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Zambian farmers fighting climate change

A business model that allows a product to be given away free of charge while harnessing hemp’s potential to enable polluting industries to offset their emissions. Peter Miles, CEO of eHempHouse, presents a case study of its work in Zambia

To fight climate change, Zambian farmers will soon be growing a crop that most of the world has long demonised. The crop removes 66 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per annum. That’s far more than trees or any other crop. Only mango swamps absorb more, so it has huge potential for the environment. Yet to grow the crop, they have to get a license from the government due to a misunderstanding that almost everyone has. The crop is hemp, which is not the same as cannabis or marijuana. Scientifically they belong to the same family; the legal difference is that hemp contains just 0.03% or less of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). 

One of the many advantages of hemp is that it grows very quickly. It also has multiple uses, from clothing to food and fuel. It consequently gives Zambian famers a sustainable, profitable business. At eHempHouse, we’re helping these famers help themselves by offering them the SB™ system (a hemp-processing Smartbox) free so that they can successfully process organic hemp. The units are self-sustaining in off-grid communities as they use hemp oil for power. The power generated can then be used for other things to the benefit of the local community. 

An unusual business plan to help curb pollution levels

The business plan we’re using – which allows us to give the system away for free – is a slightly unusual one, but one that I hope will become increasingly common. In partnership with the farmers, we’re selling the carbon-offsetting that hemp provides, on the carbon markets. This off-setting allows polluting industries to mitigate some of that pollution. It means that next time you fly, you might be helping to finance the growing of hemp in Zambia.

There are voluntary carbon markets and some that deliver regulatory compliance. Most industries are now having to consider getting involved, whether or not they’re compelled to, as consumer pressure is increasing every year. It is, therefore, an important issue for all businesses to understand.

There is a danger that some polluting industries will believe that off-setting their emissions absolves them of all environmental responsibility. But of course, things are not that simple.  Pollution levels are currently nearly 420 parts CO2 per million in the atmosphere. Pre-industrialisation, it was 280 parts CO2 per million. And pollution levels will continue to rise for some time as emissions from countries, such as China, are still increasing.  

To fight the climate crisis, industries have to take a threefold approach:

  • Remove CO2 
  • Replace polluting products 
  • Develop mitigations for being able to live with the changed climate 

Our business model addresses all three action points: hemp removes carbon at higher levels than almost anything else, the products are far more environmentally friendly than the more commonly used competitor products and eHempHouse is making it possible for polluting industries to offset their emissions.

Promoting hemp’s potential and working to repair an undeserved reputation

The battle we have is to persuade the world of the huge potential of the crop. I’m very proud to say that we already have a lot of support from influential people, and we’ll be featured at COP26 (the UN climate change conference) at the end of October.

Why is it a battle? Why was such a fantastic crop demonised? The most obvious answer is because of its association with recreational drugs. However, you also have to look at who gains from that misunderstanding. We now know that the cotton industry is bad for the environment, yet how many hemp clothes do you have in your wardrobe compared to cotton ones? We know that much of the food industry is destroying the environment and that this is true even for vegan food products. Yet, how often have you eaten hemp products? Do you even know how you can eat hemp? 

There are numerous industries who gained from the destruction of the reputation of such a fast growing and cheap crop. And in business reputation is everything. Contrary to the popular rhyme, words can harm people, industries and even the planet. We’re working hard to put right that wrong.

Peter Miles is the CEO of eHempHouse.

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Creating a high-performing hybrid workplace: what should teams do?

Hult Ashridge’s Vlatka Ariaana Hlupic looks at how teams and individuals can adopt and foster the right mindset for success in hybrid work settings, in the second of two articles focused on the relationship between mindset and organisational culture

Survey after survey show that employees don’t want to go back to office full time after the Covid-19 pandemic, and many CEOs will have to backtrack on their desire to require everyone to be back to office full time, as was the norm before the pandemic.

In many recent surveys, over three quarters of all respondents prefer to work from home at least half of the time, and about half of respondents would quit their job if permanent options to work remotely at least half of the week are not available.

This means that hybrid workplaces are inevitable. The question now, therefore, is what behaviours leaders and their teams will need to display to create successful, high-performing hybrid workplaces where a significant proportion of time working is spent using technology to communicate and work.

Empowering teams and individuals

My previous article on Business Impact outlined key behaviours that leaders should enact to create high-performing hybrid workplaces. That article also explains The Management Shift framework and its five levels of individual mindset and corresponding organisational culture. It was emphasised how important it is that leaders lead with a level 4 (and occasionally level 5) mindset, in order to create a level 4/5 organisational culture that is suitable for hybrid workplaces.

The same applies to the teams. Teams (and individuals) also need to operate with a level 4/5 mindset (for which the dominant mindsets are ‘enthusiastic’ and ‘limitless’) that will ripple out to the rest of the team and organisation.

When individuals and teams operate from level 4/5, they become empowered. There is more flexibility with how, when and where work gets done, they take on more responsibilities but also become accountable for the results and deliverables. There is an inherent trust between leaders and employees and among team members themselves. There is transparency and a common sense of purpose, working for the greater good, working together as a team rather than individually. At this level, we see a marked increase in performance, innovation, engagement, and profit.

How the right mindset removes barriers and energises

Teams at level 4 will be motivated to give their best performance. They will feel purposeful, respect themselves and others, support their colleagues, be empathetic, and will enjoy helping others. They will feel happy about working at a particular company, they will be striving for high achievement, and they will socialise and connect with others, whether that’s virtually or face to face. They will feel energised when interacting with colleagues, and they will see work as fun. They will work on forming informal networks or communities focused on teamwork and collaboration.

Once they achieve this mindset, it does not matter whether they work from home or in the office, whether they are monitored by their boss or not. They will do their best, they will go an extra mile for a customer, and they will create these high-performing hybrid workplaces, which are now emerging in many organisations.

Attaining the right mindset

So, what practical actions can team members take to foster a level 4 mindset for themselves and their colleagues?

  • Get involved in mutual/reverse mentoring with a colleague of a different generation
  • Organise peer-coaching activities
  • Proactively create and distribute relevant knowledge and knowhow relevant for productivity
  • Organise and/or participate in social events to keep connections with colleagues
  • Give constructive feedback for improvements to your manager/leader(s) above you in organisational hierarchy
  • Engage proactively in learning and self-development. Share what is relevant with others
  • Work on anchoring your mindset at level 4, use language associated with the level 4 mindset (e.g. ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘team’) with others
  • Look for opportunities to collaborate with others and engage in projects that require teamwork

Finally, team members should also make an effort to see their colleagues and leaders face to face in addition to virtually because these personal interactions will always remain priceless and important for the creation of a high-performing culture.

Vlatka Ariaana Hlupic is Professor of Leadership and Management at Hult Ashridge Executive Education and Founder and CEO of Management Shift Solutions.

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Why students should be given more control of Business School rankings

Illustration of people measuring the performance of work with bar and pie charts and a line graph.

With growing demands for lifelong learning and greater diversity in the way people study, Business School rankings will have to adapt to match the changing landscape, says CarringtonCrisp’s Andrew Crisp

Pick your ranking, any ranking you like – there’s one to suit everyone. At least that’s how it feels at times. There are rankings for universities and Business Schools, rankings by region or country, rankings by subject, rankings by research performance, rankings by sustainability, even rankings by car parking space on campus (allegedly). However, it feels that many of these rankings are missing their fundamental purpose, which is providing useful information to prospective students.

Ask students what they want from a ranking, as the latest version of the CarringtonCrisp study The Business of Branding did, and on first view there are few surprises. Most important is the percentage of students employed within six months of graduation, followed by salary increase of graduates within a few years of graduation and percentage of students having an internship of more than one month during their degree. Slightly further back are employer ratings of the School and the number of high-quality research papers published by School faculty.

Measuring employment is not easy

All of these seem sensible measures, and these do often feature in many existing rankings. However, think for a moment about that first option, the percentage of students employed within six months of graduation. The result relies on data from graduates being reported on time to their university. It takes no account of the economic conditions in a country where a university is based and different graduation times around the world could mean some data is six months older than other data when it is published.

And then how do you define ‘employed’? More and more graduates may be working for themselves in some part of the ‘gig’ economy, some will have set up their own business and many will have gone on to further study for a particular career such as law, medicine or teaching. Measuring employment is not easy.

However, assuming that a reasonable set of definitions can be agreed on and there is acceptance that the data being collected from different institutions is comparable, then a ranking might be possible. There is no doubt that creating a ranking is a difficult task if it is to be widely accepted as valid and valuable.

Little consensus on what matters most

There may however be another problem, one that few rankings seem to be accounting for.  Although the percentage of students employed within six months of graduation was the top choice of students in The Business of Branding study, it was only chosen by 21% of respondents. Indeed, the top five different options chosen by respondents in the study were all selected by between 16% and 21% suggesting that there is little agreement even among those that rankings are aimed at.

When thinking about how your Business School is ranked by external organisations, please indicate what you think should be the most important information?

Percentage of students employed within six months of graduation 21%
Percentage of students having an internship/placement of more than one month during their degree 19%
Salary increase of graduates within a few years of graduation 19%
Employers ratings of the School 18%
Number of high-quality research papers published by School faculty 16%
Impact of the School in its local community 15%
Number and value of scholarships provided to students from underprivileged backgrounds 15%
Percentage of students having an international study experience during their degree 14%
Percentage of women studying on business degrees 13%
Percentage of female faculty teaching on business degrees 12%
Incorporation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals into the curriculum and the operation of the School 12%
Percentage of international students 12%

Source: The Business of Branding

Personalisation would give students more control

Rankings are undoubtedly going to be part of the higher education landscape for the foreseeable future, but a better experience for prospective students is surely possible.  Technology offers the opportunity to personalise the rankings experience and give more control to the key audiences they are aimed at.

No doubt rankings organisations and the institutions and individuals that provide that data will want to keep some of it confidential. However, it should be possible to make rankings more interactive so that prospective students can decide for themselves what is important and adjust weightings given to certain pieces of data.

A rankings organisation may have a sense of what they think is important and publish accordingly, but if an individual can go online and then create their own ranking from the same data, you increase the value of the information for the target audience. U-Multirank has attempted such a solution, but there are limited data points, some data is absent, not all universities take part, and not all data points are those that seem important to students.

With growing demands for lifelong learning, greater diversity in the way people study and a wider range of qualifications delivered in higher education, rankings will have to adapt to match the changing landscape, both in terms of providers and learners.

Individual personalisation of rankings would mean Business Schools and universities were better able to pursue their own mission rather than the same narrow group of rankings indicators decided by publishers. It would be the important end users of rankings – prospective students, with their diverse, imaginative and creative perspectives – that shaped the priorities for higher education.

Andrew Crisp is the Co-Founder of CarringtonCrisp, known for its work with Business Schools and universities around the world. Prior to setting up CarringtonCrisp, Andrew led the agency team that carried out a London Business School rebrand. He also worked as the Employment Correspondent for The European newspaper.

Delve further into the topic of rankings on Business Impact: read an article on how rankings can effect positive change in the industry by University of Bath School of Management Professor, Andrew Crane; and access AMBA & BGA’s own research into MBA rankings.

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Can AI drones yield cleaner agricultural production and more ethical practices?

A tractor watering crops with a sprinkler system on a sunny day.

How the use of pesticides exacerbates other barriers to cleaner agricultural production and why data-collecting AI drones offer a potential solution. Research from the UK’s University of Bradford School of Management

A changing agricultural business environment and the need to improve agricultural value chains, together with calls for more resource-efficient practices and sustainable approaches has meant that business and management research is just as vital for the agricultural sector as agronomic and other agricultural science-based research. 

The pressing need to boost agricultural productivity

There is a pressing need for food producers, technologists, academics, and policymakers to identify innovative, effective, and sustainable approaches to boost agricultural productivity for the immediate future, for a sustainable food supply chain. With the global population expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, pressure on food systems – and particularly on the agriculture sector – is increasing daily. Only a 70% increase in food production would be enough to feed this global population sufficiently. The Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the situation. A labour shortage caused by health concerns and lockdown measures, including the closure of international borders, has caused inevitable disruptions to both the production and movement of agriculture and food produce globally.

These conditions have led to inflation and this has made nutritious food, or even food itself, unaffordable to some people, causing hunger to more than 130 million people across the globe. This makes goal number two of the UN SDGs – to end hunger – all the more difficult to attain.

In some parts of the world, Covid-19 has also led to an increase of unethical agricultural practices, such as the overuse of chemicals in farming and suppression of labour, to meet growing demand in difficult times. Addressing this requires a detailed understanding of how innovative solutions can be incorporated into the agricultural supply chains, particularly within production, to achieve ethical, sustainable and socially viable food production.

Despite a host of state-of-the-art developments in agriculture, such as automation and smart farming, many challenges in the agricultural supply chain remain and there is still a lack of practical solutions.

Barriers to cleaner agricultural production

Our research explored key agricultural challenges and how industry 4.0 technologies, such as AI drones, may be the solution to these challenges.

What are the barriers that impact cleaner agricultural production? We identified a host of agricultural challenges which play a role in diminishing and disrupting agricultural yields. These include the following:

  • Illegal deforestation
  • Lack of efficient practices
  • Lack of accurate predictions for seasonal output
  • Theft and sabotage
  • Inaccurate seeding methods
  • Unproductive workers
  • Pesticides application and hazards
  • Workers health and safety risks
  • Movement of produce within supply chain
  • Pollution
  • Poor soil conditions
  • Plant disease

Existing research in this field has highlighted the intertwined nature of these challenges, so a fundamental element of our research was to see whether the identified challenges were interrelated. This revealed that ‘unproductive workers’ and ‘pesticides application and hazards’ contribute towards at least 10 further challenges in the context of Cleaner Agricultural Production (CAP), including the above-listed challenges of ‘pollution’, ‘lack of accurate predictions for seasonal output’, and ‘plant disease’ (i.e. spread of) as well as workers’ health and safety, a factor that subsequently affects the movement of agricultural produce in the food supply chain.

In other words, we found that in order to overcome challenges impeding the sustainability of food supply chain, while managing worker productivity, food producers and farmers must minimise the hazards resulting through pesticide application and exposure.

Unravelling agricultural challenges

For insights into how Industry 4.0 technologies can support clean and ethical agricultural production, we applied the the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s ReSOLVE framework and its six actions of Regenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise and Exchange.

Based on this framework, our research suggests that AI drones may offer a number of opportunities to unravel agricultural challenges, provide sustainable solutions and promote ethically conscious agricultural practices by addressing the ‘farm structure’, ‘food security’ and ‘environmental impact’ concerns, as depicted in the figure below:

Source: Drones ReSOLVE framework application from a 2021 paper in the ‘Journal of Cleaner Production’, co-authored by this article’s authors.

AI drones in agriculture

Prior studies have highlighted how industry 4.0 technologies, such as AI drones, can help minimise plant disease rates, using drone sensors that enable early detection.

Drone sensors can also help optimise the use of pesticides, for their ability to apply a precise amount of the required pesticide to specifically selected plants. By providing real data which can inform any decision to apply pesticides to a targeted crop, the drone is not just useful for the reduction of waste and pollution and the optimisation of economies of scales with regards to pesticide use and application, but also for facilitating the production of a healthier food produce – which is, of course, a more ethical practice befitting the health and safety framework.

Furthermore, AI drones are able to capture valuable data, such as temperature, moistness of soil leaf, level of precipitation and wind speed – data which is essential in keeping track of plant health and giving an indication of the amount of marketable produce.

The possibilities presented by AI-driven drones in capturing vast quantities of field data, in detecting diseases and in monitoring crops simply cannot be ignored, especially given the role of pesticide application in other barriers to the movement of cleaner agricultural production within the supply chain.

Because excessive pesticide hazards have an adverse impact on cleaner agricultural production, as well as on the movement of goods within the supply chain, it is vital for both agricultural producers and policymakers to explore ways to minimise their use and exposure. Equally, it is imperative that farmers and operational agricultural workers are aware of the underlying and interrelated role of excessive pesticide hazards in barriers afflicting the agricultural supply chain.

 

 

Dr Kamran Mahroof (left) is an Assistant Professor in Supply Chain Analytics and Programme Leader for the MSc in Applied Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK.

Dr Amizan Omar (right) is an Associate Professor in Strategic Management at the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK.

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Understanding the media industry’s brave new worlds

A dark Sci-fi landscape of mountains on an unknown world with two moons on a night horizon symbolises brave new worlds.

‘Like one of the outer moons of our solar system; exotic, constantly evolving, febrile, white hot, relentlessly volcanic…’ The National Film and Television School’s Alex Connock outlines the importance of understanding today’s media landscape and developing confidence in all of its commercial forms

Question: What do Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Fortnite and Netflix all have in common? Answer: none of them even existed in the year 2000. 

Go back a couple more years and you can add Amazon (founded in 1994, at the very start of the internet) and Google (1998) to that list. What this means is that many of the companies that determine the rhythm and the content of our daily lives are extraordinarily new. That’s indicative of a media landscape, a content footprint across all our lives, that has been in a state of constant agitation. In fact, the media business is like one of the outer moons of our solar system; exotic, constantly evolving, febrile, white hot, relentlessly volcanic… and a place you definitely want to go.

‘No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world,’ said comedian, Robin Williams, which is why media is the industry of which everyone knows the products (shows and songs) and everyone has an opinion. That makes it a joy to be in. Content spending in 2020 (a Covid year, by the way) was $149 billion USD in the US, growing at a staggering 16% year on year. Meanwhile, in Asia it was growing even faster in the same year, at 19%, and in Africa, at 46%. This means that, over time, the content creation industry is getting bigger, less west-centric, and more imaginatively global. 

From screen and audio to social media: how media has changed

Segment the media business down into its constituent categories – and you can see how radical the changes have been, and how challenging it is to fully own the space. 

Screen has seen the invention of streaming platforms to supplant the pre-eminence of the broadcast powerhouses like CBS or ITV which had defined the latter part of the 20th century, and radically upend their business models. Now, AI (specifically, machine learning) layered onto home screen platforms, such as Netflix, Amazon or Disney +, provide personalisation to user tastes at a globalised, but individual, level. The shows you are served, and the order in which you are served them, is completely unique. YouTubehas come out of nowhere to become the principle media channel for many young peoples’ lives. Meanwhile, the production technologies of video games, like Fortnite, are lending the ability to create whole new worlds in virtual studios to shows like The Mandalorian. Finally, the cinema itself has been in decline in the west (although not in China).

Audio has changed just as much. Chris Martin from Coldplay said: ‘No one really knows where songs come from’, but those involved in making them do need to know where the money comes from. Artists used to make their money from record and CD sales. Then came downloads, illegal at first, which decimated record company incomes and put the whole business model of music in jeopardy. Streamers, specifically Spotify, provided a new hope of firm revenues, but artists and record companies remain locked in alternative interpretations of who is due what.  Meanwhile, radio has been edged out by the breakthrough model of podcasting. 

In the 20th century, humanity made it to the moon – but it didn’t invent social media.  That took until the early 21st century, but now (in the west, that is) Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn and other platforms are the pre-eminent media businesses in every respect except that they don’t consider themselves media businesses, because they don’t want to accept editorial responsibility for the content that is uploaded. Their production model is radically new in that it is outsourced to users. Their revenue model is driven by the personalisation and AI algorithms that make digital marketing the most powerful business tool of the era. And this is only the beginning of an era in which computer vision (another form of AI) will radically shift how we choose and interface with our entertainment.

Then there are video games – arguably the biggest and fastest-growing media sector on earth right now. One company, Riot Games, which makes League of Legends, has more than 400 job vacancies at the time of writing, such is the speed of its growth and demand for talent. There are e-sports teams and leagues too, each hungry for skilled workers. There are also business tools, like Substack, driving monetisation into blogging, hitherto a business for the penniless. And then there are traditional segments like book publishing (a sector whose demise was called way too early and which is now showing strong growth) theatre, events, festivals, music touring (Ed Sheeran, earned $700m USD on his last tour) commercials, documentaries… Oh, and sports. The soccer (football) teams, Barcelona and Manchester United, are media businesses, and best understood as such. 

Specialist skills required to thrive

Put simply, the media is of a greater breadth and scale than at any time in history.  This creative sector requires specialist skills and knowledge that can help you thrive in the industries within. As it’s primarily a gig economy with short-term, contract-driven employment, even cellists and dancers need to know enough about business to thrive. Meanwhile, those who want to design or run businesses, from animation to gaming, need to understand the multiple, complex models which drive them. Many of the text books that would tell you how to do that are so far out of date they still talk about TV advertising oligopolies and CDs. A better perspective would be that of writer, Charlie Fink, on the coming impact of augmented reality: ‘The world is about to be painted with data’.

The skills you need now, in the 2020s, are quite precise. You need to understand digital marketing – because that’s what drives sales from Broadway producers to an organic Instagrammer. You need to understand the drivers of idea creation, and how to copyright and sell those ideas – whether they are TV formats like the smash-hit US show Survivor (now in its 21st year) or the Korean megahit The Masked Singer. You need to understand accounting and finance, from the cash flow behind a streaming hit, like Chernobyl or Money Heist, to the monetisation technologies that will work in metaverse gaming concepts. You need to know how to deal with an agent, how to present a business plan, how to organise production of merchandising around your children’s animation, or how to sell advertising for a podcast. These days, even restaurants are media businesses: they make shows for Netflix and Apple TV.

Everyone in the media needs to know their worth and make sure they get paid.  ‘Chaplin’s no negotiator,’ said studio boss Sam Goldwyn of the notoriously business like silent movie star. ‘He just knows he can’t take anything less.’

There is an opportunity in business education to make sure graduates go out into the market knowing not to take anything less. Our specialist MA in Creative Business at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) maps the landscape by introducing students to a range and depth of media guests that would be impossible for a generalist education. It allows aspirant businesspeople to work with animators on product development, to deep-dive into a media sector – from the contemporary horror films of Jordan Peele and specialist Instagram commercials production for e-commerce to developing a business plan and pitching it to venture capitalists specialised in the industry. 

At the end of that, graduates emerge with an understanding of the media and a confidence in all of its commercial forms, such that they can specialise in one field, but have an informed perspective on all the others. Screenwriter, William Goldman famously wrote: ‘In Hollywood, no one knows anything.’ Only someone with proper inside knowledge could say something that smart.

Alex Connock is Head of Department of the Creative Business MA at the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, UK.

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Team green: how to engage employees in company sustainability

The trees in the sky with a giant outline of a puzzle shape gap in the middle reveals the sunny blue sky.

The key to getting employees engaged in sustainability is to relate it back to something that is important to them, says Head of Sustainability at Sandvik, Mats Lundberg, in this guide to securing company-wide co-operation

Companies which generate value from their sustainability programmes also have a significantly higher incorporation of sustainability in their corporate culture and training, according to the results of a 2021 McKinsey survey. With that in mind, this article considers how can companies can use their greatest asset, people, to reach sustainability goals.

While moral responsibility drives sustainability goals, an increasing number of companies are becoming aware that these targets also generate business value. The majority of sustainable changes made by companies, such as reducing waste, simultaneously benefit the planet and the business’ bottom line.

In addition, companies which are making efforts to become more sustainable are better perceived by their stakeholders. Being an environmentally responsible company can attract more investors and appeal to potential employees. Plus, more and more customers select brands and products based on their sustainability credentials. In fact, a 2021 survey by Deloitte found that 28% of consumers have stopped buying certain products due to ethical or environmental concerns.

Company-wide co-operation

However, progressing towards sustainable targets successfully and realising the associated business benefits requires company-wide participation. It’s important that employees from all levels get involved, as everyone has a responsibility to contribute towards sustainability, and small achievements over time create great change.

While each organisational change makes a difference, progressing towards sustainability also requires an adjustment in company ethos and mentality. The company I work for – the global engineering group, Sandvik – therefore refers to progressing towards its sustainability goals as ‘making the sustainability shift’ to represent the change in mindset and routine required.

The key to getting employees engaged in sustainability is to relate it back to something that is important to them, such as how it will benefit their work and relationship with customers. For example, managers can explain to sales engineers that, if they create more sustainable products, they will be more attractive to customers and generate greater sales. In fact, a 2020 HSBC report found that more than three quarters of firms expect sales to grow because of an increased focus on sustainability.

It’s important that employees are not just told what to do, with no involvement or reasoning. Getting employees interested in sustainability also means engaging them in developing proposed changes, policies and solutions. Collaboration is important, as well as taking the time to listen to employees’ ideas and providing the relevant training.

A dedicated platform for engagement with sustainability

This year, Sandvik has launched a platform designed to allow employees to access, exchange and evolve ideas that boost sustainable business. The Ideas Hub aims to democratise business sustainability by providing each employee with the equal opportunity to initiate the sustainable projects of tomorrow.

Using it is much like using a social media platform, and provides options for employees to engage and make comments on others’ ideas, as well as to submit their own. Employees also have the opportunity to ask questions or set up challenges. The most creative ideas can be tracked using a digital scoreboard and there are prizes for the best ideas, with one employee awarded an e-bike for developing an idea to use solar collectors to reduce the use of district heating.

The platform has already led to one implemented change of swapping individual waste bins for a centrally located recycling system to create more sustainable waste management.

It’s true what they say – employees are a company’s greatest asset. This is especially true when progressing towards business sustainability, where the innovative solutions needed can often be found within the company’s own workforce.

Mats W Lundberg is Head of Sustainability at global engineering group, Sandvik.

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The new CEO playbook: five top tips when taking charge

Close up of a black and white chess game focusing on the pawns and the knights is symbolic of planning, strategy, and challenge.

The first months are crucial to a CEO’s tenure, but bold and decisive action designed to leave your mark may not be the best way forward. Marianna Zangrillo and Thomas Keil, co-authors of The Next CEO, present five tips to help new CEOs build the foundation for later success

The long-desired job as CEO finally arrives, after years of hard work and sustained performance. Yet, for many new CEOs, it is actions in the first months that can make or break their chances of success. In this, traditonal advice may not always be the most effective and instead, seemingly counter-intuitive measures may bring a better outcome.

For example, new leaders are often advised to take bold actions during their first 100 days. While this may be the best option when a company faces financial distress, or in the case of an internal CEO appointment, this often increases the risk of failure.

With that in mind, here are five principles for new CEOs to take on board as they seek to take charge of an organisation successfully.

1: Preparing for day one

Successful transition into the role of CEO relies on preparation. New CEOs are well-advised to use any time between the appointment and starting the job for intense preparation. For external CEOs especially, this is a time to get to know stakeholders, the future management team, and the financials of the organisation. However, CEOs appointed from inside the organisations are also well-advised to deepen their understanding of areas/departments they have not previously been actively involved with, as surprises can often surface.

The more prepared the incoming CEO is, the better their actions will be early on. For example, when Olaf Swantee was appointed CEO of UK telecommunications company, EE, he identified a business challenge the organisation was already grappling with before day one. That allowed Swantee to establish his focus on getting things done very soon. Similarly, Vas Narasimhan, the internally appointed CEO of Novartis, used the time between his appointment and day one to engage leaders across all businesses and start defining the strategic agenda that drove his first year at Novartis.

2: Day one: every word counts

You usually get just one opportunity to make a first impression, and this general rule holds true for new CEOs too. When a new CEO is appointed, everybody has expectations and carefully listens to every word the new CEO says. As a result, communications on day one can be a powerful device to set the direction and agenda of the CEO’s tenure and should therefore be carefully planned out and never delegated. However, this is also a moment when a new CEO, especially one hired externally, may still have limited knowledge about the organisation and the directions to be taken. Communication should therefore focus on setting the personal tone and signalling the strategic focus of the CEO.

3: Define your CEO brand

CEOs will always be identified with the themes they promote and with the approach they take in delivering messages and driving their agendas. Initial communication, and initial actions in particular, signal what the CEO stands for and define a CEO brand.

Communication is relevant both for strategic themes such as growth, transformation, or cost focus, and also for personal values such as approachability, communication style, humility or aloofness, arrogance, and inability to take criticism. To establish the CEO brand, actions always speak louder than words. For instance, when Jonathan Lewis joined [the now defunct] UK oil services company, AMEC Foster Wheeler, he not only communicated from the outset a focus on cost but also sent a wider message on what he stood for in terms of acceptable behaviour by refusing the brand-new company car and cutting executive dining and flight privileges. This is very different from the case of another new Fortune 500 CEO who declared a focus on cost at the same time as posting a job ad for a personal hairdresser for the company jet. This story naturally made headlines well beyond the organisation.

4: Listen rather than speak

From day one, the appointed CEO will be looked to for decisions and direction. The first months, however, should be about listening and learning rather than speaking to gain a deeper understanding of all parts of the organisation. To do this, new CEOs must engage with all stakeholders, including customers, partners, suppliers, employees, board members, shareholders, and bankers. The learning process should also be complemented by conversations with staff who are not their direct reports, to ensure that they gain unfiltered information from across the organisation.

5: Controlled action

Finally, while the initial period for any new CEO should be focused on learning and preparing for what is to come, some carefully planned action is advisable. Some may simply be forced on the new CEO by the situation, for instance, when the resignation of a top management team member requires a fast replacement. Other, symbolic actions may also be pursued to establish the CEO brand and signal their strategic agenda. However, any action taken early into a CEO’s tenure should be designed to focus on quick and needed wins and not constrain future options while a new vision and broader strategy are still being formulated.

**

The initial months may very well be the most important time of a CEO’s tenure. The pressure is on, expectations are high, and there is little room for error. While most CEOs are action-oriented and eager to leave their mark on the organisation, this may be the time to control their reflexes and measure both what is said and done. Instead of making a splash that may backfire rapidly, this is the time to build the foundation for later success.


Marianna Zangrillo is a business angel and investor with experience in companies that include Nokia, Swissport, and Infront Sports.
Thomas Keil is a Professor at the University of Zurich, where he teaches strategy and international management.
Marianna Zangrillo and Thomas Keil are co-authors of The Next CEO: Board and CEO Perspectives for Successful CEO Succession (Routledge, 2021).

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How social connections can inform your leadership ability

Here are two female business professionals engaged in a conversation and walking outside down a path.

High-quality social connections aren’t just a predictor of happiness, they can also help people flourish at work and develop their leadership ability, say the authors of Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership

The new currency of the Internet Age and the IoE (internet of everything) is not intellectual capital; it is social capital – the collective value of the people you know and what you will do for each other.

When social connections are strong and numerous, there’s more trust, reciprocity, information flow, collective action, and elevated wellbeing. Having strong social relationships is the best predictor of human happiness, trumping wealth, income and material possessions; and research has shown that those who fail to achieve this most basic need experience loneliness, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, obesity, and anger.

You need to find ways to get connected to the information, resources and influence you will need to make a difference. In doing so, figure out substantive ways to connect your colleagues with one another and with those outside the boundary of your group or team who are part of other key networks.

The importance of social connections has been dramatically illustrated during the Covid-19 pandemic. While nearly everyone around the world was ordered to maintain ‘physical distance’, the yearning for social connection increased. People invented all kinds of ways to continue to interact with their fellow human beings. Virtual coffee breaks and cocktail hours popped up immediately after people had to shelter in their homes. Residents stood on their balconies and sang to each other. Friends and family organised drive-by birthday and graduation celebrations. The demand for virtual gathering services nearly broke the internet. There was seemingly no end to the creative ways that people invented to stay connected to each other, even in the worst of the crisis.

Strengthening the bonds of connectedness

The most well-connected individuals are typically those who are involved in activities outside their immediate job function or discipline, and who avoid being too strongly typecast in one field, function, administrative body, or community. Find ways to meet people from a wide range of units, departments, projects, and professions. While specialisation has its benefits, from a leadership perspective you don’t want to get stuck in a rut. If your connections are only in your specialty, you will be less influential than if your connections cross a lot of boundaries. When it comes to social connections, there’s a payoff in mining deep and wide.

Greater connectedness can also be fostered when you and your colleagues have enough confidence in one another’s relationships to ask for help when needed. The impulse to give help when requested has been shown to be a powerful, automatic, and emotional response formed early in life. However, in many situations people underestimate how willing others would be to provide assistance when requested. There is a social cost to saying ‘no’ when someone asks for help. The person can be seen as uncaring, unreasonable, insensitive, and even cruel. Saying ‘yes’, by contrast, is a more positive and rewarding experience, and agreeing to help or cooperate strengthens the bond of connectedness between people. By making someone else happy, the person who has agreed to help also feels good about himself or herself and strengthens the bond of connectedness between them.

Researchers have demonstrated that people underestimate by nearly 50% the likelihood of receiving a positive response when requesting assistance, and this leads to lost opportunities, like prospective friends, colleagues, and clients going uncontacted, and squandering chances to increase connectedness. When you feel a sense of connection with someone else, you are more likely to volunteer your assistance, as is often demonstrated by onlookers who are most predisposed to help emergency victims if they feel they share something with them.

Developing leadership ability through high-quality connections

Feeling connected to the people you are working with enhances feelings of wellbeing and fosters greater commitment to colleagues. Research documents that high-quality connections contribute to people flourishing, resulting in better health, higher cognitive functioning, broader thinking, and stronger resilience. Individuals with high-quality relationships also have a better sense of whom to trust and not trust. They are more open, and they more fully understand themselves and the viewpoints of others.

You can more effectively develop your leadership abilities by connecting to people who can teach you about the skills you would like to acquire and the things you would like to achieve. Find out about their struggles, hardships and mistakes as well as their accomplishments.

Consider connecting with people who are not particularly well known but who nonetheless exhibit deep competence, unswerving dedication, and a good sense of who they are. Most importantly, select people who make you feel good about yourself. After all, the purpose of these relationships is to encourage and inspire you to be your best version of yourself.

Travis Carrigan, a senior engineer, told us that he’s been doing exactly this for years, which has led to some great opportunities and collaborative work. ‘These relationships,’ he says, ‘are phenomenal at helping me become a better leader, listener, and engineer.’

Limitations of virtual connections

What about virtual connections? Aren’t they a good way to foster collaboration and build trust? There is no question that virtual connections are prolific, and in a global economy no organisation could function if people had to fly halfway around the world to exchange information, make decisions, or resolve disputes. Proof of this can be found with the exponential growth in virtual communications during the global Covid-19 pandemic, and that demand has led to the development of new apps and platforms to meet the need. With a large percentage of people working from home and almost all educational institutions’ classes going online, virtual connections became the most frequent way in which people communicated, learned and conducted business.

That said, the stroke of a key, the click of a mouse, or the switch of a video doesn’t get you the same results that an in-person conversation does. In an era that is becoming more and more dependent on virtual connections, there’s a temptation to believe that such connections automatically lead to better relationships and greater trust. Unfortunately, virtual trust is much more difficult to both build and maintain than is trust developed in-person. Even among Gen Z employees, who make up 20% of today’s workforce, 72% indicate they prefer face-to-face communication at work.

Virtual trust, like virtual reality, is still one step removed from the real thing. People are social animals; it is their nature to want to interact face to face. Bits and bytes and pixilated images make for a very fragile social foundation. As handy as virtual tools such as email, voice mail, apps, and texts are for staying in touch, they are no substitute for positive face-to-face interactions.

This is an edited extract from Everyday People, Extraordinary Leadership: How to Make a Difference Regardless of Your Title, Role, or Authority, by James M Kouzes and Barry Z Posner (Wiley, 2021).

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Leaders and entrepreneurs in focus: May Flanagan, Global Green Family

A person is carrying an eco-friendly fabric shopping bag with a green leaf logo stating 'eco'. The person is standing behind a bright solid orange background.

Pursuing purpose while running your own company and the opportunities presented by remote working to empower others. An interview with the Founder of a website that aims to ‘make sustainability simple’

‘I am able to get a positive message out there about saving the environment and our impact on it as consumers,’ says May Flanagan, Founder of Global Green Family, a website that aims to change the way people think about everyday products and raise the standards of sustainable living.

In this interview with Business Impact, Flanagan underlines the importance of networking for other budding entrepreneurs and outlines why Bill Gates’ penchant for lifelong learning makes him her ideal mentor.

Can you tell us a little bit about your current role and what it involves?

As the Founder of Global Green Family, I am always thinking of what’s next for our organisation and the brand itself. I also spend a lot of my time strategising, analysing Google Analytics, and staying on top of trends to make sure that I am always aware of what’s going on with our organisation and what’s new in the sustainability industry.

Did your Business School/university experience help get your business off the ground? If so, how?

I did business studies and information technology (IT) at school as an A-level student in the UK. These subjects definitely sparked my interest to study accounting and finance at university. Looking back, I think having a good understanding of these subjects helped me get my business off the ground because I had the skills necessary for its upkeep, such as learning how to budget and having an eye for detail in all aspects.

What single piece of advice would you offer undergraduate and postgraduate students of business and management who plan to start their own companies after completing their studies?

If I were to offer a single piece of advice, it would be to network. There are a lot of opportunities that will come your way if you get your brand out there.

Mentorship schemes in business are becoming increasingly popular. Who would have been your dream mentor when you were at the outset of your career and why?

My dream mentor would have been Bill Gates because of the noteworthy qualities he possesses as a leader.

He has passion for what he does, which is supported by a deep knowledge in his area of expertise. Bill Gates also has this winning, ‘always learning’ attitude and an eagerness to gain more knowledge and expertise in the tech industry. Bill Gates is also resilient – he is committed to his craft day and night in the pursuit of success, even when faced with many challenges.

What are some of the challenges and opportunities you’re currently facing, both as a leader and as an organisation?

As a leader, I think the pandemic has had an influence on how people feel and this has definitely changed priorities for me.

Being flexible in my approach to running the company has been challenging. However, through remote working, new opportunities have arisen and I get to help make people feel more empowered during these trying times with my website.

From the organisational perspective, I find it challenging to keep organic search visitors increasing as user intent is changing. Plus, Google’s algorithms are updated regularly so it can be really challenging for my website to rank higher and remain one of the best in our niche.

Do you feel that leading a company has enabled you to make a positive impact? If so, how?

Definitely. Through Global Green Family, I am able to get a positive message out about saving the environment and our impact on it as consumers. I am happy that I am able to educate people and have an influence on sustainability.

Please outline the importance of sustainability to your company’s strategy and why you feel it is important to business approaches as a whole today.

Sustainability is everything we stand for, as exemplified by our organisation’s tagline, ‘Let’s Make Sustainability Simple’. It is our ambition to transform the way we all think about everyday products in our lives. We also aim to inspire people to use eco-friendlier organic natural materials that will enrich our own lives and have a better impact on the planet we live on.

Which three words best describe your approach to leadership (or your management style) and why?

Empathy, humility, and empowerment (of others).

‘Empathy’ because understanding the people that work with me and seeing how they feel is crucial to me because that has an impact on their work.

‘Humility’ because of the importance of understanding that the people that work with me have their own aspirations. I  try my best to help them on that journey by recognising their perspectives and letting them know they are doing well.

Lastly, ‘empowerment of others’ because I believe everyone is equal and unique in their own abilities and are presented with opportunities to succeed. I truly believe that if people are happy at work they will do their very best not because they have to, but because they want to. That’s what truly makes a difference, because as they say: ‘People are your biggest asset’.

May Flanagan is a digital marketer, fashion writer, and the Founder of Global Green Family, a website that aims to help consumers to be more mindful of their impact on the planet.

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How to succeed as a first-time manager

A cartoon of business professionals in a meeting gathered around a table dressed in blues and orange colours.

Discover the skills, approach to others, and attitude to continued learning you’ll need to embrace the step up to management level and thrive

How do you succeed as a first-time manager? Start by thinking about your journey to becoming a manager. How is that you are in this situation? Did you apply for a management role? Did your manager volunteer or select you? Has it just happened by accident? It’s worth reflecting on these questions, not least because it’s likely to inform how you are feeling about the opportunity – excited, nervous, perhaps even daunted?

These feelings are perfectly normal. Everyone starting out in management experiences certain anxieties because managing is a challenging job. It’s not just about delivering tasks and rallying a team to hit certain performance goals. It’s fundamentally about developing people to be their best. And getting the best out of people is better achieved by nurturing capability, rather than applying control.

To succeed in management, you’ll need to master new skills – like how to manage a budget, manage organisational change or hire people effectively. You’ll be most successful if you take the time to think about, learn and experience key moments that matter across the employee lifecycle. For example, as a manager you may be required to induct team members, set objectives, and manage performance. You might have to recognise and reward people, deal with employment issues like grievances or redundancy. You might also need to consider how to best train and develop your team, spot talent, and manage motivation.

Of course, all managers need to communicate as well. Sharing company information is just the tip of the iceberg. To succeed as a first-time manager, you’ll need to learn how to inform people about key decisions, give and receive feedback and set expectations. The great news is that are plenty of learning interventions that can help you with this type of knowledge building, and hopefully these will be offered by your employer.

Management practice: learning from experience and from others

Becoming a first-time manager is also about creating a happy and healthy work environment. You’re not just managing tasks; you’re dealing with human feelings and emotions. This means you need to deal with the unexpected and manage situations that may not always appear logical or straightforward.

A good place to start is to remind yourself of your experiences in being managed by others. Which felt good? Have you experienced poor management practice? Knowing what ‘good’ management looks and feels like is a great way to set the bar for your own practice. If you didn’t like being micromanaged, do you think your new team will? If you were motivated by receiving praise for work completed, do you think that others will feel the same. Today, it’s common for managers to take a coaching approach to dealing with people. This means giving people appropriate feedback ‘in the moment’, rather than waiting to conduct a performance review. When you see good behaviour, a job well done – call it out there and then. If someone is a little off course, is struggling, or is perhaps exhibiting behaviours that are less than acceptable, then it’s important to do the same. Take people to one side and help them understand where they might be going wrong – offering ideas and support to get them back on track.

In addition to mastering these techniques and answering these questions, remember to listen and learn from others. Are there more experienced managers you admire? What can you learn from them? Would they be willing to mentor you? If you know other new managers in your organisation it’s also a good idea to get together and share experience. Successful managers aren’t islands – they seek out support when they need it.

Keep tabs on the development of your managerial identity

Take your time to consider how you feel about managing and what you’re learning about yourself as you grow. If something makes you feel particularly nervous, why might that be? Is there a skill gap, or do you lack confidence because of past experience? Always be ready to ask your own line manager for support and be honest with them if you are struggling.

Finally, as you get into managing, keep checking back on how your identity as a manager is developing. Managers who are fair, encouraging, team-oriented, and problem-solvers have a great chance of success. How would you describe you knowledge, skills and character as a manager, and how are things changing as you experience leading your team?

The key with management is not to feel overwhelmed by your responsibilities. Good management takes years of practice, and dealing with tough stuff will make you better, as much as celebrating the successes. If you have a coach or mentor – fantastic, put them to good use. Otherwise, try to retain an open and curious mind that is willing to keep learning and keep smiling.

Elisa Nardi, is a former Chief People Officer, now executive coach, mentor, author, non-executive director and CEO of professional development journaling company, Notebook Mentor.