On the night before departing for Russia (23rd Nov), Mr Cable was speaking at a dinner for business leaders in London and took to opportunity to urge the adoption of "more responsible capitalism". Mr Cable was quoted widely in the British press, stressing his belief that, "in most cases, the interests of profit, and responsibility themes such as sustainability and fair treatment of workers, are in no way opposed."

Central to Mr Cable's preferred approach of "responsible capitalism" are the abilities of businesses to take a long-term view of their activities, demonstrate strong leadership and good management in difficult times, invest in staff, and conduct ethical behaviour. Cable highlighted 'short-termism' as a particular enemy of responsible business, contributing to speculation and economic imbalance:

"Throughout the economy, great damage has been done by speculating on a short-term bubble in property values rather than investing in economic production."

Mr Cable's brand of "responsible capitalism" is rooted in the 'stakeholder theory' of business that emerged in the 1970s. Klaus Schwab, CEO of World Economic Forum, is an enthusiastic proponent of this approach to business, and in an article entitled 'Global Corporate Citizenship: Working with Governments and Civil Society' published in Foreign Affairs over two years ago (Jan, 2008), Mr Schwab urged a similar line to Mr Cable:

"Corporate social responsibility... involves how a corporation responds to the expectations of its stakeholders--the wide community of all the organizations and individuals that are in any way affected by or interested in its actions: shareholders, owners, investors, employees, suppliers, clients, consumers--while trying to increase the company's value. Corporate social responsibility means addressing the wider financial, environmental, and social impact of all that a company does. It entails minimizing the negative effects of the actions of a company and maximizing the positive ones on stakeholders as well as on the communities in which the enterprise operates and the governments with which it must work."

In his Tuesday night speech, Mr Cable encouraged business leaders to appreciate the mutual benefits of a responsible approach:

"Responsibility is not just some sort of badge that companies can wear to indicate that they care, but should be an intrinsic part of their strategy. Profit matters, but short-term profit pursued at the expense of everything else is self-defeating."

Whether Mr Cable will deliver this message on his visit to Russia remains to be seen. Despite Russia's heritage of planned economies - single factories/industries supporting whole communities - sharing characteristics with the model of stakeholder business, received wisdom is that the country lags Europe in the practice of corporate social responsibility. It's hard to dispute the wisdom of Mr Cable's message, and while Britain - position 12 - leads Russia - position 63 - in the World Economic Forum 2010-2011 Global Competitiveness Index, it would be wise for Russian businesses to take heed.