Phase 1. Natural factors 2. Investment in modern technology 3. Innovation based on local knowledge 4. Affluence Exhibit II Porter’s Phases of Evolution of Competitiveness (Adapted) Economic Basis For Development Natural resources and cheap labor, providing for a rather poor life for millennia Foreign investment in the areas of economic development; hardly/ poor competitive in inter-national markets Nations live on their own progress and attain a better standard of living by international competitiveness People finally become rich, which makes them happy in material WB as a blind alley for creative work, and consequently attaining possible success. <strong>The</strong> key factors of an SR business, therefore, include: RH understanding of the world and oneís role in it; Enhancing of ethics of interdependence; Action on the basis of creation, cooperation, and innovation aimed at finding and realizing solutions for crucial and real human problems; Consideration of the complexity of oneís own and that of synergetic influences on oneís natural and social environments and their constraints. Business strategies should be planned and executed within the above guidelines. RH/SR culture in both companies as well as society should be based on ethics of interdependence and on individualsí willingness to activate their creative potential for their own benefit as well as for the benefit of the society at large. But how can this be achieved? Oneís desire for knowledge, RH personal development, openness and empathy for fellow human beings reinforce oneís RH understanding of the world, relationships and interdependence. Everyone can do it, provided one wishes so. Human beings possess creativity that often remains tacit and unused, or is used for leisure time avocations or for oneís own benefit only. In addition, human beings lack interdisciplinary cooperation enabling Phase Holistic creation and SR Resulting Culture Scarcity and solidarity, collectivism, tradition rather than innovation Growing differences, local competition, individualism, ambition to have more and be rich Growing differences and standard of living, global competition, ethics of interdependence, social responsibility and ambition to create Complacency, no more ambition, consumerism; what is quality, then? synergetic effects. In many organizations, both public and private, culture does not support creation and cooperation. People must be given a chance to engage in (co-)creative (co- )operation, but in a manner that would be beneficial to society at large. A better contact between companies and users of their products must be enabled as the latter know best what they wish from a product; it should include the phase of future-needs detection and designing of related potential solutions. Hence, they must be involved rather actively in the invention-innovation process to attain the biggest possible benefit for both the customers and society at large, at the cost of the smallest possible destructive impact on the environment. <strong>The</strong> open innovation concept implies peopleís role much better than the closed innovation concept (Chesbrough, 2006). <strong>The</strong> Role of <strong>Marketing</strong> <strong>Marketing</strong> should also adapt to this open innovation concept. <strong>The</strong> dominant model of marketing has so far used the notion of customer sovereignty. It made marketing a technical process rather than a moral process, aimed to create and translate demand Exhibit III <strong>The</strong> New, Fifth Phase of Evolution of Competitiveness Economic Basis For Development Material wealth suffices; efforts aimed at spiritual wealth, and healthy natural and social environment as RH, WB <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Cause</strong> <strong>Marketing</strong> As a Tool into production and profit. However, there has been a plea to add a third element, i.e., ësocietyís WBí to the basic elements of marketingócustomer satisfaction and profitability. <strong>The</strong> Societal <strong>Marketing</strong> [SM] concept calls on marketers to meet the needs of the target audience in ways that will enhance the WB of customers and society as a whole while fulfilling the objectives of the organization (Bednall, Kanuk, 1997; Kotler, 2000; in: Chattananon, 2007, 232). Thus, SM invites marketers to include social and ethical considerations in their marketing practices. <strong>The</strong> concern about ethics in marketing is closely related to the issue of SR, making the notion of SM find its way into common business language. Considerations of (un)ethical marketing have primarily tackled evaluations of specific marketing activities such as targeting, advertising and pricing, information asymmetry, differentiation of customers by value, power differences, etc., as opposed to wider macro questions of morality and legitimacy of marketing itself (Crane, Desmond, 2002, 551). Empirical evidence attempting specifically to locate corporate practices directly within the discourse of SM is limited, but literature on green marketing, cause-related marketing and ethical marketing are burgeoning (Crane, Desmond, 2002, 563). Marketers can contribute to successful SR management by bundling various SR initiatives and expanding their focus beyond customers to include other stakeholders. Following this approach, the importance of SM programs gradually increases (Chattananon, 2007, 230). Among other broader societal benefits, the use of SM has also proven to create competitive advantage for companies in building brand awareness and credibility, enhancing corporate image and stimulating customersí purchase intentions by creating an emotional bond with them. Of course, there are many problems involved with the Resulting Culture Ethics of interdependence and SR, ambition to create, diminish social differences to those caused by creation, including innovation SEPTEMBER 2009 14 EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE
ONGC SEPTEMBER 2009 15 EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE