Research & Insights

In these challenging times, it is increasingly difficult to think and act long-term. Why is this the case? The answer is multi-faceted: a combination of economic, behavioral, technological, and societal influences that conspire to undermine our collective commitment to future-focused thinking. We will review these causes and conditions later in this issue.

Fifty years ago, a small band of 100 economists, policymakers, former heads of state, diplomats, and business leaders came together with a shared concern and a central question: What impact would untethered economic growth, overpopulation, and industrialization have on the world’s limited resources – and by extension – the quality of human life?

With greater emphasis placed on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) issues, corporate pundits argued that organizations would enter a period of reinvention not seen since the digital revolution at the turn of the 21st century.

Perhaps more so than most business endeavors, success in corporate purpose requires excellent decision making from the top amidst both information and experience gaps, and within a fluid and highly uncertain business environment. Are you cognitively positioned to do the best you can do?

“As the first step towards a journey of recovery and building resilience, we have prioritisedmental wellbeing and the skills of effective self-care. While this was an initiativewe conceived of pre-Covid, the pandemic has only elevated its importance. Anxiety levels are at an all-time high globally. As an inside-out journey, the Group’s people-first approach led it to revamp its groupwide training modules to express its service culture of ‘I am with you’. Leaning on tenets of empathy, positive psychology and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), the modules build in an experiential learning and facilitative approach.” -- Ho Renyung, Vice President of Brand HQ, Banyan Tree Holdings.

“In 2020, we met our goal to bring 500 million people into the digital economy, but we can’t stop there. We raised that commitment to bring 1 billion people, 50 million small businesses and 25 million women entrepreneurs into the digital economy by 2025.” -- Mastercard's Sustainability Report 2020

In the hoopla surrounding the Conference of the Parties 26th convention, and high expectations for strengthened GHG reduction commitments from Paris Agreement signatories, there lurks an epic unspoken issue on which most climate thought leaders agree: Ultimately, systemic change is a fundamental requirement for counteracting climate change and enabling a truly sustainable future. There are many ideas and visions for what systemic change might look like.

How do corporate purpose-related social media communications engage and align with public interest in Asia? The Asia Corporate Purpose Monitor is a first of its kind effort to measure the different facets of corporate purpose related social media communications from business across 46 corporate purpose related topics.

The outsized impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working women includes many troubling trends such as increased gender based-violence, increased unpaid work burdens, a widening of the gender-based digital divide, and a spike in cyber harassment.

Sample TCB Briefing - Key Trends in Corporate Sustainability Reporting Across Asia

For us, sustainability means ensuring the resilience of our global food production system–economically, environmentally, and socially—today and for generations to come. It’s central to how we work at Corteva and integral to achieving our purpose. It’s embedded in every facet of our business. Even our name is derived from the words “heart” and “nature.” - Jim Collins, Chief Executive Officer, Corteva Agriscience

“At this moment in history, and from this point forward, companies will be judged by more than the profits they generate. They will be measured by the value they create for society.” Enrique Lores, President and CEO (Sustainability Report 2020)

After a decade of proliferating sustainability reporting frameworks, we now appear to be entering a period of “harmonization”. In this report, we outline and assess the many new harmonization initiatives in play. We look at who is involved, what the objectives of the various initiatives are, their progress-to-date, and how their outcomes may impact corporate sustainability reporting going forward.

While the momentum to address Climate Change appears to have shifted, and an activist bent is clearly emerging, the moment could have come five decades earlier. Three key factors appear to have conspired in causing the delay: 1) a well-orchestrated campaign to deflect the danger associated with carbon emissions, 2) the rise and reign of neoliberalism throughout this period, and, 3) reinforcement of the idea that human-beings are exceptional. In this fifth edition of the Future Fluency Brief, we take a comparative look at two recent works: Michael Mann’s The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back our Planet, and Bill Gates’ How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need.

This research explores Asian consumers’ perceptions, preferences, sentiments, and behaviors when it comes to company practices regarding the collection and usage of personal data. The following Asia-Pacific markets are included in the analysis: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The sample includes 500 respondents per market, representative of each market’s online population by age and gender.

A wave of new research suggests that leadership behaviors and competencies are the critical factor for building organizational trust. In this fourth edition of the Future Fluency Brief, we explore two new and important leadership competencies that can facilitate workplace trust: 1) Restoring people to the center of the organization, and 2) Embracing a corporate culture that questions instead of dictates. We pay particular attention to the work of Dr. Robert V. Quinn and Dr. Anjan Thakor – as presented in their book, The Economics of Higher Purpose: Eight Counterintuitive Steps for Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization.

Environmental activists and futurist Paul Hawken wrote and released The Ecology of Commerce in 1994. Twenty-seven years later his predictions have proved chillingly accurate. In this third edition of the Future Fluency Brief, we examine Hawken’s underlying assumptions, the events that transpired, and the current state of the planet as a result of failing to head his warnings.

Executives the world over have long been wedded to the belief that top-down directives and core corporate processes must be strictly adhered to in order to achieve profit targets. New research shows that achieving corporate purpose targets requires something of leaders that is anathema to this long-standing precept – the relinquishment of top-down control. In this second edition of the Future Fluency Brief, we examine the behavioral changes necessary for leaders to achieve Corporate Purpose excellence and the psychological challenge they might face.

Evidence suggests that Corporate Purpose success is either birthed or adopted. In this first edition of the Future Fluency Brief we examine two examples. First, how John Mackey, Founder of Whole Foods made purpose part of the cultural fabric of the business from the outset. And second, how Unilever, in acquiring Ben & Jerry’s in April 2000 for $326 million, adopted Corporate Purpose best-practice from the New England ice cream franchise to create a purpose-driven agenda throughout the organization.