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A message from our Chairman

In Delhi, India, I work with St. Stephens Hospital, a 720 bed, resource constrained, not for profit organization. It is a 125 year old hospital that is a model of modern business practice because it adapts to the resources available while fulfilling its mission to meet the needs of the community it serves. The hospital takes the concept of “resource sufficiency” to a whole new level.

Here is an example of how “resource sufficiency” works. In one of the poorest areas of Old Delhi, St. Stephens Community Health Center is obligated by its charitable mission to provide care for all who require it, regardless of whether they can pay. They realized that free prenatal care was of little help if the expectant mothers were malnourished. So, hospital leaders worked with the community to establish a micro-lending program that created low cost, high nutrition products. There are now over 200 high school graduates trained as nutritionists who market these products for as little as $.05 per day. The same practical approach works in their education program, which they established because they define “health” as “wellbeing”. About the time that teenagers from poor families would have to drop out of school to support their parents, St. Stephens challenges them to stay in school and rewards academic performance by hiring them as tutors for younger students. The pay is minimal, but the preparation has enabled students to go on to university and achieve beyond what their parents would have ever conceived possible.

St. Stephens Hospital’s success is simply what happens when the pressure for survival is matched with the intuition of possibility. Whether exploring emerging economies, industries, or companies, this same approach applies. The risk of expanding markets is mitigated by identifying all available resources to gain understanding and advantage.

At Concero Global, we respect our clients desire to apply the “resource sufficiency” model to their businesses and use that to our advantage to deliver sustainable growth. The result is job creation, better served customers, a stakeholder balance that contributes to the fabric of the community, and owners and vendors that are rewarded for risking their capital to create the business.

The true character of Conscious Capitalism is in investing in the interdependence of stakeholders, the stewardship of resources, and the pursuit of lasting results. At Concero Global, we seek client opportunities in the key industries of health care, energy efficiency, and education whose management understands this principle and realizes the responsibility that goes with authority.

We agree with the statement that capital always goes wherever it is most appreciated. But our belief is tied to the realization that capital involves both human resources as well as financial resources. The Human Condition improves every time stakeholder balance is achieved and it declines every time an individual stakeholder wins at the expense of others.

Just as one of America’s great strengths is the balance of power between the three branches of government, the true strength of a company is in its willingness and ability to balance power in order to achieve optimal sustainable returns. To retain the authority to choose freely, we must accept the responsibility to choose well; this is the foundation on which Concero Global stands.