Business must back shift away from consumer culture

For years, Hong Kong has debated the idea of requiring listed companies to report their financial results on a quarterly rather than half-yearly basis. The argument is that this would improve transparency. However, there are fears that it could encourage a short-term business mentality and ultimately excessive consumerism.

Shareholders pressure company managements to keep reporting bigger sales and higher profits. Executives who want to keep their jobs think up new ways to satisfy them. Typically, in consumer industries, they focus on getting more products onto the market, and convincing us to buy them.

Most of us play along. In my case, it's gadgets: I've lost count of how many Blackberries and iPhones I have bought to keep up with the latest features. For decades, every major carmaker has produced similar, frequently revised models. Look at all the types of toothpaste in your local supermarket: we are bombarded with an unnecessary choice of overlapping products.

From a commercial point of view, it is becoming counterproductive. US household products giant Proctor & Gamble recently announced that it will cut up to 100 makes of soap powder, shampoo, shaving products and other items from its range. The company's management decided that consumers have more choice than they want.

It is also a serious waste of resources.

One of the first household goods companies to start cutting overlapping products was Europe's Unilever. The chief executive, Paul Polman, has a reputation for asking big questions about capitalism, consumption and the role of companies in the world.