People, Planet, Profit – The UNIVA CAPITAL Way

“A large chair does not make a king.” - Sudanese proverb

It is unlikely you will find UNIVA CAPITAL Group, Inc. (UCG) featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. It is equally unlikely that UCG will be included in an upcoming Forbes’ Fortune 500 listing. But let there be no doubt, UNIVA CAPITAL is an exceptional company led by a visionary leader.

Most businesses, be they large or small, are driven almost exclusively with a single goal in mind: maximize profit! Maximizing profit, historically, has been at the heart of nearly every action taken or initiative pursued by corporate leaders.

The world is full of uncertainty: COVID, the war in Ukraine, climate change, social injustice, etc. Today, a growing number of business leaders recognize the importance of social issues as they fashion their corporate visions and action plans. Questions rarely heard before in corporate boardrooms are becoming commonplace: How can we help society at large? What are we doing to support planet sustainability? How does this decision affect our employees?

Nearly 30-years ago, British author John Elkington formulated the Triple Bottom Line theory. The Triple Bottom Line (TBL) theory asserts that companies should commit to measuring their social and environmental impact rather than solely focusing on generating profit. The theory is neatly summarized by the 3Ps: People, Planet, and Profit.

Much to Elkington’s chagrin, overwhelmingly, TBL has morphed into a self-serving accounting tool manipulated by large corporations to disingenuously publicize their commitment to social causes. Elkington laments TBL’s overarching aim, to provoke deep thinking by business leaders about how capitalism could evolve into a more positive force in the world (transformational capitalism), has been completely lost.

While UNIVA CAPITAL Group may lack world class spreadsheet manipulators and multi-million-dollar marketing departments tasked to exaggerate the company’s social contributions, UCG does have a world class leader willing to make the difficult choices Elkington originally envisioned. Years before Russian missiles began raining down on the Ukraine, UCG was a dedicated supporter of Peace One Day. In the testosterone driven world of Japanese business, the ultimate “Men’s Club”, Shuji Inaba, Chairman and Group CEO, UNIVA CAPITAL Group, named a Filipino American woman to lead the company’s largest US subsidiary. When the path to financial growth for Naturally Plus pointed directly to the matured markets of Europe, Mr. Inaba decided ASEAN countries where a better alternative; he felt citizens of ASEAN countries could most benefit from health and wellness products made of the finest quality ingredients. Each decision defied accepted business logic. Of course, it didn’t matter to Mr. Inaba: Doing the right thing was always the right thing to do!

Mr. Inaba’s speeches often discuss his vision of “Capitalism based on Co-Creation”. He talks about “Win-Win-Win” scenarios; and speaks passionately about creating a social networking business that unites people the world-over.

No, you won’t find UNIVA CAPITAL featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal; nor will UNIVA CAPITAL be included in Forbes 2023 Fortune 500 listing; but under the leadership of Shuji Inaba, UNIVA CAPITAL Group is one of the few companies fulfilling John Elkington’s 3Ps vision: People, Planet, and Profit. UNIVA CAPITAL Group – Leading where it matters most!

UNIVA CAPITAL Group, Inc. Director
Jamie A. Karp