When to be kind is beneficial

In general, being kind is always beneficial. And the nuances are well described in the incredibly interesting Game Theory , which operates mathematically. If you move away from numbers and turn to practice, you can see that social orientation can be an effective strategy. In my article I will try to prove why this is so. Who cares - I ask for a cat.

The main enemy of any business is time. This is the most severe test: of the chosen idea, and strategy, and personal qualities, and much more. And long-term planning is a difficult thing, especially in a country where everything gets upside down with an interval of 20-30 years. But there is a factor that can provide a relative “margin of safety” and give a good starting point - this is a social orientation that people unfairly think about at the very last moment. And very in vain.

When the state is lazy

In the United States and Europe, charity is on the line. Especially in the USA. Back in the 18th century, they thought about the fact that the state has more interesting things to do than engage in its own social policy. And they transferred this thankless task to the public: legislation that allows you to deduct from tax the amount spent on charity, supporting the volunteer movement, competent propaganda (including Church) created all the conditions for the development of charity. Moreover, its scale was such that already in the 19th century it surprised Europeans:

“No country can surpass and even possibly compare with the United States in charity affairs. Not only are the sums collected for various philanthropic purposes greater than in any European country, but the size of the American personal contribution to charity seems to the European to surpass everything he saw at home. ”

a source

The charity culture created in the United States led to the emergence of an entire industry: in 2015, donations from individuals, foundations and corporations in the United States amounted to $ 373 billion. And this is not only figures, but also the infrastructure for the use of this money.

When corporations feel sorry for money

Quantitative growth eventually grew into qualitative: somewhere in the 70s of the 20th century, smart people began to think not only about where to spend, but also how. The question arose: why should someone give money if they can be spent on their own with the same effect?
In the 70s of the 20th century, the concept of corporate social responsibility began to develop : the orientation to obtaining net profit without taking into account social impact became a bad tone and an indicator of inefficiency. Technology corporations, whose success is based on the personal qualities of employees, are also actively starting to gain weight and influence: their social projects are becoming role models.

Cinema at INFOSYS Mysore Training Campus

A case in point is the Indian Infosys . In the early 80s in India there were two problems that could not be put up with: it was an extremely low standard of living and the terrible quality of the code of the programs of that time. The model they selected: “to train a bunch of people in the homeland >> to outsource something in the West >> to repeat the profit,” paid off. The emphasis on education (the largest corporate training center in the world , active charitable activities in this area, support for OpenSourse projects) has turned Infosys, based on $ 200, into a giant with a total capitalization of $ 40 billion.

When everyone needs a profit

In the 90s, the following logical question arises: why spend money at all where you can make a profit with the same social effect?
And they find a positive answer to this controversial question: the concepts of social entrepreneurship , impact investments , social investments are formed, the necessary tools are created, for example, social bonds . Thus, another promising market has appeared in the world, which has a number of advantages.

Then social orientation is ...

Good PR

More precisely, a separate and quite effective direction: social marketing , which involves linking the brand to social ideas. Even minor elements create a favorable informational background for the product, greatly facilitating its promotion. This was noted even by the creators of Dilbert ( once and twice ) .On the other hand, ignoring social moments can give unpleasant results: for example, you can create several necessary and popular products, but all the same, at the most inopportune moments, you will remember scattering money from the window of the St. Petersburg office.

Positive effect on HR

In the age of information technology, reputation is becoming crucial not only for people, but also for companies, especially in the IT sector, where success is determined by the intellectual and cultural level of employees. In theory, with the help of parties with strippers, you can create a certain image for a company and thus attract professionals, but in the long run, this invariably leads to lagging behind competitors. Toward the end, even Hugh Hefner didn’t matter, and he understood his business.

This is a contribution to our own resource base.

The field of education is Klondike and Golconda of our time. Due to this, technological companies have an advantage over traditional ones: their resources are not nearly exhausted, but with the right approach, they give tangible bonuses. Therefore, the huge funds that it is customary to transfer to their Alma Mater are not sentimentality, but a long-term investment. And “ideological teaching” is an effective way to monitor, select and prepare personnel for yourself from the initial stage of preparation, ahead of competitors who prefer to whine, as everything is bad.

Entering a huge growing market

According to JPMorgan estimates , by 2020 the volume of impact investments will be from 400 billion to 1 trillion dollars, and the profit from them will range from 183 billion to 667 billion dollars.
If you look at the numerous global competitions of startups, then almost everywhere the winners are social projects: at the Asian Fintech Finals 2017 social Ayannah won , the same JPMorgan held a separate competition for socially-oriented startups. There is no way to cut down such a hype like on Bitcoin, but you can ensure a good start.

Current trend

Social problems are decided to be solved first. Almost everyone abandoned the idea of ​​protecting themselves from the whole world, therefore, where internal problems have been successfully resolved, work is being done with less successful neighbors. The main directions are outlined by the UN sustainable development goals (there, by the way, there is 9 point devoted to technologies). And for the implementation of these goals allocate decent funds. And sometimes simple and obvious solutions bring tangible results: for example, in Tanzania there is a mobile application that allows you to register the birth of children by SMS.

And when everyone doesn’t give a damn ....

The situation with charity in Russia was well described by Gilyarovsky :

It was forbidden to take alms near the station - it was only allowed to bring it before the party left to the transit prison and to transfer it not personally to the prisoners, but through the authorities. The Rogozh Old Believers were especially offended by this:
- And why do the unfortunate find out who gave them? Who will they pray for?
And on the established days heaped up these two parts with alms, although the rest of Moscow continued to send as before to all prisons. This was sniffed by the cunning and took advantage.
Before the big holidays, to the great surprise of the authorities, the Lefortovo and Rogozh units were overwhelmed by prisoners, and there were fights and scandals all over Moscow, and an incredible number of vagrants were detained for their “absence of letters”, who indicated their residence mainly in Lefortovo and Rogozh, where they were sent with an escort for identification.
And along with them the carts brought alms, which were immediately distributed to the prisoners, exchanged them for vodka and ate.
After the holiday, all these criminals turned out to be either petty thieves, or simply vagabonds from Moscow bourgeois and artisans, who were allowed to go home by identification card, and they parted, filling the holiday heartily at the expense of “benefactors” who were waiting for fervent prayers for their souls from these “unfortunate cast into the prison by the servants of the Antichrist. "

For a hundred years, the situation improved slightly: Russia takes 127th place in the world out of 145, in the desire of capital to charity . Despite the mess, something is even happening: by some miracle, social projects are functioning and developing, there are examples of successful impact investments, open education projects are actively developing (I would have such opportunities at 18 years old !!!). But for the most part this is the past, or even the year before last, century.
The social direction has an incredible need for attention, means, and professionals. And there, there is such a need, there is a field of activity for those who canearn moneyto realize it. Especially when others are lazy, sorry for the money, they only need profit or just don't give a damn.