The podcast dedicated to stories of innovation, and those leading the way to responsible business.
Listen to how others are winning when doubling down on brand activism, the environment, and social causes.
Purpose driven brands are the future.
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David Grayson is Emeritus Professor of Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management. He is also chair of the Institute of Business Ethics and of the international disability charity Leonard Cheshire. He has advised businesses and Corporate Responsibility coalitions around the world.
Mark Lee is the Director of the SustainAbility Institute by ERM and an ERM Partner. Mark sits on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Brands and the Senior Advisory Board of the Centre for Responsible Business at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. He is based in California.
Chris Coulter is the CEO of GlobeScan, an international insights and advisory consultancy. He is also the Chair of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility and a member of several corporate sustainability advisory boards, including B Lab’s Multinational Standards Advisory Council.
15 years directing creative campaigns and growing corporate bottom lines — with strategic marketing and by crafting engaging narratives. In January 2021, he exited his executive-marketing role for a 1B FinTech unicorn, to launch a boutique marketing agency. Agency clients are thought-leaders and innovators, who are wanting to take their brand to the next level with creative content, story-based campaigns, and digital marketing.
Recognized for his work in sustainability, Philip believes purpose-driven brands are the future; he says when doubling down on brand activism, the environment, and social causes, everyone wins.
IKEA → Alex Castro Pérez: Creating a Clean Energy Movement
Friday, June 10, 2022 • Duration 40:45
Alex Castro Pérez is currently heading IKEA Home Solar & Energy Services, the business unit on a mission to accelerate the global transition to affordable clean energy. He also leads sustainable innovation & corporate business development, related strategic investments and partnerships.
Before joining IKEA, Alex headed global functions across R&D, Engineering and Supply Chain for leading multinationals in the Food Processing & Packaging, Medical Device, and Automotive industries. His experience also includes seeding and advising start-ups in different sectors.
In this episode the following topics are discussed:
Sustainability and innovation
Why is IKEA in the market of residential solar
The better everyday life for the people
People and planet positive
Climate action starts at home
Soft cost acquisition in home solar
Systemized and make the customer journey more simple when buying solar
Automize the buying process with transparency and engagement
Breadth and depth of understanding life at home and the solution of helping people lead a more sustainable life
Pricing with transparency
Installation booking made simple and un-intrusive
Why do people buy solar?
Creating a clean energy movement
IKEA’s energy goals for 2030 — becoming climate positive
The IKEA LED story
The IKEA work culture
About the Ingka Group:
Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. It is the world’s largest home furnishing retailer operating 367 IKEA stores in 30 markets. These IKEA stores had 830 million visits last year and 2.35 billion visits www.IKEA.com. Ingka Group operates business under the IKEA vision, to create a better everyday life for the many people by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.
Future-Fit → Geoff Kendall: Connecting Sustainabilty Performance to Investment Attractiveness
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 • Duration 38:52
Dr Geoff Kendall is an entrepreneur whose experience spans sustainability consulting, high-tech startups, corporate communications and academic research.
Geoff holds a PhD in artificial intelligence, and has co-founded two software businesses. The second of these was acquired by a global technology company, where Geoff went on to serve as marketing director for three years.
Geoff switched careers in 2010, joining London-based think-tank SustainAbility, and for four years he led the communications team and advised some of the world’s biggest corporations on sustainable business models. In so doing he realised that there was no reliable way to measure how sustainable a company is now, and how much more it needs to do, and he wanted to fix that. So in early 2014 Geoff left to set up Future-Fit Foundation.
In this episode, the following topics are discussed:
The Industrial Revolution and the past 250 years
The Wealth of Nations — makes economic assumptions — that infinite growth is possible
Infinite growth is not possible or desirable
Growth vs. Sustainability
Defining growth
The good side of GDP
Future Fit — the need to have a clear destination when setting sustainability goals
Karl-Henrik Robert — the rules of the game that humans can flourish
Business can only thrive if society as a whole flourishes
Investment banking and the natural environment
Indexes are missing necessary factors across sectors
Some sectors have systematic problems
We must get beyond assessment as defined by reporting mechanisms
Future Fit is a management tool to assess progress
450 pages of guidance to map and track
Disconnect in terms of what companies provide and what investors want — does a rating tell an investor anything meaningful?
Trajectory — and credible story
The bell curve of companies on the sustainability path
Security of supply
Companies that is paying attention and reducing impact — it is indicative of a better management team — resulting in better financial performance
All In’ → David Grayson (Author): 5 Steps to Corporate Sustainability
Sunday, June 17, 2018 • Duration 32:52
David is Emeritus Professor of Corporate Responsibility. From 2007-2017, he was director of the Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility and Professor of Corporate Responsibility.
He joined Cranfield in April 2007, after a thirty year career as a social entrepreneur and campaigner for responsible business, diversity, and small business development. This included founding Project North East which has now worked in nearly 60 countries around the world; being the founding CEO of the Prince's Youth Business Trust and serving as a managing-director of Business in the Community.
David has an Honorary Doctorate of Law from London South Bank University and was a visiting Senior Fellow at the CSR Initiative of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard (2005-10).
He has served on various charity and public sector boards over the past 30 years. These have included the boards of the National Co-operative Development Agency, The Prince of Wales' Innovation Trust and the Strategic Rail Authority.
He chaired the National Disability Council and the Business Link Accreditation Board; in each case appointed by the Major Government and re-appointed by the Blair administration.
He is currently chairman of the national charity Carers UK championing the role of 6.5million Britons caring for a loved one. He is a former chairman of one of the UK's larger social enterprises and largest eldercare providers, Housing & Care 21 during which the organisation made corporate history by becoming the first-ever not-for-profit successfully to acquire a publicly quoted group of companies. David received an OBE for services to industry in 1994 and a CBE for services to disability in 1999.
The Guardian has named David as one of ten top global tweeters on sustainable leadership alongside Al Gore, Tim Cook - CEO of Apple, and Facebook's COO Sheryl Sandberg: @DavidGrayson_
In this interview, the following topics are discussed:
VUCA — volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous as related to the world of business (originally from American military)
The idea of corporate sustainability being viewed as soft
MIT Sloan → Jason Jay: The Sustainability—Innovation Nexus
He teaches courses on leadership, strategy, and innovation for sustainable business. Jason engages students and alumni in hands-on projects with leading companies and organizations. These efforts help build a community of innovators for sustainability that includes MIT students and alumni, faculty and researchers, with partners in business, government, NGOs, and hybrid organizations.
Jason’s research focuses on how people navigate the tensions inherent in the quest for sustainability, as they simultaneously pursue their own self-interest and the flourishing of human and other life. This work includes deep case studies of cross-sectoral collaboration and hybrid organizations that combine social and business goals. These case studies have been published in the Academy of Management Journal and California Management Review. He also contributes to the MIT Sloan Management Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, and Greenbiz on the topic of sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI). A key finding of his research is that social innovation occurs through authentic conversations that hold the tension between divergent values and perspectives. With Gabriel Grant, he is the author of Breaking Through Gridlock: The Power of Conversation in a Polarized World.
In this episode, the following topics are discussed:
S-Lab — MBA students learn about sustainable business practice
Research and teaching initiative —
MIT Sloan now teaches sustainability and has up to 95% engagement from business students
Challenges from the past decade as a satiability advocate
Some people dismiss environmental and social challenges
Are there tradeoffs to align with sustainability?
SOI — sustainability orientated innovation
Breaking through the stigma of the word ’sustainability’
Motivation is driving toward and innovation, or ‘regenerative’ and ‘flourishing’.
‘The Big Pivot’ → Andrew Winston (Author): Companies Winning when Making Sustainability a Priority
Sunday, May 13, 2018 • Duration 46:03
Andrew Winston is a globally recognized expert on how companies can navigate and profit from humanity’s biggest challenges. His views on strategy have been sought after by many of the world’s leading companies, including Boeing, HP, J&J, Kimberly-Clark, PepsiCo, PwC, and Unilever. Andrew’s first book, Green to Gold, was the top-selling green business title of the last decade and was included in Inc. Magazine’s all-time list of 30 books that every manager should own. His speeches for audiences around the world, and his new book The Big Pivot, lay out a practical and optimistic roadmap for how companies can thrive in a hotter, scarcer, more open world.
During the episode, topics discussed include the following:
Is marketing expensive? Yes, if it is bad marketing
The current landscape of corporate sustainability
The role of business in society and the CEO
The strategies and framework for corporate sustainability
Sustainability mega-trends: climate, resources, and transparency.
Renewables affordability has sped up clean energy
The trend of major corporations buying renewable energy
Food and agriculture trends; protecting soil and reducing footprint
Companies leading the sustainability movement
Low carbon economy
Corporate social responsibility: diversity and inclusion
Corporate sustainability benchmarks: GRI, GHG protocol, SASB and TCFD
Goals around women in management
The push toward corporate transparency and supply chains, or looking upstream
Blockchain in sustainability as a tracking tool
A resilient enterprise: thriving and flourishing
Pre-competitive collaboration and working with competitors
The role of the NGO
Supply chains and measuring footprint: scope 3 emissions
ROI as related to sustainability
The sustainabilty - innovation crossover
Health as a driver in buying decisions
Millennials and preference toward responsible products
Gen Z and Millennials; weighing sustainability as an important factor when choosing an employer
The importance of the CEO in a company’s sustainability efforts
Novo Nordisk → Susanne Stormer: A Corporation With Sustainability in its DNA
Saturday, May 12, 2018 • Duration 01:00:07
Susanne Stormer is a foremost global authority in corporate sustainability and serves as VP, Corporate Sustainability and Chief Sustainability Officer for the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, a globally recognized sustainability leader. Susanne sets strategic direction for the Novo Nordisk as a sustainability leader and pioneer in demonstrating long-term business value of incorporating economic, social and environmental perspectives into its market proposition. She and her team manage sustainability-driven programs, the company's Annual Report, engagements with ESG investors and stakeholders in the professional sustainability community, and communicate the value of the company's Triple Bottom Line business principle.
In this episode, topics discussed include the following:
Sustainability in the DNA of a company
Born with a social purpose in 1923: Novo Nordisk helps people with diabetes live better lives
Scandinavia has a heritage of respecting the environment; and lessening environmental footprint
What should we call a corporate environmental/social commitment ?
A discussion about the Triple Botton Line
Financial responsibility is tied to social responsibly
Circular economy and environmental responsibility
Relevant - Responsible - Resilient → the three keys to being a sustainable business
Employee engagement as related to Millennials → people would like to work for a company that has a clear purpose and values-driven
Sustainable engagement
If you have a highly engaged workforce, there is lower absenteeism, fewer sick days, and higher productivity
Patients are at the center of all decisions; one example is injectable devices
Innovation inspired by patient engagement
Customer loyalty → hospitals, Ministries of Health: companies look at the company behind the product
Training the sales staff to tell the company story and share the companies mission, ‘story’ and values. When a bigger context is given, there is a higher rate of sales calls and in-person engagement
Market value is higher than the value of what can be accounted for with tangible assets
Intangibles are created through an engaged workforce, quality of management, strong purpose, anticipating business constraints or ability to be flexible as a company
Triple Bottom Line → John Elkington: The Recall of a Management Concept (25 Years Later)
Tuesday, June 7, 2022 • Duration 52:46
John is one of the world’s leading authorities on sustainable development and developed the ‘triple bottom line’ business strategy. He is the author or co-author of 50 published reports, thousands of articles, and 19 books, including the no. 1 bestselling The Green Consumer Guide (1988).
In this episode, the following topics are discussed:
2019 is the 25th anniversary of the TBL
People — Planet — Profit
Accounting vs Purpose
System change — not the accounting
Double entry bookkeeping
6000 companies are engaging in sustainability reporting
Branding and advertising — misleading with green
HBR says this is first time any management concept has been recalled
Social entrepreneurs
TBL is not intended to be a mechanism to support tradeoffs
Improve on two dimensions, and holding the third constant
Tomorrow’s capitalism inquiry — Aviva Investors
Crowdsourcing the revamp — using technology to communicate more widely
How does shared value link to the TBL
Competing language is a glorious alibi to do nothing at all
What lies on the horizon for the revamp?We need framework and tools that drives business in ways that we have not seen yet
Look at leadership companies, like Unilever, and explore what
TBL thinking has delivered in their businesses. (Revamp 1)
CEO must be on board
The evolution of B2B platforms — Paul Polman — look at B2B platforms and look at what is working and what is not — do we need multiple platforms? (Revamp 2)
The role of government and policy makers
Financial markets through the lenses of the CFO and the tie to sustainabilty (Revamp 3)
Larry Fink at BlackRock, “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”
Avoiding the label of environmentalist
John as an agitator —
‘Playfulness’ as an indicator of flexibility and embracing change? OECD: 80 -90% of companies know a sustainability commitment is necessary
U. of Pittsburgh → CB Bhattacharya: Is There a Disconnect Between CSR Goals and Execution?
Wednesday, March 23, 2022 • Duration 41:11
CB Bhattacharya is the H.J. Zoffer Chair in Sustainability and Ethics at the University of Pittsburgh. European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, Germany. Previously he was the Everett W. Lord Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Marketing at the School of Management at Boston University. CB received his PhD in Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in 1984. Before joining Boston University, he was on the faculty at the Goizueta Business School, Emory University.
In this episode, the following topics are discussed:
Consumer behavior
CSR — how to understand stakeholder reactions?
Is there a disconnect between CSR goals and execution?
CSR success via empowering employees and shared ownership
Is the company walking the walk? Check it by going to one of their factories away from corporate headquarters
The Body Shop → Christopher Davis: Employee Activism and Company Culture
Sunday, March 13, 2022 • Duration 27:46
Christopher Davis
International corporate social responsibility professional and recipient of United Nations Business Leader Award. Creative and strategic thinker with a track record in delivering high impact, international projects. Expert in the development of integrated CSR strategy, change management and leading stakeholder engagement. Strong communication skills and experienced corporate communications leader and media spokesperson. Strong track as both a Board Member and Chair of NGO and Corporate Foundations
Responsible for leading the International CSR Team; and developing the company’s strategic approach and overseeing implementation to ensure The Body Shop's performance as one of the world's leading ethical brand is maintained and enhanced
In the interview, topics discussed include the following:
Philosophy of Natura (Antônio Luiz Da Cunha Seabra, Pedro Luiz Passos, Guilherme Leal) and The Body Shop (Anita Roddick), as rooted in the founders.
Business as a force for good and change
The DNA of companies as seeing business as more than profit
TBL
2050 Goals - partnership with Future Fit Foundation
Regenerative
Enrich Not Exploit — a first step toward developing Future Fit into the business
The philanthropy and sustainabilty team at The Body Shop — servicing 69 countries
How to engage employees?
Enrich Not Exploit was launched during a challenging time within the company, and criticism came in the form of walking the walk, and talking the talk.
Securing a complete ban on animal testing
Employees encouraged to advocate for animal rights
Activist companies — and attracting talent — sharing beliefs and values
Millennials and interest in value-based business
The need for policy and regulation for the environment
Corporations picking up where politics is falling short
We must challenge the status quo and short term profits
Ask questions
If a company that is not open to be challenged will probably not thrive
NOTES
ABOUT PHILIP BEERE
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
Diversity, climate change, social inclusion — businesses cannot afford to get wrong
Even a small hairdressing salon in Cape Town see water shortages of business strains
Black Rock, CEO letter, the need for business to be thinking longterm
Doing business for the longterm = corporate sustainabilty 5 core attributes: 1. Purpose 2. Comprehensive Plan 3. Sustainable Culture 4. Skill and the Will 5. Advocacy
All five attributes must work together
Innovation equalling sustainability
Unilever invites public for ideas toward improvement
Empowerment and engaging employees
Collaboration with competitors
Sustainable Apparel Coalition
Social justice and sustainable development
SDGs — the roadmap for the future
If we can fulfill the SDGs by 2030 it is a 12T USD opportunity
Every great social problem and global issue is a business opportunity in disguise
If you understand you can identify opportunity
Vodaphone mobile money
Sectoral ratings and indexes for all major sectors
CSI Europe
Rankings and certifications are starting collaboration — for example GRI and UN Global Impact
From pre-start, the aspiration of becoming B Corp
A responsible business
Hyper global inequality — a profound alienation felt by voters
What must change in capitalism to survive
Employee recruiting in regard to millennials — Paul Polman reports that half of Unilever’s workforce is millennial
Employer of choice by millennials, and sustainability as a catalyst
Daniel Pink and Drive: mastery, autonomy, purpose — doing what matters
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
People don’t like waste and want things to work better
Do laws of climate change restrict freedom?
FEMA and climate disasters
Revenue neutral carbon tax
The connection between innovation and sustainability — or SOI (Sustainability Orientation Innovation) framework at MIT Sloan
Innovation is a startup context — and incorporating sustainability measures
Lean Impact Measurement
KPI’s — John Doer — and sustainability as a design constraint
Nike and SOI — when analyzing GHG and carbon footprint — coming from gasses that inflated air bladders — they were using sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) — without sacrificing athletic performance — led to new shoe designs along with structural integrity of sustaining nitrogen
Constraints can lead to innovation
Stakeholder concept is important because it contrasts with shareholder
Stakeholder capitalism
Environmental and social NGOs
How to prioritize who a stakeholder is and how to engage — Ceres
Crafting a sustainability strategy and prioritize issues
EDF, WRI, and 1% For the Planet
The big challenge is the increased interests in sustainability, ESG, but a lot is being built on a shaky foundation
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
The details of building a strong sustainabilty team and leaders within a company
Embedding TBL values within the organization through storytelling
Tips for great integrative reporting
Sustainability tracking and roadmaps to corporate sustainabilty; the UN Sustainable Development Goals
The Future-Fit business benchmark → what is needed at a minimum to do no harm to the environment and society - and tied to accounting
Crafting stories that appeal to stakeholders
Mistakes in messaging sustainability
Great stories help earn the trust and confidence of stakeholders who sometimes become ambassadors and defenders of the brand, for example, in cases of crisis
Making a business stable and resilient during disruption
Key questions, what might disrupt our business in the next 5 - 10 years?
The importance of feasibility in achieving sustainability goals
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
The term greenwashing — safety and health diversity are easy to claim, but a CEO saying it is different than real results— someone at Board level must be directly responsible for performance
Climate change, human rights, communicating TBL to Wall Street → learning journeys
The sort of company that does TBL reporting and brand activism
Comparing 1970’s corporate leadership to today
SDGs
The word ’sustainability’ and it being perceived as something bad
A pending financial crash
Dirty industries proclaiming sustainability — and the need to call out ranking without looking at what goes on behind the scenes
The need to disrupt the ranking industry
Provoking or calling out bad corporate behavior
Incremental change is boring — disruption or civilizational change is more fascinating and engaging
When words or phrases first appear they are like membranes — new concepts that engage — the more a term is used it becomes less engaging
The forecast that the SDGs will equal 12T in opportunity — dissecting the number — skepticism and forecasts
We have moved from looking at sustainability as an impediment and viewing it as an opportunity and instrument for transformation
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands. He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.
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