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Case Studies | Tuesday June 1, 2010

ANZ: Responsible Growth in the Financial Services Industry

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The Challenge

In an era when the bank down the street is often headquartered in another country, the question of a company’s social license to operate has taken on new meaning. In this context, Australia-based ANZ asked BSR to apply its expertise in stakeholder relations in Asia as a key enabler of its strategy for expanding into new markets in the region. The company, which has a strong history of corporate responsibility at home, sought input on how to develop a new, groupwide corporate responsibility strategy to align with its business growth strategy, focusing on new target markets in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Our Strategy

We developed and executed a regional stakeholder dialogue plan for ANZ to help the company understand expectations for a responsible bank in these markets.

This included planning and facilitating eight separate engagements in Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, and Jakarta. We identified the more than 55 stakeholder organizations that participated, including representatives from local and national government, multilateral institutions, peer companies, consumer protection organizations, environmental and labor NGOs, and others. We drew on BSR’s expertise in the industry and in the region, our stakeholder network, and our knowledge of advanced facilitation techniques.

The events yielded critical information on ANZ’s most material social and environmental risks and opportunities in these new regions, and also identified opportunities to build new relationships with stakeholders who will be critical to the bank’s social license to operate. Key themes such as urban sustainability, bridging urban and rural divides, and building financial capability emerged directly from these engagements and became core elements of the company’s new strategy.

Our Impact

Based on the dialogues, additional BSR research, and a two-day strategy workshop we facilitated with the company’s corporate responsibility team, BSR helped ANZ develop a new companywide corporate responsibility framework, and BSR CEO Aron Cramer joined ANZ CEO Michael Smith in the launch of the strategy in September 2009. The framework focuses on:

Building individual prosperity: using products, services, education, and employment programs to create pathways to security and prosperity
Contributing to thriving communities: developing local capacity to create solutions for important community issues
Navigating growth responsibly: demonstrating responsible practices and decisions that balance economic, social, and environmental considerations

The company is now working on developing specific programs to support the framework and implementation at the country level. This includes providing specific tools and resources for bank leadership in these new markets, as well as a new network of local stakeholders who understand ANZ’s objectives and can support responsible market entry or expansion in these countries. This new platform will add value to the company’s existing work as it expands. It will also add consistency through more focused activities and communications, as ANZ implements its strategy of becoming a super-regional bank in the Asia-Pacific region.

Case Studies | Tuesday June 1, 2010

AgroAmérica: Improving Productivity Through Better Communication

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The Challenge

AgroAmérica, one of Guatemala’s largest commodity crop companies, employs more than 8,000 plantation workers. Two of its banana farms have faced chronic work stoppages due to the generally poor relationship between the company, its employees, and the farm’s trade union. This has contributed to the farms’ low productivity as compared to other company farms, despite significantly better growing conditions. Deep mistrust between workers and company management is widespread in Guatemala and remains potent despite the end of the long civil war 15 years ago. This mistrust frequently results in ineffective dialogue and, thus, frequent work stoppages on unionized farms.

Our Strategy

We began this project, together with our local project partner, CentraRSE, by interviewing internal and external stakeholders—including workers, management, union leaders, and representatives from trade confederations and government ministries—to understand both the national context and the specific situation on the farms.

To tackle these challenges, we built a strategy centered on a series of workshops that brought together workers, union leaders, and farm administrators. We developed three main objectives for the workshops: First, strengthen the communication skills of participants; second, demonstrate the mutual benefits of working together; and third, build trust between the two sides by providing them with opportunities to work together in a safe environment.

We believed that the positive experience of the workshop would translate into better collaboration, and ultimately improved productivity, on the farms. The workshops also allowed us to create a safe space for participants to talk about difficult subjects that otherwise would not be discussed, such as poor supervisor communication and counterproductive worker actions. The workshops provided an opportunity for participants to put theory into practice—for example, by working together to analyze existing avenues for communication and agree on new ones.

Our Impact

In less than one year, the project has led to a 20 percent reduction in work stoppages, increased productivity, and a mutually agreed-upon goal of increasing 2010 production by more than 15 percent. Workers and supervisors now discuss performance against goals in small group settings, and both sides state that the quality and ease of communication have improved. For example, the company has installed secure suggestion boxes and three bulletin boards for both administrators and workers to post information such as production numbers, personal and professional development topics, and upcoming events.

The workers participating in the project noted that in a short time they have seen increased wages due to higher productivity. However, they also report pressure from some coworkers who still question why workers and union leaders are collaborating with management. To respond to this challenge, we have focused on increasing worker participation in the program and overall worker support for the project’s goals. AgroAmérica plans to extend this model to its other farms.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Women’s Health Enables Return in Global Supply Chains

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The Challenge

Women between the ages of 18 to 25 often comprise the vast majority of developing world workers making products for export to the developed world. Much of this work is performed in environments where access to information about reproductive health, as well as critical health services, is lacking. Moreover, factory managers often question the value of investing financial resources in health programs due to high turnover and the perception that young, unmarried women workers are not sexually active and thus are not at risk for reproductive health problems. Despite the challenges presented by this reality, we set out to leverage our unique position to improve the general and reproductive health of women workers along global supply chains.

Our Strategy

After an initial research phase in 2006, BSR's women's health initiative—known as HERproject (Health Enables Return)—is now focused on testing innovative models for delivering health training, services and more to factory-based women workers in China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Vietnam. With ongoing funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, this model coordinates health training pilot projects that are implemented by local NGOs, which are compensated for their services by participating companies. BSR acts as a facilitator of these partnerships, catalyzing corporate action to address the unique health needs of women workers while simultaneously supporting the development of grassroots NGOs. Our model is further enhanced by the quantitative acumen of BSR's primary project partner, the Extending Service Delivery (ESD) initiative, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Impact

ESD, through a landmark return-on-investment study in a Bangladeshi factory, found that for every US$1 invested in women's health training and services factories reaped a return of US$3 in the form of higher productivity, reduced absenteeism and lowered turnover.

To help BSR member Nordstrom achieve similar results, we recently launched a series of pilots for the company in five factories in China. Our goal is two-fold: to educate young, female factory workers on women's health issues with a focus on HIV/AIDS, and to measure and evaluate any changes in productivity, absenteeism and turnover during the pilot period. In addition, through the program, three to five percent of the female workforce are educated on specific health matters such as diabetes and breast cancer screenings. In turn, the trained women teach the rest of the workforce, empowering the new peer educators through leadership opportunities. Pilot planning is well underway in Vietnam, India and Pakistan as well.

This initiative has elicited an overwhelmingly positive response from our membership and beyond—confirmation that our strategic, innovative approaches can offer value to businesses while also advancing social well-being. In June of 2008, a workshop, held in Vietnam, brought together 60 factory managers, brand representatives, and NGOs to talk about women's health in factories and the HERproject model. At the end of 2008, HERproject will be active in 18 factories and with 10 brands.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Visa: Aligning and Strengthening Corporate Responsibility Strategy

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The Challenge

Visa Inc. undertook the world’s largest initial public offering (IPO) in March 2008. As one of the world’s foremost brands, Visa sought to “place a stake in the ground” as a leader in responsible business at the time of its IPO. Executives sought to create an integrated and strengthened vision of corporate responsibility to achieve greater impact—building on its existing programs in employee engagement, environmental stewardship, community relations, and philanthropy. They engaged BSR to assess the company’s existing programs, analyze strategic options, and prepare a comprehensive corporate responsibility platform.

Our Strategy

Our three-step approach, described below, led Visa to adopt the theme of “inclusive economic growth” for its global sustainability program.

Assessment: The BSR team interviewed senior executives to understand the company’s strategic business priorities and identify key intersection points with corporate responsibility. We then assessed and benchmarked Visa’s impacts and activities in core products and services, philanthropy, community relations, employee involvement, and environmental stewardship. We also conducted a materiality analysis to define the most critical elements of corporate responsibility for Visa.

Strategy Development: Based on the assessment, we worked with Visa to develop a comprehensive sustainability strategy and helped to define an implementation strategy.

Implementation: As a result, the company adopted inclusive economic growth” as its defining theme for corporate responsibility. This concept is used as the basis for all program development for philanthropy, community relations, and employee involvement. We created specific one- to two-year goals and action plans—including staffing and structure—as well as longer-term goals and actions, with high-level business cases for each. Throughout this process, we focused on efficient ways for Visa to have the most meaningful impact and exemplify leadership as a publicly traded company.

Our Impact

This project resulted in a highly focused corporate responsibility strategy at Visa to support the company at a key turning point in its history. The strategy BSR helped develop has resulted, for the first time, in a clear objective guiding all aspects of Visa’s corporate responsibility: inclusive economic growth. The development of this objective has animated both internal efforts and external engagements, including a new signature partnership with Oxfam, as well as increased support for environmental stewardship, financial literacy, and workplace practices that promote economic growth for all.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Sustainability Outlook: Forecasting the Future

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The Challenge

The fast-changing events of 2008 reinforced how important it is to understand the undercurrents of change that shape our world—and determine the success of business strategy. Companies that anticipate underlying social, economic, technological, and political changes are positioned to win.

Our Strategy

BSR, in partnership with the Institute for the Future(IFTF), developed a framework called Sustainability Outlook to identify the signals of change likely to define sustainability over the coming decade. Working with a cross-industry group of 10 companies, the BSR/IFTF team of experts produced a map of emerging trends. We then used our distinct lenses to consider how these new realities could be shaped and managed: market-based solutions, regulatory efforts, technological innovation, and bottom-up solutions from "the commons." We also developed cenarios to illustrate specific aspects of the map.

Among the questions we explored were: What if the advancement of mobile and sensor technology enables individuals to monitor each other's environmental impacts? What if the use of infrastructure becomes taxed? What if measuring social and environmental impacts becomes integrated into business accounting?

The group also examined four future scenarios that were influenced by different sets of sustainability-related factors. We explored this content in workshops and asked ourselves: What could the business operating environment look like in the future? What does this mean for our companies today?

Our Impact

Sustainability Outlook provided participating companies a window into the future of sustainability. The various materials were designed to be a "wind tunnel" through which participating companies could test their own sustainability strategies, as well as learn from each other and the BSR/IFTF team. BSR and the companies involved with this group—Campbell Soup Company, Deloitte, General Motors, Ikea, Kraft Foods, Nike, Procter & Gamble, Rio Tinto, Starbucks Coffee Company, and Sun Microsystems—have been able to take a long-term, big-picture view of the future business environment. This focus on identifying new opportunities in addressing critical horizon challenges has helped companies switch from a risk-management to a forward-looking approach.

In late 2008, we began the second phase of Sustainability Outlook, which will explore future trends through an online wiki-based tool, and will allow participating companies to integrate the lessons from this innovative project into their strategies.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Sino Gold Implements Action Plan for Community Development in China

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The Challenge

Sino Gold's Jinfeng Mine is an Australian-operated joint venture with the Chinese government that entered production in May 2007. Sino Gold sought guidance on how to build its "social license to operate" by promoting long-term community development in the five remote villages surrounding the mine in the mountains of southern China. Sino Gold contacted BSR for advice on the design of a community development strategy that would go beyond traditional public relations or social marketing efforts to promote real, tangible improvements in people's quality of life.

Our Strategy

We responded to this challenge with a two-stage approach. First, BSR staff from our Energy and Mining team in San Francisco and our Guangzhou, China, office conducted a stakeholder mapping session with mine staff in China, as well as a series of in-person interviews with more than 100 community members and government officials in the area around the mine. By listening to people’s hopes and fears regarding the mine’s impact on their daily lives, we developed a short list of stakeholders’ key “issues of concern.” For example, community members were eager to work at the mine or develop small businesses supplying the operation, but did not always have the necessary education or skills to do so. Government officials were looking for increased opportunities to dialogue with the mine and explore options for collaboration in promoting local community development.

Based on these key issues, we next set out to identify and evaluate international development agencies and other domestic nonprofits as candidates to partner with the mine in the design and implementation of a community development program. Relying on its network, BSR conducted in-person and phone interviews with potential partners and then recommended a short list of domestic and international candidates that would be good development partners for Sino Gold.

Impact

Sino Gold is taking action on the recommendations we presented both in China and at company headquarters in Sydney. Sino Gold plans to establish a multi-year budget commitment for community development at Jinfeng and has begun a dialogue with the recommended development agencies to develop a long-term partnership agreement. Development work in the five communities around the mine is expected to be underway by the end of 2008.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Shenzhen’s ICT Sector Strives for Social and Environmental Leadership

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The Challenge

The Foreign Investment Advisory Service (FIAS), a joint initiative of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, sought to build the capacity of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in Shenzhen, China, to meet international social and environmental requirements and improve the "soft" competitiveness of the industry. This in turn necessitated an innovative multi-stakeholder project approach that included a wide range of industry and public sector players.

Our Strategy

Working with FIAS, we designed the project as a multi-stakeholder, cross-sector partnership including the Municipal Government of Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Electronics Industries Association, the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition (including HP, Microsoft and Intel), and the Global eSustainability Initiative (including Vodafone, Nokia, Motorola and BT). BSR performed field research and a diagnostic assessment including a root cause and cost-benefit analysis. This research included interviews with a range of suppliers, customers, NGOs and government representatives. BSR and FIAS then held a workshop in Shenzhen and published a detailed report in both English and Chinese that included the key findings and recommendations. The strategy includes specific actions that each stakeholder can implement, such as the need for public-private coordination of Chinese supply chain monitoring, and ICT industry collaboration with the government and civil society on capability building. A second-phase pilot project is being developed to test strategies and activities in the two areas most important to the stakeholder groups: worker engagement and management systems.

Our Impact

The recommendations and capacity-building strategy were specifically designed to be relevant and useful for a wide set of stakeholders. Each group now has the underlying information needed to change their own practices and increase the ability of the sector to improve social and environmental conditions in China. The strategy initially focused on Shenzhen because it is a popular sourcing destination for the sector and the city has already taken steps to improve its CSR practices; but the FIAS project will potentially be expanded to other regions once its effectiveness is tested. The report has been widely distributed and received positive feedback from each group of stakeholders, including customers, government, suppliers, and NGOs. The participation of more than 80 stakeholder representatives at the Shenzhen workshop is a testament to the unprecedented level of commitment and collaboration achieved by the FIAS project.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Shell Wind: Community Engagement in a New Era of Energy

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The Challenge

Shell Wind Energy is involved in 11 wind-generating facilities across the United States and Europe, with 550 megawatts of owned generating capacity—saving around 1 million tons of carbon dioxide per year compared to conventional energy sources. Shell recognizes that wind projects can have a range of impacts that require community engagement, and that community engagement is central to positive outcomes. For example, while wind developments in rural areas can support the regional economy, important public services also need to be readied for managing revenues, safety, and communications regarding planned construction and operating activities. Shell asked BSR to support community engagement with wind projects in several locations, including New Mexico and Texas.

Our Strategy

BSR worked with the Shell Wind Energy team to identify a range of stakeholders associated with each of these projects, including community leaders, NGOs, government officials, and local residents. BSR then designed a series of discussion questions and deployed a team to conduct interviews (with anonymity) and obtain feedback on specific concerns, observations, and recommendations regarding the project, the local community, and Shell's track record. Each project typically involved more than 40 interviews and covered topics related to economic development, environmental impact, and community dynamics. While the interviews revealed excitement about harnessing renewable energy, investing in local infrastructure, and reinvigorating business developments, interviewees expressed concerns about how the turbines would impact the natural landscape and affect longer-term community development.

Based on this feedback, BSR crafted a range of recommendations that focused on:

Expanding direct communications with local residents through newsletters, town halls, and other gatherings.
Supporting strategic community projects that would match Shell competencies with local infrastructure needs.
Helping community leaders identify gaps in needed public services and civic planning activities.

Our Impact

While the wind projects themselves are still in various stages of development, Shell has incorporated many of BSR's recommendations in its community relations strategy—in order to maximize benefits both for the projects and the impacted communities. With BSR's assistance, Shell is developing a stakeholder engagement plan to identify the various community stakeholder concerns throughout its development process. One of the most important anticipated outcomes is the development of awareness and capacity at the community level to support effective planning and management of local emergency, housing, water supply, and education services.

Case Studies | Tuesday June 1, 2010

ANZ: Responsible Growth in the Financial Services Industry

Case Studies | Tuesday June 1, 2010

AgroAmérica: Improving Productivity Through Better Communication

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Achieving Global eSustainability

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Women’s Health Enables Return in Global Supply Chains

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

The Automotive Industry Action Group

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Visa: Aligning and Strengthening Corporate Responsibility Strategy

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Sustainability Outlook: Forecasting the Future

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Sino Gold Implements Action Plan for Community Development in China

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Shenzhen’s ICT Sector Strives for Social and Environmental Leadership

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Shell Wind: Community Engagement in a New Era of Energy

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