Page 18 - MiNDSPACE Issue 1 2022 - Old Mutual Corporate

shared value impactSPACE
SHARED VALUE, OR COMPETITIVE COLLABORATION, WASN’T REALLY PART OF THE MAINSTREAM CONVERSATION BEFORE. WHAT HAS CHANGED TO MAKE IT VIABLE NOW?
‘We’ve been seeing competitive collaboration between businesses for a while. Platform-sharing in the automotive industry is a great example, as are the many joint ventures in the tech space.
‘What is rapidly changing, however, is the way businesses are collaborating to address and solve our common social and economic challenges. Issues like climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic, poverty and inequality cannot be solved by any one
20 million
The number of people reached by Old Mutual’s financial education initiatives on social media*
R141 billion
The value of Old Mutual’s investment portfolio in socially inclusive, low-carbon and resource-efficient investments*
player alone, and I think there is a greater realisation of this. Business leaders who choose to go it alone are a risk to business growth, and the competitive advantage gained from collaborating to address these challenges is greater than what a business can achieve by itself.’
WHAT DOES SHARED VALUE MEAN
TO OLD MUTUAL?
‘We believe that the best business strategy to adopt in a world with increasing social and environmental pressures is one that will generate profits while building long- term social and environmental resilience. This is premised on a stakeholder-inclusive model of capitalism which encourages value to be shared across participating stakeholder groups.
‘As a signatory to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, our commitment to creating shared value is embodied in our responsible business framework. This framework specifically advocates for responsible investing,
responsible environmental management and responsible behaviour towards customers, employees and communities. It is simply not sustainable for businesses to focus solely on commercial success and profitability. Old Mutual began formally adopting a shared- value approach as part of our responsible business framework in 2017. Since then, we have been working to integrate social and environmental objectives into our strategies to ensure long-term sustainability and value creation.’
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14 | ISSUE 1 2022