Tellus Institute - For a Great Transition

A critical question for a transition to a just and sustainable society is: How should the future corporation be constituted to ensure that it serves the long-term common good, rather than short-term shareholder interests? The Corporate Redesign Program focuses on the core characteristics—the “genetics”—of the organization that determine its capacity to meet the great societal challenges of the 21st century. In the age of globalization, the modern corporation’s growing scale, resources, and influence make it a pivotal actor in shaping the planetary society in the coming decades. Yet, as corporate rights and protections have expanded, obligations and responsibilities have not kept pace.

Redesigning corporations requires an understanding of both discrete components of the corporate form and the linkage among them. Legal status and charter, the primacy of shareholder interests, liability, ownership, capitalization, and directors’ obligations all condition the character of the corporation. These elements transcend geography, size and sector. They are evident in the North and South, large and small enterprises, and spanning the extractive, manufacturing and service sectors.

The issue of corporate redesign is addressed through three linked activities:

  • Forums - convening researchers, practitioners, and advocates in e-dialogues and workshops to define the key elements of corporate design
  • Visioning - creating coherent visions of possible forms for the future corporation and of the larger economic systems changes that are preconditions to such forms
  • Advocacy - alliance-building with parallel initiatives to foster action in support of a broad-based movement for corporate redesign

Corporation 2020, launched in early 2004, is an initial effort to advance the corporate redesign agenda. An affiliate of the Great Transition Initiative, Corporation 2020 reaches beyond mainstream corporate social responsibility (CSR) to build integrated portraits of the future corporation and to chart a course to realize such organizations.

*New*Transforming the Corporation *New*
Corporations must be harnessed to promote environmental sustainability and social justice if a Great Transition is to be possible. Transforming the Corporation, published as part of the GTI Paper Series, outlines how this could occur.

Program leader: Dr. Allen White
Contact: awhite@tellus.org