ADMU forum pushes creation of shared value

MANILA, Philippines - “Companies are rethinking the way they do businesses.”               

This is what Philippine Business for Social Progress chair Rafael Lopa shared with over 200 high school students during the one-day business workshop entitled “Ateneo Corporate Sustainability Conference 2016: Symbiosis” by the Management Engineering Association (MEA).

The workshop held in Leong Hall in the Ateneo de Manila University on April 23 explored the concept of creating shared value as a way for businesses to give back to the country in a sustainable way.

Ateneo Corporate Sustainability 2016: Symbiosis from Jace Kua on Vimeo.

MEA invited participants who are 11th and 12th grade level students from schools such as Assumption Antipolo, Assumption College San Lorenzo, Ateneo de Manila High School, Claret School of Quezon City, Colegio San Agustin- Makati, De La Salle Santiago Zobel, De La Salle University- Integrated School, Grace Christian College, Immaculate Conception Academy, Jubilee Christian Academy, Makati Hope Christian School, Miriam College High School, PAREF Woodrose School, Philippine Science High School Main Campus, Saint Jude Catholic School, Saint Paul College, Pasig, Saint Pedro Poveda College, and Xavier School. The workshop was sponsored by Philstar.com and Nescafe.

“The reason why we chose high school students is because we see them as future business leaders,” said Riston Balolong, MEA’s VP for Sustainability.

Co-project head of the workshop, Dara Alyssa Tan, said that MEA held the workshop to emphasize that giving back to the community via creating shared value is integral to the success of the business and not just something on the sideline.

“Our main goal is to break the conventional mindset that businesses only want to benefit for themselves. In order for a business to fully benefit, they need to connect to other aspects of society,” she said.

Tan explained that the workshop was actually organized by the freshmen members of MEA, who have been trained to do project planning and collaboration. Most of the members have been mounting the workshop since December 2015. It is a workshop that was created by young people so that they can empower young people like themselves and create awareness about the concept of creating shared value. During the morning, the students listened to lectures by thought leaders in creating shared values, while in the afternoon, they participated in activities that actuated this concept. 

Aside from Lopa, invited speakers for the workshop include Ed Sunico of Unilever, Ma. Victoria Tan of Ayala Corp., and Ron Dizon, co-founder of Bayani Brew.

CSR out, CSV in

Lopa, as head of the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the country’s largest corporate-led social development foundation, ensures that businesses work with communities to reduce poverty and create environmental sustainability projects. During the morning lectures, he introduced to the students the concept of “creating shared value” which is coming up products that benefits people and not just the company. This can also mean integrating in the operation of a business a process that is beneficial to all parties involved. It is different from one-off corporate social responsibility activities or events because creating shared value is more long term.

Sunico, VP for Sustainable Business and Communications of Unilever, talked about how they live out their tagline “Good life for everyone.” Their vision is to double the size of the business while reducing their environmental footprint and increasing positive social impact. For example, sachets for their detergent product Surf were recalled using a promo. Customers simply need to turn over their used sachets to Cebuana Lhuiller branches and they get P10 load credits in return.

These sachets were later made into bricks which were used to rebuild the sidewalks in Yolanda-stricken areas.

“Sustainability as a development that means the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations their own needs,” Sunico said. 

Ma. Victoria Tan, Head, Group Risk Management and Sustainability Unit at Ayala Corporation, shared their 360-degree framework on economic, social, and environmental sustainability. This is anchored to the UN’s Millennium Development goals, which includes no hunger, clean water and sanitation, as well as respect for life on land and on water. They incorporate these in the way they do business and provide opportunities for people to succeed.

For Ayala Land, they strive to build resilient infrastructure and studying the soil and trees on a piece of land before they build on it. Trees are transferred and not just cut down. If they cannot be transferred, they have to be replaced, she said. 

“Shared value is a technical concept that is very different from philanthropy and SR strategies,” she said.

On the other hand, Bayani Brew co-founder Ron Dizon shared how he got into social enterprise, after his long career in corporate.

“I wanted to give back to the community, full-time,” he said.

His product, Bayani Brew, employs the help of over 500 lemon grass farmers, who became his partners and suppliers in business.

“If we change our definition of success from that of money and power, that’s the only time we can make a significant change to the country,” Dizon added.

From ‘my world’ to ‘our world’

Sunico praised the new generation for being mindful of the world around them and having the mindset of “our world” and not just “my world.”

Because of the internet and their access to information, young people nowadays are more aware of different societal issues such as degradation of environment and unequal wealth distribution, he said.

During the workshop, aside from listening to the lectures, participants also had to finish an Amazing Race entitled “CSV Training” that introduces various shared value practices such as waste management, supplier access and viability, employee skills training, and more. After that, they had to come up with a five-year plan that addresses the needs of a fictional city with different issues ranging from environment, food and water supply, to employment. 

This fictional city that needs to be rebuilt after the earth has decayed, with five zones: residential, agricultural, research, maritime, and labor. The students were given corporations that they were part of, and their goals is to rebuild  the new world and come up with products and solutions that creates shared value. 

For many of the high school students, even if the topics discussed are new to them, they could see its relevance to their lives. 

“I enjoyed hearing from the people who have experience in business because I can take their wisdom and use it,” said Grade 12 student Gabriel Lopez from the Claret School of Quezon City.

For Raya Sunico of Saint Pedro Poveda College, she learned that creating shared value is an effective method of making a better livelihood amongst one another.

ACSC Same Day Edit from Francis Choa Jr. on Vimeo.

“The activities given to us during the conference made me realize that many factors are linked to each other therefore if only one of these factors is improved or upgraded, the impact will be felt by all,” she said.

For Stephanie Anne Shin, a Grade 11 student from the Colegio de San Agustin-Makati, the workshop activities have been challenging but it inspired her to become pro-active in giving back to her community.

“There’s still lot of things I don’t know about society and economy and today is a really an eye opener. So I would like to participate more in projects that would help our country” she said.

For the organizers like Tan, the event was a success. They were able to raise awareness about creating shared value, which isn't very well known among the youth today.

“We are happy with the outcome of the conference, we hope that we have inspired a new generation of business associates, those who find perfect union between purpose and profit,” said Balolong.

Tan and Balolong said that they would like to have more workshops or talks about creating shared value in the future, especially among students. This is so that they can continue to break the conventional mindset that businesses cannot be noble.