Business economics beyond profit: perspectives from Buddhism

Buddhist principles are primarily concerned with making people happy with their lot in life as opposed to attempting to change an individual's material condition or improving the world's situation. It is not the things but people make people happy. Western economics tries to provide people with happiness by supplying enormous quantities of things and today's dominating business models are based on and cultivates narrow self-centeredness. The evidence of this misalignment is there in widespread Poverty and inequality, environmental degradation, labour exploitation, socioeconomic deprivation, corruption and psychological depression have converted into some of the most pressing global threats today. Who has never thought that making money can‘t always be the business ending goal? Isn‘t it there a lot more beyond? This paper seeks to address these challenges by introducing a new value-oriented business and management model aimed at maximizing sustainable development and well-being.