Sustainability for SMEs 

About the series

Over recent decades, there has been a gradual re-appreciation of on the part of society for the role of businesses. Whereas business has been perceived by many as existing purely for the pursuit of profits, there is a growing realization that profits are merely a yardstick. What they indicate is how successful a company has been in answering the expectations of stakeholders—consumers and investors, and the community, society, and environment. There are several facets of sustainability. One aspect relates to a firm’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), where businesses adopt good business practices as a responsible member of the society. This includes the use of scarce natural resources in a responsible manner through redesigning, conservation, and recycling. Adopting cleaner energy policies and following fair labor practices is also beneficial to the firm and for the society. Operating responsibly has been proven to be good for a company’s bottom line, as well. The UOB-SMU Asian Enterprise Institute at the Singapore Management University and Sasin School of Management’s Sustainability & Entrepreneurship Centre are proud to present a series of webinars to help SMEs and growth-stage startups in Southeast Asia develop a better understanding of the sustainability challenge. There are a total of three webinars open to the public followed by a fourth one which is by invitation only, based on attendance at the prior three.

1. The Why and the What
2. The How (Measuring)
3. The How (Implementation)
4. Closing the Loop: Bringing it All Together

Webinar 3: The How (Implementation)

The webinar was the third in the series and focused on the following topic:

Inclusive Business – A People Centered Approach to Sustainability

We are excited to have had the following speakers share their insights with us:

• Dr. Armin Bauer, Development Economist
• Ria Bakshi, Lead – Finance for Sustainability (F4S), Olam International Ltd.
• Rafael Strauss, Content Strategy Manager, Sasin Sustainability & Entrepreneurship Center

The event got kicked off by a presentation of Dr. Armin Bauer before it moved into a conversational fireside chat setting between Dr. Armin Bauer and Ria Bakshi,  moderated by Rafael Strauss. The presentation focused on Inclusive Business (IB). It will first shone a light on what constitutes IB, before deep diving into different areas of why IB promotion is needed and highlighting successful IB examples across Southeast Asia. In sum, it demonstrated the opportunity of IB for businesses and showed a path towards the implementation of the presented findings. The following panel conversation picked up the implementation points from Dr. Bauer’s presentation, and expanded the scope of the event to how Long-Term Value (LTV) can be strategically integrated into a business’ core activities and reporting. Furthermore, it touched on how to establish a numerical link to sustainability using multi-capital accounting methodologies. Lastly, the panel conversation aimed for delivering practical advice for SMEs and family businesses on how to shape their focus on the direct benefits sustainability considerations can add to their business operations. WHEN: Friday, August 27th, 2021 at 2 pm (ICT)/ 3 pm (SGT) #SasinSEC #sasinschoolofmanagement