A dictionary definition of the word integrate is “to make or be made into a whole.” In the field of corporate sustainability, integration is arguably the holy grail; a moment when we can truly say that sustainability has been made one with the business. How close, or how far away we are from this is one of the key highlights of our seventh annual BSR/GlobeScan State of Sustainable Business Survey 2015, released today. Our survey of more than 400 business … “We Are Not Yet Whole: Integrating Sustainability Into The Core Of The Business”
Chris Coulter, GlobeScan’s Co-CEO, and I recently participated in the Sustainable Brands Rio 2015 conference. We opened the first morning of the conference by facilitating a workshop to discuss transparency, trust and leadership with an engaging audience of more than 40 participants from companies such as Itaú Unibanco, BG Brasil, SC Johnson, C&A, HP, and Wal-Mart, among others. As a starting point for the debate, Chris presented the results of recent research studies conducted by GlobeScan, which revealed that the … “Introducing The Concept of “Thick Trust” To A Brazilian Audience”
This is the final blog post of a series of three focusing on the financial services sector seven years on from the financial crisis. After quantifying the loss of public trust in banks and financial institutions and exploring how the industry has lost touch with its societal role in different parts of the world, we are now completing this series by looking for lessons from other sectors on how the financial services industry can improve its CSR performance and build … “Seven Years On From The Financial Crisis: Building Pathways To Trust And Reputation”
Join us and BSR for a special, public webinar on Wednesday, September 30th @ 11am New York / 8am San Francisco to launch the results of our seventh annual “State of Sustainable Business” survey, which provides a window into key trends in corporate practices and perspectives of leading companies on the successes and challenges in advancing sustainability. This year’s survey offers unique insights on how companies are implementing sustainability goals, strengthening business resilience, and contributing to global development and climate change agendas. We … “Upcoming Webinar: BSR/GlobeScan State of Sustainable Business Survey 2015”
In our first blog post in this series, we looked at concerns about trust and confidence in banks and financial institutions showing no signs of diminishing more than seven years on from the financial crisis. In this blog we’ll explore how the industry has lost touch with its societal role in different parts of the world. For nearly 15 years, GlobeScan has been tracking global public opinion of how well the financial services sector fulfils its responsibilities to society. The … “Seven Years On From The Financial Crisis: Optimism in Africa but CSR Ratings Deficit Elsewhere”
Last month, GlobeScan held its second annual roundtable discussion on stakeholder engagement in Johannesburg. Corporate Affairs, Stakeholder and Government Relations leaders at a number of leading South African companies attended the workshop. A good cross-section of industry sectors was present which made for a lively and very informative discussion. Anneke Greyling, GlobeScan’s Country Director for South Africa, opened proceedings with a discussion of the business case for stakeholder engagement and some of the challenges companies commonly face in building an … “Building Effective Stakeholder Intelligence and Engagement Strategies”
Each year, donors around the world spend over US$200 billion in aid for emergency response and global development. They do this with the intention of improving the lives of individuals and communities suffering from abject poverty, food insecurity, poor health, violations of their human rights, violent conflict, or natural disaster. Yet despite the commendable efforts of the global community, there are still millions of people around the world that remain vulnerable. In a recent blog called Managing Confirmation Bias in … “Letting People Speak: Tales of Traveling Through India to Listen to the Poor”
The Challenge of Confirmation Bias People tend to confirm their beliefs by seeking out information that aligns with how they see the world and disregard and devalue information that contradicts their view. This cognitive phenomenon, called the confirmation bias1, is an information processing error that causes the mind to become narrow and rigid in its awareness, creativity, and foresight. Combined with our inherent tendency to be overconfident in our estimates2 and excessively optimistic about outcomes3, this narrow frame of mind is … “Managing Confirmation Bias in Stakeholder Engagement”
A few weeks ago, we at GlobeScan successfully facilitated our first collaboration forum in Brazil for the beverage company Brasil Kirin. This online dialogue brought together stakeholders and experts from all regions of the country to talk about the material issues facing the company, understand the different perspectives and priorities of each stakeholder group, and to help set strategic priorities for the coming years. Brasil Kirin first developed its materiality matrix in 2013 and will now use the results of … “Brazilian Dialogue to Discuss Materiality: Our Latest Collaboration Forum”
In a new article in The Cornerstone Journal of Sustainable Finance & Banking, I note that trust is “strategically important” to organizations—and once lost, extremely difficult to recapture. Trust in financial institutions, while deeply negative in many regions, is still quite high in Africa— suggesting a compelling opportunity for the banking sector to play a meaningful role in continued development on that continent. While an Executive Summary of the Journal is available to read free of charge, you will need to … “Profiting from Trust – Opportunities to (Re-) Define a Positive Social Role For Financial Institutions”