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A quiet but profound shift is underway in how we define the human beings at the center of enterprise, economics, and sustainability. For over a century, economic theory and business practice have operated under the tacit anthropological model of Homo economicus—the rational, self-interested agent optimizing for utility and personal gain. This model has shaped everything from incentive structures to organizational hierarchies and national policy. But its limits are now widely acknowledged, particularly by sustainability leaders tasked with translating complex moral imperatives into actionable enterprise strategies.

What emerges in its place is a richer, more credible human archetype: Homo dignus, the dignified human being. Though still relatively new in name within corporate leadership circles, the idea draws from decades of reflection, critique, and innovation across leadership studies, economics, human rights law, and systems design.

Who is Homo dignus?

Homo dignus stands on the premise that human beings are not merely agents of consumption and preference but bearers of intrinsic worth, moral agency, and shared vulnerability. Transcending market roles and cultural divisions, these qualities become more important in a world increasingly on fire. 

The term Homo dignus has been explored in depth by European scholars, Ard Jan Biemond and Paul van Geest, whose work links the dignity-centered anthropology of Christian patristics and Renaissance humanism to contemporary critiques of reductionist economic theory. In papers such as “From Homo Economicus to Homo Dignus” (van Geest, 2022) and “Homo Dignus: A Dignified View of Human Nature for Economics?” (Biemond & Commandeur, 2025), they argue that economic and institutional design must be grounded in an anthropology that honors the full moral stature of the person. Their work is not nostalgic. Instead, it is constructive, seeking to restore dignity from ornamentation to a systemic principle of coordination and justice.

How are SR Inc Member-Clients Leading with Digity?

While Homo dignus never be a banner headline in the corporate sustainability world, the instinct it names alread, often implicitly, shapes practice across many of SR Inc’s most thoughtful and experienced member-clients. 

• Autodesk, a global leader in sustainable design technologies, increasingly embeds human-centered design principles into its empowerment of architects, engineers, and builders. The company’s efforts to democratize design tools, promote environmental justice in urban planning, and encourage ethical foresight in AI and automation vividly illustrate a design-for-dignity ethos. Autodesk’s sustainability vision explicitly values the communities and lives impacted by the built environments their customers create.
• At Biogen, the sustainability team’s long-standing emphasis on patient-centered innovation and inclusive research ethics consistently orients the company’s purpose around protecting the dignity of vulnerable populations. Biogen’s focus on Alzheimer’s and neurodegenerative diseases demonstrates a commitment to scientific excellence and human dignity. Their discourse on quality of life, clinical trial inclusion, and patient experience evidences that priority.
• At Capital One, more recent sustainability and DEI efforts include shifting internal communications language from demographic targets or abstract equity terms toward narratives of shared respect, voice, and moral belonging, which resonate in more human terms. The reframing toward dignity has proven more unifying, particularly in a climate where stakeholder trust is fragile and essential.
• At Cisco, one of SR Inc’s longest-standing member-clients, a sustained focus on trust, human-centered innovation, and inclusion has created an enterprise culture where dignity is operational, not abstract. In internal leadership development, team dynamics, and stakeholder relationships, Cisco increasingly emphasizes purpose and respect as foundational to sustainable success.
• Synopsys, a precision-driven innovator in semiconductors and security, has built a leadership culture that increasingly recognizes the centrality of psychological safety, ethical responsibility, and team empowerment. Its commitments to employee well-being, inclusive hiring, and ethical tech usage demonstrate that technical excellence is inseparable from honoring the dignity of those who build and are affected by its systems.
• At Takeda, a Japan-headquartered biopharma leader with a deeply humanistic legacy spanning more than 250 years, dignity is embedded into the core leadership values. In its global health equity work (particularly around vaccine access, rare diseases, and health systems strengthening), Takeda has demonstrated not only scientific commitment but moral purpose. Its approach affirms that the dignity of patients, partners, and underserved communities should shape investment decisions, partnerships, and innovation strategy alike.
• Finally, Workhuman, an unusually thoughtful leader among SR Inc’s dozens of globally scaling, software-driven member-clients, has built an entire platform on affirming human dignity. Their peer recognition systems, cultural diagnostics, and Human Workplace Index are all structured around the premise that recognition, belonging, and human value are essential drivers of sustainable enterprise performance. They aren’t building software to track people. They build systems that acknowledge them.

The language of dignity carries potential for bridging cultural and political divides. Directors of Corporate Sustainability often face resistance to climate and DEI initiatives in environments skeptical of regulatory language or identity-based advocacy. In these cases, dignity’s ability to resonate with the moral instincts of communities shaped by faith, tradition, and civic identity offers a deeper and more enduring bridge. Appealing to human dignity–of workers, of the unborn, of the elderly, and even of the land itself–has long roots in cultures of responsibility. Dignity affirms without antagonizing; it expands rather than fragments.

Announcing SR Inc’s First Book: Dignity-First Leadership

SR Inc believes this reframing is timely and essential. Our commitment manifests in the upcoming publication of our first book: “Dignity First Leadership: Developing & Driving a World-Class Sustainability Strategy.” Coming this fall, the book reflects learnings and insights we’ve learned over 15 years of advising Directors of Corporate Sustainability at scores of the world’s best-run companies. It highlights the work of key thinkers in this movement, beginning with Dr. Donna Hicks, whose groundbreaking 2017 book “Leading with Dignity” has become increasingly foundational in leadership discourse, and her great friend  Michael Pirson of Fordham’s Gabelli School of Business, whose acedmically rigorous 2018 book “Humanistic Management” and founding of the International Humanistic Management Association have helped reintroduce moral clarity into management science, globally. 

All profits from the book will be donated to SR Inc.’s 501c3 educational nonprofit Sustainable Leadership Foundation. The Foundation supports direct action, including the Commonwealth Climate Coalition’s monthly convenings of top public and private leaders accelerating Massachusetts toward 100% clean electricity by 2040.

Dignity’s role in a world-class corporate sustainability strategy

The phrase Homo dignus is very unlikely to appear in ESG reports or boardroom dashboards. But its spirit—dignity as the moral core of sustainability strategy—is gaining ground. From employee engagement surveys centered on voice and fairness to procurement policies emphasizing human rights to AI ethics teams grappling with algorithmic bias, the guiding question becomes: Does this decision honor the dignity of those it affects?

As sustainability professionals, we are not just managing emissions or reporting frameworks. We work to design futures. And the future of sustainability—real, durable, and trusted—will not be built on compliance alone. It will be built on dignity as a design principle: dignity of work, dignity of place, dignity of difference, and the dignity of all sustainability practitioners. 

Homo dignus may be in its first steps. But the ground beneath its feet is firm—anchored in centuries of moral thought, decades of systemic critique, and the rising clarity that only by honoring human dignity can complex systems truly cohere. We need this insight, not as a sentiment but as a strategic foundation.

Homo dignus defines the next chapter of credible, resilient corporate leadership in a world on fire.