Facing Challenges Through Trust

Supply management organizations face unprecedented challenges as well as opportunities to navigate and make an impact.

Geopolitics, climate change and technology are at the helm, Wojciech Bagiński, a member of B Lab’s board of directors, said during last week’s Navex Next 2024 Virtual Risk & Compliance Conference. Elections are taking place in many countries, impacting about half of the world’s population. Climate change is headlining the news. Governments are developing new regulations and technology is advancing quickly.

Bagiński was one of three keynote speakers and numerous other presenters from Navex and other organizations during the one-day conference. The 13th annual conference dwelled on such topics as human rights, workplace culture, risk management and compliance.

B Corps

According to B Lab, the nonprofit network behind B Corporations, a B Corp certification “is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.”

Founded shortly before the 2008 financial crisis, the non-profit quickly grew into a multicultural, multinational network, Bagiński said. “We believe that it is possible to use business as a force for good,” he said.

Amid all the disruption — and opportunities — the value of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards is being debated as well as lauded, he said. “We see large scale conflict, rising anti-ESG sentiment in the U.S., and an urgent call to make meaningful climate action, to do something with the climate change,” he said.

ESG regulatory change and technology will hugely impact all sectors, Bagiński said. “(They will change) how we report on impact and how we prioritize it in the future in our businesses,” he said. “The expectations in today’s world are higher than ever — from employees, consumers and investors — for businesses to create a leading change in the world that we so desperately need.”

The 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer report stated that business is the only institute seen as being competent and ethical. “It’s a huge responsibility,” he said.

What’s the Answer?

But in society as well as government institutions, trust is falling, he said: “The nature of trust is also evolving: Who do we trust? Why do we trust somebody? Can we trust anyone at the end of the day, with all the AI (artificial intelligence) greenwashing, fake news and deep fakes?”

Business, while viewed as competent, is also part of the problem, Bagiński said. But business must also be the solution, he said.

“It (has never been) so clear how interdependent we are as leaders, workers and, at the end of the day, residents of this planet,” Bagiński said. “Only deeply engaging with all of the stakeholders, will we find solutions to these crises.”

For businesses to manage climate change and other disruption, he called for equitable solutions that stand the test of time and enable all to thrive. He explained, “The answer is business, but not business as we know it, with the focus on profits and shareholders.” Instead, he said, it’s business that puts purpose first and recognizes the inherent humanity of business as an organizing force.

Leaders, like B Corps, also play a large role by providing support, Bagiński said. He also cited “listening to each other” as part of the solution: Listening not only to make points, but to learn from each other and continuously improve.

(Image credit: Getty Images/Yutthana Gaetgeaw)