When compared to the typical global company of today, we believe that tomorrow’s global company will play a larger and more proactive role in society, be more engaged in public debate and be recognised as a source of economic, social and environmental progress.
It will be a positive force in the world - both a creator of wealth and an agent of change that delivers practical solutions to set the world on a more sustainable course.
It will be in tune with how the world and society’s expectations are changing and able to translate these challenges into opportunities to develop new products and markets or if necessary reinvent them and itself This will help it to be as adaptive as it will have to be to manage risk, remain competitive and to continue to make profits and shareholder returns.
It will leverage technology to create and deliver its products and services in a sustainable way.
It will understand that providing returns to investors and ensuring the future health of the environment and society are not at odds with each other and will define its purpose and its view of success in line with this.
It will define and communicate its view of success in a way that aligns short-term and long-term goals, integrating financial and operational performance with wider impacts in social and environmental areas. It will win the support of investors for this view, and its wider reporting and communications will reflect this.
It will have strong values which lead to consistency across diverse operations and provide a guide for resolving practical dilemmas. These values will help it to find and keep the best talent by appealing to those who are interested in what a company stands for.
It will encourage its people to use their initiative and creativity guided by its values and compliant with any rules and earn the loyalty of customers and suppliers.
It will be fiercely meritocratic; offering opportunities to people of all backgrounds so that its future leaders may originate anywhere and not from the country where it is headquartered.
It will show respect for the people, communities and governments with which it works, but it will stand up for its beliefs when it concludes that the actions of others are inconsistent with its values.
It will join with other companies to advocate changes in public policy which will enable the power of business and the market to be harnessed for society’s good. When such policies are absent, it will join with other companies to set voluntary standards and create frameworks of self regulation designed to ensure that industries behave in a way that is responsible, ethical and sustainable.
It will use every available form of dialogue to reach all its stakeholders, inside and beyond the organisation and communicate in a way that wins their support and trust. Its communications will be internally and externally consistent and aligned with its view of success and its values.