The Economics of Mutuality Explained

The Economics of Mutuality is a groundbreaking management and investment innovation based on fifteen years of in-depth academic research and business practice led by Mars Inc. and Oxford University’s Saïd Business School.

It empowers organizations to adopt a fair and purposeful form of capitalism that performs better than the purely financial version operating today. Its robust methodology and cutting-edge tools transform business at the core – going beyond peripheral approaches such as CSR and ESG that are driven by compliance.

Three key ideas lie behind the Economics of Mutuality:

1. The primacy of purpose in driving strategy and business decisions.

2. The power of orchestrating ecosystems at business unit level around purpose to mobilize untapped external resources.

3. The importance of enhancing performance management across multiple forms of capital — social, human, natural and shared financial — to drive holistic value creation.

If these ideas are to be implemented within an organization, four key management shifts must take place. Click the button below to explore the necessary transformations.

Economics of Mutuality Platform

Purpose: Completing Capitalism — Transforming the Economic System by Creating a Mutuality of Benefits Among All Stakeholders.

In 2020, recognizing the Economics of Mutuality’s potential to reshape the landscape of business, finance, management education, and policymaking, Mars established a structurally independent public interest foundation with a management consultancy arm.

Today, we operate this platform globally from Maison de la Paix in Geneva, Switzerland with offices in Washington, D.C., United States; Brussels, Belgium; and Hong Kong, China.

EoM Foundation owns EoM Solutions and benefits from the data and revenue collected through the subsidiary’s commercial business activities. In turn, EoM Solutions benefits from the foundation’s networks and theoretical insight.

How the Methodology Works

The Economics of Mutuality offers a practical five-step iterative process to unlock impact, innovation, and value creation benefits:

1. Choose a “meaningful challenge” as a purpose

2. Map the ecosystem around the purpose

3. Select a small number of strategic pain points in the ecosystem (those most relevant to the purpose and the capabilities of the organisation)

4. Design the right interventions (or prioritise existing ones) to address them

5. Use the right metrics to track performance

The methodology empowers companies to outperform by investing in social, human, and natural capital within the ecosystems in which they operate – and to benefit from enhanced returns.

Join the Global Movement

To remain relevant and thrive in our changing world, business and finance must transform. For too long, companies have embraced shareholder primacy, which has proven ill-equipped to deal with the global challenges and opportunities presented by society and the environment in the 21st century.

We are at a stage now where the financial form of capitalism has become a source of inefficiency and value destruction. Our vision is to see an economy where finance serves business and business serves society and the environment. All too often, the system operates the other way around.

Driving change is impossible for one organization alone. Groundbreaking collaboration and co-creation across geographies, generations and sectors is necessary. That is why we need your help to transform the status quo. To hear about upcoming opportunities to participate and contribute, sign up for the EoM Briefing.