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”
More than seven years on from the financial crisis, concerns about trust and confidence in banks and financial institutions show no sign of diminishing. With the latest series of scandals, allegations and billion-dollar fines, questions are being asked about whether the industry has learnt any lessons. As regulators call on banks to ‘raise their game’ to regain the public’s trust, we ask what can be learnt from our public opinion and stakeholder research about the roots of distrust, the opportunities … “Seven Years On From The Financial Crisis: Trust In Banks Remains At All Time Low”
Most would agree that some corporate giants have taken great strides toward sustainability in recent years. But experts in the field still cite too few companies doing so. Instead, our latest GlobeScan/SustainAbility Leadership survey finds that experts believe that other non-governmental actors have been driving the sustainable development agenda since the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. The business sector is not seen as the driver, with few exceptions. What, if anything, can we learn from those few companies that … “Who are the Sustainability Leaders (Besides Unilever)?”
M&S Stakeholder Transparency Study Highlights This is the last blog post of a series of three uncovering key insights from the recent stakeholder study on transparency that GlobeScan conducted for Marks & Spencer (M&S). After defining what corporate transparency really means and assessing the state of corporate performance in this area, we are now closing our blog series with a deep dive into M&S’ response to the survey findings. Here are three ways in which M&S is using stakeholder feedback … “Three Ways M&S Is Improving Its Transparency”
2015 marks nearly two decades worth of the tracking and analysis of the evolution of the sustainability agenda, and of the leaders and institutions most responsible for driving it forward. This 2015 Sustainability Leaders, a GlobeScan/SustainAbility Survey, provides an overview of perceived corporate sustainability leaders from 1997 to 2015 and the perceived progress that various institutions have made since the Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, along with expectations for the next 20 years. The infographic (PDF … “Infographic: The 2015 Sustainability Leaders”
Following our first blog post in which we drew on the Marks & Spencer (M&S) Stakeholder Transparency Study findings to define what transparency really is, we are now delving deeper into the stakeholder findings to assess how transparent large companies are perceived to be today. There is a strong business case for corporate transparency. Benefits of transparency clearly outweigh the risks. When asked to list them, online survey respondents cited nearly one-third more benefits than risks. In today’s wired world, … “M&S Stakeholder Transparency Study Highlights: How Transparent are Global Companies Today?”
We recently had the opportunity to conduct a stakeholder study on transparency for the Plan A team at Marks & Spencer (M&S). Combining an online survey with global stakeholders and a series of in-depth interviews with a selected group of experts, the study aimed to identify stakeholder expectations on transparency and help M&S prioritise its transparency efforts. In this first of a series of three short blogposts, we are drawing on the survey findings to define the notion of transparency. … “M&S Stakeholder Transparency Study Highlights: Corporate Transparency Defined”