On 3 July 2025, the MMU Sustainability Development Committee successfully organised an insightful international webinar titled “Beyond Profit: Impacting Lives, Inspiring Environmental Action, Creating Social Value.” The session convened participants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and beyond to explore how businesses can be a force for good balancing purpose, people, planet, and profit.
The webinar featured three distinguished speakers from Malaysia and Indonesia, each offering unique insights into how companies and entrepreneurs can drive sustainable change and create social value.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ong Jeen Wei from MMU highlighted that profit remains the foundation for businesses. However, aligning profit with strong and authentic purpose, often rooted in the founder’s personal values, is what elevates a business from being purely commercial to socially oriented.
Dr. Ir. Arif Wismadi from Universitas Islam Indonesia enlightened the audience about impact investing strategies, focused on inventive problem-solving or TRIZ principles to achieve SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production. He showcased applications of TRIZ within the sustainability and circular economy contexts, such as cleaner production, regenerative designs, smart community development, and closed-loop systems that minimise reliance on new resources.
Dr. Radityo Handrito from Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia underscored the need to delve deeper into the psychological aspects of individuals, which shape their intentions to become social entrepreneurs. These include internal locus of control, need for power, and motives of individuals to address social, economic, or environmental challenges, such as fostering inclusive growth and environmental conservation through social ventures. Notably, he introduced the cultural dimension of riya (i.e., seeking social recognition) as a factor that may undermine sincerity in social ventures, a finding with deep implications for youth empowerment in Southeast Asia.
Throughout the webinar, participants engaged actively in Q&A sessions, discussing how business models can be designed to prioritise not only profitability but also social impact, cultural sensitivity, and environmental responsibility.
This session supports several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals).
