Chip Bergh, president and CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., says his company is committed to driving profits through principles.

More and more, companies are embracing the concept of corporate purpose, but are they actually walking the talk? Chip Bergh, CEO of Levi Strauss & Co., says his company has been taking a stand for decades. “We desegregated our factories in the South ten years before it was the law of the land…It’s not just about making a buck and returning dollars to shareholders. It’s also about making a difference in communities and the world,” he says. Companies are increasingly pumping up purpose as Americans’ perceptions of big business have shifted. At Aspen Ideas, Bergh and PayPal president Dan Schulman explained how the corporate landscape is being remade.

Prioritizing Worker Needs

This week, the Business Roundtable, a group of top CEOs, moved away from shareholder profits and prioritized worker needs in what amounts to a new mission statement. The declaration, from the group of nearly 200 leaders, talks about investing in employees, protecting the environment, and more. Some members of the Roundtable discussed business on the Aspen Ideas stage in June. Hear from Dennis Muilenburg, Tom Fanning, and Oscar Munoz.

Why Should Business Leaders Care about Health?

Whether they’re large, small, or part of the gig economy, companies need to start thinking about how to better support their employees’ health. At Aspen Ideas: Health, leaders in the health industry talked about how companies can step in to assist workers who are increasingly in dire health and financial straits. It should be a siren call to companies, they say, to realign their business goals to enhance well-being.

— QUOTED AT ASPEN IDEAS —

“There’s a call to arms in the business community to rethink purpose, to warn against the dangers of short-termism.” — Mariana Mazzucato, The Value of Everything