Proposed GNH of Business
The idea of incorporating GNH values into business was first proposed by His Excellency Dasho Tshering Tobgay, the Hon’ble Prime Minister of Bhutan, in his keynote address at the Sixth International Conference on Gross National Happiness held in Paro in 2015 (CBS, 2015). The Prime Minister mentioned that the current business model of overemphasizing profit maximisation and increasing shareholder value at the cost of environment and community was unsustainable. The Prime Minister expressed the need to recognise and manage these costs and risks, and called for integrating GNH values into business operation. Essentially, it meant measuring the success of a business by its ability to serve, facilitate, and engage with its stakeholders. This will require rethinking of business indicators used for gauging their success or failure.