This month, Collective Responsibility was appointed by a global food and nutrition client to speak to their executives about the sustainability risks affecting their industries in China, with a focus on aquaculture, and the market opportunities available through strategic innovation and positioning. Urbanisation continues to add pressure to the environmental and social systems of the food indus…
Tech is becoming a part of all aspects of life and sustainability is no exception to this. In this piece, in the run-up to our Beyond Business As Usual Forum, we present the future of healthcare and how there is a growing opportunity for tech to be leveraged to provide for a growing, more expectant urban population. While China has made great strides to improve the quality of life for its 1.5 b…
With the rising labour costs that have occurred in China over the past decade and the introduction of the 2008 labour laws the climate for low skilled manufacturing is not what it once was. As a result there is much talk of new manufacturing frontiers and the potential for them to take away jobs and production from China. ASEAN, India and Africa are all areas that are being touted as new, affordab…
If you are not based in China, then it is likely that you missed the release of SK-II most recent campaign. A campaign that encouraged China's "leftover" women to be proud of their independence and take actions to change their destiny in the face of growing social pressure. Part of SK-II's Change Destiny campaign, it quickly went viral and was the talk of many, and rightfully so. Core to…
To understand the importance of sustainability, you only have to spend a short period of time in one of China’s major cities where you see firsthand the challenges faced in developing urban systems where balance in economic development, society, and the environment is required. These systems are growing at speeds never seen before, and are unlikely to abate anytime in the next 35 years as we mo…
On March 30th, we invited Dr. Ko Liu Ying from Shanghai United Family Hospital, and Adam Rosenberg from GeiLi Giving to share their insights on the topic of Philanthropy in CSR at the School of Economics at Shanghai University. Dr. Ko has been engaged in dental care for 20 years and is currently working at Shanghai United Family Hospital as the director of the Corporate Social Responsibility dep…
Given the recent commitments to curb coal consumption, and the signature of carbon agreements in Paris, it should come as no surprise that the recently announced 5th-year plan would heavily emphasize sustainability and the continued need to address China’s mounting environmental and social challenges. Within the recent plan, which you can access here, there are a lot of measures for corpora…
With greater awareness and transparency in supply chains, companies are feeling pressured to become more responsible to meet their customers’ expectations. This could be through making large donations, hosting charity galas, and flying their staff to the other side of the country to plant trees. There are numerous ways to demonstrate corporate responsibility, yet the question comes down to how do…
If you are a fitness enthusiast, you probably have heard about or even participated in a marathon, and if you love creating stuff and turning ideas into objectives, chances are you have heard of a hackathon. Hackathons first appeared in the late 1990s, and quickly gained momentum among tech companies and venture capitalists in the early- to mid-2000s. The initial hackathons were seen as a q…
In February, Richard Brubaker, Founder and Managing Director of Collective Responsibility gave two presentations to DOW Agriculture leadership and sustainability teams on the sustainability and the future of food in China. As one of the largest firms in the food & agricultural sector and one whose products extend throughout the food & agricultural value chain, Rich covered a wide ra…
This past Wednesday, Canadian Consulate General and Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai organized a CSR Roundtable Workshop at Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on the Bund where guests representing a wide range of industries, and charities, were invited to learn about building a CSR program with impact. As part of this event, Charlie Mathews, Director of Corporate Advisory at Collective Responsibilit…
As sustainability is starting to move out of the confinements of a single department within a firm, building an ambassador network is the perfect way to begin the transition across departments and create alignment on your sustainable business strategy. Whether it be a passionate individual who aspires to create a more economically, socially and environmentally resilient world by engaging and i…
Although many of us recognize the importance of making small changes at work to contribute to sustainability, we sometimes overlook the potential value in sustainability to create new core products or processes at our companies. Moreover, we often lack the skills to transform these individual actions into a corporate-wide sustainability culture. As a result, companies can miss out on areas of…
This month, Collective Responsibility was invited to take part in a supplier CSR forum with Groupe Rocher, the French cosmetics firm. An event where our founder, Rich Brubaker, spoke about CSR trends in China, and where Charlie Mathews, Director of Corporate Advisory, moderated a workshop. Suppliers from across China and South Korea attended, with a diverse range of knowledge and application of s…
As the modern consumer and regulator place greater emphasis on good sustainable practice, corporate social responsibility is no longer just a philanthropic exercise for companies. It is now an area of intensive scrutiny and reporting from a wide range of actors and stakeholders, and an ever-growing area of business opportunity. In recognition of this, companies striving to be top of the game in…
