The Selfish Side of 1% for the Planet
Jay Parkhill June 16th, 2008
My last post was a wonky one on changes in California law that affect company management’s ability to consider social good as well as shareholder value. Here is a complementary piece to that, courtesy of Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge newsletter.
Spending on Happiness — HBS Working Knowledge
The jist of the piece is that we spend our lives trying to accumulate money, but succeeding at that doesn’t make us any happier. Instead, the researchers found that spending money on other people does increase happiness.
The article talks specifically about personal spending, but I am willing to bet that it holds true for companies as well. Knowing that your company gives away money to help outside causes increases loyalty toward the business.