DISRUPT BAU (Business As Usual)

Is Business Only About Profit?

5.30 pm - 7.30 pm, November 13, 20 & 27, Sydney CBD

“A company’s social license to operate is not a given, so the onus is on organisations to build relationships, to proactively listen to stakeholders, be willing to change, and to embrace technologies to better understand their impact on people and communities”

“The factors contributing to trust are more dynamic and interrelated than ever before. There are simply too many issues to address them all with the same level of focus; boards must prioritise and focus on those that are most likely to impact their organisation and its stakeholders”.

Australian Institute of Company Directors-KPMG Survey:

DISRUPT BAU

The Australian Ethics Index overall has fallen six points since 2017 — from 41 to 35 — dragged down by the poor perception of ethics in the banking sector.
Governance Institute of Australia

Furthermore according to the Edelman Trust Barometer, trust in big business is at an all-time low.
The Royal Banking Commission has only created more cynicism about the role of big
business in our society. What impact will this have on employees, customers and key stakeholders in a constantly changing and disruptive marketplace?

Over a series of discussions, we want to identify what will it take for business leaders to
regain trust of the consumer and other stakeholders as well as what are the actions we
have to collectively take as a business community to regain the social license to operate.

Humanity in Business is proud to launch DISRUPT BAU, a series of in-depth, disruptive
panel discussions with senior leaders and experts challenging the role of business in our society.

We would like to acknowledge Judith Fox, CEO Australian Shareholders
Association for her thought leadership to help create the program.

Our vision is to build a community of business leaders who come together to collectively address the common challenges we face to regain trust of our stakeholders and the societal licence to operate.

Join the movement to DISRUPT BAU!

#humanityinbiz #disruptbau

DISRUPT BAU

Take Collective Action!

Corporate Purpose
November 13, 5.30pm to 7.30pm

Is this just another piece of management speak? Is this just CSR under another name? Is shifting the focus to customer-centricity just going to cause problems down the track in the same way that explanations that execs and boards are focused on shareholder-centricity has caused indifference to how profits are generated? How can companies demonstrate that their purpose is to contribute to the well-being of society? How do they begin to have the internal conversation that allows them to work out what their purpose is? What do leaders need to understand/learn/know to kick-start this?

Darrel Wade, Chairman, The Intrepid Group

Vaughn Richtor, former CEO, ING Australia
Leona Murphy, Non-Executive Director, RACQ
Facilitator: Judith Fox, CEO Australian Shareholders Association

Program

5.30 Welcome

5.35 Leadership Panel Discussion

6.15 Facilitated table discussion

7.00 Table Discussion Debrief

7.30 Next steps and conclusion

Why the ‘idea’ of the Company is not fixed

November 20, 5.30 to 7.30pm

For 40 years markets have had the view that companies are there to make money and do nothing but make money. In Royal Commission hearings, the view was put out that boards and execs involved in misconduct were in the search for shareholder returns, but this is misguided, as shareholders do not want misconduct and do not want to be penalised for it. How do companies take the opportunity to create wealth by being of service to society and not seeing company activity as an opportunity to appropriate wealth by exploiting society? In the 1930s, there was a strong view that the company (corporation) is an economic institution which has a social service as well as a profit-making function, and now we see it as having only a profit-making function, with social service some sort of philanthropy or add-on, not central to the idea of the company. Is it possible to shift our view of what the company is to restore trust?
How do leaders do that? What needs to happen internally?

Robert Johanson, Chair, Bendigo Bank
Michael Adams, former Dean and Professor of Corporate Law &
Governance, Western Sydney University
Pablo Berrutti, Head of Responsible Investment, Asia Pacific Colonial First
State Asset Management

Facilitator: Judith Fox, CEO Australian Shareholders Association

Program

5.30 Welcome

5.35 Leadership Panel Discussion

6.15 Facilitated table discussion

7.00 Table Discussion Debrief

7.30 Next steps and conclusion

Leadership in Action

November 27 5.30pm-7.30pm

Shifting from ‘Can we do this?’ to ‘Should we do this?
How do leaders shift the dial internally to get the team to consider the consequences and implications of their proposals/decisions rather than simply whether they can execute them? What needs to happen to remuneration frameworks and incentive structures to facilitate this?

Alison Watkins, CEO Coca Cola Amatil
Gavin Fox Smith, VP Asia Pacific, Johnson & Johnson Medical
Vivek Bhatia CEO, QBE
Facilitator: Meegan Taylor, Acting CEO Governance Institute of Australia

Program

5.30 Welcome
5.35 Leadership Panel Discussion
6.15 Facilitated table discussion
7.00 Table Discussion Debrief
7.30 Next steps and conclusion

These events are not just about talking – but DOING.

What are the challenges that need to be identified and what are we going to DO as a business community to address them?
Each event will be a combination of panel and table discussions to ensure we capture the collective thinking of everyone in attendance. At the end of each session, we will outline the key challenges we need to address to create the next roundtable series.

New draft recommendations from the Australian Stock Exchange:

“Preserving an entity’s social licence to operate requires the board and management of a listed entity to have regard to the views and interests of a broader range of stakeholders than just its security holders, including employees, customers, suppliers, creditors, regulators, consumers, taxpayers and the local communities in which it operates.”

“Long-term and sustainable value creation is founded on the trust a listed entity has earned from these different stakeholders. Security holders understand this and expect boards and management to engage with these stakeholders and to be, and be seen to be, ‘good corporate citizens’,” the draft says.

The document includes a list of what might be expected of a company: respecting the human rights of its employees, paying a “living wage” to employees; maintaining a safe and non-discriminatory workplace; offering employment to people with disability; dealing honestly and
fairly with customers and suppliers; not engaging in aggressive tax minimisation strategies; and generally engaging in ethical business practices"

Anne Davies, Guardian Australia