Why Bhutan?

Tucked up high in the Himalaya and occupying the mountain valleys between China to the north and India to the south, Bhutan is a small, Himalayan kingdom that boasts pristine mountain wilderness, untouched virgin forests, a rich and colourful culture and a way of thinking unlike anywhere else in the world. Bhutan is a country steeped in tradition and Buddhist values and despite periods of great change, has successfully managed to preserve much of its ancient culture. However it is also remarkably forward-thinking. 

​

Gross National Happiness
In 1972, many years before the rest of the world was even thinking about it, Bhutan introduced a development philosophy of Gross National Happiness, introduced by His Majesty Jigme Singye Wangchuck the Fourth King of Bhutan who famously proclaimed,“In Bhutan, Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.”

​

GNH promotes a balanced and sustainable approach to development. While not opposed to economic progress, the philosophy of GNH refutes the idea that the pursuit of economic prosperity should be the only end goal. Instead GNH proposes an inclusive, equitable, and balanced development approach to societal wellbeing. And also to business. At a time when many thinkers have begun questioning the viability and sustainability of current business systems and are looking for a third way between capitalism and well-being, Bhutan offers the world something unique. 
 
Gross National Happiness for Business 
In 2015, the then Prime Minister of Bhutan proposed the idea of incorporating GNH values into business. Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, understood early on that the current business model of maximising profit and increasing shareholder value at the cost of everything else was unsustainable. GNH for Business was therefore designed to integrate GNH values into business operations, measuring the success of a business by its ability to create shared value for all stakeholders across the  business pipeline.   

In order to do so, Bhutan has developed an assessment tool for integrating GNH into business, using a set of indicators adapted from the GNH model. Since this time, the world has seen more businesses powered by purpose and not profit alone.  Purpose-driven businesses are emerging as strong, successful entities where shared value is not coming at the expense of profit but rather as a major contributor to it.