Our decade-long partnership with Pick n Pay spans strategy, training, reporting and employee engagement. We continue to engage with key practitioners and managers, as well as assisting with their sustainability reporting process. We were delighted when Incite intern Zandile Nkala was offered a job as Sustainability Manager at Pick n Pay in 2013. PnP executives and staff support Incite by providing interviews and insights for our research.
Pick n Pay Group
South African based grocery, clothing and general merchandise retailer, with operations in Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho
Partnering in retail sustainability
GIZ, Nedbank Foundation, MMH Foundation, Raith Foundation and others
Corporate and philanthropic foundations based or operating in Africa
Strategic social investment
Philanthropic investment achieves more when it coordinates with the broader spectrum of ESG impact delivery. We assisted German development agency GIZ (SA) and the Raith Foundation with market analysis and stakeholder engagement to strengthen cooperation with the private sector. We’ve helped Corporate Foundations strategise their social investment and measure their impact effectively. Our systemic coaches help Foundation teams leverage their collective passion in situations where for-profit mindsets predominate. (Photo credit: Tayla Kohler on Unsplash)
Discovery Group
South African based global financial services group, and global Shared Value leader
Discovery: A decade of practitioner coaching
With the publication of Porter and Kramer’s 2011 Creating Shared Value, CEO Adrian Gore found a name for Discovery’s disruptive approach to insurance. With recognised global leadership in Shared Value Insurance, we shifted a seven-year advisory partnership into coaching mode. Agile, on-demand team and individual sessions provide a thinking space to work on what is needed: the relationship between Shared Value and sustainability; tweaks in the operating system to activate the sustainability culture; and personal support for practitioners guiding the journey.
Mondi SA Forests, WWF, Telkom
Organisations based, operating or interested in Africa
Purpose-led culture
Peter Drucker’s Culture eats strategy for breakfast is profoundly relevant in the sustainability space. Culture is how we do things. It is governed by explicit and implicit constraints that shape our thinking and action. If we neglect to make these explicit, our best sustainability efforts will be compromised. If we opt to work with them, we access a set of influences we never knew we had. Our work in this space is exploratory. We begin with where we are now and agreement on which way is forward. We progress slowly in tweaks and nudges rather than grand ‘change processes’. If you are ready to take your ESG integration to the next level, we look forward to supporting you. Contact Nicola at nicola@incite.co.za.
CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)
The global disclosure system enabling companies, cities and states to measure and manage their environmental impacts
Promoting climate change accountability in South Africa
In 2006, prompted by the low level of awareness and engagement on climate change issues in the South African investment community, Jonathon approached the CDP’s head office in London to bring this global initiative to South Africa. After engaging with the NBI to secure their role as the local institutional partners, Incite led the CDP’s launch in South Africa in 2007. For the next eight years, we undertook the annual analysis of the JSE 100 Climate Change responses, and more recently also undertook the analysis for the CDP SA Water Program.
National Business Initiative (NBI)
Coalition of South African and multinational companies, working towards sustainable development in South Africa
Fostering inclusive business with the NBI
Launched in 1995 by former President Nelson Mandela, the NBI is a focal point for business-led collective action in the spheres of housing, capacity building, crime, education and climate change. Incite’s relationship with the NBI spans some 15 years. Jonathon served on the Advisory Committee to the NBI Sustainable Futures Unit (2004-2006) and Incite continues to provide advisory services as requested, including assistance with annual reporting, training and strategic dialogues. Initiating the CDP to South Africa in 2007, we engaged the NBI as a fitting lead partner for this global disclosure initiative.
University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB)
The leading international business school of South Africa’s oldest university
Developing next generation business leaders
Jonathon and Nicola present guest lectures for each of the School’s programmes – the Masters in Business Administration (MBA), the Executive MBA, Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration, the Associate in Management – as well as contributing to various Executive Education courses. From 2002-2012 Jonathon was a Visiting Senior Lecturer, responsible for running a module on ‘Business and Sustainable Development’ as part of the core course ‘Business, Government and Society’; he is currently a Teaching Fellow at the Graduate School of Business.
University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB)
The first business school from an African university to achieve all three of the major international accreditations
Inspiring Sustainable Enterprise in Africa
As visiting faculty, Jonathon is responsible for convening and teaching a core course on Sustainable Enterprise, in which postgraduate students critically review the role of business in addressing societal challenges, with a particular focus on the African context. Students consider the merits and practicalities of implementing a strategic response to environmental, social and governance issues, critique recent trends in corporate accountability, and assess the implications of key global initiatives on sustainability, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through a negotiating game, students reflect on the power dynamics necessary to effect broader systemic change.
Zambia Business in Development Facility (ZBiDF)
Multi-stakeholder platform facilitating action on key challenges in Zambia
Exploring Shared Value with Zambian business leaders
Incite supports the work and ambitions of ZBiDF, by coaching the team and some key stakeholders on Shared Value. We contribute to workshops and public engagements aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of the business opportunities associated with addressing societal challenges. And who doesn’t love working in Zambia?
Basecamps, Retreats and Masterclasses
“Thank you for another outstanding workshop. You pulled together great minds to explore the issues we are working towards and provided useful tools with which to approach them.”
Vanessa Calvert | Partnerships Manager, Plan International Australia
Since 2005, across Africa, Oceania, the European Union and Middle East, Incite has been training companies and teams on ESG and Sustainability. It is part of what we do best and it brings us alive. Our learning work is always tailored, carefully designed for maximal impact and highly participative. They are invariably called “inspirational”. We work across a wide spectrum: executives, practitioners, functional teams, stakeholders.
Jonathon and Nicola contribute extensively to Executive Education and MBA programmes, including UCT’s Graduate School of Business, Trinity College Dublin and University of Stellenbosch Business School, as well as Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership where they are both Senior Associates.
Ayala Corporation
Philippines’ largest company, with investments across multiple sectors in retail, education, real estate, banking, telecommunications, water infrastructure, renewable energy, information technology, automotive, healthcare and management
Transitioning to Shared Value
Incite’s relationship with the Ayala Corporation began with an invitation to address their executives and provide practitioner training in Shared Value in 2014. The organisation embraced the concept, and Incite returned to facilitate an in-depth Shared Value Innovator process for the Ayala retail banking operation, BPI. A year later, a follow-up process included additional corporates, such as Nestlé Philippines, tussling to share new insights through Shared Value Innovator. Later that year, chairman and CEO of the Ayala Corporation, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, addressed the annual Shared Value Leadership Summit in New York.
DISTELL, IMPLATS, NAMDEB, BUSINESS SCHOOL DELEGATES
Patterning: An inclusive approach to focus the opportunity envelope
Imagine if all your employees could suddenly see patterns of sustainability potential. We can make this happen.
Win-win is a great idea. It is the only viable way to Accelerate your sustainability impact. At Incite we call it Profit-Enabled Impact. Circular Economy, Reverse Innovation, Base of the Pyramid, Creating Shared Value… there’s no shortage of theory. Over the years, and despite an embrace of Design Thinking, organisations have discovered that their win-win ideas are not as scalable as they’d hoped. Patterning was designed to help our clients get across this chasm.
To turn win-win possibilities into potential, we must find an effective focus. To do this, we open our eyes wide with a process that can include anybody in your organisation: from the CEO to the security guard. Ideator works on patterns and every human has an innate pattern-recognition capability. We see in patterns before we learn how to talk.
Patterning clarifies the opportunity space by revealing patterns in how you and your peers are already delivering Profit-Enabled Impact. Using Patterning:
- Namdeb teams competed on finding Profit-Enabled Impact opportunities
- Distell explored how scaling social impact could help them build better brands
- Implats Rustenburg Operations used patterns to track their performance in Circular Economy
- Spur Corporation focused their overarching sustainability framework on areas with potential for scale
- Many delegates at University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), UCT’s Graduate School of Business and Trinity Business College, Dublin played Ideator games to explore the power of the profit formula.
Email Nicola to discuss how Patterning might support your integration process.
Incite’s Shared Value Master Class
Executive and practitioner level training course on Shared Value
A Shared Value Master Class that works
Michael Porter and Mark Kramer published their seminal article Creating Shared Value in 2011. Incite’s master-class was launched the following year and has evolved along with shared value theory, debates and application over time. Delegates reflect on fundamental concepts (the shift from shareholder to stakeholder value, shared value business models). They explore how operating models can evolve to make the transition happen more quickly. Innovation requires diverse perspectives. With this in mind, delegates undergo a crash course in Shared Value innovation by applying Shared Value Archetypes, backed by case studies from across the world, to the value chain of their own organisation.
TFG
Leading JSE-listed retailer with well-known brands, including FOSCHINI, @home, DUESOUTH and STERNS
Shifting to profit-led social impact
Our strategic partnership with TFG has supported the sustainability team’s thinking and action since 2011. We helped them expand their strategic focus beyond managing ESG risks to exploring profit-led social impact. In 2017, TFG opened their quick response manufacturing facility in Caledon, delivering on their Shared Value commitment to local supply chain development. “Putting Shared Value into practice helped TFG boost speed-to-market and capacity, while creating jobs in a rural area and the economy as a whole.” Graham Choice, Head of Design, TFG Manufacturing and Prestige Clothing. Our current engagement provides an agile thinking partnership, supporting the sustainability team in strategy, metrics and disclosure.
Photo credit: Marcus Loke on Unsplash.
Distell
Multinational brewing and beverage company, rooted in South Africa
Thinking partnership on Shared Value
A five-year strategic partnership with Distell has introduced the Incite team to several functional and operational areas across the group. In 2021, a thinking partnership helped the Growth & Innovation team to position and focus the group’s Shared Value strategy.
“Your passion for creating Shared Value is infectious. Having access to your knowledge and experience has boosted my own learning, and made crafting our roadmap much clearer.”
Yvette Steyn | Growth & Innovation, Distell Group
GIZ
German development agency providing services in international development cooperation
From global aid to collaboration
GIZ operates a powerful network fostering development cooperation in Africa and across the globe. The Competence Center for Cooperation with the Private Sector (SA) applies particularly innovative approaches to driving positive impact. Incite supported GIZ with Shared Value training (piloted in Berlin). Further engagement involved market analysis and stakeholder engagement to strengthen cooperation with the private sector in South Africa.
(Photo credit: Cytonn Photography on Unsplash)
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Coordinates the UN’s environmental activities, providing implementation assistance to developing countries
Supporting the UN on sustainability metrics
Between 2005 and 2010, Incite was commissioned to undertaken various projects for UNEP’s Paris-based Industry and Environment Centre. These included contributing to panel discussions and initiatives on corporate sustainability reporting, undertaking a comprehensive global study on the development of Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) indicators, and completing a review on Industry Sectoral Approaches and Climate Action in the run-up to the COP-15 Copenhagen Climate Summit.
Terra Group – Mauritius
A leading Mauritian business, active in sugar, energy, brands, and property development
Integrated thinking and disclosure in Mauritius
Established in Mauritius 180 years ago, Terra is one of the major players in the country’s sugar cane sector, with related activities in energy production, alcohol distillation and distribution, and property and leisure development. Following a training and materiality process with their executive team, Incite was appointed to assist Terra in producing their first integrated report, one of the first such reports in Mauritius. We are currently working with Terra on their stakeholder engagement activities.