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Blog | Friday April 10, 2020

COVID-19 and Our Future World

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BSR has partnered with Polecat since 2017 to deliver real-time corporate reputation and ESG intelligence from global online and social media discourse.

Yasmin Crowther, Polecat's VP of Strategic Insight, collaborated with Charlotte Bancilhon, Associate Director, BSR, to analyze the top ESG Issues and Sectors arising in global discourse about COVID-19 over the last fortnight. This blog post draws on the key findings:

1. Procurement of medical supplies is the top online media topic, followed by concern for impacted workforces and labor practices. Public opinion on social media indicates high expectations of businesses to play a positive role in the COVID-19 response, including to protect employees, provide fair benefits, and pay taxes.
2. Social media is also focused on potential healthcare solutions, but pays acute attention to issues of diversity and inclusion, with strong responses to the stigmatization of ethnic minorities and characterization of COVID-19 as "the Chinese virus."
3. The industrial sector receives most online scrutiny for the economic impacts of COVID-19 as well as for the ways in which business models are pivoting to provide solutions. Firms across sectors are making investments to support communities—from access to IT to ensuring food security and emergency relief.
4. Conversations about climate change have not been hampered by COVID-19 but reframed. The depth and scale of the current pandemic is being compared to the climate crisis, with a renewed focus on building resilient communities and businesses.
5. There is a new focus on biodiversity with growing attention to how wildlife carries infectious diseases and the risks of destroying natural habitats which force animals into ever closer proximity with humans.

Coronavirus coverage across leading ESG Topics and Sectors for the two weeks to 8 March 2020

The main headline in the Financial Times this weekend read: "Global economy set for sharpest reversal since Great Depression." Although businesses are not all equal in face of the crisis, it is clear from our review of online and social media discourse that businesses are being scrutinized for how they are considering the welfare of their employees, communities, and partners before profits. A recent survey found that 90 percent of respondents expect businesses to partner with governments and relief agencies to address challenges, while long-standing debates on climate and stakeholder capitalism are being powerfully reframed. There is an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to show leadership and purpose:

Response to Medical Imperatives

We are glimpsing what is possible when urgent social need comes first—when the imperatives are the procurement of ventilators, face masks, vaccines, and testing kits. Around the world, auto manufacturers like Ford, GM, Fiat, and Nissan are collaborating with healthcare specialists to deliver tens of thousands of medical ventilators in a matter of months. The pharma sector is investing billions to co-fund vaccine research and clinical testing, and some of the world’s best-known beauty brands and beverage companies, like Estee Lauder, LVMH, L’Oréal, and Pernod Ricard, are turning their facilities to the production of hand sanitizer for frontline medical staff. Meanwhile, the fashion industry, from luxury brands to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), are making facemasks, and household names like Unilever are donating hundreds of millions of dollars of soap, sanitizer, bleach, and food to support health organizations globally.

Support for Communities

After the medical imperatives, come the community concerns of ensuring care for vulnerable people in their homes; that we all have enough food and that we have the digital infrastructure – the networks, connectivity and data—vital to working from home and maintaining contact with family and friends whom we may not see for months. Food companies like Mondelez are donating tens of millions in financial aid and in-kind support to community partners advancing critical food stability and emergency relief. Retailers are setting aside dedicated time every day for the elderly to shop and providing free home deliveries for the most vulnerable. Tech companies are lifting data caps and promising not to cut off supplies if payments are overdue or missed.

Flexible work forces

At the same time as businesses strive to pivot to the realities of a world in lockdown, the longer-term consequences will reshape work life within many sectors. Employees around the world are being asked to adapt to working from home or being furloughed. A recent ILO report found that more than 4 out of 5 people (81 percent) in the global workforce of 3.3 billion are currently affected by full or partial workplace closures. But while some sectors, such as airlines, are registering massive layoffs, others, such as retail, are hiring. Around 40 percent of the world’s passenger jet fleet is now in storage, with firms like Air New Zealand reporting an expected contraction of at least 30 percent over the next year, as its revenue falls from just under US$6bn to US$500m. In the U.K., laid-off airline cabin crew with first aid training are being pursued by the NHS to work in support of nurses and doctors in hospitals across the country. It is hard not to wonder if the experience will compel a permanent change in career as the perceived value of frontline workers is set to soar, with UK political conversation on the need for better pay already igniting. Meanwhile in the U.S., the reduction in emergency departments and routine hospital programs to cope with COVID-19 means some frontline staff are actually getting pay cuts.

Science at the Center

Perhaps most powerfully, coronavirus has put expert opinion and scientific fact center stage. We do not want or need the opinion of literati—we care mainly for the epidemiologists, virologists, and medics who tell it as it is. Twitter has redefined its definition of harm to address content that "goes directly against guidance from authoritative sources of global and local public health information" and is removing tweets that spread dangerous misinformation about COVID-19. Facebook is investing an additional US$100 million in local journalism to support reporting on the pandemic.

Climate Change at the Fore

There is much that is positive, but what does it all bode for how we think about the future more widely? Many articles use the lens of climate change to consider future possibilities—balancing the immediate enforced environmental benefits of cleaner air and birdsong with longer-term choices. As The New York Times writes:

The efforts to revive economic activity — the stimulus plans, bailouts and back-to-work programs being developed now — will help determine the shape of our economies and our lives for the foreseeable future, and they will have effects on carbon emissions that reverberate across the planet for thousands of years.

In an interview with New Scientist, Greta Thunberg said:

If one virus can wipe out the entire economy in a matter of weeks and shut down societies, then that is proof that our societies are not very resilient. It also shows that once we are in an emergency, we can act and we can change our behaviour very quickly.

Reframing of Biodiversity and Disease

Conversations about climate change and biodiversity haven’t been killed by COVID-19, but they are being reframed. Tigers with COVID-19 make the front page, along with wide-ranging discourse about potential threats to and from other animals. Inger Andersen, head of the UN Environment Programme, has cautioned on the proximity of wild animals to humans as a cause of disease—with 75 percent of all emerging infectious diseases coming from wildlife. Her message is that failing to look after the planet is a failure to look after ourselves: global warming and the destruction of habitats for farming, mining and housing all drive wildlife into contact with people in ways that increase risk of cross-infection. Aaron Bernstein of the Harvard School of Public Health has said:

The separation of health and environmental policy is a dangerous delusion. Our health entirely depends on the climate and the other organisms we share the planet with.

The emerging imperative is for more joined-up thinking and fewer artificial silos, for business strategies to go beyond just cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to the delivery of resilience in the face of a global crisis.

The Battle for Hearts and Minds

The political message to societies in lockdown is that we are "all in it together"—that our individual sacrifices are essential for the greater good and to safeguard the vulnerable. On social media, there are strong reactions to behaviors that undermine diversity and inclusion, particularly when it comes to stigmatizing minorities and characterising COVID-19 as "the Chinese virus." Online, the emphasis is largely that "we are all in it together." We are, but there is also an abyss being observed between the experiences of haves and have-nots. Social isolation in a roomy home with a garden is very different from lockdown in a high-rise block, let alone the difference between established and emerging economies. COVID-19 is shining an unforgiving light on how we are all the same and also how lives are so different and that we turn our backs on one another at our collective peril.

Our Post-COVID-19 World

The tension that seems to be strongly in play when it comes to imagining a world after COVID-19 is whether the impetus to collaborate and put science and society first endures or whether more protectionist and nationalist policies assert themselves. Conversations to build back better are emerging, as demonstrated by the group of French parliamentarians who have launched a national consultation to prepare “the day and the world after” COVID-19 under the hashtag #LeJourdAprès, in reference to the Hollywood hit The Day After Tomorrow. BSR is inviting member companies to engage in thinking ahead to build a different future.

Already, multiple corporate conversations are trying to scope the future landscape, with speculation that flexible working and reliance on digitization will not spring back to the status quo—that the future has somehow been rapidly accelerated—and that new priority and investment will need to go towards ensuring more inclusive and resilient economic strategies if we are not to bear the cost of more damaged societies.

As Arundhati Roy wrote in the Financial Times over the weekend:

The Pandemic is a portal. We can choose to walk through it with our dead ideas. Or we can walk lightly, ready to imagine another world.

This blog was written and produced in collaboration between Polecat and BSR.

Insights+ | Wednesday November 29, 2023

COP28: Tackling Fossil Fuels, and a Final Push to Keep 1.5 Alive

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People

Lale Tekişalp

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Lale works with BSR member companies across industries to incorporate human rights into business operations and strategy. She focuses on the intersection of human rights and technology, and she leads the Tech Against Trafficking collaborative initiative.

Prior to BSR, Lale worked with the Partnership on AI to help build its AI for Social Good strategy. Previously, she held several different marketing roles at Microsoft, where she played a key role in establishing the company's cloud business across Turkey, the Middle East, and Africa.

Lale holds a MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, where she focused on responsible business and social sector leadership. She received a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey.

Blog | Wednesday November 11, 2020

The Sustainable Business Agenda in a Biden-Harris Administration

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Now that the results of the United States presidential election are in, it is time to focus on what business can do to promote a policy agenda that will accelerate the transformation needed to shift to a truly just and sustainable economy. 

The U.S. government has been either absent or counterproductive on sustainability issues over the past four years. This will change in a Biden-Harris administration. How much it changes will depend greatly on the actions and influence of the business community.

BSR exists to catalyze business leadership to achieve a just and sustainable world. We believe strongly that sustainability is a primary source of strategic business advantage.  We believe that comprehensive business action calls for companies to “act, enable, and influence,” creating change both through actions in the “real economy” and also in advocating for policy solutions.  With a new government coming into power, now is the time for business to use its voice and influence to call for decisive action from a more receptive administration in Washington.

With this in mind, here is the agenda that BSR urges businesses to call on the Biden administration to adopt, in the spirit of the campaign’s “build back better” mantra.  

Employment and Economic

• Repairing the safety net: It is time for business to engage with government in remaking the social safety net for the 21st century. 2020 has exposed the serious holes in the safety net, not least access to health care. It is also time to develop a consensus on portable benefits for people who change jobs or who work outside traditional jobs. Innovations like the tax-deferred “401(j)” accounts proposed by Al Gore to allow employees to save for lifelong learning would also be a good step. These steps would not only enable economic security and mobility, they would also ensure opportunities for innovation and a dynamic workforce that businesses need.
• Income inequality: It is long past time for Americans to reverse the deep and widening inequality that plagues our country. While there are multiple reasons for this problem, three topics deserve to be made a priority. First is the need to raise the minimum wage to a level that is a genuine living wage. This would both enable families to support themselves and also reward labor in an economy in which capital has been rewarded more than it should be.  Second is executive compensation, which has continued to rise far too fast. It is time for business leaders to take voluntary steps to reduce executive pay and for Boards to commit to the same. Third, income inequality strikes communities of color especially hard and all pathways to prosperity need to address the wealth gap directly.
• Future of work: The changing nature of work is accelerating due to the confluence of COVID-19 and automation. Contingent or non-traditional work is the fastest growing category of work. There is no consensus on the rules governing such work or universal benefits people can access regardless of how their work is classified. Dialogue between business, government, and workers’ representatives is needed to establish the rules of the road.

Climate and Environment

• Net zero target for the U.S.: Returning to the Paris Agreement will happen January 20—that is only the start.  The U.S. should commit to a net zero target the way that the European Union, China, Japan, South Korea and others – including many U.S. states and cities – have. The need for renewed climate diplomacy, with the U.S. playing a crucial role along with the EU, China and Japan, could not be more important in the run-up to COP 26.
• Climate justice/just transition: Awareness of the disparate impacts of climate – mainly hitting communities of color and those with less formal education – means that environmental justice should now come to the forefront. The shift to net zero is a generational opportunity for progress, not only removing the most toxic elements of the existing energy system, but generating economic opportunities in the clean energy economy as a means of combatting poverty and discrimination. Business should insist that the transition to net zero include policies that prioritize the phase out of toxic impacts on communities of color, incentives for investments that ensure that the clean energy economy delivers training, and employment for people who need opportunities the most, in both rural and urban communities.
• Green infrastructure: Even with divided government, investment in green infrastructure is possible as a means of generating employment at a time when it is badly needed and to reduce the operating costs of U.S. infrastructure. Business should advocate for built environment and transport systems that accelerate and prepare for the net zero economy. The long debated Green Infrastructure Bank should become a reality, not least with the rise of green and “olive” bonds.  And this is also the place where serious—and badly needed—resilience objectives can be achieved.
• Regenerative agriculture: At long last, there is mainstream recognition of the deep intersections of climate, human health, and the vibrancy of America’s agricultural economy.  What’s more, the political opportunity to bring the country together through heartland interest in thriving agriculture and coastal interest in climate action is one that could help unify a country that is divided against itself on climate action.

Social

• Racial justice: The Biden campaign made clear that racial justice was one of its four priorities, along with climate action, economic opportunity, and public health. In fact, these four topics are interrelated and should be addressed as such. The business community should make sure that the many statements of support for Black Lives Matter in 2020 are strengthened by a long-term commitment to ensure that decisive action is taken to end the centuries-long scourge of systemic racism. As noted above, the wealth gap that exists in communities of color is a legacy of longstanding oppression. Steps taken to address climate, strengthen the social safety net, restore public health, and invest in green infrastructure offer great promise in addressing the wealth gap, and business should support this objective vocally. In addition, business should also make clear its support for criminal legal system reform, starting with policing, but also including access to the court system and incarceration rates. Finally, business should call for mandatory disclosure of employee demographic information, which leverages transparency in support of greater equity.
• Technology and human rights/privacy: It is well understood that policy moves more slowly than technology. At a high level, the U.S. government should establish the principle that new technologies should adhere to international human rights standards in their design, development, and use. In addition, the U.S. government can introduce a federal privacy law along similar lines to the GDPR, ensure that any revisions to Section 230 of the Telecommunications Decency Act of 1996 are consistent with the protection of human rights, and introduce sector-based approaches to regulating disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and biometric technologies. Companies from all industries should advocate for a technology policy and regulatory context that protects interdependent rights such as freedom of expression, privacy, security, freedom of assembly, non-discrimination, public health, and access to remedy.
• Restoring support for human rights and democracy: The U.S. government has provided implicit and explicit support for some of the governments most responsible for the worst human rights abuses over the past few years, The business community shied away from calling this out the way they challenged the Trump administration’s approach to climate. It is time for business to make clear that it wants and needs strong support for human rights, with renewed action from the White House and State Department at a minimum
• Human migration and refugee policies: The xenophobia that was unleashed in the first days of the Trump years must be relegated to the past. Business has consistently called for immigration policies that enable the U.S. to welcome the breadth of human capacity that comes from literally every corner of the world. This is needed both for humanitarian reasons, which speak for themselves, but also because of the positive impact open societies have on economic vitality and innovation.  What’s more, this will also help to restore America’s soft power around the world, something that benefits U.S. businesses and which has been seriously damaged since 2016.

Governance

• Corporate governance reforms and listing requirements: It is time for Boards to reflect more fully the world in which business actually operates. This means diversifying Board composition. It also requires that so-called “non-financial” considerations be embedded in corporate governance and listing requirements. A good first step towards integration of ESG into corporate governance would be business advocacy for making the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) mandatory. This can then be extended to other steps including mandatory human rights diligence, executive compensation, and workplace diversity.  All these steps will strengthen the resilience of business and bring America’s trading rules in sync with advances in Europe and elsewhere.
• Restoring democracy: 2020 has made clear, yet again, that there are significant structural flaws in American democracy. Business associations stepped up to call publicly for democratic processes to be honored—and have continued to call for this post-election. This remains important as many have chosen not to honor the clear outcome of the election.  Despite this, American democracy appears poised to survive in the wake of this unusual election, but issues remain. Business should use its voice to call for reforms that address voter suppression, campaign finance, gerrymandering, and a judicial system that has been infected by hyper-partisanship. This is an issue that many CEOs will seek to avoid for fear of appearing to pick sides, and that is understandable. But the reforms called for here should not be seen that way, since they are necessary for our system to function, for all people to have their voices heard, and for faith in the system be restored.
• Rules-based trading system with multilateral agreements: The U.S. was the primary architect of the rules-based trading system in the wake of WWII and the primary protector of that system over the past 75 years. While this system certainly needs significant reforms, the past four years have taken a scorched earth approach that leaves us no hope of managing an interdependent world well and fairly. Business could not have more of a stake in restoring support for the concept of multilateralism and more of a need to make sure it is fit for purpose in the 21st century.
• Procurement: Finally, business should call on government to partner more aggressively on procurement policies.  The U.S. government has immense purchasing power and it is not being used as fully as it could be to promote the creation and efficiency of markets for sustainable products and services. This is also a uniquely valuable way to address the wealth gap, with government partnering with BIPOC-owned businesses as suppliers.

There will be a time to get more specific on policy solutions. For now, however, it is essential to define the areas where progress is necessary. Much of what is advocated here is also found in BSR’s call for business action to promote a 21st century social contract.

The temptation to “go back to business as usual” will be strong for many, but that would be a mistake. Building a just and sustainable world has never been about opposing any single political leader. It has always been about building a future in which we can all thrive. It is about what we are for, not what we are against.

After four years when the U.S. government failed to embrace—and often thwarted—the achievement of sustainable business, the business voice remains a powerful tool in creating an economy that works for all.  

People

Paul Holdredge

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Paul leads BSR’s Industrials and Transport and Logistics practices, helping companies to align innovative sustainability practices with business strategy and operations. Paul works with leaders in the manufacturing, automotive, freight, and aviation industries to put sustainability strategy into action.

Paul has over 25 years of industry experience in engineering and sustainability leadership roles. He has deep experience in product development, greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction, sustainability reporting, and sustainability strategy. Previously, he founded an independent consultancy helping mid-size industrials get started on their sustainability journey.

Paul holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a MBA from Marquette University.

People

Hansika Iyer

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Hansika works with BSR consumer product member companies on sustainability management projects.

Prior to joining BSR, Hansika managed apparel material and product development at Reebok. She also advised the senior leadership team on sustainability strategy and developed an internal sustainability education program. She has an extensive background in sustainable fashion, including designing a zero waste activewear collection, researching regenerative textile solutions, speaking at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit on achieving gender equality in the fashion industry, and consulting for a nonprofit supporting artisan communities in South America.

Hansika has a BS in Fiber Science and Apparel Design with a minor in Sustainability Sciences from Cornell University. She speaks English, Tamil, French, and Spanish. 

Case Studies | Tuesday November 22, 2016

Instituto Avon and Fundo ELAS: Speak Out Without Fear Fund

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This case study was developed by Win-Win Strategies in support of the Investing in Women initiative, a collaboration platform providing companies with opportunities to share, learn, and design effective approaches to women’s empowerment.

Background

The partnership between the Instituto Avon in Brazil (Avon) and Fundo ELAS (ELAS) grew out of a common interest in addressing violence against women. The issue of domestic violence has long been at the center of Avon’s social investment strategy, as it is critical to its largely female employees and customers. ELAS, with its focus on investment in women’s leadership and rights, has supported numerous women’s organizations in Brazil that have worked for many years to address the issue of gender-based violence and create social change.

In 2009, Amalia Fischer, then executive director of ELAS, was invited to speak at Avon about ELAS’ work. Following that meeting, Avon and ELAS began working together to develop a partnership aligned with both organizations’ goals. This partnership led to the development of a fund called Fundo Fale Sem Medo, or the Speak Out Without Fear Fund, which is now in its third year.

Together, Avon and ELAS designed the launch of the fund and completed all supporting communications and strategy. As part of this partnership, ELAS runs a competitive process each year to award grants to projects designed by local women’s organizations that utilize innovative approaches to address the issue of domestic violence.

The program is currently funding 31 organizations, with projects ranging from a rock music festival that highlighted women’s rights and domestic violence prevention, to a program that uses sports as a vehicle to teach girls about their rights and help prevent violence. The program also provides workshops on how to reduce gender-based violence and brings the grantee organizations together for capacity-development and to foster collaborations among them.

The Strategy

The decision to support ELAS was based on Avon’s view that to address an issue like domestic violence, it was important to work with strategic players with credibility and a proven track record. This type of relationship is core to Avon’s approach of working in partnership with other organizations and with NGOs with direct links to the issues of interest to Avon.

Avon and ELAS share the perspective that the most appropriate and effective strategies to end violence against women are those that involve local women’s organizations. In working with ELAS, Avon has a partner with knowledge of these organizations, experience in the community, and the ability to support locally relevant solutions. As Lirio Cipriani, the executive director of the Avon Institute noted: “In order to face this pressing, challenging, and widespread issue, we must cooperate with strategic players in a coordinated manner. Supporting women’s organizations is essential; we recognize that their work has led to important institutional transformations and strengthened the support network that can serve women in violent situations.”

Over three years of funding to ELAS, Avon has supported 77 projects to fight domestic violence in Brazil, and ELAS has received a total of 7 million Brazilian reals (equivalent of more than US$2 million) from Avon to support the selected grantee projects. During the project period, in addition to written progress reports, ELAS and Avon have held regular face-to-face and virtual meetings, working together in a transparent manner to monitor the projects, develop and revise assessment tools, and ensure effective collaboration.

Two key factors were highlighted as contributing to the success of the partnership:

• ELAS and Avon have shared values and a shared interest in social investment to support social transformation and women’s empowerment. In particular, they both believe that empowering and financially supporting local women’s organizations is an important strategy to stop violence against women.
• ELAS and Avon each appreciated each other’s mission and expertise. ELAS reported that Avon understood the experience and knowledge that ELAS brought to the table. ELAS also reported that it knew of the work that Avon was doing to empower women and valued its commitment to end violence against women, reflected in Avon’s other partnerships with the public sector and civil society.

Impact

Both parties are inspired by the work they have been doing together to address the issue of domestic violence in Brazil and have seen positive impacts on women in the organizations reached. Nonetheless, Avon identified measuring impact as a challenging area, as specific measurement indicators were not part of the first and second years of the Speak Out Without Fear Fund. To address this, in the third year of the fund, Avon and ELAS jointly developed a set of behavioral indicators, such as the number of people engaged and affected, and public-policy-related indicators, such as the number of policies initiated or driven by the project.

Lessons Learned

The case study findings highlight the importance of co-creation of indicators and evaluation tools and the challenges in doing so. Because the size and nature of projects varied greatly, it was difficult to measure their impact with common indicators. Furthermore, it was challenging to establish indicators for behavior change, which often occurs slowly over time. By the third edition of the fund, however, the partners realized that they needed to align expectations about what could be measured during a project period, and subsequently developed indicators.

More broadly, the partnership between Avon and ELAS proved to be transformational—not simply a transactional funding relationship—because of the parties’ ability to work together to truly co-create the Speak Out Without Fear Fund. This required open minds, mutual respect, transparency, ongoing communication, and patience on both sides. In addition, because staff has changed at both institutions during the partnership period, it was important to have organizational buy-in for the partnership and ongoing sharing of information internally at Avon about the fund’s activities.

Amalia Fischer of ELAS remarked that the partnership built with Avon now goes much deeper than project funding and has helped ELAS develop new, meaningful relationships and networks. And Lirio Cipriani of Avon noted: “The partnership has enabled Avon to support solutions [to end domestic violence in Brazil] that are appropriate for the local conditions and, as a result, can lead to more profound and lasting transformation.”

Developed in Partnership with:

People

David Lawrence

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David Lawrence is an expert in sustainable procurement, bringing a practical, collaborative approach to global supply chains. He is the senior procurement advisor for the Procurement Leadership Group, enhancing the buyer perspective of the work.

Most recently, David worked for Diageo, where he created and led the company’s sustainable procurement activities globally. He was also the global category director for capital expenditures and maintenance, repair, and operations, managing an annual capital expenditure budget of more than £350 million.

Additionally, David is a non-executive board member of SEDEX and executive chairman of AIM-Progress. He is also a tutor at Cambridge University, where he helps develop and deliver material for its Postgraduate Certificate and Master’s programs.

David holds degrees in Engineering and in Management Studies, and he also recently completed a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Business from Cambridge University.

Case Studies | Friday February 28, 2020

Kering: Italian Women in Luxury Supply Chains

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Despite the importance of Italy in luxury supply chains and the high prevalence of women in the workforce, little is known about gender inequalities faced by women working behind the prized “Made in Italy” label. Kering and its family of Italian brands—Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Kering Eyewear, and Pomellato—partnered with BSR to understand the status of women working in their Italian luxury supply chain and identify opportunities to support gender equality in the country. The research highlighted significant challenges for women workers and identified clear opportunities for the luxury sector to lead efforts towards more gender-inclusive supply chains in Italy.

The Challenge

Italy represents 87.8 percent of the global supply chain of the Kering Group, one of the major global players in the luxury sector. The Italian supply chain is predominantly composed of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): highly specialized yet still predominantly artisanal companies, usually family owned and employing less than 50 employees on average. Analysis from BSR suggests that the majority of these employees are women: 63 percent of the workforce of the 189 suppliers engaged for this project were women.

Kering is committed to gender equality: In 2019, Thomson Reuters ranked Kering 10th out of 7,000 global organizations on their Equality & Diversity index. Nonetheless, Kering’s 2025 vision is to go further, with a goal of reaching gender balance and ending the gender pay gap at every level of the Group. As part of these efforts, Kering partnered with BSR to explore the less visible barriers to women’s economic empowerment in Italy and to establish how luxury companies can tackle them. Italy is ranked 76th on the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index 2020, suggesting that gender inequality remains a major issue.  

Our Strategy

We partnered with Wise Growth, an Italian advisory organization, to conduct a range of analyses and data collection activities. Together, we reviewed workplace gender equality policies and practices of 189 suppliers and the perceptions and experiences of 880 workers (620 women and 260 men) across the supply chains of Kering’s family of Italian brands: Bottega Veneta, Gucci, Kering Eyewear, and Pomellato. We collected gender-disaggregated data, interviewed supplier management, and engaged workers to hear first-hand testimony, including through dedicated focus groups with women workers.

Following this, we collated our findings and conducted a landscape analysis, identifying existing initiatives and potential partners for future programs that could help advance gender equality in the Italian luxury supply chain.

Our Outcomes and Impact

The robust supplier engagement strategy and on-the-ground research enabled us to gather the most comprehensive data to date and to produce a robust analysis of a previously overlooked subject. Findings included:

• Women do not have access to the same working conditions and economic opportunities as men: Women represent 63 percent of the workforce, but only 25 percent of management positions, remaining predominantly in traditional roles as blue collar workers within the factories. 
• Women rarely hold leadership positions and have limited opportunities of professional career advancement: Breaking the glass ceiling is particularly challenging, and 59 percent of women feel discriminated against across the employment cycle.
• The impacts of familial responsibilities are seen as obstacles to gender equality: Motherhood in particular is perceived as a burden by 39 percent of women, who fear its consequences on their job upon returning to work and its overall impact on getting and sustaining a job and on professional growth. In addition to that, shared parental responsibilities are still rare: for 69 percent of women, domestic and family care responsibilities still predominantly fall on their shoulders and impact their work-life balance.

Following our analysis, we worked with Kering on a range of recommendations that could be taken up by all luxury brands sourcing from Italy and by their suppliers, using our Act/Enable/Influence framework. Recommendations for brands included collecting and monitoring gender-disaggregated data, applying a gender lens to supplier codes of conduct, integrating incentives into supplier purchasing practices, and supporting the breakdown of gender stereotypes through advertising campaigns.  

Following the research and the recommendations outlined in the report, Kering and its family of four brands have committed to take action to help advance gender equality through supplier engagement and in cooperation with relevant stakeholders. Through collaboration with Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana—a nonprofit association that regulates, coordinates, and promotes the development of Italian fashion—Kering also disseminated the results widely to ensure that the entire industry could benefit from the findings.

"For Kering, this project was a continuation of our commitment to nurturing the talents of women in our supply chains. We firmly believe that empowering women creates positive social impacts and is also good for our business. This project required engaging and coordinating numerous actors; with their experience in this area and strong knowledge of the local context, BSR was the right partner."

-Géraldine Vallejo, Sustainability Programme Director, Kering Group

Lessons Learned

• Gender inequality is likely to exist across supply chains, including in relatively wealthy and developed countries (where it may be masked by positive global statistics). To address this inequality, rigorous analysis is needed. This begins with collecting gender-disaggregated data, which is critical for companies to detect issues specifically affecting women or men.
• Engagement strategies and expectations must be adapted to the local context and to the reality of small- and medium-sized enterprises. It is important to understand the constraints on suppliers in terms of resources and capacity—including limitations on manpower, money, expertise, information, and time—and how those constraints may affect their efforts to adopt good practices and design response strategies that are geared towards capacity building and support providing and facilitating access to resources that are locally available.
• Wherever companies uncover gender inequality, it is vital to consider the full spectrum of interventions that are available to tackle it. Companies can act within their own operations, enable suppliers and other stakeholders to collaborate with them, and influence the stereotypes and pressures present in society. A holistic strategy on gender inequality will include all three of these elements.

People

Mike Zeitouny

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Mike provides leadership and oversight to the finance and information technology functions of BSR. His work is crucial in helping the organization achieve its mission, grow its activities, and operate efficiently. He also serves on the organization’s Executive Committee. 

Mike has more than 25 years of financial management experience in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors. He served in similar roles at Pathfinder International, Jhpiego, and American Refugee Committee. Mike was the director of finance and administration for Habitat for Humanity International in Pretoria, South Africa, and before that, he was director of finance and administration for the U.S. Peace Corps in Guinea. He speaks three languages and has broad international experience, having lived in eight countries and worked in more than two dozen. In 2010, Mike was named Chief Financial Officer of the Year by the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.

Mike holds an M.B.A from Aspen University and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Northwestern Ohio.