Deloitte released a survey last month after interviewing close to 5,000 Millennials – defined as those born after 1982 with a degree and full-time employment – across 18 countries to understand what their views are on business and innovation in society.
The survey reveals that 78 percent of Millennials believe innovation is essential for business growth. Half of the respondents say that business success should be measured in terms of “how innovative they are”. In addition to that, 87 percent agreed that a business success should be measured by more than just financial performance.
In fact, Millennials say the number one purpose of a business is to improve society (36%), followed by generating profit (35%) and driving innovation (33%).
Interestingly, South Korea, which continues to foster the development of social enterprises through legislation and government schemes, is the only country in the survey where less than half feel their company’s activity “benefits society in some way”.
In regards to what innovation from business achieve, 71 percent believe they help to improve society. Innovation from business is highly regarded, with only 12 percent believing they have a negative impact on society.
Millennials think the top three challenges facing society in the next 20 years are resource scarcity (34%), inflation (32%), and aging populations/demographic shift (28%). The top three challenges Millennials think require the attention of business are environmental challenges (24%), inequality (23%), and skill and resource shortage (16%).
When asked who drives innovation, 45 percent mention business, followed by government at 18 percent. Moreover, Millennials rank the public sector to be in most need of innovation.
A convincing 95 percent say that it is acceptable for business to make a profit from an innovation that “benefits society”.