| |
In This Issue
Editor's Note
Today’s Water Challenge Requires Collaboration
Last month, more than 100 leaders from business, finance, civil society, government, and the United Nations gathered in South Africa for the UN Global Compact's CEO Water Mandate's sixth working conference to discuss how all parties can move from shared risk to shared action with regard to sustainable water management (SWM).
In this week's feature article, we hear from UN Global Compact Deputy Director Gavin Power and the Pacific Institute’s Program Director Jason Morrison, who explore the implications of SWM with respect to corporate water policy development and implementation as well as the importance and main principles of public water policy engagement.
Collaborating on risk management was also a key issue at last week's World Economic Forum Summit in Dubai, where IDEO CEO and President Tim Brown urged attendees to view risk as a "positive and essential component of innovation and creativity," rather than something that should be feared and avoided.
Lastly, we cover the International Finance Corporation's new guide on how to invest in strategic community investment programs that are successful, sustainable, and consistent with business objectives.
 |
In Depth
Water in the 21st Century: Shared Risks Demand Shared Action
By Gavin Power, Deputy Director, UN Global Compact, and Jason Morrison, Program Director, Pacific Institute
The CEO Water Mandate's new "Guide to Responsible Business Engagement with Water Policy" provides a way for companies to look far beyond their fence lines and engage with a spectrum of water stakeholders to help ensure the healthy and long-term stewardship of a given water catchment, river basin, or watershed.
Read more →
|
Toolbox
IFC Delivers Best Practice Guide to Strategic Community Investment
By Alison Colwell, Associate Director, Advisory Services, BSR
The International Finance Corporation's Strategic Community Investment Handbook (also available in Spanish) helps companies operating in emerging markets to think strategically about community investment programs.
The report recommends a seven-step approach for developing a robust community investment strategy that can help companies gain a social license to operate, reduce project and reputational risks, boost productivity, meet government requirements or global standards, and increase competitiveness:
- Assess the business context by focusing on the business case, identifying risks and opportunities, and aligning internal business units around investment programs.
- Assess the local context by understanding how company resources could affect local stakeholders, institutions, and their interrelationships.
- Engage communities in visioning, planning, prioritizing issues, and managing expectations to promote community empowerment and ownership.
- Invest in capacity building by targeting the right people and skills to strengthen local partner organizations and promote self-reliance.
- Set the parameters (objectives, principles, and criteria) for company activities and project implementation.
- Select implementation models—such as in-house, third-party, or multi-stakeholder partnership—based on company objectives, the project time horizon, budget, and the local operating environment.
- Measure and communicate results to internal and external audiences and link community outcomes to business value.
You can also read the Quick Guide.
On the Record
Giving Risk Management a Positive Twist at the WEF Meeting in Dubai
By Elissa Goldenberg, Associate, Advisory Services, BSR
BSR President and CEO Aron Cramer joined more than 600 thought leaders from academia, business, government, and society at the World Economic Forum's Summit on the Global Agenda last week in Dubai to discuss the latest trends, risks, and innovative solutions for the world's challenges.
A key issue at the event was how to manage global risks. In response to a narrow and primarily negative focus on risk management, IDEO CEO and President Tim Brown urged people to view risk differently:
"Risk is a positive and essential component of innovation and creativity. Without risk, the potential to discover the unknown is lost. … Instead of seeing it as the enemy of progress, we should see it as an inevitable and productive partner that can be managed through the well-established processes of science, innovation, and design."
—Tim Brown, CEO and president, IDEO, and vice-chair, the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Design (December 1, 2010)
For more on the event, read Aron Cramer's blog post on The Huffington Post, "A Stakeholder Approach to Managing Global Risk."
|
|
|
