| |
In This Issue
Editor's Note
The Other Drug Trade: Making Medicine More Accessible
After exploring ways to increase access to financial products and services last week, we now turn our attention to the access debate in a different sector: pharmaceuticals.
In his feature article, BSR's new Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology Practice Director Mark Little offers his perspective on the opportunity for the industry to address a critical public health challenge—the availability and affordability of medications, particularly in the developing world—while maintaining its necessary focus on innovation and the development of new drugs. As Little points out, for the pharmaceuticals industry, investing in ways to make medicine more accessible is smart business: "Today's 'access challenge' is tomorrow's thriving market," he writes.
Next, BSR Advisory Services Manager Angie Farrag shares findings from our recent report on trends in the shipping industry, where sustainability "challenges" actually offer companies opportunities to develop new services, improve operating models, and deepen customer loyalty.
Finally, we invite you to join the recent media debate about CSR. Read the commentary and participate in a webinar where BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer and other leaders from business, media, and civil society will continue this discussion.
 |
In Depth
Access to Medicine: From Philanthropy to Marketplace
By Mark Little, Director, Healthcare, Advisory Services, BSR
With millions of people worldwide lacking access to essential medications, the pharmaceuticals industry can help address this public health challenge through innovations in products and services, distribution and pricing strategies, and cross-sector partnerships.
Read more →
|
Toolbox
Gaining a Competitive Edge in the Shipping Industry
By Angie Farrag, Associate Director, Transport and Logistics, BSR
BSR's new report—based on more than 30 interviews with the international container shipping industry’s biggest customers—provides a summary of the sector's key sustainability challenges and explores how leading companies can turn these potential business risks into opportunities to develop new services, improve operating models, and deepen customer loyalty.
The report highlights the following trends that will have a tremendous impact on the industry:
- Customers will seek a value proposition that includes low costs, good lead times, and overall greener transportation models. Shipping companies will need to depart from their current customer-commodity model in order to maintain and foster new customer relationships.
- Regulators, customers, supply chain partners, and other stakeholders will increasingly demand more information on sustainability performance. This data could, for example, be used by docking ports to determine the price of access.
- Different regions and countries will likely adopt their own environmental and security regulations rather than wait for a global consensus—highlighting the need for companies to engage in public policy debates and to be flexible in order to meet different regulatory standards.
On the Record
Where Do You Stand on the Case Against CSR?
Two recent columns critiquing CSR in the Wall Street Journal and in the Washington Post sparked a heated debate in the sustainability community:
"It's not surprising that this idea has won over so many people—it's a very appealing proposition.… But it's an illusion, and a potentially dangerous one."
—Aneel Karnani, Associate Professor of Strategy, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (Wall Street Journal, July 23, 2010)
"The problem with CSR is that it muddies the waters. Goldman's purpose isn't to educate women; BP's isn't to lead the green revolution. The job of business is to make money…"
—Chrystia Freeland, Global Editor-at-Large, ThomsonReuters (Washington Post, July 18, 2010)
BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer responded to Karnani’s column in blogs for the Huffington Post and www.bsr.org:
"If a focus on CSR were ‘dangerous,’ we would not see so many companies reporting publicly on their corporate responsibility efforts, nor would we see so many business school students flock to work for companies that embrace a social purpose along with their business interests."
—Aron Cramer, BSR President and CEO (July 24, 2010)
Now, Fenton Communications—with support from BSR—is bringing both authors together with Cramer and other leaders from business, media, and civil society to continue this debate in a live, online webcast from 10:30 a.m. to noon EST on September 17.
Register now to participate in this free webinar and voice your own thoughts on this debate. If you've already signed up, remember to access the event via the same link you used to register.
|
|
|
For those of us in the fast-paced, ever-evolving field of CSR and sustainability, there's a lot of information to keep up with. I was curious to learn what books my BSR colleagues have been reading in their spare time. The books they're reading offer a window into their interactions with and reactions to the world around us.