An increasing\nwave of companies and CEOs are doubling down on sustainability and equality\ncommitments as they grapple with what role they play in a changing society.\nSalesforce has long been a believer that business can be one of the biggest\nagents of change for a better world. Key to this is reorienting the idea of\ncapitalism around stakeholder value instead of just shareholder value \u2014 because\nwhen businesses serve the interest of broader stakeholders, we all benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Salesforce has unveiled the Salesforce\nStakeholder Perceptions Report,<\/a> an eye-opening survey of more than 20,000\npeople across 10 countries, to really understand how our stakeholders think\nbusiness is doing. The report shows us that around the world, people are not\nsatisfied with today’s model of capitalism and believe businesses can play a\nkey role in addressing issue areas like the environment and access to job\nopportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is some background on four of those findings, along with\ncommentary from Salesforce senior leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re racing against the clock when it comes to climate change: If\nwe\u2019re not able to slow global warming by 2030, we could be past a point of\nno return<\/a>, according to the United Nations. For the most part,\npeople say it\u2019s unchecked capitalism and corporations to blame, especially\norganizations that contribute to fossil fuel consumption, polluting the oceans,\nand deforestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently called on CEOs<\/a> to consider climate risk in\ntheir strategies, threatening to pull his investments if they don\u2019t. At Davos,\nthe World Economic Forum announced its 1t.org initiative<\/a> to encourage multi-stakeholder\naction and empower governments, businesses, civil society, and ecopreneurs to\ntackle larger-than-life challenges, like restoration and reforestation at\nscale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explains Salesforce Vice President of Sustainability Patrick\nFlynn<\/strong>: \u201cWhen a house is on fire, heroes come running to do all the good\nthey can. In that moment, the most important thing is to take action. Everyone\nwho can help must help. It\u2019s the same thing with the current situation of our\nclimate emergency. It doesn\u2019t matter how much guilt you feel about creating it.\nEveryone who has benefited from capitalism has an obligation to be part of the\nsolution. The climate heroes of the history books won’t be those that only took\ncare of their own emissions. It’ll be a term for those who aimed so far beyond\nthat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several factors are likely contributing to this phenomenon, such\nas concerns about college degrees not keeping up with the job market, and a\nlack of upskilling opportunities within the workplace. But none is likely as\ngreat as the specter of automation: 46% of jobs are vulnerable to it<\/a>, according to the\nOrganisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. But the good news is the\nvalue of human capital is not going away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Says Salesforce Chief Innovation Officer Simon Mulcahy<\/strong>:\n“Yes, automation will likely replace some of the tasks we do today.\nHowever, new technologies bring with them new needs, new jobs and improving\nwork conditions. Even greater emphasis will be placed on skills that can’t be\nautomated, like relationship-building, agility, creativity, and empathy. It may\nturn out this is the most exciting time to enter the job market.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n A majority of respondents are confident in the corporate world on\nthis point, but only barely. Clearly there is work to do. The good news is that\nyouth activists have a louder voice than ever<\/a> as\nadvocates for more socially responsible leadership. The emergence of Greta\nThunberg on climate change, Malala Yousafzai on women\u2019s rights, Parkland\nshooting survivors David Hogg and Emma Gonzalez on gun control, and many others\nis creating a critical mass of voices political and business leaders cannot\nignore. Their influence might be enough to push the needle and get corporations\nto step up to the plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In tandem with this phenomenon is a simple changing of the guard\nas Millennials and Generation Z start inheriting leadership positions within\nthe business community. The oldest of the former subset are approaching their\n40s \u2014 still perhaps 15-20 years from the average age of Fortune 500 c-suite\nroles, but nearing the typical range of corporate senior leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Don’t look now, but Millennials are approaching 40 years\nold,\u201d says Flynn<\/strong>. \u201cThey’re in positions of influence and their worldview\nis rubbing off even on more senior leadership. Within just a few years, we will\nsee corporate cultures reach tipping points around the world and even in the\nmore traditional industries.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Optimism abounds that it isn\u2019t too late to reinvent the very\nconcept of capitalism. And gradually, the corporate community is responding by\nshifting its priorities, perhaps spurred on by a new sense of urgency and\npressure. For instance, more than 80% of mainstream investors now depend on sustainability and societal impact disclosures<\/a>\nto make decisions, according to a study by Deloitte. Another study suggests\nmore than 40% of S&P companies voluntarily address sustainability in their financial filings<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How this is starting to manifest comes in various case studies.\nFor instance, retailer Zara pledged to make all of its clothing from 100% sustainable fabrics<\/a> by 2025. Starbucks and\nMcDonald\u2019s are experimenting with reusable cups<\/a>. Meanwhile, Mastercard<\/a> and Mattel<\/a> are among the huge conglomerates who are\ntrailblazers in gender equality and LGTBQ awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Says Mulcahy<\/strong>, \u201cThis is so encouraging to me, because it\u2019s clear people haven\u2019t\nlost hope in business as a catalyst for change. The corporate community is\nresponding with a shift in what it perceives to be its responsibilities.\nBusinesses of all sizes are taking a stand on real issues, like sustainability\nand equality \u2014 they\u2019re learning they can focus on profits and being good\ncitizens at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Salesforce, we are committed to serving a broader set of\nstakeholders \u2014 our customers, employees, shareholders, the environment, and the\ncommunities in which we live and work. We know that only together we can create\na better model that works for all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The report shows us that around the world, people are not satisfied with today’s model of capitalism and believe businesses can play a key role in addressing issue areas like the environment and access to job opportunities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2017,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,9619],"tags":[373,1017,1018,865,1015,1016,93],"contributor":[],"class_list":["post-2015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cloud-computing","category-top-stories","tag-business","tag-capitalism","tag-global_warming","tag-report","tag-salesforce_","tag-stakeholder","tag-sustainability"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Simon-Mulcahy-Salesforce-1b-1-e1585728011182.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Rabab","author_link":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/author\/rabab\/"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2015"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techxmedia.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=2015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}73% say the state of the environment is on the wrong track under capitalism <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
75% of people believe access to job opportunities is not improving <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
55% trust businesses to create a better future for younger generations <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
72% say capitalism can change if\nwork begins immediately <\/h4>\n\n\n\n