The true and authentic value of a business to society is creating products and services and not about making profits.

This is particularly true today because the actual epicentre of innovation has shifted from individual researchers and scientific laboratories to enterprises, a perspective that also echoes with the position of thought leaders at the recent “Oracle Open World.”

The role of lead innovator comes with huge responsibility, and along with it, an opportunity to develop creative ideas for improvement and advancement. That is, progress that looks beyond narrow interests and short-termism towards the greater good.

The question then is: how can we integrate the quest of such progress within the organizational framework? In my opinion, there are three ways. That is, (a) by innovating with products and processes, (b) by designing new and better customer experiences, and (c) by reinventing business models.

For example, think about how technology innovation in the form of a mobile banking platform has offered financial access to the huge, previously unbanked populations in the developing world. Or, consider how advances in intelligent healthcare systems have made it possible to provide remote care to geriatric patients. And finally, let’s take the example of the “Global Delivery Model” which has been influential in developing entire regions in the emerging world into hubs of innovation, generating new employment opportunities for many young people while providing unmatched business advantage to businesses in the developed economies.

The above ideas stick out not only for the observable benefits they gain for the parent company, but also for the role they play in the local community, sustainability and society as a whole.

What is astonishing is that time and again organizations do not recognise and appreciate the importance of those moments, which will eventually continue to create history. They fail to recognise a “not-so-obvious” breakthrough for what it is: a small but major building block of not just business growth, but profound and pervasive progress.

Thus far, such progress has certainly been an unexpected outcome of business. It is time it became the fundamental reason to stay alive in business.