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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

The Automotive Industry Action Group

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The Challenge

The automotive global supply chain touches nearly every other industry, including steel, plastics, textiles, electronics, and more. As scrutiny of human rights practices in other industries heated up, the automotive sector knew it could soon become a target if it did not proactively address the social impacts of its operations. In an effort to improve the working conditions of the automotive supply chain, five major auto companies sought BSR's help to create a set of working conditions guidelines and other tools. BSR was assisted by a sizeable grant from the U.S. State Department to fund this initiative.

Our Strategy

The goal of the Working Conditions Initiative, housed at the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), was to create a sustainable auto forum focused on working conditions. Over two years, BSR worked hand in hand with manufacturers, some suppliers and other stakeholders to create and implement a program for improving working conditions. The following were key components of this program:

• On-site training: BSR and the working conditions group developed a detailed training to be executed at factory sites.
• Corporate engagement: In order to truly impact the automotive industry's complex supply chain, top-level engagement from company executives is essential.

Impact

The five participating lead auto companies, AIAG and BSR created guidelines and trainings to improve working conditions to meet stakeholder expectations. This new best practice framework can now be integrated into every tier of the automotive supply chain, allowing it to have substantial impact.

The technique BSR helped develop can enhance brand reputation, provide operational benefits, enhance profitability, endure business continuity, and mitigate potential legal risk.

The framework has already been rolled out in Mexico and will be implemented in other global regions shortly.

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 | Monday June 1, 2009

Promoting Business Engagement in Enhancing Effective Public Governance

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The Challenge

Companies are increasingly finding that the boundaries between public and private responsibilities are unclear. Many CSR challenges flow directly from weak or poor governance, or from a lack of clarity about how to address questions of global significance. Appropriate business efforts to address topics ranging from climate change and labor standards to bribery and corruption are more likely to be successful where effective public governance is present. Indeed, true sustainable economic growth is more likely where governance mechanisms function effectively.

Our Strategy

We have worked with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and numerous companies to generate increased business attention to this dilemma. BSR and WEF have collaborated with 15 companies participating in WEF's Global Corporate Citizenship Initiative to develop support for private sector action on this topic. This initiative aims to raise awareness of the dimensions of this issue and its critical link to sustainable economic development, its importance to business, and examples of action steps business can take to contribute to more effective public governance. Through global dialogues and publications, BSR and WEF have generated support for further business action in 2008 and beyond. This initiative is evidence that our research and development activities are effective in illuminating emerging issues and solutions for the business community.

Our Impact

This effort is intended to increase business awareness of public governance as well as promote business efforts to work alone and in partnership to improve governance. Our goal in this work is to help create conditions in which companies’ CSR efforts can be more effective. It is our sense, and that of WEF, that these efforts can strengthen conditions for economic growth, create opportunities to increase public-private partnerships that build systematic solutions to sustainability challenges, and clarify how multi-stakeholder initiatives can maximize their potential through accountable governance structures.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Novartis Pays Social Dividends with Wages

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The Challenge

Novartis needed help meeting its commitment to pay competitive and fair wages—which clearly exceed what is needed to cover basic living needs—and to provide employees with time for family, social activities and leisure. To achieve this standard established in its Corporate Citizenship policy, Novartis must pay wages that cover the market price of a basket of goods and services representing the necessities for an average worker in the countries where Novartis operates. This basket should include reasonable housing, transportation, health care, clothing, nutrition, and education for dependent children in accordance with local standards.

Our Strategy

Since 2003, we have worked with Novartis to calculate the basic needs wages for every country where the company has significant operations. These wages are then used in Novartis' Corporate Citizenship reporting process. Beyond calculating wages, BSR has also researched and implemented improvements to the calculation methodology, reached out to Novartis personnel in many different countries to check the veracity and practicality of the wages, and interviewed academics and other organizations that work on these issues.

Our Impact

Novartis is one of a handful of companies that has committed to paying a living wage to all of its direct employees around the world and that has taken the next, more difficult step of actually establishing a system for assuring that it meets this commitment. Since 2004, Novartis has adjusted the salaries of employees in various countries in line with BSR's living wage figures, positively impacting the lives of many workers and their families. As the living wage program evolves, it will further engage external stakeholders and other companies to not only improve its methodology and implementation, but also to raise the bar for other companies' social policy efforts.

Case Studies | Monday June 1, 2009

Ghana Responsible Mining Alliance

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The Challenge

Ghana is the second largest gold producing country in Africa, and the majority of its population suffers from basic developmental needs. There is a history of conflict around the mining sector in the country and a perception that local communities receive fewer benefits than they should. Two major gold mining companies and USAID/Ghana collaborated to create a tri-partite Global Development Alliance (GDA) aimed at improving the lives of Ghanaians in mining communities. Together they sought the help of BSR professionals to assess the internal capacity of alliance partners and to define key focus areas for Alliance activities.

Our Strategy

A team of two BSR consultants traveled to Ghana to engage with more than 30 stakeholders, including development NGOs, government representatives, local community representatives, the Chamber of Mines, and the Wassa Association of Communities Affected by Mining (WACAM), as well as the three members of the Alliance. The BSR team gathered input, completed additional research, and then developed recommendations for the respective Alliance partner's roles and for three key activity areas:

• Capacity building for local government structures and civil society
• Local economic development through enhanced community livelihood programs
• Development of Ghanaian best practice guidelines for social engagement and management of social issues associated with the mining industry

Our Impact

BSR's input was critical in finalizing the strategy for the Alliance framework and in defining the scope of activities to be undertaken by the Alliance partners. A key outcome of our involvement was alignment of Alliance objectives with local development needs and priorities.

"There was a lot of enthusiasm from the local community," a former participant notes, "and the Ghana Responsible Mining Alliance will be seen as a leading example of innovative and large scale partnerships."

The GDA is currently planned to have a duration of four years and will direct US$10 million from the three partners toward economic development and capacity-building programs in the gold mining regions of Ghana.