Tuesday June 12th. In the salotto of Fondazione Aldini Valeriani in Bologna, Roberto Ricci Mingani, Responsible for the Qualification Service of The Emila Romagna Region, Gian Maurizio Cazzarolli, Director Facility & Real Estate Management Italy of Tetrapak and Sara Cirone, CEO of Stafer SPA and Founder of Sara Cirone Group Srl Benefit Company, have exchanged visions around some strategic topics for the future of Companies and Communities. The Starter of the event was Dr. Enrica Bonzani (Fondazione Aldini Valeriani- FAV): “The development model needs to change. The Social Responsibility of Companies shall become the new inspiring principle and it is fundamental to understand how the Integrated Report, showing the world the non-financial reporting of the corporate business, is a crucial tool to generate value for stakeholders and interest in short, medium and long-term investors. This is the future: an ever growing recognition for virtuous companies”
The question marks
Can a territory with its enterprises adopt performance indicators in line with the UNO 2030 Agenda? Is it at all possible that also small to medium-sized companies can adopt innovative methods and tools that facilitate business development and bring well-being within the organization in a consistent way towards the goals set by the ONU?
The Region at work for a change
It is vital that public policies leverage the cultural profile. We do not realize that while we are continuing to impoverish our territory there will not be an opportunity for a future any more. Dying for a disease referable to climate change is twenty thousand times more likely than dying in a car accident. Still, there is no awareness of this. For this reason, it is necessary to leverage the cultural aspect. The Emilia-Romagna Region, to this scope, makes a whole series of instruments available for a change of direction, such as the Jobs Pact, which sets off from the UNO goals and puts in the focus economic, social and environmental sustainability. The Regional Energetic Plan; the investment in research, innovation and training “with the Regional FESR Plan, which has involved investment in height of 480 Million Euros” and the Card of Principles of Social Responsibility “with commitments from companies in order to obtain subventions from the Region”. The Regional Prize for Responsible Innovators in its fourth edition, in 2017, awarded Stafer the first place in the category of companies below 250 employees.
The Region has established the list of Responsible Innovators and being part of this list is really important, since the future regional policies will award such companies subventions and fiscal incentives.
A multinational group enhances the territory and the local community
The 2030 Agenda goals represent some fundamental principles in the business strategy of Tetrapack. The company, which employs 24.000 people worldwide and has 6 units of Research and Development, has its second largest R&D site in Modena. While the guidelines for the sustainability projects are centralized, every seat implements them locally, bringing value to the territory and the referenced community. In the course of the years, over 67 million children in the world have received food provisions through benefit initiatives carried out in partnership with Tetrapack clients.
Diversity, talent, community, acknowledgement of people are the inspiring principles of the action that the multinational group puts in place. Just a few examples: 600.000 training hours, hiring yearly new talents with a future perspective, utmost attention to the environmental themes, use of renewable materials, 16% reduction of CO2 dismissal and total energy supply from renewable sources, flexible hours for employees.
A small-medium company tells its story
Also small-medium companies may put in place sustainable policies. Everyone may contribute to the 2030 Agenda actions. Sara Cirone has proved that such targets are really at a hand-reach for everyone, and not just for the larger realities, and has also showed that the Integrated Report is a key-instrument to measure and communicate the non-financial aspects of the corporate activities. Companies own non-phisical resources that have a strategic value in the short, medium and long term: the intangible values, the human, organizational, relational capital. It’s very important for such topics to reach to the governance table, because they have strategic value and relevant parameters need to be created. The only opportunity for an enhancement of the life quality on the planet relies in the creation of value in the long term, and the strategy to implement this is global: it concerns the governance, the performances and the perspective. Right in here dwells the cardinal function of the Integrated Report. Sara Cirone emphasizes “We give an account of 6 different capitals with the Integrated Report: the Financial Capital, the Material Capital, the Organizational Capital, The Relational Capital, the Human Capital, the natural Capital. In doing so, the Integrated Report accounts for the multi-capital value and guides us towards a new dynamic of capitals management, which is strategic and represents a change of model. Attention goes to the new needs of humans within a community. The Integrated Report accounts for both the internal and the external spheres; it illustrates the inputs that generate outputs (results) through a series of activities (business model) and their outcome (impacts)”. The Integrated Report accounts for the past, the present and the future perspectives, it anticipates an evaluation of the impacts, but most of all it describes, through the strategy and the business model, the value creation that the company fosters. It may account for the corporate activities towards the achievement of the UNO Goals of Sustainable Development, in perfect synergy with a sustainable perspective; more in general it may account for and become itself an immaterial remuneration, as it contributes to a participatory idea of the company.
The Law #254 and human rights
The Legislative Decree no.254 if Dec. 30th 2016 receives and empowers the EU/2014/95 directive issued by the European Parliament and the Council on October 22nd 2014. It envisages the obligation to submit a non-financial statement for all entities of public interest and companies above 500 employees which, at the scheduled date of the balance sheet presentation have at least reached one of the following two dimensional parameters: a) total of patrimony assets: 20.000.000 Euros; b) total net profit from sales and services: 40.000.000 Euros. This directive does not rule out, but rather encourages more companies not responding to such parameters to present a non-financial statement on a voluntary base. The Decree fixes some fundamental subjects for the non-financial accounting: the environment, the social sphere, people at work, the respect of human beings, the struggle against active and passive corruption. These are essential points that companies nowadays shall account for and communicate to their stakeholders in transparency, clarity and, most of all, with a sense of responsibility towards civilization itself.
Contributing to civilization
An innovative management should contribute to environmental, community, social and human aspects: a humanistic management should favour the development of civilization. Enterprises should be made of people who really participate in the strategic corporate dynamics. The UNO Agenda is perceived to be too often far away from real life, whereas communities should put in practice the 2030 Agenda Goals. The increase and diffusion of the corporate and territorial know-how is the key to improve the quality of life. Increasing the well-being of people and their involvement in the corporate decisions generates a “value-spiral”, a cause-effect relationship between them: the processes improve, and a higher value-creation and social well-being are generated. If an individual within an organization knows what he’s at, and the outcome of his work, he suddenly understands more about himself and the territory around him. This determines an active participation with a higher cohesion and networking possibility, and this generates competitiveness and therefore better profits. That’s why I say that Sustainability matters in practical terms. Well-being in a company, according to Sara Cirone, is therefore a fundamental thing: there’s no technological innovation without social innovation”. Such are the concepts applicable also in the small and medium enterprises. “As long as one feels small, he will never get anywhere, there are many small things that can be done for civilization which, within the framework of a community, make a responsible evolution possible”.
SARA CIRONE GROUP SRL SOCIETA’ BENEFIT