Ending the Raison d’Être – Philippe Lentschener on BFM Business

25 April 2023

“Politics summoned the corporate world and demanded that it shows its commitment to the environment” – Philippe Lentschener, Président de Reputation Age, sur BFM Business

Philippe Lentschener, President and co-founder of Reputation Age, was Nicolas Doze’s guest on the April 25 edition of Les Experts on BFM Business. Saving the planet, building a sustainable future and an inclusive society are goals set by many companies in France. The adoption of the law for the growth and transformation of companies (PACTE) in 2019 which created the raison d’être has reinforced this trend. This is a voluntary measure consisting in a company stating in its articles their ambition and its long-term response project on social and environmental issues. The raison d’être has made it possible to bring the society into the company more effectively, which reflects a cultural change at the level of business leaders. However, this unbridled race summons the great fashionable themes and most of the time it lacks singularity. Worse still, in its current form, the raison d’être is not a sufficient lever of visibility, influence and competitiveness for companies. Thus, a large energy company explains its commitment to preserve the planet and promote human progress. Others in retail, health and the car industry do the same. There is a clear lack of singularity.

Processed outside the field of strategic sovereignty, the raison d’être goes round in circles and says – too – little about the beliefs of a company, its assets and its dreams that encourage it to redouble its efforts.

 

Watch the sequence “To put an end to the raison d’être”.

 

 

Read the op-ed of Philippe Lentschener in Les Echos

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