David Grayson

University of Surrey Oct 2013

Collaborating for Sustainability

- Making the Difference –

The Past, Present & Future of

Alliances for Sustainable

Capitalism

Collaboration

Hannah Jones: Nike's global head

of sustainability and innovation

"We believe that the innovations

required to create the future won't

come from a single source. Not from

science. Not from technology. Not

from governments. Not from

business. But from all of us. We

must harness the collective power

of unconventional partnerships to

dramatically redefine the way we

thrive in the future."

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Mark Parker: CEO, Nike

"Our future depends heavily

on innovation, collaboration

and transparency."

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Paul Polman, CEO Unilever

“In areas where big breakthroughs

are needed, we must step up joint

working with others.”

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Business-led CR coalitions

“independent, non-profit distributing membership

organisations that are composed mainly or exclusively of for-

profit businesses;

that have a board of directors composed predominantly or

only of business people;

that are core-funded primarily (or totally) from business;

and whose dedicated purpose is to promote responsible

business practice.”

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Business-led CR coalitions by 1990 Coalitions by 1990

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Global field builders

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Business-led CR coalitions by 2000

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Business-led CR coalitions today

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Industry and issue-specific

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Industry and issue-specific

coalitions:

Incubated by or hosted within generalist coalitions

Within a broader trade and industry association

Independent business-led coalitions dedicated to

specific industry or issue

Multi-stakeholder issue-specific coalition with strong

business leadership

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Multi-stakeholder initiatives

“Non-profit distributing organisations concerned

with corporate responsibility in which businesses

are involved but are not predominant in

membership, funding and/ or governance and

accountability.”

e.g. Marine Stewardship Council, Extractives

Industry Transparency Initiative, Refrigerants

Naturally

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Roles coalitions typically play

Make business case

Develop agenda

Identify and disseminate good practice

Build-capacity

Broker

Direct delivery

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Strategic Focus of Organisation

Q3aa. Please rate how much of a strategic focus your organisation has in each of the following areas.

Please use the 5-point scale provided, where 1 is “not at all a focus” and 5 is “a very important focus”.

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37

65

71

75

75

85

71

38

8

10

15

10

8

Philanthropy

Responsible marketing

Community

Workplace practices

Environment

Supply chain

Business operations

A very important focus (4 + 5) Not at all a focus (1 + 2)

Safe space to think through extreme

events: Telecommunications Industry

Dialogue on Freedom of Expression and

Privacy

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Agenda for action

Helping individual companies to overcome the “performance gap” and to embed responsible business policies and practices into the core of their corporate strategy, operations and value chains

Promoting pre-competitive collective action within specific industry sectors, geographies and value chains to drive scale and systemic impact

Convening companies to be part of more systemic and large-scale multi-sector collaboration between business, government and civil society organizations

Spreading innovation from key emerging markets

Engaging with small and medium enterprises

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Agenda for action

Working with governments and advocating for progressive public-policy reforms

Improving the financial enabling environment

Partnering with business schools and universities

Raising public awareness and spreading the practice of sustainable consumption

Promoting a new vision for sustainable capitalism

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How can member companies

make most of their membership

of coalitions?

Map and segment

Prioritise

Regularly review with each coalition

Link to management development

But – all depends on CR function being integrated within business!

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What does it take to be a good

partner?

The Partnering Initiative

Characteristics of a good partner

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Partnering is an ‘Art’ and a

‘Science’

Insight / imagination / feeling

Vision (of the future)

People skills

Relationship building

Personal engagement

• Technical knowledge

• Critical analysis /

thinking

• Measurement

• Admin / project /

financial management

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A partnering mindset...

Requires an openness to move from your own individual needs /

constraints / issues towards consideration from the perspective of the

partnership as a whole

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A partnering mindset...

Flexibility and a willingness to compromise where possible (while being clear about boundaries).

A willingness to work outside „business as usual‟ and open to more innovative ideas

Ability to be transparent about real interests, needs, and constraints

Openness to self-reflection and to change

A humility that others may have better answers than you

Being comfortable to give up autonomous decision-making

Drive / tenacity

Self-awareness

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A partnering skill set...

Ability to listen actively, put yourself into other people‟s

shoes, and understand the real interests, needs, and

constraints of the others

Ability to communicate your organisation‟s own interests,

needs, and constraints

Relationship-building and trust-building ability

Ability to distil and synthesize views

Achieving balance between your organisation‟s own

interests and the furtherment of the partnership

Interest-based negotiation

Well-researched about other partners and context

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