CONSUMERS have changed. If until a few years ago the ethical, environmental and sustainable behavior of a company only interested a part of society, now attention to these aspects has become central. A survey conducted in the United States by the Aflac Corporate Social Responsibility Survey it shows that in 2019 – that is, already before the pandemic – three quarters of consumers (77%) said they were more motivated to buy products from companies that are committed to making the world a better place. In short, people prefer companies capable of bringing benefits also in social and not just economic terms. But while the latter are easily accounted for, how to measure the former?
The ESG score
The overall impact of a company on the whole society (Tsi, acronym for Total societal impact) is a multifactorial parameter that derives from the calculation of all the products and activities of a company. It includes, for example: the inherent benefit of a product (such as a drug or diagnostic machine) or a service (such as home delivery of medicines); the company’s business model; policies towards its staff; its ecological footprint and its contribution to sustainable innovation. As he points out in a relationship Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a US multinational strategic consulting company (one of the “Big Three” of global consulting), there is no single method to estimate this parameter, but there are several elements to take into account. One measure is the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) score: in 2021, Philips achieved an ESG score of 90 out of 100 in relationship of the company S&P Global Ratings (among the top rating agencies in the world): the highest ever awarded.
Measure the number of lives improved
There is also a way to calculate the number of people who benefit as a result of a company’s products and behaviors. Philips has partnered with the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston to estimate its impact, using the following method: all products and solutions provided are considered in relation to the number of people who benefited from them over a given period. Let’s take the example of an ultrasound: we measure how many people receive a diagnosis each year with the same instrument. We are talking about single patients: each individual is worth 1 even if he uses the same technology several times. Through computational models – which also include the activities of the Philips Foundation (non-profit) – an estimate of the number of lives improved in one year is obtained: 1.53 billion in 2020, including 127 million people living in communities that do not access with ease to health services.
Goals for the near future
The goal for 2030 is to benefit 2.5 billion individuals, of which at least 400 million live in disadvantaged areas. The focus is in particular on 89 countries, identified through WHO data, in which receiving health care is more complicated for several reasons. In particular, Philips seeks to reach those populations in which maternal, neonatal and infant health is less guaranteed, where both the prevalence of infections and mortality from non-communicable diseases are higher. We can go even further. For example, health improvement can be measured to understand what impact a given technology has in terms of reducing the incidence, hospitalization or mortality of a specific disease. This will be the next step.