Dr. David Cooke – Director ESG Advisory
Why is Social Responsibility a critical part of the overall business strategy now?
As customers, employees, suppliers and, indeed, society more broadly place increasing importance on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), some leaders have started to look at it as a creative opportunity to strengthen their brands while contributing to society at the same time.
For companies that see CSR as an opportunity to strengthen the business, the big challenge is execution. They view CSR as central to their overall strategies, helping them to creatively address key business issues
The big challenge for executives is how to develop an approach that can truly deliver on these lofty ambitions and, yet few have necessarily fulfilled these ambitions.
Today’s guest is one such leader who has not only researched the relationship between commercial organisations and charitable ones but has implemented responsible business strategies in an emphatic way in organisations he has led.
Today’s guest is Dr. David Cooke.
He completed a doctorate in 2009 titled “The philanthropic contract: Building Social Capital though Corporate Social Investment” which dealt with the role of profit–making corporations in furthering the work of the NGO sector and why this was sound business practice.
His work was awarded the Emerald Publishing Globally Responsible Leadership award for Social Impact in 2011 and in 2014 he was awarded the Top Alumnus of the last 20 years by the Southern Cross University Business School.
In 2020 he was awarded a doctorate honoris causa by Edith Cowan University for the implementation of responsible business initiatives in addressing modern slavery within corporate supply chains.
David has always sought to establish a work environment that fosters equity, diversity and inclusiveness.
He has spent 35 years in the tech sector in Australia and was appointed as the first non-Japanese Chairman & Managing Director of Konica Minolta Australia in 2013. Prior to that he held senior management positions with Canon and Xerox.
David is now consulting through his firm, ESG Advisory.
Today we ask David
- Why is responsible business initiatives more important now than ever before?
- How can leaders execute CSR effectively and connect it to ROI?
- How his social responsibility focused leadership paradigm transformed Konica Minolta Australia’s culture to become an award-winning employer of choice?
Resources mentioned in the podcast
- Modern Slavery Act Australia (link) https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018A00153
- Global Slavery Index Australia (link) https://www.globalslaveryindex.org/
- The Philanthropic Contract: Building Social Capital though Corporate Social Investment (PDF) SelectedWorks – David Cooke (bepress.com)
- UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
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David Cooke
Amrutha Murali
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