All Briefs

Embedding sustainability into the supply chain makes good business sense. Embracing sustainable procurement practices can help companies manage business risks, achieve costs savings through material efficiency gains, enhance their brand reputation, and manage suppliers more effectively. But success requires a focus on real-world impact rather than inputs and activities.

California's new corporate board quota law marks the first time a U.S. state will mandate gender diversity. It will put pressure on companies to be more diverse. While it will most likely be challenged in court, companies potentially affected could begin managing internal targets for naming female directors and disclosing to stakeholders who can assess whether their intentions match their outcomes.

The cyber risk landscape is quickly evolving, but organizations are slow to catch up with the new threat landscape. Organizations are still organized to focus primarily on more traditional cyber risk management, are not updating their processes and policies or investing in tools and technologies to comprehensively address the latest and fastest-growing threats coming from digital and social media. Senior leadership and boards need to better understand the evolving cyber risk landscape.

By pledging to increase Wells Fargo’s 2019 charitable contributions to 2 percent of after-tax profits, CEO Tim Sloan has set a high bar for community giving. In 2018, the company upped its giving to $400 million, a 40 percent increase over 2017, spurred somewhat by the announced tax reform. Wells Fargo is still an outlier: the top 25 percent of companies contribute a median of $55.3 million, according to Giving in Numbers, published by CECP in association with The Conference Board.

Even if the new gender diversity law is successfully challenged, the fact of it having been enacted by the State of California sends a strong signal. It is an important consideration for boards to incorporate in their board composition deliberations.

At the upcoming Innovation Master Class, taking place in Palo Alto December 6-7, 2018, Maureen Rinkunas, Innovation Systems Designer, Specialty Products Division at DowDuPont will be speaking on Thinking Like a Startup – Lessons from Accelerating 100+ Companies. She will be sharing insights gained from having coached over a hundred companies at a startup accelerator, and from bringing that startup thinking to DowDupont.

The threat of labor shortages is more acute in blue-collar and low-paid services occupations than in white-collar occupations.The main reason: The working age population is solidly and uninterruptedly growing for college educated, but shrinking for those without a college degree.

More than 70 percent of Americans believe the arts unify our communities regardless of age, race, and ethnicity and that the arts help them understand other cultures better, indicating the importance of the sector to individuals and the companies that employ them. Overwhelmingly, people also believe that the arts are a part of a well-rounded education. Companies looking to create meaningful social impact for their communities need to be working with the arts in a variety of ways.

Organizational change is hard for everyone, but opportunities often present themselves when there's turmoil. There are some simple tips that people facing change should remember, including avoiding catastrophic thinking and refraining from rushing to judgment. For all parties involved, communications are key. Communicate early and often and tell people everything you know.