6.1.2 Healthy Ecosystems of Stakeholders Equal Healthy Businesses

When a company views its five primary stakeholders as one cohesive, dynamic system, the system as a whole develops into a web of mutually beneficial interactions. Each member of this web benefits from and contributes to it, which strengthens the life and viability of the system as a whole. Because of their interdependence, members can become more educated and support one another’s ability to invest and earn a return on that investment. This mutually beneficial cycle does not necessitate any corporate trade-offs, but it does necessitate strategic, living systems knowledge. By acquiring this skill, a company not only strengthens its own inventiveness but also boosts its economic viability by becoming an indispensable component of the community’s economy.

We argue that there is no obvious contradiction between achieving commercial success, achieving community success, and addressing the pressing concerns of our time. Increasing the ability of local areas to regenerate themselves is the most effective strategy, from a regenerative perspective, to combat global warming, ecosystem collapse, social inequality, economic inequality, and a variety of other concerns. Businesses of all types and sizes should band together to revitalize the local economies in which they operate because they have a crucial role to play in this important effort.