Business as a force for good - partnerships to solve wicked problems
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us without doubt what is possible when different sectors come together around a common purpose to solve tough challenges. In 2020, businesses, charity groups, and governments worked together in new ways to create and distribute protective gear, develop tools to fight the virus, prevent food waste, and expand access to technology to keep schools and businesses going.
While COVID-19 became the leading topic of conversation in 2020, it also highlighted and exacerbated underlying issues like inequality, environmental sustainability, and access to education and technology. In the U.S. the killing of George Floyd reignited the movement for racial justice and equality, and concerns about the integrity of elections put business in the spotlight to take a public stand on voting rights.
This convergence of so many issues challenged companies to step up in unprecedented ways. The Business Roundtable and the World Economic Forum recently launched calls for redefining the purpose of a corporation to generate prosperity for all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Many people are expecting this new reality for business to stay.
FastCompany’s Purpose Collaborative found that business is entering a very new operating reality: “For businesses, this has meant a growing movement to embrace purpose—a reason for being beyond profits, grounded in humanity—to do well and do good by solving some of the world’s biggest societal challenges. 2020 accelerated this movement by forcing companies to reprioritize; put their employees, customers, and communities above shareholders; and use their capabilities to respond to the pandemic with agility and empathy.”
Kane’s Senior Advisor for Corporate Citizenship and Partnerships and Senior Associate with The Partnering Initiative, Kathleen Elsig, spoke with three highly accomplished women alliance professionals, who are building strategic partnerships involving businesses, charities and governments to tackle some of the world’s most wicked problems. The conversation took place as part of the Women in Alliance’s 2021 Summit - Launching Alliance Leaders, on May 27, 2021.
Companies can engage their entire ecosystem to drive sustainability
Isabella Phoenix heads up HP World Wide Channel Sustainability, including the recently launched HP Amplify Impact, the first of its kind world-wide sustainability program for HP channel partners.
Why should businesses partner with others to tackle the world's most wicked problems?
Because we really know that business cannot go on as usual. A goal of HP’s is to become the most sustainable and just technology company by 2030. HP recently launched a new program: Amplify Impact, where we are working with our business partners to help create an even larger positive impact on the environment, people and communities.
We have about 40,000 commercial partners in over 130 countries. We wanted to really support our partners to come on this journey with us. To have a lasting positive change on the planet, but it's not only that. We know 66% of our customers consider sustainability when they're making the purchase.
Can you talk a little bit about how, and why, you work with activist groups and NGOs?
What has been really important for this program is to make sure that it's authentic. We’re working with diverse groups throughout the whole design of this program. This has been absolutely critical to ensure that the HP Amplify Impact is being validated by the people who would be the most critical.
The world faces complex interconnected challenges that require all sectors of society to work together to provide the solutions
Jenny Ecklund is Director of Engagement and Green Transition at The Partnering Initiative (TPI). She's developing a new strategic program to accelerate and strengthen partnerships for climate action and leading TPI’s work to build partnering knowledge and capability across the philanthropic sector. Jenny is the former Head of Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oxford.
Jenny, in your view, what’s really compelling businesses to accelerate efforts to partner with other sectors to solve tricky challenges that have traditionally been left to government or to nonprofits to solve?
From climate change to depleting natural resources, from food security to youth unemployment- the world faces complex interconnected challenges which do not respect borders- they are everybody’s problem and require all sectors of society to work together to provide the solutions. The COVID pandemic highlighted this, and society expects business to be an active part of solving the world’s challenges. This has tremendous benefits for business, too.
I'd love to hear more from you about "the size of the prize" for businesses to partner when they get it right.
Some of the most compelling examples are of smaller scale. I'm currently working with the Z Zurich Foundation, and the Zurich Insurance Group on their Flood Resilience Alliance, which aims to shift the focus from flood response and recovery to risk reduction. The partnership has a huge humanitarian benefit, but it's also clearly got a strong business case for the insurance sector, because they are heavily exposed to climate risk. The community partners bring knowledge on the ground to really make a difference. They have a learning review every year and they talk about what went wrong and how they changed it.
The Zurich example is a classic case of where the business case to partner is clear. Forming a partnership takes time, effort from all parties, and a flexibility and tolerance for failure less familiar to those working in the private sector. It is only justifiable if combining resources of the partners can potentially unlock sustainable development impact and business benefit beyond that which could be achieved through unilateral action.
Grassroots partnerships that tackle local challenges can generate wins for business, people and communities
Veronica Bodeno is a best selling author, entrepreneur, and mentor. She has decades of experience in IT and consulting in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, including with Linkedin, Sage and Oracle. While with Oracle, she led corporate responsibility projects in Ireland, and globally.
Based on your experience, what is most essential to the success of partnerships that involve business and non-business groups?
There is a growing body of knowledge that shows the tremendous benefits of cross-sector partnerships that tackle tricky challenges our world is facing. Having worked in corporate responsibility for nearly a decade, I found there are three fundamentals for success.
Address documented, urgent community needs. To do this, we need to make sure we are really listening to the community, to our employees, to our partners.
Be clear about the value we are able to bring to address these challenges as a company, or as professionals.
The final is about stepping up and providing support based on an authentic desire to tackle the challenges your community is facing, because it’s the right thing to do. Sometimes this requires individuals and companies to be brave.
Through my experiences in corporate responsibility, I saw that working in isolation is a limitation. When we join forces we can extend our reach, and the value that we can create, collectively.
