The Role of the Company in Society. Michael Mick Blowfield

Transcription

1 The Role of the Company in Society Michael Mick Blowfield

2 Business in society The importance of business to development The business-poverty relationship Business as a development tool Business as a development agent

3 Initial thoughts... What is the role of business in society? What benefits do companies bring? What harm can companies cause? Should companies care about poverty?

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9 Business as a development tool Cause Victim Solution

10 Low wages Environmental degradation Child labour Bad working conditions Poverty s Cause Corruption and bad governance Tax avoidance

11 Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative Alliance of governments, companies, civil society groups (60firms including BP, DeBeers, Tata Steel, ExxonMobil) Cause Companies publicly disclose payments to national government to increase accountability for mining, oil and gas revenues Corruption and bad governance Companies promote active civil society

12 Other Responses: Ethical Trading Initiative Tesco, Nike, Gap, WH Smith Fair Labor Association Nike, adidas, H&M Cause Marine Stewardship Council Unilever, Wholefoods, Findus Rugmark Laura Ashley, B&Q, Allied Carpets Fairtrade Nestle, Cadbury, Sainsbury

13 Uneducated workforce Poverty s Victim Poor markets/consumers Weak infrastructure costly and dangerous Illness and disease Bad governance Weak governance

14 L Oreal s HIV/AIDS programme South Africa : 1000 people die daily of HIV-related illnesses in S Africa Illness and disease Victim Programme for 800 South African employees: - Anonymous testing - Voluntary counseling - Mother-to-child transmission prevention services - Free condoms - 24-hour HIV crisis hotline - Anti-retroviral treatment coverage to all employees and their dependents

15 Forest Stewardship Council Deforestation major influence on climate change Weak government enforcement of good forest management Weak governance Victim Voluntary standards of responsible forest management FSC standard covers environmental, social, and economic issues Business-NGO, North-South alliance (e.g. B&Q, IKEA, WWF) 90 million hectares of FSC-certified forests in over 70 countries

16 Other Responses: Poverty s Victim Anglo American Cadbury Cocoa Partnership Shell Sakhalin project BP Tangguh capacity building UN Global Compact

17 Cause Victim Solution

18 Poverty s solution 0.8 bn rich, saturated 1.5 bn emerging middle class 4 bn on <$2/day fortune at the bottom of the pyramid

19 You ve gotta be rich to be poor

20 Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid Poverty s solution Social enterprise Microfinance

21 Vodafone M-Pesa: Poverty s solution Migrant labour essential to economic expansion. High cost of remitting money home. Where are the growth areas for Vodafone?

22 Population Penetration Growth Rate Opportunity W.Europe 390m 101% 4% 21m Developed Asia Pacific 190m 77% 5% 44m C. & E. Europe 320m 76% 53% 78m North America 330m 68% 31% 105m Latin America 510m 43% 92% 292m Middle East 250m 32% 61% 170m Emerging Asia Pacific 3420m 19% 49% 2766m Africa 740m 16% 61% 627m TOTAL 6400m 50% 34% 4100m

23 Is business a development agent? Dedicating its own capital and resources (not donor funds) Consciously striving for development outcomes Accountable for development outcomes

24 Business as a development tool Business creates wealth, generates employment, and produces goods and services that people require Business as a power tool Business recognises and makes decisions based on its relationship to poverty/development

25 Business as a power tool Business recognises and makes decisions based on its relationship to poverty/development Business as a development agent Business consciously strives to deliver and moreover be held to account for developmental outcomes

26 10,000, ,000, bn <$2/day 8,000, ,000, ,000, ,000, ,000, Developing Developed 3,000, ,000, ,000,

27 Earth s luminosity Upward light flux measured at the top of the atmosphere, low-gain version of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) data, Elvidge et al.,us National Geophysical Data Center. J. Ausubel and N. Victor, 2006.

28 Luminosity if all were as luminous as Americans J. Ausubel and N. Victor, 2006.

29 Now 2047

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31 The Role of the Company in Society The importance of business to development The business-poverty relationship Business as a development tool Business as a development agent Mick Blowfield mick.blowfield@smithschool.ox.ac.uk