His latest, and one of his boldest, is that Renault and Nissan will lead the car industry in developing profitable zero-emission vehicles.In recent months Renault-Nissan has teamed up with Project Better Place, a Silicon Valley start-up, to introduce all-electric vehicles and a network of charging points in Israel and Denmark by 2011.
There is another path: designing a profitable business that enables customers in developing economies to be more productive and financially secure.
After going public in 1999, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia impressed investors and homemakers alike with a series of profitable quarters, no debt, and expertise in developing lifestyle publications and merchandise.
And, as economic rights become a topic for broader consideration, they can highlight the role of businesses in developing equitable and profitable economies.
Recycling companies in developed countries face strict environmental regulatory regimes and an increasing cost of waste disposal and thus may find exportation to small traders in developing countries more profitable than recycling in their own countries.
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) lend relatively small sums of money to people in developing countries to start small, profitable businesses, not to buy overpriced homes.
In many ways, however, it is the exact model used by multinational corporations that depend on poorly paid workers in developing countries to staff their highly profitable operations.
Investing in developing own-label grocery ranges, which are more profitable, is another priority.
The most profitable way to build a winner, they argue, is to invest in developing young talent.
This model has been popularized in recent years by Toms Shoes, Warby Parker and others who saw an opportunity to develop a profitable lifestyle brand, while generating awareness and life-changing opportunities for people in developing countries.
