In Part 3 of our deeper dive into GE’s annual Citizenship Report — the fifth of which was issued on Monday — we turn to Ricardo Melèndez-Ortiz, who is co-founder and chief executive of the nonprofit International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development. Ricardo is one of more than 20 global thought leaders whose essays are published, unedited, in the report. Our first essay focused on responsibilities in times of hard economic downturns, such as the current one. Yesterday’s highlighted the critical need for companies to evaluate their water footprints given growing global scarcity. Today, Ricardo zeroes in on the role that sustainability will have as businesses try to restore public trust.
Responsibility in a recession: GE’s new healthymagination business strategy is an example of one of the company’s sustainability efforts in action. The goal of the initiative is to grow GE Healthcare’s business by increasing people’s access to lower cost –- and higher quality –- care.
“Public trust in business is lower than at any point in living memory,” he writes in his essay. “Restoring this trust will be crucial to long-term prospects. The pursuit of sustainability has a valuable role to play in rebuilding trust.”
Ricardo Melèndez-Ortiz: His organization facilitates interaction between policy-makers and those outside the system to help trade policy become more supportive of sustainable development.
He notes that “sustainability, with its inherently long-term focus on environmental and social goals in addition to the economic bottom line, could prove profitable in addition to popular.” However, he cautions that “companies will have to strike a tough balance between delivering for already-battered shareholders and delivering on sustainability goals” since “failing to live up to promises will further damage dented reputations.”
“Certain businesses will understandably feel done wrong by current public and governmental attitudes,” he continues. “Most are not to blame for the asset price bubble. Yet, many will be affected by increased regulation and other policies, even though it was some of the most heavily regulated financial institutions that brought about the ruin. Nevertheless, companies would be unwise to simply reject regulation: the public will not be on your side. Instead, businesses should cooperate with government to ensure that regulations are not shaped by an angry backlash, but instead target areas where greater restraints on action may be valuable.
“Companies that rely on globalized supply chains are right to be worried about de-globalization. Western anxiety about globalization and job losses remains high. Asian countries hit hard by the collapse in demand for the exports on which they relied so heavily are anxiously looking for signs that those markets will grow again. Nuanced public diplomacy, coupled with collaborative partnerships and a search for solutions along the entire length of companies’ value chains, are called for…. The crisis might have had its genesis in the West, but the poorest, as always, will suffer the most, with malnutrition and infant mortality set to rise. As they fight to cut costs, [companies] should think twice before putting community health programs, or new environmental initiatives, to the axe…”
* Read Ricardo’s entire essay
* Read Part 1 of our series: Citizen GE
* Read Part 2 of our series: Citizen GE
* Read GE’s Citizenship Report
* Read the announcement about the report being issued
* Read Marc Gunther’s blog about the report
* Read the Sustainable Development & Competitive Advantage blog
* Watch a video about our Stakeholder Advisory Panel
* Read about GE’s medical equipment donation in Africa
* Read Jeff Immelt’s comments about citizenship in his recent speech
* Learn about the GE Foundation’s disaster relief efforts
* Learn about GE’s Developing Health Globally program
* Learn more about GE’s healthymagination business strategy
* Read about our donation of neonatal medical equipment in the UK
* Read about our healthymagination work in Bangladesh
* Learn more about our partnership with Grameen Healthcare Trust
* Read about Developing Health Globally expanding to six new sites in Cambodia
