Metropolis magazine features the humanitarian efforts of Tufenkian, Designtex, IKEA and Philips, in the article “Doing Well by Doing Good.”
“Doing Well by Doing Good”
They may be driven by the best of intentions or sense unique marketing opportunities. But companies large and small are discovering that undertaking socially responsible initiatives – being part of the solution – can have a positive effect on the bottom line.
Tufenkian:
The company’s facilities for worker welfare are supported by a percentage of the purchase price of its products, amounting to $300,000 a year.
After graduating from law school in the 1980s, James Tufenkian had a plan. He would make as much money as possible as fast as he could and then spend the rest of his life making the world better. On a trip to Nepal in 1986, he met Tsetan Gyurman, a master weaver from Tibet who had been exiled from his homeland, and the two men formed a business partnership that gave birth to Tufenkian Artisan carpets. Three or four years in, however, Tufenkian had to re-adjust the plan. He wasn’t making enough money to fund his social initiatives and didn’t want to put them off any longer.
“We realized there was a lot that we could do within our own operations,” Tufenkian says, referring to his facilities in Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley. “It started with basic things that we could do quickly—shelter, food, clean water for the workers. And then it grew quickly into medical services. The Montessori school we started about fifteen years ago had fifteen kids. Now there are about 600 students.”
In 1993, he traveled to Armenia, his ancestral homeland. The former Soviet republic was in the midst of an economic collapse, but Tufenkian spotted an opportunity. “They had great wool, and they had people who know how to weave carpets,” he says. “I thought that was enough to build on, so I started up the operations.” That initiative employs about a thousand women in different parts of the country. His work in Armenia now includes a foundation, a chain of boutique hotels, and a food-preservative company—all of which focus on channeling profits for social good.
In fact, profit is the engine that drives everything. Tufenkian has hardheaded advice for anyone interested in following in his footsteps: “A lot of people who have the mindset and the heart to do socially responsible work put that first. But you have to make money or you can’t do this stuff. You have to start with the making-money part and make sure you’ve got that down. Then just never lose that sense of the importance that it has to contribute to something better.” —Martin C. Pedersen
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