FOCUS ON PROFITS, PEOPLE AND THE PLANET

Nearly 30 years ago, in 1994, John Elkington coined the term “triple bottom line” as a unique concept for business leaders to rethink their approach to profits and business conduct.

- C.RAJ KUMAR

The vision was to offer a transformative new approach to business leaders challenging them to refrain from focusing solely on profits and urging them to expand their attention to improving the lives of people and the health of the planet. Five years ago, an article published in Harvard Business Review observed, “...But 25 years later, this radical goal has been largely forgotten, and “triple bottom line” thinking has been reduced to a mere accounting tool, a way of balancing trade-offs instead of actually doing things differently. Today, we continue to outstrip our planetary boundaries with no sign of slowing down...”

Naveen Jindal has embraced the concept of the “triple bottom line” in a manner that few industry leaders and business tycoons could ever imagine. The idea of the “triple bottom line” is to focus on profits, people and the planet. But what Naveen Jindal has done is recognise the need to place institution building and nation building at the centre of the focus on profits, people and the planet.

With the establishment of O.P. Jindal Global University, Naveen Jindal has taken a step further in embracing the concept of the “triple bottom line” in both letter and spirit. There are five ways in which this philanthropic initiative to establish a world-class university has a symbiotic relationship with the cause of institution building for nation building.

Transformative Ideas