Business for Good: The Power to Create Change

About the Book

Many companies still treat social responsibility as a cost center — a report to file, a foundation to fund or an initiative kept separate from the business that generates revenue. In Business for Good: The Power to Create Change, CKGSB Professor Rui (Juliet) Zhu and researcher Xin Li argue for a different approach. They define Business for Good as the strategic integration of social value into a company’s core competencies — the pursuit of commercial value through social progress, not alongside it.

At the heart of the book are two practical tools designed to help organisations move from intention to action.

The book’s framework, the Business for Good Triangle, rests on three pillars: a co-benefit philosophy that treats social and commercial value as mutually reinforcing rather than a trade-off; institutional safeguards that keep good intentions from drifting once incentives or circumstances change; and strategic integration that embeds social value in the core business rather than a peripheral CSR function.

Complementing the Triangle, the Business for Good Action Map identifies 35 concrete entry points across environmental, social and governance dimensions, giving organizations of different sizes and stages practical ways to begin.

Drawing on behavioral psychology, Zhu and Li show how small, well-designed interventions can trigger outsized change, using cases including Patagonia’s ownership restructuring, Haidilao’s employee empowerment model, and LEGO’s inclusive design choices to make the argument concrete rather than aspirational.

“Business for Good is not about choosing between profit and purpose. It is about integrating social value into what a company already does well, so that solving real problems can also create commercial value. The challenge for companies today is to move beyond compliance and build systems in which doing good becomes part of how the business succeeds.”Rui (Juliet) ZhuProfessor of Marketing, CKGSB — co-author, Business for Good

For international readers, the book also provides a window into Chinese approaches to business and social innovation that remain relatively underrepresented in English-language ESG and sustainability literature.

Rui (Juliet) Zhu is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Research Department on ESG and Social Innovation at CKGSB. Her research centers on behavioral science, social innovation and brand management.

Published by World Scientific in August 2026, Business for Good: The Power to Create Change is Volume 11 of the Singapore University of Social Sciences – World Scientific Future Economy Series.

Who It’s For

• MBA & EMBA candidates and business school professors teaching corporate social responsibility, ESG or strategic management.
• C-suite executives and founders looking to understand where purpose, stakeholder value and competitive strategy intersect.
• Sustainability officers, impact investors and ESG professionals seeking a practical framework for moving beyond compliance.
• Social entrepreneurs and policy researchers interested in social innovation and evolving business practices in China and Asia.

Contents

• Foreword & Preface
• 1. What is Business for Good?
  Defines the core concept and introduces the Business for Good Triangle — co-benefit philosophy, institutional safeguards, and strategic integration.
• 2. How to Approach Doing Business for Good?
  Introduces the Business for Good Action Map — 35 actionable entry points spanning environmental, social and governance dimensions.
• 3. The Case for Business for Good: Environment
  Explores how the framework can be applied to environmental strategy, drawing on cases including Patagonia’s ownership restructuring.
• 4. The Case for Business for Good: Social
  Examines social value creation in practice, including Haidilao’s approach to employee empowerment.
• 5. The Case for Business for Good: Corporate Governance
  Explores the role of governance in sustaining Business for Good strategies, including LEGO’s inclusive design choices.
• 6. Final Thoughts
  Synthesizes the framework and its implications for leaders building a Business for Good strategy.
• Afterword, Appendix & Index

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