On May 29, 2020, the III Forum “Integrity in what we do” was held. Forum organisers: Ferrexpo, the House of Knowledge platform for international educational programmes and certifications, supported by the All-Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance and the Business Ombudsman Council (BOC). The forum focused on the topic of running a business with integrity by joining forces. During the Forum, the members brought up topics such as sustainable business development in the context of a pandemic, gender stereotypes, the impact of business reputation on the company’s image, and practical cases from the consequences of unfair behavior will be considered.
We collected key points of the speakers about the importance of sustainable business and why organizations need it.
Growth as the fundamental characteristic
Growth is a basic characteristic of everything that surrounds us: trees grow, bacteria multiply, the Universe expands. At the same time, the world’s population constantly wants to get a better standard of living. That is why there is a requirement for economic growth.
The founder of the Earth Day Ukraine platform, partner of the “Adsapience” activation agency, Natalia Boyarchuk spoke about the main concepts of growth in the world and the need to support sustainability.
According to her, in recent years we have engaged in consumerism very heavily: we consume much more calories and electricity. Now, on average, there are 10,000 kg of possessions per person – compared to 20 kg of a prehistoric person. However, information holds the record in growth – 1 trillion times more information is in free access. This growth is sure to bring benefits to humanity – increased comfort, longer life expectancy, improved health. But on the other hand, we are destroying the biosphere, influencing climate change, social imbalances in society are becoming more widespread. The increase in happiness is debatable: the queues in the therapists’ offices are getting longer, depression is becoming more common. That is why today scientists are faced with the question of how to find a balance between social well-being, economic growth and the environment. Sustainable development is trying to answer this question.
UN goals as a path to sustainability
There are two principles of sustainability: the goals of the UN and the view of large private investors. In 2015, the UN developed a 17-goal approach to help companies and the world bring sustainability to life. Almost all states have adopted these goals.
Claudia Shevelyuk, UNDP national consultant on sustainable development, named the main global trends in the near future at the forum: climate change, migration, population explosion, globalisation, technological development, health, and transparency of companies.
Companies need to be responsible and embed UN goals in their business to lead the competition. Back in 2017, a special commission, The Business & Sustainable Development Commission, calculated that the implementation of the UN goals would increase revenues by $ 12 trillion by 2030. And this will surely affect every single company, as consumers tend to favour socially responsible companies.
Top reasons which encourage companies to implement sustainable development goals:
Sustainability thanks to large investors – compliance
However, there is a different view of the principles of sustainability – this is the view of large private investors who realised that risks are increasing and they need to be somehow mitigated with the help of social principles and compliance – they will help create sustainability in business and beyond. Compliance is the company’s ability to comply with the rules and regulations, to be responsible for doing business. If the business does not control the risk zones, then in the end it will incur losses, not only financial, but also reputational.
It is necessary to control the processes at every stage, check the contractors, their owners and be sure to monitor the integrity of the team.
At the forum, Lana Sinichkina, partner and head of anti-corruption compliance in the Arzinger Law Firm, said:“In compliance, the devil is in the details. Technical problems, lack of correct procedures for signing contracts lead to negative consequences ”.
Natalia Kryvda, academic director of the Edinburgh Business School and the House of Knowledge in Ukraine, said: “Today, the strategic approach to compliance is changing. We should talk about recovery rather than the crisis since we will get out of it anyway. The strategic approach to compliance is to build trust within the company, trust for customers, partners and the community at large. For example, the Edinburgh Business School’s MBA course already introduces the term “wisdom” in a new sense. It is about the ability to extract meanings, to “have a breakthrough” through various systems and to make informed judgments that lead to effective solutions. Most valued are those leaders who have this ability and understand that compliance is the price of life and corporate success. ”
The complex regulatory landscape is also forcing a new understanding of compliance. Organizations that move from “compliance increases the cost of business” to “compliance is a strategic value” can gain significant competitive and economic advantage and build trust. Such a transformation is perhaps more critical than ever. Because today the only solid currency is trust, ”says Natalia.
