C.B. Bhattacharya's Blog: Small Actions Big Difference, page 3

Microsoft, Disney, Google and BMW named the most reputable sustainable companies

Microsoft, Disney, Google and BMW named the most reputable sustainable companies

Reputation Institute, a global reputation-based advisory firm, has published the results of its annual study—2013 Global CSR RepTrak® 100—that surveyed more than 55,000 consumers from 15 countries to find out how the leading companies are perceived in terms of their sustainability performance.

 

For the second year in a row the study names Microsoft the company with the best CSR reputation globally, while Disney, BMW and Google are the top performers in other reputation dimensions: citizenship, governance and workplace, respectively.

 

About 50% of the respondents agree that Disney performs well supporting good causes and protecting the environment; 49% of them find BMW to be a responsible, open, transparent and ethical company; 51% think of Google as one of the most desirable places to work.

 

In the global RepTrak study, which analyzes companies’ reputation based on other factors, not just CSR, the ranking of the most reputable brands is crowned by BMW and followed by Disney, Rolex, Google, Daimler, Sony, Microsoft, Canon, Nestle and Lego at the bottom of the chart. The Institute assessed their reputation based on the following factors:

 

prudent employment policies,sound financial standingstrong leadership,transparency and ethics,community feedbackinnovation and forward-thinking. [image error] Photo: Top 10 brands in general 2013 Global RepTrack ranking [image error] Pic.: Leaders of the General Global RepTrack 2013 by regions [image error] Pic.: Global RepTrack 2013 by product or innovation [image error] Pic.: Global 2013 RepTrack ranking by workplace and leadership [image error] Pic.: Global 2013 RepTrack ranking by citizenship and governance [image error] Pic.: Global 2013 RepTrackranking by performance

The value of the CSR RepTrak® 100 study is that it secures ROI on sustainability efforts. 73% of global consumers surveyed are more likely to recommend a brand that is perceived to be delivering on their sustainability programs. Results of the study demonstrate that when a company jumps up 5 points on the scale, consumers tend to recommend this company more (actually 9%). About 59% of consumers say that they would «go out of their way to communicate something positive» about companies they feel deliver on their CSR programs, compared to only 23% for companies perceived to fail to do so.

“Unfortunately, Corporate Responsibility is still equated to philanthropy in many organizations and hence, given short shrift when it comes to strategic formulation and implementation. Although the top 100 companies all have well developed websites detailing their CR initiatives, how many of them do rigorous research to find out how their key stakeholders view these same initiatives?” comments CB Bhattacharya, E.ON chair professor in Corporate Responsibility at European School of Management and Technology.

These findings show that it is utterly important for a company to create social value to make business prosper.

The full report on the 2013 Global CSR RepTrak as well as the Top Line Report are available here.

2013 Global CSR RepTrak ranking

RankCompanyCSR Rep TrakRankingCompanyCSR Rep Trak1Microsoft72.9751Singapore Airlines65.202The Walt Disney Company72.8352Cisco Systems65.203Google72.7153Pirelli65.184BMW72.1454HJ Heinz64.955Daimler (Mercedes-Benz)70.6555Nintendo64.916Sony69.4956Heineken64.867Intel69.3257LG Corporation64.748Volkswagen69.2958LVMH Group64.699Apple69.2159Nokia64.6510Nestle69.0060Bayer64.5911Lego Group68.7761Panasonic64.5312Rolex68.4562Roche64.5113Canon68.0263General Mills64.5014Kellogg Company67.9064Toshiba64.3815Johnson & Johnson67.8065Unilever64.1016Colgate-Palmolive67.6266Marks & Spenser Group64.1017Danone67.2567BBC63.9618IBM67.0968Diageo63.9419Philips Electronics67.0369Nike63.9020Honda Motor67.0370Bristol-Myers Squibb63.8121Toyota66.9671Swatch Group63.7722Adidas Group66.9072Ford Motor63.7723Michelin66.7573Airbus63.6924Loreal66.6674Fujifilm63.6825Hewlett-Packard66.5175Xerox63.5026Samsung Electronics66.5076UPS63.4927The Coca-Cola Company66.4377ACER63.3528Amazon.com66.2678Carlsberg Group63.3129Procter & Gamble66.1679Du Pont63.0930Ferrero66.1580eBay63.0931Giorgio Armani Group66.1481Hertz Global Holdings63.0432Volvo Group66.1382Starbucks Coffee Company62.9733Bridgestone65.9883Suzuki Motor62.9534Deutsche Lufthansa65.9384Quantas Airways62.9535Electrolux65.9185GlaxoSmithKline62.7936Siemens65.8686Boeing62.7237IKEA65.8487Sharp62.5738Oracle65.7288Peugeot-Citroen62.5739Eli Lilly65.6489H&M62.4640Marriott International65.6090Air France-KLM62.3841SAS (Scandinavian Airlines)65.6091Lenovo Group62.2342Goodyear65.5592Hitachi61.95433M65.5493General Motors Company61.9444Whirpool6594Pfizer61.7745General Electric65.4295Nissan Motor61.7646FedEx65.3396Fujitsu61.5047Barilla65.3097British Airways-Iberia61.3348Abbott Laboratories65.2898Zara (Inditex)61.1649Kraft Foods65.2699PepsiCo61.0450Dell65.25100Bacardi60.67 Link to the Media Post

Top 10 CSR Research Findings in 2010

Top 10 CSR Research Findings in 2010

The following is a list of the year’s best research findings related to CSR. Taken from top management journals such as the Academy of Management and the Journal of Marketing, these research insights help senior leaders kick-start their sustainability planning for 2011.

1. Innovation + Sustainability = Profit
Xueming Luo (University of Texas) and C.B. Bhattacharya (European School of Management and Technology) show that innovative firms engaging in CSR have more satisfied customers. And those satisfied customers pay off. For a company with a market value of roughly $48 billion, a modest increase in CSR ratings led to annual profits in subsequent years $17 million higher than organizations that didn’t actively engage in CSR. Read more.

2. Beat Burnout, Boost Performance
Adam Grant (Wharton Business School) and colleagues show helping others makes employees more committed to your company. And showing employees how their work benefits others boosts performance and beats burnout. As for how to do it, Grant suggests: “Managers may invite employees to contribute to higher-impact projects; introduce employees directly to the clients, customers, or patients who benefit from their work; or create new opportunities for participation in corporate social responsibility and volunteering.” Read more: Employee Volunteerism Boosts Loyalty and Feeling Helpful Prevents Burnout.

3. Promote CSR Internally to Engage Staff
C.B. Bhattacharya (European School of Management and Technology) and colleagues found that only 37% of employees were even aware of their firm’s CSR activities. Don’t let your staff be part of the uninformed majority! Involve employees in CSR programs, and develop programs that meet employee needs such as personal development and work-life balance. Read more.

4. Put Product Quality First, CSR Second
Pat Auger (Melbourne Business School), Tim Devinney (University of Technology, Sydney) and colleagues show that consumers do care about ethical features–as long as they don’t compromise a product’s functional features. For equally good products, the researchers found 3 out of 5 people would spend more for the product that is ethically produced. Read more.

5. Get Buy-In Today for CSR Projects Tomorrow
Todd Rogers (The Analyst Institute) and Max Bazerman (Harvard Business School) find that people are more likely to commit to CSR initiatives the further in the future their personal action is needed. So, getting internal commitment to a long-term strategy might actually be easier than finding dollars for a project next quarter. Read more.

6. Prioritize Your CSR Activities
Julian Marshall (University of Minnesota) and Mike Toffel (Harvard Business School) outlines the four levels of sustainability, similar in concept to Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. Ranging from human survival at the highest level to values and asthetic preferences at the lowest level, the framework helps managers and policy makers identify the most important sustainability activities to pursue. Read more.

7. Understand How CSR Drives Performance
Francesco Perrini (University of Bocconi) and colleagues distilled 30 years of research into six categories of CSR activities that drive financial performance. The categories are: 1) the organization; 2) the customer; 3) society; 4) the natural environment; 5) innovation; and 6) governance. Read more.

8. Revisit Your Reputation
Pascual Berrone (IESE Business School) and colleagues find that family-owned corporations demonstrate better environmental performance than other corporations. Why? The manager of a family-owned firm takes a long-term view of business success and places greater importance on reputation and recognition, since his or her personal reputation is tied to the company’s. Berrone’s observation: “If you want to improve your environmental performance – and your environmental reputation – you cannot treat your company solely as a money-making machine.” Read more.

9. Do Right by Your Stakeholders
Jaepil Choi (Singapore Management University) and Heli Wang (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) show that firms with strong stakeholder relations sustain periods of stellar economic performance and climb quickly out periods of poor performance. But it takes advance planning. If you try to build bridges once you’re in financial trouble, it’s already too late. Read more.

10. Use Standardized Metrics for Carbon
Volker Hoffman and Timo Busch (both from ETH Zurich) developed a set of four standard metrics to build carbon into your company’s planning, activity, and reporting: 1) risk; 2) exposure; 3) dependency; and 4) intensity. These physical and financial indicators can help managers, investors and policy makers make more balanced assessments of companies’ relative carbon performance. A recent update to this research offers specific metrics for different sectors. Busch notes: “Standardized measures for carbon intensity may, in time, allow for ‘low-carbon’ competition across firms in an industry.” Read more.

About Network for Business Sustainability

A Canadian non-profit established in 2005, the Network for Business Sustainability produces authoritative resources on important sustainability issues – with the goal of changing management practice. We connect thousands of researchers and professionals worldwide who are committed to developing new, sustainable business models for the 21st century.

Link to the Media Post

Three ways to market sustainability internally and accelerate employee engagement

Three ways to market sustainability internally and accelerate employee engagement

Humanity embarks on a global ‘Race to Zero’.  It is now universally known that meeting the Paris Agreement goals will require us to take unprecedented global efforts.  To make sustainability everyone’s responsibility and accelerate the transition of stakeholders from bystanders to owners, we require all hands-on deck; for sustainability to be sustainable, we require committed leadership and a transition to stakeholder capitalism. Companies need to articulate their “purpose” and bring it to life. After all, the truth is that we as humans yearn for a sense of belonging, that can be fulfilled by sustainability ownership. But how do we onboard everyone from the boardroom to the mail room to take ownership and act sustainably? How do we get the frontline contributors to put sustainability at the core of their activities? Before I dive into the how, lets focus on the “what”. 

 

What do we even mean by purpose? 

 

Purpose is defined as a firm’s “Raison D’etre” the answer to the all-important question of “Why do we do what we do?” Let me help you understand further. Take for instance, the cereal maker Kellogg’s. Its purpose is “nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive” whereas for Pfizer it’s that “all people deserve healthy lives.”

 

Typically, the answer to “why do we do what we do” always relates to the key societal benefit that the firm provides. Purpose-driven leadership is rooted in the belief that profits are a consequence of the value that the firm creates for all its stakeholders

 

As leaders huddle up and accelerate their corporate focus on sustainability ahead of  COP 26 to build a well contoured corporate purpose that is appealing and effective at sowing the seeds of sustainability ownership across the value system, what I’m concerned about is how that purpose can be brought to life and be cascaded internally in the most effective manner. 

 

Only when people have a deep sense of ownership over an object or idea, do they experience it as an extension of themselves. The roadmap to a sustainable future is complex, yet fulfilling. The three core motivations that an organization’s internal strategy should be focused upon fulfilling are identity, efficacy and belongingness.  They help leverage human psychology and individual habit loops to accelerate sustainability ownership and trigger sustainability related behaviors. 

 

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PRINCIPLE 1: Enable employees to connect with company identity

 

We’ve all had our version of  Finding Nemo. (Flashback to our personal statement essays ) However here’s the deal. From an early stage, we have been hardwired to derive our self-identities   from a variety of material and immaterial objects that we own. This need for identity that is fulfilled by ownership often drives behavior and therefore is an important lever that helps employees pick up the sustainability baton. 

 

Thus, the goal of our strategy should be to weave emotional connection and brand purpose into employee experience in a manner that helps build self-identity and makes behaving sustainably second nature. 

 

Start by asking simple questions 

 

What do employees think of the company?What do we want them to think?Why should they believe in this?How do we tackle natural cynicism and resistance?

 

PRINCIPLE 2: Empower employees to co-create and be the solution

 

Ownership also fulfills the human need for efficacy or the need to feel competent in a given situation. This is great news for trying to build ownership around sustainability, because all of us, whatever our station in life, can do something to help our planet and people. It’s thus important to focus on a strategy that  gives employees creative freedom  to act sustainably in line with the company purpose.  Think of a scenario where the shop floor worker educates your customer about the benefits of investing in a product that has reduced packaging; that is a great example of sustainability ownership in action. We need even our frontline workers to know that our purpose is ambitious yet beneficial to society. 

 

.Showcasing impact through social proof and an ongoing opportunity that develops deep understanding of the different facets of sustainability, the connections between them, and their relationship to the larger purpose of an organization helps accelerate the journey. 

 

For people to change their behavior they have to believe in its worth. Because sustainable strategy requires behavioral change by individuals, personal engagement of employees is crucial

 

 – Snippets from How to Build a Sustainable Company, MIT Sloan Management Review 

 

PRINCIPLE 3: Respond to trends while focusing on a feeling of belongingness and value

 

Finally, ownership also fulfills the human need for belongingness – the feeling that we are part of a bigger picture – and what better than sustainability ownership to make us feel that we all belong to this bright big ball in the sky. To Leverage corporate sustainability and maximize business and societal value, it is important that everyone feels as though they are part of something extraordinary. The enthusiasm, energy and effort should be channelized to innovate outside the box solutions. Apple’s Earth day celebrations are an opportunity to unify employees around environmental issues, celebrate victories and tackle concerns about the company’s purpose. Similarly Enel’s “My Best Failure” project helps people to learn from their own and their colleagues’ mistakes – an initiative in line with the spirit of the Enel Group’s Open Power approach. Such quirky companywide challenges, rewards, campaigns help spur continuous momentum that is self-empowered and grassroot driven. 

 

Sustainability ownership can only be driven if employees see work as part of their actual life and not just a paycheck. They develop real feelings towards, and come to feel a camaraderie for the company. It is only when employees take ownership of their work like they do of other aspects of their life are we able to cascade purpose and sustainability ownership across all stakeholders. 

 

“The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else is going to save it “ – Robert Swan

 

ABOUT SMALL ACTIONS BIG DIFFERENCE 

Based on interviews with 25 global multinational corporations as well as employees, middle managers and senior leaders across multiple sectors, this is the first book to connect sustainability to the theory of principles of psychological ownership and to propose a succinct, easy-to-digest model of managerial use. 

 

ABOUT CB SUITE

 

This fortnightly knowledge byte series is an effort to rekindle courage to take action, share experience, insights, and innovation available across the globe to give us the courage and accelerate change. For we can be the generation that passes on a future of hope, abundance, and tranquillity to our children if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are courageous enough to be it! 

THE CB SUITE - Fortnightly knowledge byte series enabling sustainability ownership

As we celebrate the first 10-days of Joe Biden and his administration, applauding the handbrake turn from Donald Trump’s term, we’ve never been more divided by opinions yet united by the hope of battling for the soul of our nation and planet.

For me, now is when the year of hope, purpose, ownership and action has begun, our decade of delivery – Happy 2021 everyone!

That also makes me chuckle a little at the thought of Barney’s theme song – I Love You, You Love Me, We’re a happy family that I must have enjoyed with my son Felix over a decade and a half ago. He’s a fine 17-year-old young man now preparing for college now and as a proud father, while I’m excited about the transition it also worries me – would blunders of our generation be burdens faced by theirs?

As rightfully recited by Amanda Gorman during the inauguration ceremony “ There is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we are brave enough to be it”. If we are part of the system we’ve been waiting for all along to take ownership of, isn’t it time to take action? We might have inherited or done a lot of things wrong but collectively we can still be successful.

Most of us want to take action, however, we are often uncomfortably numb due to the lack of knowledge, access or motivation. The quest that a year back inspired my second book – Small Actions Big Difference has only become stronger.

With the launch of The CB Suite - A fortnightly knowledge series, I invite you to join me in applauding leaders for their ambitious visions, celebrate global innovators, simplify complex jargons and identify action cues that will help go beyond advocacy. We certainly do not have the time to waste, be bystanders or blame others for their lack of action, we are the system and we have to be the solution.

By sharing knowledge bytes, leadership insights, innovation highlights and author notes every fortnight (1st and 15th of each month) I hope to help expand our impact sphere and put purpose at the centre of our existence. Over time, I shall unravel the complexities that surround sustainability and climate action, enable ownership and build a community that leverages corporate sustainability to drive business and societal value.

Join the Movement Of the grand shift from momentum to a movement!

Contribute: If you have ideas, solutions or concepts you’d want to suggest, feel free to drop me a note on cb@pitt.edu. Together we shall build back stronger.

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE ASKED TO “EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS”?

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU ARE ASKED TO “EXPLORE OTHER OPTIONS”?

It did take a lot of courage to put myself out there and share my perseverance story earlier last week. How many times do we talk about our failures? They are hard to relive, they are dark times of sleepless nights and self-doubt, but more often than not they are also times that help us push beyond our boundaries and make us stronger. 

 

In case you missed the post, here’s a small recap for you! 

 

33 years ago, I was asked to rethink my decision of pursuing a Ph.D. in Marketing at The Wharton Business School. 

 

Not because of my grades which were fine, but “bad attitude.” Well, I did wear my hair long, wore colorful tie-dyes and smoked, all of which were frowned upon in those haloed halls! I was a cheeky non-conformist! 

 

And just like that arose the irrational fear of not being enough. 

 

Now, had this happened today, it would be equally devastating but we at least have Quora or LinkedIn to affirm that we aren’t alone! However, back in the 80’s all I could do was spiral-downward at bullet speed into the self-doubt pit and live there if I wanted to. 

 

What do I do now? Where do I go?

 

What was it all for? Is this the end of my “American Dream?” 

But here’s the thing. YOU get to decide what happens to you, YOU get to create your destiny. If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that – No one should have the power to tell me what my story will look like. I get to decide when I leave and I wasn’t done yet.  

 

No, I do not say it from a place of arrogance but that of grit and determination. 

 

33 years later, today I am recognized amongst the top 1% cited marketing scholars globally by Stanford and among the top 50 cited marketing academics per Google Scholar. 

 

When I reflect upon my journey today, I often find myself wondering – Had I not been put through the hardships that I was during my dissertation, would I strive to be the best possible version of myself? Would I push the envelope? Maybe, maybe not. 

 

Here are 4 key life-lessons that I’d like you to take-away from my journey as you navigate yours. I’d like to leave you with the courage to share your story and inspire others to strive and persist. 

 

View the situation through other’s eyes 

 

The first step is going to be grueling but sometimes, you have to choose to take control of your situation, your future and decide to re-write your story. So pause, stop being harsh on yourself, forgive yourself for what happened and try to see the issue through “their eyes”. I learned that in a Ph.D. program, it wasn’t just about grades, demeanor and even appearances mattered. Being an outlier wasn’t going to make me any friends in that profession. 

 

What is it that I did not succeed at? 

 

Why did I not succeed?

 

What can I do better?

 

I particularly enjoyed Former US President Barack Obama’s address at the University of Chicago. 

 

 

“Worry less about what you want to be and more about what you want to do” – Barack Obama 

Stop catastrophizing the situation

 

Losing sleep over what has already happened does not solve the problem. A lot of successful people fail, even Steve Jobs did! Someday the dots connect. 

 

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me.”  – Jobs said in 2005:

 

Does that make me Steve, no; does that make you the next JK Rowling or Disney? No, it doesn’t, but neither does stewing over the situation. Sometimes you need to accept situations for the way they are. Instead, ask yourself –How am I going to solve it?

 

Focus on finding a solution with what you have instead of whining over what you don’t. 

 

I was reminded about Karl Rahner, by an ex-student through her comment on the post 

 

Give yourself the freedom to fail 

Most of us beat ourselves up for every mistake we make and certainly over every failure we encounter. 

 

Making mistakes, accepting them and looking for a solution helped me try new things, learn about and explore other avenues of impact in business and academia and fail forward. 

Get out of your comfort zone. 

 

Death puts a lot of things into perspective. Often, we do not try hard enough because we fear failure, we fear what society might think of us. Our decisions are often driven by our fear, ego and perception of the situation. However, if you let that go, if you had nothing to lose would you risk it all for that dream of yours? I gave up a prestigious job and a promising career in an MNC and came to “look for America” with one suitcase in hand. I had to learn to type, cook food and read incredibly dense academic papers all at the same time. Why am I doing this? I would shout out multiple times every day. And that quiet inner voice would pipe up, “No one said it would be easy.” 

 

Taking risks and living life on my own terms has not been easy for me but today as I reflect upon my journey, here’s what I realize. Success isn’t tough, taking risks isn’t the hardest thing to do, being authentic to oneself is. 

 

“There’s no such thing as failure – failure is just life trying to move us in another direction” – Oprah 

 

So, as I leave you with this thought to ponder upon here’s what I need you to know or I hope you’ve already realized: You need not be a genius to succeed, you just need to be dogged and persist hard enough, show up every day and not give up. Life is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. 

 

“DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE THE ROOM UNTIL YOU ARE KICKED OUT OF IT. “ 

 

ABOUT CB SUITE

 

This fortnightly knowledge byte series is an effort to rekindle courage to take action, share experience, insights, and innovation available across the globe to give us the courage and accelerate change. For we can be the generation that passes on a future of hope, abundance, and tranquility to our children if only we are brave enough to see it, if only we are courageous enough to be it! 

Blog-1

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