Seminar shows firms keys to sustainability

Meanwhile, participants said, truly free media should be owned by their audiences and not by corporations or politicians who are always looking to use the media as tools for their own benefit.

"The sustainability of businesses depends on their acceptance by consumers and stakeholders," Bandid Nijathaworn, president and chief executive officer of the Thai Institute of Directors Association, said at a seminar hosted by the Premier Group of Companies on Wednesday.

He said the world was undergoing three changes. First, technology is getting cheaper, expanding the availability of mobile phones and Internet access. The second change is the way people do business via the rise of e-commerce and entrepreneurship, while the last change is ever-increasing globalisation.

Bandid said these changes meant consumers now had more choices and were beginning to pick products that would best suit their ideologies and lifestyles. People are no longer just looking for the right price or something that would just satisfy their physical need, but want products that would satisfy their psychological and social needs as well.

"Corporates have to change and rethink their social positions, because consumers and stakeholders are changing their behaviour. Good environmental, social and governance practices would raise the level of acceptance from stakeholders while ensuring the company’s sustainability in the long run from the increase of consumer trust," he said.

Vichien Phongsathorn, president and CEO of the Premier Group of Companies, said the business ecosystem was changing and people were more aware of what businesses are doing. The old ways of doing business by pursuing only higher profit is dying because it is not sustainable and is no longer accepted by society.

"Shareable profit that comes from socially sustainable practice is the highest profit," he said.

Meanwhile, Nation Multimedia Group chairman Suthichai Yoon said the news media had more responsibility when it came to socially responsible practice, but the current media and social structures did not facilitate or encourage such actions.

"Discussions on the topic of social reform and good documentaries on nature cannot get on prime-time television because people want to watch series during that time, and the producers would not put on knowledgeable shows during such times because they want to make money," he said.

"Sustainable journalism for a sustainable economy is not enough, since what is truly needed is media or journalism for social reform, and social reform through media can only happen with media responsibility and morality, and the people must be the owner," he said.

Suthichai said that if you want to use a news medium as a tool to create a sustainable society it must be owned by the people, similar to the structure of the British Broadcasting Corporation. While the BBC is partly funded by government, it also is partly paid for by viewers’ licence fees. "Once you start paying for the shows, you have a sense of ownership," he said.