This past Tuesday Collective Responsibility hosted “The Future of Productivity” forum to discuss the approach companies and individuals should take to business and their careers in a world increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. Collective Responsibility’s own Charlie Mathews, Director of Corporate Advisory, opened the event by describing a global labor market that is in flux as AI be…
Following the recent changes in Foreign and domestic charity laws, this week the Volunteer Service Regulation was released (Chinese version here), and just like the charity laws, there is the potential for this law to impact CSR programming in China. With an effective date of July 1, 2017, the first article setting out the intent of the new law: These Regulations are drafted so as to develop…
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in society has been hailed by some as a technological revolution set to eclipse the invention of the wheel, steam engine, automobile, or even the internet in terms disrupting human society. Optimists believe that AI will allow humans to accelerate productivity, squash inefficiencies and create a world free from want. Pessimists see the ac…
For this month’s event series on “The Future of Productivity”, we have two events in Shanghai that will look at the role of AI inside the office, and the concerns about job losses, and how companies and people will need to adapt to the future working environment and new jobs that will come about as we head not only towards Industry 4.0, but Office 4.0 in China. To help drive depth of insights i…
As the gaokao has come to pass, let’s talk about promoting the education of all children in China. The National Higher Education Entrance Exam, or the gaokao, is a prerequisite for almost all higher education undergraduate institutions. Students take the gaokao to access the next step of their educational careers. However, one group of students is systematically prevented from taking the exam that…
In this episode of AsktheCollective, we answer two questions from one of our first interns, about innovation, developing leadership mindsets, empowered millennials, and the role of MNCs in developing Chinese talent. As always, we hope you find these questions and answers useful, gain some new insights, and possibly help catalyse you to take your next step, and if they do, please remember to Sub…
Following on from our Beijing session last week, on May 23rd we hosted 25 communications, PR, and sustainability professionals in Shanghai to a workshop titled Telling Your Sustainability Story to help them better understand and anticipate how to better build social capital with their stakeholders. The session was led by presentations from PT Black, Senior Director of Brand Experience and Plannin…
In this episode of AskTheCollective, we answered a question about the role of SME in China's circular economy, how they can play a part in the circular economy and the opportunities that present to them. As always, we hope you find these questions and answers useful, possibly gain some new insights, and feel compelled or inspired to ask questions of your own! Enjoy Episode 011 below, check out…
Social enterprises can face a tough task when trying to build their business and sell a vision and values to companies. While around the world attitudes are changing, in China such business models have experienced slower uptake. At a recent workshop hosted by Green Initiatives, we engaged a group of MBA students from Suffolk University on the topic of social enterprises and how they see the indust…
In the process leading to the 2016 Foreign NGO and 2016 China Charity laws, a lot of the articles were focused on the macro issues of what this meant for the development of civil society in China. On the ground though, the questions were more practical, with the most recent being focused on donating money to China as a foreign foundation. In part, this was due to the language of both laws lacki…
As millions of China’s growing middle class have become new car owners, China’s private car market has propelled it into being one of the most attractive car markets in the world. For automakers, this has been a boom as ownership oversharing was the norm, but the challenges of car ownership in the form of traffic and air pollution have also grown. To tackle the problems, China has…
SUSTAINABILITY: THEORY VS. REALITY When discussing sustainable business, ideas that make "big-picture" environmental sense on paper may or may not translate well into day-to-day practice. What may seem more efficient in the long-term is not always conducive to the main focus of business, the bottom line – particularly when talking about supply chain actors and retailers. This is why it's so…
THE QUESTION: IS CHINA GENEROUS? Much of our work here at Collective centers on the business side of "social entrepreneurship" in China – going beyond business as usual to work towards the development of a better world. Yet, we also run into a certain question from the more philanthropic side of that mission: Is China generous? Answering such a loaded question risks overgeneralizing a country…
Earlier this month, Collective Responsibility joined over 120 corporate social responsibility (CSR) professionals in Shanghai for the 4th annual gathering of CSR WeCan. As part of the event, we were invited to speak on a panel titled “Is CSR Dying or Thriving?” – a topic that has been regularly discussed. Given the liveliness of that debate and the importance of the topic, we thought we would s…
2017 has just begun, and one question is on everyone’s minds: what exactly will the new year bring? In particular, companies in China want to predict and adjust for major trends, and wonder what upcoming news could affect their operations. 2016 was a tumultuous year for Chinese markets. The Chinese Communist Party issued its second red alert, closed factories across the northeast, tackled risin…
