On Business Sustainability, Innovation and CSR

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From batteries powered by sweat to a 3D printed wind turbine - some wacky and wonderful innovations in renewable energy

From the Guardian.

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Out of the Dark is a charitable social enterprise that recycles, restores and revamps salvaged furniture as a means to train, educate and employ young people.

The charity's projects "are all about supporting young people achieve a better life and steer away from crime, and this project brings in the element of craft, DIY and work skills. Not to mention the development of self esteem and confidence."

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By making it possible to eat coffee cherries, startup Coffee Flour aims to reduce waste and create a new food source

"...coffee flour – a nutritious, gluten-free meal, made from coffee cherry, that can be baked into cookies, brownies, granola, candy corn and even chocolate. If coffee flour becomes a success, it could help solve an environmental problem, supplement the income of coffee farmers and deliver nutrition to a hungry world."

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Supporting Local Producers, Preventing Food Waste & Feeding People!

Innovative idea implemented in the US.  Check out the link for details.

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'The Birth of a New Ecosystem: India's Mandatory CSR Rule Becomes a Reality' blog post by Namrata Rana.

Under the new law taking effect from this week, companies in India are required to spend 2% of net profits on CSR activities.

According to Prof. Utkarsh Majmudar and Namrata Rana, "It is estimated that $3 billion of capital will be generated annually through the money spent by 16,000 companies on CSR. The Companies Act mandates CSR activities for both Indian companies and foreign companies registered in India. In addition, the new rule also requires involvement of senior level staff as well as mandatory disclosure of these activities and the creation of:

·   A CSR Committee;

·   Reporting details of all CSR initiatives undertaken by the company; and,

·   A CSR Policy that details which activities will be undertaken by the company and what budget will be spent on them."

While conceptually this might sound like a step forward in the social responsibility agenda, it is not faced without criticisms - both from the political right and the political left.

Some of these concerns have been expressed at: http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/mandatory_csr_in_india_a_bad_proposal

It might be too early yet to comment on whether the concerns will transpire and similarly the claimed positive results of the law still remains to be seen.

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As Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry's, turns 63, Brad Edmondson explains why the company is proof that profits and purpose can co-exist

I had no idea that Ben and Jerry's is owned by Unilever, nor that the founders - Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield - have not served on the boards of directors of the company since it's sale in 2000. Still, the legacy of Ben Cohen's commitment to positive business, in the form of the unique agreement he agreed with Unilever, continues to live on.

Today, Ben and Jerry's unique selling point is its support for local produce and ethical processes - and its ice creams, with its funny names, are tantalisingly tasty.  Well done and thank you, Mr Cohen and Mr Greenfield.

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Scandinavian countries are some of the world's happiest places to live. How is this impacting their social sector?

There is a word in Sweden for social entrepreneurs - 'stipster'.  'Stipster' meaning 'startup hipster' is an increasingly popular phenomenon in Sweden. According to one of the interviewees, "Social enterprises are exploding in Sweden...The internet burst has caused shorter communications between the user and buyer – it's more direct. Anyone can examine an organisation and their core values, which has forced companies to become more transparent and open, creating opportunities for social enterprises."

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Innovations that Improve Lives

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H&M joins the Business Call to Action to focus on skills and development training, better workplace conditions and social dialogue in countries like Bangladesh Sponsor's feature

Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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"Only five of the 27 global clothing brands linked to the Bangladesh factory that collapsed last year with the loss of 1,138 lives have committed to paying into a compensation fund for the victims."  - The Guardian.

For the brands that signed up to the Fund in the wake of the Rana Plaza accident and avoided reprimand but have not lived up to their commitments to date - what difference will it make on their income if they actually pay out to the Fund or not?

They did the responsible thing and stepped up when the spotlights were shining but with the razzle and dazzle of all the other things happening on stage and the similar pledges of retailers after retailers, who will remember who said what when the curtains are drawn?

Even with yesterday's reminder in the news, will consumers really stop shopping with those brands now?

With pockets still tight from the economic downturn, will people - myself included - really choose ethical consumerism over budget spending?

At the end of the day, in the ever more materialistic world, we want more tangible everythings to satisfy our hedonistic impulses and insatiable greed.  The feeling of doing good, by comparison, almost seems like bad value for money. 

I might be far from perfect but I can at least try to be less of a hypocrite after this.

Update on 20/03/14:  "Primark strikes deal with Bangladesh government and rights groups to pay £390 to injured workers and families of the dead"

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/rana-plaza-factory-disaster-victims-compensation-Bangladesh

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Chris McKnett discusses why ESG will be the next big thing and why it is in the interests of institutions to invest in it.

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Innovation. Innovation. Innovation. The buzzword that we can't really pinpoint. It's easy enough to say that a business has to be more innovative in their social responsibility agenda but what really does that entail? Here, the Guardian provides some examples of corporates that have identified and created business opportunities from looking to tackle systemic issues and global challenges such as harnessing smart energy. Perhaps not exactly what was intended, one thing I gleaned from this is the importance of targeting the business' community investment efforts at the broader picture - where the business can fit in in addressing global issues. While the results may not be as immediate as painting a school or building a path, the efforts could determine the future of our societies and economic activities. Not to say that we should reign in the feel good factors - painting schools are great and could be valuable to that individual school and it's immediate community - but just a reminder not to get complacent chasing regular feel-good fixes at the expense of bigger issues.

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Freedom Bakery

  There has been a lot of coverage over this new start-up in Glasgow in the past week.  The Guardian, STV and Evening Times have all ran articles about Matt Fountain and his novel ideal to start up a bakery to transform ex-offenders into bakers – see links below.

The idea as summarised by the Evening Times is that “on their release the ex-cons will be offered jobs in his Freedom Bakery, which he hopes to open in time for next year's Commonwealth Games”.

Matt, 26, who is from Dennistoun came up with the idea when an acquaintance of his repeatedly failed to secure a job after being released from jail. The aim of the artisan bakery according to Fountain is that “to engage with recently released ex-offenders, to give them some training – in this case bread-making – to help bring out some of the social skills and motivation skills they need to go on to further work”. 

What may become a success factor for this social enterprise, however, is that according to the Guardian only 65% of its profits will be reinvested back into the business and its social mission, with the rest being paid out in dividends to shareholders  – whom he forsees and hopes will be from the private sector rather than charitable/social funders.

As discussed in numerous articles, many social enterprise start ups fail because there is an imbalance between the passion to do good and the business acumen to make profit.  At the end of the day, social enterprises ought to be independently, financially sustainable if they want to continue their mission into the long run.

I, for one, am very excited about the Freedom Bakery and am so proud to have such a valuable cause grow from the roots of where I stay.  While ideas such as these are not new – see Second Chance Bakery and Dave’s Killer Bread bakery below – it’s inspiring to see this on our doorstep. I truly hope that this will become a scrumptious, success story. 

  The Guardian on Freedom Bakery: http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2014/feb/12/freedom-bakery-new-social-enterprise

Evening Times on Freedom Bakery: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/matt-bakes-up-a-novel-idea-to-help-offenders-140042n.22392223

STV on Freedom Bakery: http://glasgow.stv.tv/articles/262261-freedom-bakery-plans-to-get-ex-inmates-baking-to-break-re-offending-cycle/

Second Chance Bakery: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20750952,00.html

Dave’s Killer Bread: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/12/31/killer-bread-bakery-gives-ex-cons-a-fresh-start/

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February 14th. Valentine's Day. On a day when public displays of affection is seemingly encouraged, it only seems apt that I pick today to share with you my infatuation with Google and to kickstart a series of blogs on enterprises that have won me over by the good they do for the community.

  So let's start at my biggest crush.  

In the video “How BIG is Google”, YouTube user ColdfusTion takes a look at some of the projects embarked on by Google and demonstrates the diversity of these.

  From YouTube and Android to Google Glass and robotics, Google is much more than the search engine that many of us so readily depend on.  For example, did you know that in addition to its techy endeavours, Google also has a venture capital arm that identifies, invests in and supports entrepreneurial start-ups?

The more I read about Google, the more I am fascinated with the sheer scale of its projects, the creativeness and the corporate culture that makes the brand the hip and trendy name we’ve all come to know.

Partly as a result of its unconventional, laid-back work culture, Google is a highly popular company among graduates and job applicants.  According to KISSmetrics, Google receives over 2.5million applications a year – equivalent to about 6,849 per day and 5 per minute.  Although it’s unclear when the article was written, the general idea is that Google as a corporation doesn’t struggle to attract candidates.  I would wager that since the film The Internship (starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson), the number of applications have also risen. (If you haven’t seen the film yet, don’t be put off by the poor rating on IMDb and watch it now!)

For me, Google’s earns respect not only for pushing the boundaries, creating new ideas and changing perspectives, but also for the way it values its employees and social investment.

Taking the point about valuing employees: Google has been well recognised for giving employees time during work to embark on other projects or to try out new ideas.  The “20 percent time” as it is known was the first step to ideas such as Gmail.  Although there have been criticisms about the support employees receive from Google in these types of non-core projects in recent years (e.g. WIRED), Google has repeatedly maintained its claims that the “20 percent time” will not be killed off.

In terms of social investment, Project Loon (a project which “aims to bring internet access to everyone by creating an internet network of balloons flying through the stratosphere”) mentioned in ColdfusTion’s YouTube video is one example of Google’s attempt to better the world.  But there are many more.

As if I’m not already overwhelmed by the multitude of greatness that Google does, Google also has a dedicated charitable arm – Google.org.  According to Wikipedia, Google has committed over US$100 million in investments and grants, including three million shares during their initial public offering (IPO), as at May 2010. According to Google, it had donated "$100,000,000 in grants, 60,000 hours, $1 billion in products" via Google.org in 2013.

And in August 2013, Google “launched a new initiative to provide nonprofit organisations in the UK with free products, including up to £6,600 a month in advertising credit and free access to Google Apps” (Telegraph).  Google for Nonprofits, provides toolkits and support for charities to help them increase their impacts and efficiencies.

  I think that this could go on for a while if I continue so I’ll take this as a good place to stop the swooning.

  All in all, if you haven’t picked up the gist of it by now, Google as an enterprise fascinates me – a lot. As in ColdfusTion’s video, I just genuinely hope that Google will always remain sincere: to its users, to its staff, to its community and the world at large.