Big Business is not only about making Money
Money is king, which is what many people think nowadays. Unstoppable rise in the cost of living, skyrocketing of housing market and the continuing decrease in HKD's exchange rate to RMB all lead Hong Kong people to have this "money is everything" mindset. Whenever asked about what "big business" means to them, HK people will probably have a model answer for you ─money. However, what big business means in reality is not only about making money, Hong Kongers are only half correct.
Firstly, big businesses are those that are able to help people, in other words, those that people cannot live without them. For example, giant banks like HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank and Bank of China are big businesses. Billions of dollars are transferred in and out through these banks and it is unimaginable of what would happen if these corporations vanished out of thin air. These banks, of course, make big money, with thousands of billions of dollars earned from their turnover rate annually. To quote the slogan of the Standard Chartered Bank, "We are here for good". They are here not just to make profit. They also need to strike a balance between ripping the general public and at the same time making the society a better one by doing mortgages and loans in fair terms. They should be here to keep the economy running smoothly meanwhile causing minimalextent of social conflict. This is whatbig businesses must be able to do ─to strike a balance between making profit and social harmony.
Secondly, big business is about contribution to the society. Many big companies such as PCCW, IKEA and Mc Donald's all develop a funding for helping the needy. Apart from making money, they also do a lot of charity work to help our fellow Chinese citizens who live in poverty, providing them with education, basic necessities and shelters so that the human race can benefit as a whole, which is one of the unavoidableconsequences of globalization. The Community Chest holds annual charity walks and the Standard Chartered Bank also has the Standard Chartered Marathon, in which nearly all the proceeds return to the underprivileged ones. This is the second requirement to be a big business ─contribution to the society.
Thirdly, big business is about making progress, where innovation and creativity are the most essential for advancement of the general living standard of the general public. As a matter of fact, when the general living standard of people is enhanced, they can have more time for self-enrichment, and also can spend more time and money on the younger generation, providing them with better education. The youngsters then in turn can have a higher chance of being a successful person with professional knowledge and the full ability of self-sustainability. Their income will be beyond modest and these well-to-do elites will tend to be able to afford more on luxurious expenditure rather then just basic necessities. As a result, their sense of consumerism can lead the currency flow from the pockets of one to another, which helps to keep the economy in a healthy state.
To conclude, there are many requirements for being big businesses. They should be able to strike a balance, not ripping people too hard when they recognize people cannot live without them, they should also make generous contribution to the society from the money they earn and they should be innovative and creative enough so that they can make improvements and advancements to the current society to improve the overall living standard of the general public. Big business is not only about making money! People should rectify their misconception and try to see big businesses the other way ─their positive side.