Change for Good: An Action-Oriented Approach for Businesses to Benefit from Solving the World’s Most Urgent Social Problems

Klein—the founder of Impakt, a company that advises businesses on ways to accomplish social change—debuts with an earnest but familiar treatise on why businesses should value social change and equity as highly as profit. Inspired by the business-for-social-change efforts of Ben & Jerry’s and The Body Shop, Klein takes a look at how in the 1990s businesses “began considering” strategies to support their communities, which grew beyond local involvement and into an interest in supporting society at large by the 2000s. Klein then introduces his “change for good” system, a framework for businesses to help address social problems including gender equality, poverty, and access to quality education. He outlines case studies—such as Nestlé’s efforts to help children “lead healthier lives” and PepsiCo’s initiative to “listen to what matters to its employees”—and encourages companies to implement employee outreach efforts and focus on empathy. He urges, too, that companies avoid doing “corporate social responsibility light,” or the bare minimum, such as empty Black Lives Matter statements from organizations without a single Black board member or leader. Klein is sincere and impassioned, but his guidance is nearly identical to that found in any number of recent books on the topic. There isn’t enough here to make this stand out in a very crowded field. (Mar.)