amec yesterday presented the movement Positive Industry, during the celebration of Amec Forum 2020, which brought together more than 400 executives from the internationalized industry to address the topic 'Company and purpose'.
In a statement, the managers of industrial companies claim the industry as one of the agents with the most power for social and economic transformation and consider that its action should be for the benefit of all stakeholders (employees, customers, suppliers and the community). Likewise, in addition to thinking globally, it must also act with a local sense.
In the presentation, the president of amec, Pere RelatesHe explained that "the perception of companies will change and the old structures will melt and give way to new, much better ones." In the new paradigm, “we will abandon the competitive self and learn to use the collaborative we. The short term will be lengthened in favor of a satisfactory path, we will stop talking only about products and we will talk much more about people. We will forget the control structures to manage trust ”» The CEO, Joan Tristany, declared that the objective is for "the declaration to gain life and become a vindictive, exciting movement that adds value to us as an industrial group."
In this sense, amec invites other companies, entities or institutions to support the declaration, so that many more share its purpose and objectives in order to raise awareness about the path towards the new competitiveness. "Supporting the positive industry should be an action of many, and from plural interests," said the CEO of amec.
Amec has been focused on its new purpose for a long time. For this reason, it is a partner and promoter of BforPlanet together with Fira de Barcelona.
For amec, having a purpose is a fundamental factor in the new competitiveness, and therefore, companies have to prepare to be valued with new parameters. In this sense, "companies that seek for their workers have a higher return on investment (ROE) than those that do not," said the founder of BLab, Jay Coen, which indicated that in some cases this return is up to 40% higher, based on the Just Capital ranking, which measures the behavior of the world's most employing companies. This better behavior has also been observed even in the first four-month period of the year, in which the pandemic has affected companies at the top of the ranking to a lesser extent, as Coen said.
Companies share their experiences on the ground
The professor and consultant of Sustainability and Innovation Strategy, Josep Maria Coll, He considered that the purpose "is a source of cooperative advantage because it harmonizes the interests of the organization to collaborate together, it is a shot of organizational energy." Corroborated it Theo Conejero, CEO KLK: «Making shareholders win does not motivate workers. Instead, thanks to motivation, we have grown on-time delivery from 70% to 95% ».
In addition to having a purpose, "you have to be consistent and act in harmony," said the director of Public Affairs and Sustainability of Danone, Laia More, a BCorp company since 2015. "It is important to have a reason to get up and go to work," according to the CEO of BASF in Spain, Carles navarro, who explained how the company works with Inditex's sustainability area to improve processes and minimize the environmental impact of textile production and how it has devised the first biodegradable and compostable capsules in Spain together with Cafès Novell.
The CEO of EPPI Industries, Mireia Cammany, is immersed in implementing the purpose in your organization. In his experience, "all companies, including SMEs with their limited resources", can implement their own purpose. Eugenia Godés, deputy of management and control of ADRASA, stated that the company “is changing the idea of chemistry, which until now has been related to spills. We do just the opposite: our R&D team focuses on working so that through chemistry we can eliminate any waste or damage to the environment ”.
From the sector of packaging, Guillem Clofent, CEO mespack, explained the challenge facing the sector in the transition towards more sustainable materials: “biodegradable, compostable plastics are more fragile. The replacement has been a technological challenge to which we are responding, modifying our machines to work with more sustainable materials. We are taking steps in the right direction.
Rose Vano, founding partner of Canena CastleHe related how his organization has turned to the production of ecological and local products with respect for the producers.
Finally, the president of comexi and former president of amec, Manuel Xifra, highlighted how "given the dysfunctions of the current system, the concept of purpose helps to propose a society with a sustainable future and social equality", for which "it is important to" create a collective conscience.
