard Remedies, Triodos Bank and Happy Computers) are all comparatively mature businesses. Authentic business, if that's what we come to call it, looks like it is here to stay, and the examples provide many inspiring stories of how business might be if we prioritised social and/or environmental purpose over profit.

Although this book will never become a standard text, we might profitably use it in our teaching to illustrate alternative forms of business. And we might even be sufficiently challenged and inspired to “go out there” and get involved.