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As “Corporate Citizen” Working In Many Lands – This Can Be Challenging, As Corporate Experiences With China Show…

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Another in the series The Corporate Citizen and Society – the Dynamics of the Relationship

Started in Autumn 2019 – drafting interrupted – further edited in June 2020 – and posted in September 2020. 

by Hank Boerner – Chair & Chief Strategist – G&A Institute

Running a multi-national business today is quite challenging, especially for firms with “footprints” of size in countries beyond the homeland.

Recently we have been watching some critical events…at times crisis situations…that senior executives are navigating. 

Of course, corporate leaders are responding to the Covid-19 pandemic – and civil protests in many cities and towns related to equality issues and objections to current methods of policing. – and the economic dislocations of the virus and more.  

For large multi-nationals with a presence in many different nations – sourcing there, or with local facilities in operation, or with products and services extensively used in the countries, with partnerships established with the public sector or NGOs – the challenge of being a “good corporate citizen” is ever-present. And sometimes can be daunting.

Challenges? Think about those related to continuing “freedom to operate” or “social license” or actual regulatory license to operate that may be placed in jeopardy in some way or another. 

Something done, something said (or published or communicated)…with the foreign governments objecting to that “something”.– and threatening to or taking action to limit the freedom to operate. 

When I began drafting this commentary last fall, tiny bits of news about the Coronavirus was just beginning to be reported out of China, with very sketchy details.  By year end, It was a kind of flu. Nothing to worry about. 

In the news headlines at that time (summer into fall 2019) there were more obvious challenges being presented to non-Chinese tech companies as the Hong Kong people protests continued to build momentum, and the Communist government in the mainland began to put pressure on the corporate sector (perhaps pressuring foreign companies’ media that had China news coverage).

An example of this kind of threat came to us in October 2019 involving Apple — concerning its vital relationship with the “two Chinas” – and with significant production and retail stores on the mainland — the People’s Republic of China being the #2 global market for Apple sales.

Other non-China-based companies have also being feeling the pressures as well.  

Just offshore from mainland China, trouble was quite evident to the world in the former British territory of Hong Kong, which is a kind of status aparte of the mainland. (That is similar to the status of Aruba in the Caribbean Basin to parent country The Netherlands.)  China has maintained a “one country-two systems” approach to Hong Kong. Until now. 

China gained re-sovereignty over the Hong Kong territory in 1997 with the execution of a treaty at the end of the United Kingdom’s 99-year lease. The treaty terms were meant to assure separate governance systems for the more advanced Hong Kong economy and territory’s political system of that era.

Early in October 2019, an Apple device software application – Hkmap.live – developed by an outside firm and sold through the Apple Store, was removed from the on-line store. 

The concerns:  Reuters News and Associated Press reported that the Communist Party’s main newspaper (the People’s Daily) had singled out Apple for criticism for having the third party app for sale (and used on smartphones)  that reportedly enabled Hong Kong protesters to track the local police activity.

The People’s Republic of China’s propaganda arm (the publication) said this was a no-no – that is, Apple making the app available — and Apple removed the app because it “violated the rules,” according to the Reuters/AP report at the time.  (Reason: the app could be used to ambush police and by criminals where police were absent – the Apple rules allow for removal when the app is found to facilitate illegal activity.)

Apple had first rejected HKmap.live — then agreed to make it available — and then as the protest mounted (and mainland China responded), the app came off the App Store.

Was it the People’s Daily targeting of Apple and the app…or what the company said (“…many concerned customers in Hong Kong contacted the company…”).

An MSNBC commentator (Kif Leswing) weighed in, pointing out that Apple also removed a news stream (Quartz) because the content is illegal in China. Quartz was covering the Hong Kong democracy protests.

This is/was not a new issue: Back in 2017 several U.S. Senators presciently charged that Apple was enabling the Chinese government’s draconian moves on censorship and citizen surveillance.  (Which moves, according to news reports of today, involves collecting everyone’s DNA and placing cameras everywhere to track everyone – plus developing a “social profile” for tracking the movements of citizens — and meting out punishment where officials think it is merited.)

We note here that Google also quietly removed Hong Kong protest content from the Android store — without creating Apple-type headlines.

But – for those who had downloaded the app, it continued posting locations of police patrols, so said The Los Angeles Times.

MSNBC noted that Apple more than other tech companies has a very close relationship with China (where 200 million-plus iPhones are made each year) and China is an important market as well with tens of billions in revenue in total from the “three Chinas”.  (For Apple, China is the #2 market for iPhones.)

The third China: the separate nation of the Republic of China, more generally known as Taiwan, and persistently claimed by the mainland as part of its territory. “China” is a complicated subject for many company managements. And then there is Hong Kong and nearby Macao, outposts of China mainland.)

Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a memo to Apple’s 130,000 employees to explain the move. And we can assume try to calm nerves internally.

US Senator Josh Hawley (Missouri) quickly posed the question:  Who is running Apple…Tim Cook or Beijing?

If We Don’t Agree — We Will Name & Share – Beware of the China Leadership

Brands targeted by China’s rulers have been subjected to campaigns (name and shame) to alert local customers of issues with a company or organization.

This could become more of a threat to non-Chinese companies as the government continues to develop the “social profile” of its citizens. And captures their imagines on street cameras. Which company’s products they buy could become a major issue in the western democracies!

Further complicating life for execs — we’ve seen the rise of internal protest inside U.S. tech companies, when employees don’t like the work being done for customers –particularly government agencies, police departments, intelligence agencies, military branches, etc. 

Business-society relationships are complicated. Sports is a big business in the USA. The National Basketball Association is a powerful sports enterprise now with global reach and the ownership universe (the key decision-makers) is made up of corporations and wealthy partnerships that own local sports teams. 

So – when the manager of the Houston Rockets briefly voiced support of the Hong Kong protests — the state TV in China stopped the broadcast of NBA games.  Pow!

Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R_Kentucky) quickly weighed in: “The people of Hong Kong have risked much more than money to defend their freedom of expression, human rights and autonomy.  I hope the NBA can learn from that courage and not abandon those values for the sake of their bottom line.” (The NBA apologized for the Twitter comment of the Houston team GM. It’s not comfortable being in the middle of intercontinental cat fight.)

Complicating matters: Majority Leader McConnell’s wife – Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao – is a Chinese-American born in Taiwan. She was Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush (and therefore an overseer of U.S. fiduciary investment policy-making at the DOL, affecting decisions of many large investors.) More complications in public and private sectors, we could say.

The Houston basketball team has been very popular in China and a star player (Yao Ming) played for the team.   The U.A. Senate majority leader is a constant critic of China policies. Complicated matters for companies doing business in and with China!

Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also weighed in:  “We’re better than this. Human rights should not be for sale and the NBA should not be assigning Chinese communist censorship.”  Remember, his father fled Communist Cuba to come to the U.S.A.

The aggravated condition of U.S.-China trade relations under the Trump Administration is also complicating things. 

One, Two, Three Chinas – It’s Complicated

We should explain that the “ Two Chinas” policy of the United States government should now be considered as “three,” as the identification has traditionally meant the relationship of [mainland] Communist China and the offshore democracy of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the USA.

The Nationalist ROC has governed the island nation since the end of civil war of 1949 when many mainland refugees fled to Taiwan as the Communists came to power.

With China moving aggressively toward Hong Kong independence-of-a-sort, the Trump Administration and members of Congress are talking about possible actions to attempt to ensure some independence of the little territory.  

Another dustup:  Hollywood’s Dreamworks and a China production company (Pearl Studio) collaborated to create an animated feature – “Abominable” (about a young girl meeting the Abominable Snowman or “Yeti”).  The film features Asian-American actor and was quickly a hit on release in America.

The film debuted in Vietnam as well – and was quickly pulled from viewing.  A map of China used in the animation showed the “nine dashes” – a no-no in China’s neighboring countries.

The Nine-Dashes – Complicating Matters in the South China Sea

What are the 9 dashes, you might ask?  (I’m sure that question rapidly went ’round in Dreamworks’ Hollywood offices — what the hell!.)  China attempts to impose its authority over the South China Sea with a series of dashes (not firm lines) to imply control or ownership. 

Which angers neighbors — Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and other nations with access to the vital sea lanes.  And those nations are trading partners of the U.S. — and American companies have significant presence in them.

How many people in corporate suites are tuned in to the vagaries or subtleties of China’s diplomacy!   

We recommend that you read Foreign Affairs and China-scholar Robert D. Kaplan’s excellent book on all of this — red warning flags flying! — “Asia’s Cauldron:  The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific.”  Published in 2014 – available on Amazon. 

Simply stated –  “China” – it’s  a complicated subject for corporate citizens.

The China – United State of America Relationship

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger has said that the USA-China relationship with shape the international order for the 21st Century and the countries will have to deal with serious cultural differences (like freedom of expression and the right to protest and the freedom to trade etc.).

We saw that the investors in the USA shrugged off the Apple dustup with China over the Hong Kong protests. The share price was up $6.00 (3%) and moving toward an all-time high as the China-Hong Kong-APPL news stories appeared… this is a US$1 trillion-plus company! (Well, after the coronavirus crash of March 2020, we did have to check again and the price is back up in high $300s.)

Challenge: Being a Good Corporate Citizen When You Are a Guest

For large corporations, in general, worldwide, being a “good corporate citizen” in many lands is always a concern and a challenge as well as a competitive advantage (the brand and reputation and consumer favor as a 21st Century moat) — but things can be very complicated in the execution of citizenship on the ground. 

Complicated Challenge: Some companies operate in literally all but three or four nations of the world, excluding Iran, North Korea and perhaps a few others from their operations and marketing activities.

As we first prepared to finally publish this June 2020, dusting off the earlier Fall 2019 draft, we were in the midst of a global epidemic (COVID-19), and U.S. and global civil protests — with the news coverage all but eliminating the news out of Hong Kong on some days.

But China actions focused on western business organizations are very much in focus today. Recently several large news organizations (corporate-owned, of course, and at the top, corporate board and C-suite managed) saw their in-country journalists booted out of China because the Communist leaders objected to their news coverage.

Journalists employed by The New York Times (owned by The Times Company); The Wall Street Journal (owned by News Corp); and The Washington Post (now owned by Jeff Bezos, head of Amazon) were told to leave mainland China and the “regulated territories” of Hong Kong and Macoa.

In September 2020 we learned that Australian journalists had fled China to avoid detention. 

The leaders of the People’s Republic of China, it is said, are angered by coverage of the coronavirus (and the Communist government’s response); coverage of Hong Kong protests; and the reporting of “shadowy business dealings” of the country’s government leadership.

In addition, Time magazine (now owned by Marc Benioff, head of Salesforce) and the Voice of America – AND the expelled media organizations — were instructed to turn over information about their operations to the government minders.

U.S. Retaliation Complicates Corporate Life

This is not happening in a vacuum – in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump designated the five China media organization operating in the USA as government functionaries of China, limiting the number of Chinese citizens who could work in the U.S. as journalists. The five are propaganda tools, the charge goes.  Their activities are being restricted. 

And so here in the USA the tit-for-tat is targeting China’s main news outlets –– Xinhua, CGTN, China Daily, People’s Daily, China Radio.

The Trump Administration is also moving to de-list publicly-traded Chinese corporations (traded on American stock exchanges). 

In all of the dustups, as U.S. business leaders are deftly navigating the tricky shoals where the seas of statesmanship meet the rocks of ideology and pose challenges to strategy and business models. 

Some of the challenges in the US-China relationships are about freedoms.  Such as our First Amendment freedoms. There are no China equivalents. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt set out four important freedoms for the peoples of all nations during the early days of World War II  — freedom of speech and religion, freedom from want and fear. These have long been central to many elements of U.S. and western capitalism — and foreign concepts to the rulers of present-day China. 

American companies have to carefully navigate the differences when they do business in China, with China, and other non-democratic nations. 

An example getting news coverage this week:  The Walt Disney Company, a U.S.-based global entertainment and communications company.  The company has been a  very able and savvy global marketer since the earliest days of Uncle Walt’s cartoon studio in sunny California.  Founder Uncle Walt always innovated and marketed that innovation far and wide. 

Consider that Disney has a $5 billion-plus investment in Shanghai Disneyland Resort (opened 2016) — co-owned by the Communist government — and an older Disney park in Hong Kong.   China is an important market for various activities of the company, including motion pictures.

And so the anxiety we logically could expect in the Disney offices as a new dustup occurred.  The company created “Hulan”, a movie about an important character (female) in China mythology, with a China-born female lead and a female director, and scenes filmed in China for accurate depiction of locations for the story. 

One snippet of the 1 hour/50 minute film — the usual (traditional) roll of credits at the end named a number of governments within China as assisting. Including Xinjiang, rolling by in a long list.  Where other American companies operated.  And where in 2018 as the film was underway, the local government was locking up tens of thousands of Muslims in concentration camps!  And so the September 2020 criticism of The Walt Disney Company — including by two dozen members of the U.S. Congress. 

There’s a thorough, fair and balanced recap of all of this in The New York Times, Sunday, September 13, 2020 (“How a 1 Minute of Scenery in ‘Mulan’ Put Disney in a Bind Over China”).    It’s an important read for you, I think, in the context of U.S.-China relations and for non-China-based companies operating in the country. 

Thinking about “open” communication not being permitted today in China we are reminded of President Thomas Jefferson’s perspective: “The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure.” – Thomas Jefferson letter to the Marquis de Lafayette.

So true some two centuries later in our great democracy!

 

Confluence: Coronavirus Crisis, Climate Change, Global Warming, Sustainable Investing, Corporate Sustainability & Citizenship…Shaping These Times

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by Hank Boerner – Chair & Chief Strategist – G&A Institute

Over the past several weeks we have been witnessing an important confluence of events, a critical convergence of forces — something we might call reaching a critical inflection point for the sustainability and well-being of our planet, people, plants, and yes, profits going forward. Consider:

The COVID-19 infection has now touched just about every sovereign state on Earth, shutting down the largest economy, that of the United States of America, as well as the economies of many European nations…and of course important parts of the world’s second largest economy, China.

As this was happening, the public conversations about the impacts of climate change and global warming on people, flora and fauna, and planet continued, with the worldwide observance of the 50th Earth Day. Attention on climate change has doubled down even in the face of a frightening disease and resulting economic turmoil.

Numerous conversations among science and climate experts, in media channels, among public sector leaders, and other stakeholders, focused on the possible links between the coronavirus (and other serious infections) and climate change.

Questions are raised:  What new diseases might emerge…what new vectors might we see, moving from tropics to temperate climes and carrying unfamiliar diseases.  What fate awaits humanity as in some countries we see systematic destruction of rain forests (the “lungs of the Earth”) and as populated cities continue to push farther into wilderness areas?  Do we know the effects, short- and long-term, on human, as the arctic tundra warms and releases microbes and other organisms stored there in colder climes for millennia?

As the world’s capital markets were being impacted by the virus crisis and shutdowns of entire economies, the focus on sustainable and impact investing has intensified.

(On one conference call this week, a lecturer pointed to ESG investing trends and explained, look at the more resilient and sustainable companies for opportunity in the crisis and as we emerge. The ESG leaders will be more attractive for investors.)

Early results showed that sustainable investments (especially ESG mutual funds and ETFs) were performing with more resilience than more traditional instruments in the slowdown and in the ongoing adjustments of institutional investors’ portfolios in response to the crisis. (The outflow of ESG ETFs and mutual funds were small than for traditional peers.)

The focus on the corporate sector intensified as the three important sectors of 21st Century economies struggled to adjust to the widespread effects of the virus crisis – that is, public sector (governments), private sector (corporate and business) and social sector (institutions, NGOs, foundations, charities, others, as first defined as the social sector by management guru Peter F. Drucker).

There is considerable public discussion now about what the “new normal” might look like as we emerge from the terrible effects of the coronavirus.  The confluence / convergence of recent events as outlined here will help to shape society in the near term — moving into the post-crisis period.

The G&A Institute team has been monitoring and sharing perspectives on the above and more in our usual communications channels. In these newsletters, in our Resource Guides, on our Sustainability Update blog.

You can check out our blog posts here.

We are offering perspectives in the ongoing series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis”  — #WeRise2FightCOVID-19.

We offer here several features along the lines of the above themes of confluence / convergence of factors for you:

Featured Stories

Why we cannot lose sight of the Sustainable Development Goals during coronavirus
Source: World Economic Forum – Our world today is dealing with a crisis of monumental proportions. The novel coronavirus is wreaking havoc across the globe, upending lives and livelihoods.

An Earth Day CEO summit shows how dramatically corporate values have changed
Source: Fortune – This week marks the 50th anniversary of those nationwide environmental celebrations and “teach-ins” that came to be called Earth Day. From the largest 1970 gathering, in Fairmont Park in Philadelphia, to smaller marches and…

The Covid-19 crisis creates a chance to reset economies on a sustainable footing
Source: The Guardian – New Zealand climate minister says governments must not just return to the way things were, and instead plot a new course to ease climate change

50 years later, Earth Day’s unsolved problem: How to build a more sustainable world
Source: MSN/Washington Post – We haven’t quit the fossil fuels scientists say are warming the atmosphere and harming the Earth. Humans use more resources than the planet produces. Society has not changed course.

Technology: Providing Vital Components Influencing the Fight Against COVID-19

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G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency. This is post #17 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis” –

16 April 2020   #WeRise2FightCOVID-19   “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”

By Lama Alaraj – Sustainability Reporting Analyst-Intern at G&A Institute

As the tasks of our everyday world are put on hold, all around the world we are playing the waiting game, hoping for an end to this madness.

While at home, waiting for the world to be “normal” again, often our only source of communication with the outside is through our tech devices.

Without most people doing much to get ready for the unanticipated spread of the virus, technology for connecting with one another and the outside world was widely-available and already serving as our first source of comfort…and tech connectivity remains so during this crisis.

Where we stand today: Many sectors in our economies are muted and our reliance as a global society leaning on the digital world greater than ever.

What about after the crisis ebbs and then eventually passes? This is a survey of what is happening in the virus crisis and how tech companies are lending their support. And what developments during the crisis might be breakthroughs for future use.  Here is a round-up of what tech companies are doing in the virus crisis.

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Blue Dot
From the beginning of the crisis, this Canadian tech startup had caught on to the danger posed by virus even before the WHO released an official statement. Blue Dot used a cloud-based GIS platform that works to detect infectious disease outbreaks around the world. This sophisticated technology also uses AI to send alerts about diseases tailored to the affected region (source: Bluedot, 2020).

The power of knowledge enabled by these approaches to use of advanced technology is unrivaled. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the capability of harnessing a previously unthinkable amount of data to sift through, then applying results to an algorithm and calculating vital information that influences our responses (Source: Bowles, 2020).

Technology tools were not only able to detect the first few cases of COVID-19, but through this innovative software development, Blue Dot was able to predict the region the disease was going to spread to from the initial location at Wuhan.

The CBS Network program “60 Minutes” had a good look at the technology and approach behind the success of the Blue Dot detection capabilities.  The program:  ‘The Computer Algorithm That Was Among the First to Detect the Coronavirus Outbreak”.

Subtext:   On New Year’s Eve, a small company in Canada was among the first to raise the alarm about an infectious disease outbreak. Its computer algorithm calculated where the virus might spread next. The technology could change the way we fight another contagion.

You can see the segment here: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/coronavirus-outbreak-computer-algorithm-artificial-intelligence/

We are seeing the global tech giants partnering with the American government to fight against the pandemic. Supercomputers and Artificial Intelligence are the key components in the battle.

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The IBM supercomputer (Watson) is built to analyze standard mathematical problems utilizing AI to generate algorithms based on various models.

In Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the IBM technology was used to look at 8000 different drug compounds – quickly narrowed down to 77 that are believed to be possible components of a future vaccine (Gil, 2020).

This supercomputing / processing power has helped in the current crisis by being able to conduct rapid research that otherwise would have taken years.

Although technology has not yet found a solution for our current dilemma, the foundations and resources these companies are providing are based on valuable insights — giving us relief from trying to understand this disease completely in the blind.

The relationship between health and technology — which has been going on for years —  is now leading the fight in the combat zone.  And there are many promising opportunities for society in the post-crisis, thanks to tech advances.

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Microsoft – another global tech giant — has introduced a Healthcare chatbot. The bot uses machine learning to quickly assess COVID-19 symptoms and provide a resolution of whether you should stay home or seek medical help. The US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is currently using this innovation.

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A statement from Alphabet’s Google Inc, and Apple Inc was released recently in regards to the latest development against the fight. The tech giants are now going to utilize AI through our smartphones in order to be able to track the movement of COVID-19.

The end result is that our smartphones will actually start sending us warnings when we have come into contact with a person who has tested positive with the deadly virus.

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Although this is an incredibly sophisticated innovation that can help us flatten the curve, where do we draw the line when it comes to AI and our morals and ethics?  And personal privacy?

There have been a lot of positive changes coming out from this sector that will aid the world’s health professionals with resources to speed up the process in finding a cure.

However, the concept of utilizing surveillance and accessing our private medical records is an area of concern for many. This exact turn in events is what makes humankind fear the coming of AI.

While economies around the world are experiencing a global shutdown and many are suffering due to this, some tech companies have actually experienced new growth.

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Zoom, a video conferencing application, actually experienced a dramatic surge in the amount of users (10X user growth just in days!).

Many people in all walks of life had to adapt quickly to the new norm and Zoom presented its platform as the easy, available answer to be able to connect multiple users at once making meetings, interviews, school classes possible. (The company did experience problems and suffered wide public criticism in the rollout to a broader audience, with many new users mostly unfamiliar with the platform.)

As Zoom shows, the world as we know it every day can be completely transformed in the blink of an eye.

In a world that has just turned dark, our strength must not be divided. Zoom in its concern for society gave us the platform to jump back into our accustomed social constructs in order to hold onto some sense of normal — but for many, through a digitalized lens.

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Bloomberg LP reported that Samsung was experiencing growth in the crisis. The company released their results for the Q1 with an unexpected increase in sales by 5%.

The positive performance of some tech companies can be attributed to the economic shock we are in due to the pandemic. The instantaneous lock-downs across the world changed the consumer demand pattern, where the almost-complete transition to work from home and adaptation to social distancing spiked a demand in video gaming — and thus demand for semiconductors that Samsung provided (Kim, 2020).

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Cautionary Note
The growth the companies are currently experiencing may not be sustainable throughout the rest of the year due to the continuing, aggressive economic downturn and spreading of the virus.

With all these changes that we are seeing it is important to take into account the concern that some may not be able to take part in this ongoing transition. Many businesses have completely shut down for the time being without being able to continue production from home.

We are asking ourselves the questions: What will happen to these concerns when the virus crisis levels off and then subsides? What will happen to their workers?

Moreover, in areas where poverty is more prevalent, and rural regions, there is a real digital divide. This is becoming quite evident in the crisis.

Not every household has access to the internet (or can afford access) and therefore individuals and families cannot take part in the current state of daily life.

The opportunity to cling on to some piece of our world as we knew it is not available to all. For example, there are many school children who currently are not able to attend school, and without technology are missing out on continuing their education. Often, this is simply because they do not have adequate access to the internet or a machine to use for their class work.

We are seeing companies in the tech industry doing their part through the donation of large sums of money to various needy causes.  Examples:

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Google has stepped up and is donating US$800 million to help governmental institutions and small businesses through this pandemic and economic crisis. The money will be supplied through channels of advertising credits/grants and loans (Zakir, 2020). Although this does not “fix” the detrimental effects of COVID-19, the tech giant provides temporary relief in dire times.

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Chuck Robbins, the CEO of Cisco released a statement that the company will be donating “$225 million in cash, in-kind and planned-giving” to support the cumbersome fight against the pandemic.

During times of crisis, of course we do need business leaders like this CEO to help to meet peoples’ needs in order to provide humanity with hope and comfort amid the chaos. That includes shifting from normal production to emergency supplies for the medical community.

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Honeywell has turned their operations over to producing N95 masks in their facilities, to help to address the global supply shortage. Efforts such as these are helping to make us more capable of coping through this crisis and the corporate contributions are helping buffer the severity of the pandemic.

The significance of the technology sector’s heavy involvement with the pandemic of today is no surprise. While many of us are sheltered at home, the internet has become our source of sanity. For many governments, artificial intelligence is their presumed knight in shining armor, ready to save the world.

I do believe that in the new normative we will not be shying away from our relationship with groundbreaking technology. However, there is much uncertainty in this transition.

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The Future Outlook
Our heavy dependence on the technology sector during this crisis is going to have dramatic impacts in our labor force, education and our various economic markets. Moreover, current global economies who do not have a developed technological sector may be left further behind and unable to reap benefits from the current against the pandemic.

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About the Author
Lama Alaraj is a Sustainability Reporting Analyst-Intern at G&A Institute. She graduated from Dalhousie University (Canada) with a double major in economics and international development studies. Over the years, she developed a growing interest in the power of technology and how it manages to integrate in every sector in our global community.

In addition to the G&A analyst-internship, Lama is currently working as a marketing consultant for Web.com, a company built on web development.

Her personal goal is to take the knowledge she gains from this role and apply it extensively throughout any project or role she takes on.

Lama is very excited to be part of the G&A Institute community and to learn about how industries manage to adhere to their environmental responsibilities. Lama thinks that as the climate continues to change, the choices we make today are more vital than ever.

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G&A Institute Team Note

In this series we are bringing you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.

New items will be posted at the top of the blog post and the items posted today will move down the queue.

We created the tag “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis” for this continuing series – and the hashtag #WeRise2FightCOVID-19 for our Twitter posts. Do join the conversation and contribute your views and news.

Do send us news about your organization – info@ga-institute.com so we can share. Stay safe – be well — keep in touch!

Stepping Up in the Virus Crisis: Leaders in the Oil & Gas Sector

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G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency. This is post #16 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis”.

13 April 2020    #WeRise2FightCOVID-19 “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”

By Sarah El-Miligy – Sustainability Reporting Analyst-Intern, G&A Institute

The Oil and Gas Sector has already taken strong hits due to the OPEC+ conflict and the Saudi-Russian oil price war prior to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.

The worldwide pandemic was the second hit this year that has dramatically affected the oil and gas industry, causing significant disruption with long-term harmful consequences.

According to the IEA, for the 1st time since 2009 the global demand for oil is expected to fall by 2.5 million barrels per day in the 1st quarter of 2020.

These negative consequences are expected to extend out to 2022.

However, the industry’s recovery given the amount of damage caused by the virus can’t be predicted at this stage, given the evolving nature of the coronavirus and the widespread impact on the global society.

The oil and gas industry has had to take a major step back — as have many different industries across the globe – due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Largest of the Oil & Gas Companies

The top industry players are found to be ready to fight back and help to mitigate the drastic effects of the pandemic and to support their communities through a strong global response.

Despite being financially-affected due to the decline in production, travel restrictions, drop in oil demand and lower oil prices resulting from the pandemic, many companies in the industry have contributed to the global efforts taken in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

For example, some by directing considerable amount of funds to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund as a part of their demonstration of social responsibility towards their employees, customers and the communities where they operate.

Looking at the top 10 O&G companies, some of them have invested in research and innovation, even shifting their production lines and putting their technical knowledge and financial resources in use in order to help fighting the battle against the virus. Other companies had a quick response and supplied key protection products used by the healthcare professionals.

On the internal front, the oil and gas companies have shown immediate responses to guarantee the safety of their employees and customers.

This begins with updating their health and safety protocols and constantly introducing new, up-to-date protection policies in order to ensure the safety of their dispersed staff.

Social distancing measures have been one of the premier precautionary actions adopted and stressed upon industry-wide.

In response to the many negative impacts of the pandemic, the major players in the oil and gas industry — such as BP, ExxonMobil, Total, Chevron — have demonstrated significant Corporate Citizenship practices while dealing with the current crisis at all levels.

I’ve compiled 10 corporate examples for you:

1- ExxonMobil

ExxonMobil Global Response to the COVID-19 Crisis

According to the company’s official website the efforts by the Oil & Gas giant in fighting COVID-19 include:

  • Supporting vulnerable communities, specially in the most infected countries through financial donations, subsidized fuel supply and providing other significant products required to address the COVID-19 challenges.
  • Investing in research and development, producing an innovative reusable personal protection equipment to the healthcare staff and other consumers.
  • Taking a number of measures to slow the spread of the virus in many European and Asian countries.
  • Directing operations to focus on manufacturing ingredients such as isopropyl alcohol, which is used in the production of hand sanitizers, alcohol wipes and disinfectant sprays.
  • Implementing health and safety precautionary actions in order to protect the employees such as applying restrictions on business travel, as well as applying working from home and social distancing policies.
  • In terms of customer safety, ExxonMobil has increased the safety and hygiene levels in all their stations and stores. As well as applying online payment where available in order to limit the money transactions.
  • Implementing a 14-day work-from-home policy for individuals traveling from locations with sustained community transmission, as defined by the U.S. NIH and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

West Texas Food Bank Initiative
ExxonMobil is supporting hunger relief in the Midland-Odessa area and across West Texas with a US$100,000 donation to the West Texas Food Bank to help those facing difficult economic circumstances resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Supporting Online Education
ExxonMobil supports Online Education with $100,000 funds for Carlsbad Municipal Schools in response to the distance-based education policies due to the coronavirus outbreak. 14 schools in the district have been closed affecting 7,000 students. This funding will support providing low-income students with the needed equipment and internet connectivity facilitating the transition to online learning.

The Global Center for Medical Innovation Partnership
ExxonMobil is aware of the scarcity of protective masks and responded by manufacturing reusable protective masks to help solve the problem, in collaboration with the Global Centre for Medical Innovation (GCMI).

The mask would use disposable cartridges containing filter fabrics and would withstand sterilization. Because of this, it would not need to be replaced. The company and center stated that the new mask design covered the mouth and nose even better than existing N95 masks.

Prototypes are currently being tested and reviewed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

If/when approved, production will begin immediately, with ExxonMobil supporting the identification of manufacturers familiar with the materials and process to quickly deliver the masks to doctors, nurses and health care providers.

Once approved, manufacturers indicate they will be able to produce as many as 40,000 ready-to-use masks and filter cartridges per hour

Source

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2- BP

The Corporation Supporting Communities

  • The BP Foundation will donate $2 million USD to the WHO COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund to support medical professionals and patients worldwide by providing critical aid and supplies. The Solidarity Response Fund also helps track and understand the spread of the COVID-19 virus and supports efforts to develop tests, treatments, and ultimately, a vaccine.
  • In Brazil, BP is following a different approach, allocating their own resources (ethanol from sugarcane used normally in fuel) to use them as a disinfectant, not only for their employees use but also distributing it to local health services to help close to 1.4 million people in danger and risk of infection.
  • BP also started offering free fuel to emergency service vehicles in the United Kingdom, as well as supplying free fuel to jets that serve as air ambulances there, along with their continuous support to the efforts in Australia, Spain, Turkey and Poland to control the pandemic.
  • In the UK, emergency service vehicles can refuel for free at BP retail stations as well as supplying free fuel to air ambulances. In additional, supporting similar efforts in Spain, Turkey, Poland, and Australia.
  • And in Germany where they have provided fuel cards to health care workers.

BP Turkey will provide free fuel to ambulances operated by the Ministry of Health Istanbul Directorate to support the fight against COVID-19

Source https://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/news-and-insights/covid-19-bp-response.html

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3- Total Group

France today is one of the most affected countries with high numbers of coronavirus cases, and the nation’s companies are responding to the pandemic spreading.

The French oil & gas player “Total Group” has been consulting with the French health authorities to supply the healthcare staff in France with gasoline vouchers worth up to 50 million Euros that can be used at Total stations across the country.

The company has provided the hospitals’ professionals with a telephone number and an email published on their website in order to receive their vouchers.

“In this period of crisis, Total’s teams remain mobilized to enable French people to make all their necessary travel arrangements. With its nationwide network, Total is working alongside those who are fighting the epidemic everywhere. Which is why the Group has decided to make this practical gesture of support for our hospital staff, who are working to ensure the health of patients.” –  Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total

Moreover, the Total Foundation will contribute €5 million to the Pasteur Institute and to hospital and health associations involved in the fight against COVID-19.

Source https://www.total.com

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4- Shell

Caring for the People

Shell is doing many things to keep their customers, colleagues and communities safe. These include carrying out enhanced cleaning operations, increasing stocks of sanitation products and other essential goods, social distancing, working from home policies and health monitoring for teams at retail sites

Caring for the community:

  • Shell has also increased the production of some of the key products which is used in manufacturing soaps and sanitizers in response to COVID-19
  • Shell Manufacturing plants in the Netherlands and Canada are diverting their resources to produce isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as fast as they can. IPA makes up about half the content of the hand-sanitizing liquids being used to keep the virus down around the world.
  • The Shell team is also working closely with governments to keep track of and help meet evolving needs. On March 20, Shell announced that it would make 2.5 million liters of IPA — roughly equivalent to an Olympic-sized swimming pool — available free of charge for the Dutch healthcare sector.

On March 31, the Government of Canada listed Shell Canada as one of the Canadian companies that has stepped up to help during this crisis. Shell is donating 125,000 litres of IPA to the Government of Canada free of charge over the next three months to help the Canadian healthcare sector.

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5- Chevron Corporation

US operator Chevron has also donated $7 million to food banks, education and health services, and is matching employee donations two-to-one, in an initiative to integrate their employees in the world goal in fighting the pandemic.  Actions:

  • $500,000 has been allocated to purchase the required equipment of online learning to the Donors Choose program, “Keep Kids Learning”.
  • Helping to fund emergency services in remote parts of Western Australia and providing medical supplies to hospitals in Thailand.
  • More than $2 million has been granted to the American relief efforts in several U.S./ states and an additional $2 million to match 2:1 employee contribution to U.S.-based nonprofits.

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6- Valero
In a similar effort, the large refining company Valero has elected to donate $1.8m to fight the virus in the cities where it operates.

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7- OMV

Austrian oil, gas and petrochemical company OMV is donating $1.09m of fuel cards to the Austrian Red Cross and Caritas Austria, a food and shelter charity.

OMV Chairman and CEO Rainer Seele said: “These aid workers accomplish great things. We are helping them get around, which is an essential factor in delivering provisions and support to people in need as well as emergency aid”.

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8- Sinopec

Sinopec Corp., China’s leading energy and chemical company, has shown support and solidarity to the international community by supplying 10,256 tones of “much-needed bleaching powder” to more than 10 affected countries including Italy, France, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Vietnam.

The company has allocated limited time in their Yanshan Factory in Beijing to manufacture fabrics that are put in use to make the N95 disposable masks.  They got this assembly line running in just 12 days in order to cover the shortage in fabrics required to manufacture these masks to help give back to the society.

Source http://www.sinopecgroup.com/group/en/Sinopecnews/20200327/news_20200327_696607861362.shtml

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9- Southern Company Gas

Atlanta-based Southern Company Gas and its subsidiaries have committed a total of $4.85 million in support of communities affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

The Southern Company Gas Charitable Foundation will award $2.5 million in support of several human services organizations — including Meals on Wheels, American Red Cross, the Salvation Army, and United Way, in seven states,.

The Alabama Power Foundation and Georgia Power Foundation have each pledged $1 million and the Mississippi Power Foundation has pledged $350,000 to the effort.

Source https://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=257009
https://scgcares.org/

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10- Sempra Energy

In San Diego, California, Sempra Energy Foundation has established a $1.75 million Nonprofit Hardship Fund to provide expedited grants ranging from $500 to $50,000 to small and midsize nonprofits serving the health, education, welfare, or social services in response to COVID-19 to the individuals and families in California, Texas, and Louisiana impacted by the coronavirus.

Source https://www.sempraenergyfoundation.org/pages/areas-of-giving/health-and-safety.shtml

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CONCLUSION

This COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented worldwide crisis that not only affecting the oil & gas industry but every industry and household around the globe. In response, many of the top oil and gas players concluded that to help overcome the affects of this horrific crisis they have to give back to their communities, employees and customers and unit to do their part in supporting and mitigating these negative effects of the pandemic.

REFERENCES

  1. https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/covid19-fear-oil-market-mideast-coronavirus.html
  2. https://www.offshore-technology.com/features/coronavirus-fight-charity-help-covid-19/

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About the Author
Sarah El-Miligy is a Sustainability Reporting Analyst-Intern with G&A Institute. She was was graduated from the Faculty of Economic studies and Political science at Alexandria University, holding a bachelor degree in Political science and she is currently acting as a Teacher Assistant in scientific research methodologies and Diplomatic and Consular Relations in the political section department and a former international diplomacy coordinator with Ambassador Sameh Abu- El Enien – Deputy Foreign Minister and Director of the Egyptian Diplomatic Academy at Universidad Oberta de Cataluña.

Sarah El-Miligy is also a Sustainability Research Analyst in Egypt at DCarbon for Environmental and Sustainability Consultancy, the first and sole Certified Global Reporting Initiative Training Partner in Egypt and a member of the GRI Gold Community.

She has a broad experience in volunteering and working abroad with the European Union, United Nations and the League of Arab States — specifically in the fields of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, Peacebuilding and Women and Youth Empowerment.

G&A Institute Team Note
This is another in our series – “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus:. We bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.

New items will be posted at the top of the blog post and the items posted today will move down the queue.

We created the tag “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis” for this continuing series – and the hashtag #WeRise2FightCOVID-19 for our Twitter posts. Do join the conversation and contribute your views and news.

Do send us news about your organization – info@ga-institute.com so we can share. Stay safe – be well — keep in touch!

Watching For The Signals That Corporate Sustainability & Sustainable Investing Trends Will Continue to Advance in the Time of the Virus Crisis

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By Hank Boerner – Chair & Chief Strategist – and the G&A Institute Team

In each issue of our Highlights newsletter and in other of our G&A Institute communications we have been sharing news, opinion & perspectives and research results that we think will be of value to professionals in the corporate sector, in the capital markets, and in the social sector (not-for-profits, NGOs and other institutions). 

Our objective in structuring our communications over the past decade-plus is to help to inform and educate as corporate responsibility, sustainability and citizenship strategies re-shaped the corporate sector and investors adopted ESG / Sustainability approaches.

Driving “sustainable investing” to $1-in-$4 of professionally-managed AUM according to the latest survey of US SIF. In response 86% of S&P 500(r) firms are publishing sustainability et al reports according to the latest survey by our team. (Updates to both surveys are in the works in 2020.)

Over time, our focus and communications helped to tell the story of a revolution taking place in the private, public and social sectors of our society. Companies re-defining “purpose”. Investors adopting new approaches…SRI, impact, green, sustainable, and other identifiers.

Suddenly, we are all in a new and very challenging (and frightening) operating environment (both personally and in our businesses) and the questions that we have and that are on the sustainability professionals’ minds are…

(1) what might be the impact of the global coronavirus crisis on the corporate sector’s forward movement — are / will companies continue on their sustainability journey, embrace and demonstrate corporate purpose and the new era of stakeholder primacy, demonstrate excellence in corporate citizenship, and

(2) what might be the impact of the virus crisis on the capital markets and investors’ perspectives of the value and importance of embracing sustainable investing as the global capital markets continue to be in turmoil …will the crisis be a plus or minus for ESG / sustainable investing? What might the longer-term effects of the crisis be for both issuer and investors in a prolonged crisis? Will the resilience of the more sustainable enterprises be the winners in the competition for capital?

Our team has been closely monitoring (worldwide!) for news and opinions and research findings to help answer these and other questions and we bring you updates today. 

Thanks to G&A’s Editor-in-Chief Ken Cynar and Senior Sustainability Analyst Elizabeth Peterson for their continuous “captures” of many key items for the newsletter and for G&A’s themed web platforms.  We present the news, perspectives and research in the weekly newsletter and on our web platforms.

There are many more timely news and opinion items on our Sustainability HQ(tm) web platform for your reading – news is captured and posted every day in the categories presented in the newsletter as well as in other categories.  We invite your regular reading.

We are presenting the news of the efforts of companies to lend their support to the people in need by leveraging the corporate assets (and know how!). We’re presenting details of these efforts in this series of blog posts with hashtag #WeRise2FightCOVID-19 and grouped as “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”. Thank you to all of the corporate leaders, managers and workforce doing their best in the crisis to help society.

The G&A Institute team members continue to all be “sheltered in place” working remotely and carrying on the work for clients.  It’s challenging but the good news is that the incredible advances made in technology are making a difference. 

Just imagine this virus crisis occurring in the days before email, private web-enabled networks, group teleconferencing tools, virtual meetings, the global internet ,and the “www” digital highway connecting us all around the world. 

A shout out here to the tech industry innovators who’ve made these tools available over the past three decades. 

And our heartfelt thank you to the men and women who today keep our society moving. Those stocking store shelves, keeping the lights on, policing our streets, responding to fire alarms and ambulance calls, keeping public transportation systems going, and many others working in silence or out of our sight.  A good number of companies are identified as essential business — people are working there every day, not at home.

And many thanks (in adequate word) to our brave first responders in the medical universe who put our needs first as they are exposed to danger. We are all in their debt.

We hope that this blog communication finds you well – please stay safe! 

For more content:  https://www.sustainabilityhq.com/

Five Featured Stories That
Provide Some Context in the Crisis

Coronavirus pandemic will drive responsible investing ‘skywards’   
Source: Financial Mirror – The coronavirus pandemic and its economic fallout will trigger a ‘skyward surge’ in sustainable, responsible and impactful investing over the next 12 months, according to Nigel Green, the CEO of financial advisory deVere Group,…

Are ESG and sustainability the new alpha mantra?   
Source: FT – When fund managers will start to think again about alpha-seeking strategies, as opposed to simply surviving the coronavirus, my bet is that more than a few will tell investors that sustainability and ESG-based screening will top…

COVID-19: A Rapid Human Rights Due Diligence Tool for Companies   
Source: BSR – The critical role of business during the time of COVID-19 is clear for everyone to see. Whether it is providing access to accurate information, continuing to pay hourly waged staff, or ensuring continuity of emergency supplies,…

12 Amazing Documentaries on Sustainability, Regeneration That You Now Have Time to Watch   
Source: Sustainable Brands – As many of us find ourselves with much more time at home due to the COVID-19 crisis, a lot of us are finding opportunities to do things we couldn’t quite get to in the course of our ‘regular lives’ before the widespread lockdowns.

Reserve management and sustainability: the case for green bonds?
Source: BIS – Central banks are playing an increasingly active role in promoting the move towards a sustainable global economy. One area in which they are thus involved is in guiding attempts to mobilise funds to contribute to the large-scale…

Marriott, Apple, Google, Facebook, Schein, CVS, Sentient Technologies, American Express, JPMorgan Chase — Finding Ways to Help – and Innovate!

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G&A Institute Team Note: We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.

This is post #15 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis” – April 10, 2020

#WeRise2FightCOVID-19 “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”

By Hank Boerner –Chair & Chief Strategist – G&A Institute

The team members at G&A Institute are in conversations throughout the day with corporate managers, with the discussions centering on sharing “what companies can do / what companies are doing” to meet the challenges of the cororanvirus pandemic.

That consideration for many companies today is both internally and external focused — the key tasks are keeping people safe, serving the community’s needs, keeping the corporate operations going to be best of their ability, and looking forward to the post-crisis era.

Here are a few selections of what executives and managers and their organizations are doing.  As we are thinking…

Life hands you the lemon / squeeze! / make the lemonade!
And get it around to others as fast as you can.

Setting An Example: Cut My Pay, Says Schein CEO

Stanley M. Bergman, CEO of Henry Schein Inc. (important suppliers to the medical community) is taking a temporary cut in salary during the virus crisis. As his company’s client base experiences hazards and cares for patients, the CEO (in SEC filing) will take 100% pay cut.

The company also stopped its share buyback program. The company markets equipment and supplies for clinics, dentist & doctor offices, and other segments of healthcare.

Schein is a co-founder of the Pandemic Supply Chain Network, using its own supply chain for distribution of testing supplies. The network was created at the 2015 Davos meeting as a public-private partnership. Now, the PSCN is part of the global COVID-19 response.

Information for you if would like to become a part of the effort: https://www.weforum.org/projects/pandemic-supply-chain-network-pscn

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Apple & Google Teaming For New “Contact-Tracing” Bluetooth App

It’s hard to get one’s head around the pandemic: millions, tens of millions, yes billions of people are stationary, immobile, not able to move around, sheltered at home, working remotely.

And tens of millions of us are not able to not move around, we must be at our posts, picking the crops, stocking the warehouse, driving the truck, stocking the shelves, manning the cash registers at retail.

Or more frightening, driving the ambulance, being on post in the emergency room or in the ICU, or in the wards with non-COVID patients.

Or driving the police car to respond to “the unknown”, or the fire truck to extinguish the blaze and save lives. Think about the EMT in the ambulance, hour after hour, running to danger.

Keeping on touch, virtually all of us, mobile and immobile rely on our cell phone…the lifeline to loved ones as well.

For those who must be on their designated post, moving around, interacting, the fear is that the virus could be too close, within reach to infect. To the rescue: Apple Inc. and Google – in a rare partnership, the rivals are adding technology to the phone to alert us if we’ve come into contact with a person with the virus.

This is to be an opt-in feature – “contact-tracing” – that immediately alerts us: quarantine and isolate and then treat or seek treatment because we have been in close contact with an infected person.

Over time we can expect to see this application added to the basic phone operating systems.

Watch for the news in May for iPhones and Android; the management of the system will be by public health agencies. The reports to the phone will be on anonymous basis. As the two companies announced the collaboration,  The phone owner must opt-in to be part of the network.

MIT says it is developing a similar system. Of course, there are numerous privacy protection issues – we’ll see how that goes on the rollout.

Facebook Joins the Tracing Effort

Facebook is one of the world’s leading social media platforms (claiming 2 billion-plus of the “connected”). Users are invited to share their own coronavirus symptoms and experiences to help researchers pinpoint “where” the disease is occurring.

Carnegie Mellon, the great tech school, is using the data in pilot effort to try to see where data is telling us help is needed. Such as the all-important ventilators that are in such short supply. Or where “go home/stay home” guidance or orders are needed. The output is going to be shared with public sector health managers.

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Headed to the Drug Store? How Do You Know What You Need is There?

The CEO of the nationwide CVS drug store network, Larry Merlo, was interviewed by Barron’s Jack Hough. The CVS stores are in the midst of becoming “HealthHUBS” (to provide medical services) and strengthening is “Caremark” program for pharmacy benefits management. And now, the CVS workforce is pressed to help customers in the midst of the virus crisis.

Explains CEO Merlo: Home deliveries are up by three times the usual volume. Tele-medicine connections are up two times. CVS waived copays for tele-medicine and for deliveries. COVID-19 testing was starting in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts (in a store parking lot) to do 100-plus test a day. Stores are being kept stocked. Limits are applied to prevent hoarding.

The company maintains close contact with suppliers to keep the pipeline stocked and moving to stores. CDC guidelines are followed in the stores. Cash bonuses are being doled out to hourly store staff, pharmacists, managers. There is day care service where possible; sick leave is granted to part-timers.

Lessons Learned: Keeping mind the Chinese sign for crisis (“danger” and “opportunity”), we learn that the CVS CEO thinks the crisis has helped to strengthen the firm’s confidence in what CVS can do to help to change the trajectory of healthcare delivery.

Pharmacies (local) and tele-medicine (distant) are key elements. The critical role that healthcare professionals play in local communities (where CVS outlets are located) is really being demonstrated today.

Marriott and Hilton have been working with CVS to create a transition for those folks who are furloughed. Speaking of Marriott…

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Holding on to Customers / Serving the Local Community & Responders

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson in communications to patrons explains that cancellations for scheduled trips are being adjusted out to June 30th (usually 24 hours notice is required). Expiration of points accrued for use at the properties is being extended. “Experience flexibility” is the theme.

And about helping the communities in which the resorts and hotels are based:

  • Marriott properties are donating food, pre-cooked and cooked meals to crisis responders, as well as a supply of cleaning products, masks, gloves, sanitizers, wipes, shower caps, anti-microbial wipes, and other supplies to local communities. Hotel windows sport signs and symbols of love and support to those passing by.
  • Working with American Express and JPMorgan Chase (two credit card partnering organizations), Marriott committed to provide $10 million worth of hotel stays to professionals on the front lines of the crisis. “Rooms for Responders” are being made available in New York City, New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Washington DC, and Newark, New Jersey.
  • To reach the responders, Marriott is working with the American College of Emergency Physicians and Emergency Nurses Association to help match doctors and nurses with available rooms.

And the “Community Caregiver Program” initiative (coordinated by franchisees and property owners) provides deep discount accommodations near to hospitals to first responders and healthcare professionals stepping up to serve local communities. This is available in North America, the Caribbean and Latin America (at 2,500 hotels to date).

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The Food Supply in the Crisis – Changes in Post-Crisis Behaviors

What is happening in the food sector? Mike Geraghty writing on the Sensient Technologies Corporation platform shares the results of a mid-March 2020 study by Nielsen that forecasts six key consumer behavior shifts happening during the crisis.

The findings will have a major impact on the food industry and will/could lead to permanent changes in the way consumers shop for food.

These are (by their headlines):

  • Proactive Health-Minded Buying
  • Reactive Health Management
  • Pantry Preparation
  • Quarantined Living Preparation
  • Restricted Living
  • Living a New Normal

Under each category headlines there are explanations of the shifts seen in consumer behavior and COVID-19 event markers. There’s valuable findings and shared perspectives here for you from the Sentient folks (providers of color technologies and services for the food and beverage industries).

The commentary: https://sensientfoodcolors.com/en-us/global-markets/covid-19-changing-food-industry/?utm_source=FoodNavigator&utm_medium=Email%20Top%20Text%20US&utm_campaign=COVID&utm_content=Apr%202020

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G&A Institute Team Note:
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency and organize their response.

New items are posted at the top of the blog post and the items posted today will move down the queue.

We created the tag “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis” for this continuing series – and the hashtag #WeRise2FightCOVID-19 for our Twitter posts. Do join the conversation and contribute your views and news.

Do send us news about your organization – info@ga-institute.com so we can share. Stay safe – be well — keep in touch!

COVID-19 And Real Estate: In Pain, Adapting, and Learning

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G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.  This is post #14 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis” – April 7 2020    #WeRise2FightCOVID-19   “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”

By Binyu Zhao – Sustainability Reporting Analyst-Intern, G&A Institute

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak is being felt across all aspects of work and life. Understandably, the implications for major property sectors and various stakeholders in the industry are quite specific and different.

Although it is difficult to assess the longer-term repercussions, the real estate industry is already responding and reacting to immediate impacts and short-term risks with their best abilities. Their respective crisis response strategies also unveil loopholes and weaknesses that might be overlooked during peace and tranquility.

Therefore, the outbreak also presents the industry an expensive opportunity to thoroughly review its risk assessment procedures, crisis contingency plans, and to upgrade and update systems if necessary.

Commercial Buildings – Bruised and Fighting the Pandemic Head-on

Commercial building managers & owners are experiencing the most short-term volatility in terms of building management, business operations, and risk mitigation for holding both essential and nonessential business activities.

Following state-wide nonessential business closures, travel restrictions, working from homes orders, and the social distancing mandate, commercial building and business holders have quickly responded with several short-term mitigation measures aiming to enhance safety and well-being for employees and shoppers.

For essential businesses that remain open such as grocery stores and supermarkets, building managers and store owners responded with immediate mitigation strategies such as compulsory disinfection of shopping carts, and providing protective equipment for employees such as gloves and masks to improve hygiene.

Within buildings, yellows distancing lines were drawn in between goods shelves and near the counters to practice social distancing. Some buildings even provide wipes and hand sanitizer in the waiting areas and within the markets.

Meanwhile, although office buildings, hotels, and other non-essential-business-holding buildings are closing, shortening, and changing operation hours in affected areas, some of them are conducting a thorough cleaning and disinfecting of high-touch surfaces and taking ventilation precautions to prepare for reopening.

Just like the majority of society, commercial buildings owners and operators did not seem to have health crisis contingency operations plans beforehand.

Ill-preparedness led many owners and managers to react passively and belatedly, therefore missing their chance to contribute early to support society in fighting this crisis.

Retail markets – “Pushing the pause button, but not the stop button”

Real estate transactions are not completely coming to a halt amid the Coronavirus outbreak because many buyers still regard investment-grade real estates attractive in the long-term.

Usually, March is the starting month for a strong buying season, however as the impact of COVID-19 materialized, the industry changing its normal deal transaction processes in light of the travel restrictions and public health concerns to facilitate deal flow.

According to real estate brokerage specialist Frederick Peters, initially, the industry is normalizing the real estate buying processes to a “by appointment only” format, ensuring that only one viewer group could tour the property at a time to practice social distance and crowd control.

Meanwhile, during the usual tour, numerous precautions are put in place: plastic booties for shoes, alcohol wipes for doorknobs to prevent touching directly with bare skins, gloves (for agents), and hand sanitizer at both the beginning and the end of the display.

NAR Survey Results

A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) indicates that out of the 2,500 responses that were received, 1-in-4 home sellers nationwide are implementing practices such as requiring visitors to wash their hands or use hand sanitizers.

However, as situations worsen, some agents and developers are considering adopting visual reality technology so that potential buyers could remotely “visualize” property if the sale is contingent upon the buyer “seeing” the property before signing the dotted line.

More than that, many steps are formerly done in-person (like lawyer consultations and appraisals) are also finding their footing in the electronic space. Undeniably, these kinds of actions, albeit temporarily, could create a real estate transaction slowdown.

However, just as some real estate agents have been saying, the pandemic should not be the catalyst for positive changes that the sector should have already instituted long before — such as technological upgrade and updates that will greatly improve working efficiencies and facilitate business transactions.

Hopefully, the sector could learn a lesson and react quickly to changes in the future.

Real Estate & Building Associations – Learning & Preparing

This unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak has led many to question if the real estate industry and our infrastructures are resilient enough to continue to support society, especially during a public health crisis.

Therefore, to better understand and redefine the critical role buildings, organizations and communities play in crisis prevention and preparedness, resilience and recovery, the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is creating a Task Force to focus on reducing the enormous health burden from COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.  (This the Task Force on Role Buildings Play in Reducing Health Burden of COVID-19 and other Respiratory Infections.)

According to Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, a  co-chair of the task force: “This task force can help us focus quickly on actionable measures we can take to more fully deliver resources needed to advance a global culture of health that includes everyone” — and also will further study scientifically for enhanced opportunities for the built environment to improve population health.

Overall, the health and well being of employees and tenants will be the initial primary corporate concern for the real estate sector, followed closely by business continuity plans.

Given the rapidly-changing situation, operational resilience will be a longer-term focus for real estate decision-makers as businesses develop their ability to be nimble, flexible, and react boldly and quickly should they face another similar event in the future.

Information on the IWBI Task Force: https://resources.wellcertified.com/press-releases/iwbi-assembles-task-force-on-role-buildings-can-play-in-reducing-health-burden-of-covid-19-and-other-respiratory-infections/

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About the Author
Binyu Zhao is pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Administration at Columbia University. She served in the Climate Change and Sustainability Services Department at E&Y, and the Capital Markets Team in Ceres. Her strong bilingual skills enable her to provide services and conduct research for clients in Southeast Asia and East Asia. (She received her B.Eng. in Environmental Engineering and minor in Political Science from the National University of Singapore.)

G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.

The new items will be posted at the top of the blog post and the items today will move down the queue.

We created the tag “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis” for this continuing series – and the hashtag “#WeRise2FightCOVID19” for our Twitter posts.  Do join the conversation and contribute your views and news.

Do send us news about your organization – info@ga-institute.com so we can share.   Stay safe – be well — keep in touch!

Principles to Guide Company Managements in the COVID-19 Era from the World Economic Forum (WEF) – The “Davos” Leaders

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G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the coronavirus emergency.

This is post #13 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis.”  #WeRise2FightCOVID-19   “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”  –  April 7 2020 

By Hank Boerner — Chair & Chief Strategist – G&A Institute

The World Economic Forum – “Davos” – issued principles on April 1st on Corporations and the Upholding of Stakeholder Principles in the Virus Crisis

Leading CEO’s around the globe got a communication from the World Economic Forum (“Davos” in shorthand) urging the following of Stakeholder Principles in the COVID Era.

The business community’s contribution in the global pandemic, say the leaders of the WEF “Covid Action Platform”, is to be leaders of responsiveness and stewards of resilience.

And — to cooperate and collaborate in managing the corporate community’s response to help society deal with the global emergency and work towards economic recovery.

To those ends, the platform Stakeholder Principles set out for business leaders are:

  • To employees, our principle is to keep you safe.
  • To our ecosystem of suppliers and customers, our principle is to secure our shared business continuity…to keep the supply chains open and integrate supply partners in the firm’s business.
  • To our end consumers, our principle is to maintain fair prices and commercial terms for essential supplies.
  • To governments and society, our principles is to offer our full support…standing ready with resources, capabilities and know-how.
  • To our shareholders, our principle remains the long-term viability of the company and its potential to create sustained value.

And…we must also maintain the principles and we must continue our sustainability efforts unabated, to bring our world closer to achieving shared goals, including the Paris climate agreement and the UN SDGs agenda.

By doing all we can, say the WEF leadership, and coordinate our work, we can ensure that our society and economy get through this crisis – and we can mitigate the impact on all of our stakeholders.

The signatories of the letter to CEOs:

  • WEF Founder Klaus Schwab (he’s executive chair);
  • Brian Moynihan (CEO of Bank of America and Chair of the WEF International Business Committee);
  • Feike Sijbesma (Royal DSM, Special Envoy on Coronavirus, Dutch Government) , and Jim Snabe (Chairman, Siemens and Maersk), the Co-Chairs of the WEF Impact Committee.

The WEF leaders stress that CEOs should continue to embody “stakeholder capitalism” to help secure a common prosperity.

CEOs receiving the letter were asked to support the WEF global effort to manage the economic impact in the COVID-19 era.

Link to the Covid Action Platform document: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Stakeholder_Principles_COVID_Era.pdf?mod=article_inline

The WEF also circulated a 6-page “Workforce Principles for the COVID-19 Pandemic – Stakeholder Capitalism in a Time of Crisis” white paper. This is especially timely as corporate HR managers and others focus on Human Capital Management (HCM) in a time of crisis.

Link: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_NES_COVID_19_Pandemic_Workforce_Principles_2020.pdf

Our December 3, 2020 profile of the World Economic Forum (WEF) / Davos conveners with focus on Corporate Citizenship topics is in the blog at: https://ga-institute.com/Sustainability-Update/the-world-economic-forum-on-corporate-citizenship-topics-with-focus-on-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/

G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.

New items will be posted at the top of the blog post and the items today will move down the queue.

We created the tag “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis” for this continuing series – and the hashtag “#WeRise2FightCOVID-19“ for our Twitter posts.  Do join the conversation and contribute your views and news. 

Do send us news about your organization – info@ga-institute.com so we can share.   Stay safe – be well — keep in touch!

Examining Corporate Citizenship: How Ride-sharing Companies Respond to COVID-19? What They Promise – and How It Turns Out

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G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.  This is post #12 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis” – April 6 2020    #WeRise2FightCOVID-19   “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”

By Yuyou Chen – Sustainability Reporting Analyst Intern at G&A Institute

Just four months after surfacing in Wuhan, China, the Coronavirus has been spread all over the world and affected about 1.3 million people in total to date.

Up until April 6, 2020, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported 330,8919 COVID-19 cases and 8,910 deaths in the United States. CDC has recommended statewide citizens to practice social distancing and working from home.

With less on-site working, there is a sharp decline in the usual daily commuter activity. According to the Cities Commuter Activities report by Visual Capitalist, Los Angeles and New York experienced 95% and 97% reduction respectively in commuter activity respectively over the past three months.

The same thing is happening to the driver’s side. Ride-sharing companies face challenges in keeping their drivers at work.

Uber and Lyft in the Crisis

While some Uber and Lyft drivers who work on a part-time basis refuse to take any orders due to infection concerns, other full-time drivers may still stay on the frontlines to serve travelers for basic needs – or, they will face unemployment.

Ride-sharing, featured with convenient apps and affordable prices, has become a popular mode of commuting among people nowadays. With algorithms matching passengers to nearby drivers, the businesses are operated based on sufficient numbers and balance between commuters and drivers.

Uber and Lyft are two leading North America-based ride-sharing companies, both of which are headquartered in San Francisco, California.

For the past month, ride-sharing companies experienced a slight turndown in the stock market: For Lyft, share prices are down 2.00% (Nasdaq: LYFT); for Uber, down 3.63% (NYSE:UBER).

While each company declares that it puts well-being and safety of employees and customers as priority during the COVID-19 crisis, they set out somewhat differentiated business and risk management strategies.

Similarity: both companies state they enforce cleaning practices among their drivers and partially suspend their operations in some cases.

Looking at Uber

Uber says on their official website that they will temporarily suspend the accounts of riders or drivers who “confirmed to have contracted or been exposed to COVID‑19”.

Uber provides drivers with disinfectants to keep their cars clean for free, with manufacturers and distributors keeping enough cleaning supply. In particular, the surfaces being touched most often should be wiped.

In addition, Uber enforces “no contact” policy in their sub-brand – UberEats – specializing in local food delivery.

With the social distancing order from California Governor Gavin Newsom, the state’s residents are encouraged to work at home.

UberEats expects an increase in demand for food delivery given the less commuting population. To support local restaurant businesses, UberEats waived the delivery fee for more than 100,000 restaurants in North America.

For safety concerns, they allow customers to ask for leaving food at the door by leaving a note in the app. Food delivery companies like Doordash and Grubhub undertake similar policies. UberEats also provides free meals to health care workers, according to JUMP website.

Looking at Lyft

Similar to Uber, Lyft also says in their official website that they will distribute hand sanitizers and other cleaning supplies to their drivers.

Further, to comply with California state order of social distancing, Lyft paused shared riding in all metropolitan markets, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. They also enforce cleaning activities in their bikes and scooters.

Lyft has established the COVID-19 fund to help drivers who are diagnosed with the Coronavirus disease survive the individual quarantine. (Uber also builds an employee relief fund for impacted restaurant workers.)

However, it turns out that Uber and Lyft are unable to guarantee their sick leave compensation at this moment, according to CNET reporting.

What Is Happening With the Local Drivers?

CNET recently spoke with three Uber drivers and one Lyft driver — all from San Francisco — who exhibited COVID-19 or other disease symptoms and had asked for paid leave. All of them said their companies need an extended period of time to review and process requests for sick leave.

Similar situations are reported to be happening in New York, Illinois and Washington State.

According to The Washington Post, such delay in unemployment aid issuance resides in the fact that “gig” workers are categorized as independent contractors.

In contrast to full-time laborers, they are not eligible for unemployment benefits such as paid leave and health insurance under the current U.S labor system. Without guaranteed labor protection, the Coronavirus has been posing a threat to their economic survival.

While the U.S. Congress and local government officials seem to be progressing to list self-employed labors to be protected under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, an Economic Securities (CARES) Act, the realization of unemployment benefit issuance still depends on the corporate themselves.

The Coronavirus infections are increasing at this moment, and the spread across the United States is projected to slow down no earlier than the next two months. It will certainly further affect the economy of the ride-sharing companies financially.

While struggling to maintain financial stability, the ride-sharing companies still need to spend time prioritizing drivers and customers’ interests and concerns in facing up the unprecedented challenge.

In the midst of bad news, a glimmer of good news: The Coronavirus is stressful to all of us, of course, but viewing it from an environmental perspective, the nation’s overall GHG emission would be reduced due to such a large decline in commuting all over the United States.

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About the Author
Yuyou Chen works as a Sustainability Reporting Analyst Intern at G&A Institute. She is currently a senior working towards a B.S in Environmental Science and Management and a B.A in Economics at the University of California, Davis. She is interested in ESG investing, Sustainability Reporting, and Urban Mobility. She had previous internship experience in a British environmental consulting firm where she engaged on research and analysis of an eco-labeling project for a China paper making company.

Household & Personal Product Industry’s Response to COVID-19 – Strong Display of Corporate Citizenship by the House & Personal Products Industry

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G&A Institute Team Note: We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency. This is post #11 in the series, “Excellence in Corporate Citizenship on Display in the Coronavirus Crisis.  #WeRise2FightCOVID-19   “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis”  –  April 6 2020 

By Kelly Mumford – Sustainability Reporting Analyst Intern – G&A Institute

The current reality around the world has shifted dramatically since the outbreak of COVID-19 a few months ago. As the number of confirmed cases and deaths continue to rise across countries like Italy, Spain, and the U.S., there have been many reactions across industries to help out.

As of today, more than 10,000 people have died in the US, and unemployment rates are now at the highest ever as I write this.

Overall, the economy is struggling and our healthcare system is overwhelmed. However, during this time, the corporate response has also been overwhelming.

Many companies and corporations across sectors are feeling the effects of this pandemic on their operations and at the same time acting to help those who need it the most during this time.

There have been some significant, well-publicized responses from U.S. tech giants Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon. These companies have donated millions to various response efforts across the country.

Many other corporations are also doing what they can to continue paying employees during this time.  Amazon is hiring tens of thousands of employees to help their delivery efforts.

Needless to say, corporate actions have been indicative of a commitment to corporate social responsibility during the coronavirus crisis.

This is a recap of recent actions by companies in the Household and Personal Products Industry.

In the Beauty Field: Estée Lauder Companies

The household and personal product industry is no different. Estée Lauder especially has been leading a strong example. Last week, Estée Lauder Companies announced it will being shifting production to hand sanitizer to help relieve the shortage that has severely affected those in the healthcare industry.

They are re-opening a temporarily-closed facility in suburban Long Island, New York to produce hand sanitizer and volunteer employees will be compensated. However, their efforts don’t stop there.

Estée Lauder is also donating US$2 million to Doctors Without Borders — the organization that is greatly helping countries around the world with less medical support fight the coronavirus.

Also, Estée Lauder made a $75 million dollar grant to support the establishment of The NYC COVID-19 Response & Impact Fund. This fund unites many philanthropies and will go to support many vital community organizations and social services.

Estée Lauder Companies awarded $800,000 to relief efforts in China such as the Red Cross Society of China, the Shanghai Charity Foundation, and Give2Asia with an additional $1.4 million of donations to the China Women’s Development Foundation to support front line medical staff.

It is easy to see with these actions the Estée Lauder Companies’ strong values and family commitment to corporate social responsibility is admirable. Their actions are a promising example of the good that can arise during crisis.

SC Johnson Steps Up to Help

Another huge name in the industry — SC Johnson, another large company with deeply embedded family values —  is furthering their efforts against COVID-19 with a $5 million donation. The company will put that money towards the needs of the healthcare workers on the front lines.

They will be delivering care packages to police, fire and medical personnel including cleaning and disinfectant products made by SC Johnson. This donation comes in addition to the $2 million and $1 million they have already donated to the CDC Foundation’s Emergency Response Fund and to other efforts in China, Italy and the U.K.

The company said it was continually assessing the most urgent needs of people around the world, and acting accordingly. They have supported many healthcare needs across Europe, Asia, and Latin America to protect families from spreading the virus.

This support has come in the form of cash, product donations, and educational programs. As their headquarters in located in Racine, Wisconsin they have also made a special donation to the town to help support school children in the area and first responders.

Local focus:  The donation will be provided through a partnership with the Racine School District, the Racine YMCA, and Ascension All Saints Hospital.

Lastly, as a way to support the most vulnerable groups during this time the company has also made multiple $25,000 donations to food pantries and homeless assistance organizations to help ease the pressure on these already strained groups.

SC Johnson’s donations and efforts during this pandemic demonstrate a strong commitment to their corporate social responsibility efforts but more important, their assessment of placing aid to some of the most vulnerable groups reveals a targeted and strategic approach to CSR.

The Company is not just throwing money “anywhere” — but rather being strategic in their assessment, and loyal to the community of their headquarters..

Procter & Gamble – Relief Funds and Continued Production

Procter & Gamble, another one of the largest enterprises in the industry, has set up a special relief fund for COVID-19.

P&G has a long running record of CSR reporting and supporting communities so it’s not surprising that they have been working with their partner organizations to provide support and relief to people during this time.

They have created a donation portal for receiving donations — which they will match all donations up to $500,000 and give donations to support the healthcare providers around the world.

The largest P&G factory in Pennsylvania will start production of face masks during the pandemic. Employees will have regular temperature checks, will be socially-distanced, and there will be constant sanitization of all areas. 

Their factories are still open during this time, recognizing that the wide range of their products are necessary for many households, in normal times and during the crisis.

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Kelly Mumford is a GRI Report Analyst Intern at G&A Institute. She is a recent graduate of the Development Planning Unit at the University College London. She holds an M.S. in Environment and Sustainable Development (with merit). Kelly led a group during their research on the water and sanitation practices of a coastal city community in Freetown, Sierra Leone. She now plans to pursue a career in sustainability, focusing on ESG and leveraging her research experience and the knowledge gained of sustainability reporting during her internship with G&A Institute.

Sources For Your Reference

G&A Institute Team Note
We continue to bring you news of private (corporate and business), public and social sector developments as organizations in the three societal sectors adjust to the emergency.

The new items will be posted at the top of the blog post and the items today will move down the queue.

We created the tag “Corporate Purpose – Virus Crisis” for this continuing series – and the hashtag #WeRise2FightCOVID19 for our Twitter posts.  Do join the conversation and contribute your views and news. 

Do send us news about your organization – info@ga-institute.com so we can share.   Stay safe – be well — keep in touch!