Family Futures

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Corporate family responsibility

Mireia Las Heras PhD, Nuria Chinchilla PhD and Esther Jimenez, Researcher,

International Center for Work and Family at IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain

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e live in a world undergoing rapid and profound

transformation. Changes have an impact on

the economy and on companies, and affect

the ways in which they compete, work and interact. In

this context, companies frequently react with short-term

strategies, focusing on efficiency and growth parameters.

Work’s worth is equated to financial results and regarded

as a mere means to economic rewards. Thus, under these

assumptions, people are treated as a commodity, a ‘human

resource’ that is rigid and quantifiable.

The short-term and instrumental approach pushes organi-

zations away from their responsibilities to the various

stakeholders affected by their decisions. But it is impossi-

ble to generate sustainable value with such a limited view

of the business and the world. Moreover, considering social

responsibility and sustainable development only from an

economic, social and environmental perspective leaves aside

certain essential variables that affect what is most important

for people: their well-being and their families, their quality of

life and the future of society at large.

Sustainable development is closely linked to human ecology

as it is the person who, with his or her decisions, can enhance

or deplete the ecosystem in which he or she lives. Responsibility

is born out of a more global and anthropological vision of the

company which takes into account the interdependence of the

people and the environment, and considers the benefits of other

aspects that are not purely economic.

To understand and study the human ecosystem, the

International Center for Work and Family (ICWF) at the

Instituto de Estudios Superiores de La Empresa (IESE)

Business School proposes the ‘triangle of sustainability’, a

construct that consists of the family, company and society,

putting the person in the centre.

The company is without doubt the institution with the

greatest impact on the human ecosystem of people, fami-

lies and society. It influences its employees’ quality of life

and their ability to satisfy other vital roles. Therefore, it is

crucial that companies contribute so that work, family and

personal life enrich each other, since they are fundamental,

indispensable and complementary dimensions in the lives

of men and women.

Participants at the ICWF International Academic Conference at the IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain

Image: ICWF