Current Research

Transforming high impact industries:

Cooling towers Combating climate change means that business in the twenty-first century will be different than in previous eras when increased carbon emissions and economic growth were seen as inextricably intertwined. This shift represents an opportunity for some, but a significant challenge for many incumbent industries. This is especially true in those developing economies where industries with a high climate change impact such as coal-derived energy, timber and palm oil can be very important for economic prosperity, yet highly problematic within the climate change process. These industries are not just under pressure to change, but to undergo unprecedented accelerated transformation. However, the models of transformation we have which were developed in a pre-climate change era may no longer be fit for purpose. For example, they have been criticised for being too mono-disciplinary (e.g. driven by technology, economics, regulation) when climate change requires interdisciplinary responses; and for requiring degrees of change in areas such as organisational behaviour, public behaviour and financial investment that fundamentally challenge orthodox theory.

Consequently, high impact industries are being expected to transform without the tools and capabilities to manage this change. Often, the question of what they should transform into is itself unclear, undermining the task of identifying and managing transformation. Moreover, the significance of these industries locally and internationally means that mismanagement could have multi-dimensional ramifications in terms of investment, employment, community well-being, political stability, international governance, and economic growth.

Coal-derived energy in South Africa is a good example of such industries. Coal may account for 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions, but in South Africa it provides 95% of electricity, and is central to policies of industrialisation and poverty alleviation, which in turn are greatly dependent on the cheap power that coal provides through electricity and synthetic fuels . But similar dichotomies surround other high impact industries such as timber in SE Asia or palm oil.

My research into these high impact industries addresses three key questions:

First, what can an interdisciplinary methodology contribute towards effective transformation in the private sector as a response to the challenges presented by climate change to business' role as economic, social, and environmental actor?

Second, what are the options for high impact industries' optimal contribution to climate change mitigation/adaptation, and what are acceptable paths of action for realising them?

Third, what does the empirical reality of these sectors in developing countries and the pursuit of optimal climate change mitigation solutions by business tell us about the challenges of transforming high climate change impact industries worldwide?

I am conducting a series of complementary studies to learn how to manage accelerated transformational change in high impact industries to be carried out in Africa and Asia. Findings should start to be made available in 2010.

Corporate responsibility in developing countries:

Should we expect business to go beyond its conventional economic roles to become a more active and accountable participant in the development process? What are the consequences both for business and wider society of the private sector becoming a development agent? What does the field of 'corporate responsibility' have to offer in creating a bridge between conventional business agendas and poverty alleviation?

These are the key questions tackled through my research. Its starting point is not whether business has a role to play in economic growth, but whether business can be a development agent which consciously endeavours to deliver developmental outcomes. To answer this, we need first to understand the different ways that business relates to poverty - as its cause, its victim, and its solution. The nature of that relationship affects business' response in terms of what is required and what is actually done. From there I have explored the determinants and characteristics of when and how business is managing poverty, and then gone on to look at the impact of business involvement. What emerges from this mix of theoretical and empirical analysis are answers to what role business is playing in development, and I am now examining the possibilities and limitations of that role in the future: the likelihood and circumstances under which business undertakes a developmental function, and is willing to be accountable for the outcomes.

I have published extensively on this theme over many years (see my publications list). The most recent is Business, Corporate Responsibility, and Poverty, in the recently published Corporate Responsibility and Regulatory Governance edited by Utting & Marques (Palgrave MacMillan).

What Fairtrade has to tell us about C21 business:

Various promising claims have been made that business can help alleviate poverty, and can do so in ways that add value to the bottom line, but can add value to it. This research has involved multi-year studies of Fairtrade producers, examining how being part of the much praised Fairtrade system has affected their lives. The starting point was the weakness of claims that business can be a development agent, i.e. an organization that consciously and accountably contributes towards pro-poor outcomes. Drawing on secondary and empirical data, the research team has explored whether, supposing we did know more about either the business case or the poverty-alleviation case, would this give cause for greater optimism that business could make a significant contribution to development. The experiences of producers of Fairtrade tea in Kenya reveal the complex nature of what constitutes a beneficial outcome for the poor and marginalized, and the gap that can exist between ethical intentions and the experience of their intended beneficiaries. The lessons of these experiences are relevant for Fairtrade and any commercial initiative that seeks to achieve outcomes beneficial and recognizable to the poor, and raise questions about the integration of social and instrumental outcomes that a future generation of ethical entrepreneurship will need to address.

We have been presenting findings for the last 12 months, and a peer-reviewed article is due to be published in the Journal of Business Ethics in 2009.

Future of Work

Lynda Gratton is one of the highest ranked business thinkers in the world. Her latest initiative is The Future of Work. It brings together companies such as SAP, Unilever and Shell in a joint programme to discover about how working life will change in the twenty first century.

I am the programme's adviser on low carbon economies.