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Hearing from Kaushik Burman, MBA’11Dec – General Manager & Managing Director at Gogoro India Pvt Ltd)

What were your key takeaways after graduating from INSEAD in relation to having a positive social impact on the community? To build businesses which have a deeper purpose, and lead by example. Next, contribute to one or more of the Sustainable Development Goals example access to affordable and clean energy and climate action. Lastly, corporates and start-ups need to build an inclusive society, with deep empathy and care.

What do you believe are the critical elements for a business to act as a force for good? Businesses/Corporates need to spend time and efforts in better understanding of the key issues facing societies and communities, fissure points which may be lurking within societies as these have long term implications on people. Develop business models which dovetail solutions, which can solve some of the most pressing issues faced by communities – for e.g. ed-tech product offerings which can provide access to affordable and high quality remote learning solutions to the underprivileged community – thereby upgrading their incomes and livelihood. Focus on the UN SDGs and develop a set of concrete actions which would lead to achieving the SDG goals.

What actions from companies have you seen which has been a Force For Good? Leadership action to create an overall positive impact on life of citizens; Organizational wide cohesion to believe in deep purpose, where employees are fully committed to the vision and mission; Building the cognitive engine with well defined OKRs (Objectives and Key results), with a robust measurement and monitoring process; Diverse mix of board members, with strong governance protocols in place.

What are some examples in your profession/ company where you’ve experienced BAFG first-hand? Shell have led business teams with a well defined charter of SDG goals to solve the topics around sustainability, clean energy and energy access. As for Gogoro, this is NASDAQ listed firm, intersection of sustainability, electric mobility, innovation, clean energy infrastructure – solving the urban mobility, smart grid and clean energy topics aided by an AI driven battery swapping platform. Intellect, a Digital platform, which is solving mental health and wellness problem in a scientific and structured manner – got few of my colleagues to try out the product with excellent benefits.

What were the main reasons for accepting an invitation to be an IAA Singapore BAFG judge? As an INSEAD alumni and IAA SG member, I feel accountable to champion the values of INSEAD, which stands for diversity of thought and action. As a business leader, having led multi billion dollar businesses across diverse international markets, have contributed to the delivery of SDG outcomes, therefore have relevant experience in evaluating business models which are designed for BAFG outcomes. I have been mentoring startups, and angel investor in BAFG driven startups, I feel this is a great opportunity for me to explore and evaluate the companies who are in the fray.

What would like to see in the upcoming review of the companies who are nominated?  Those with bigger and bolder plans to solve SDG goals, capable to embracing innovation in problem solving issues faced by the communities; and societies and be inclusive and diversity in team composition, thoughts and actions.

Meeting our 2023 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Diana Gan – Founder of Elementary Capital

Post #2- Kaushik Burman – General Manager & Managing Director at Gogoro India Pvt Ltd)

Catch-up with 2022 Winners – Interview series

Post #1 – Michelle Woo, VP Venture Build, ENGIE Factory Asia Pacific (Corporate Winner)

Catch-up with 2022 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

Post #2 – Apo Ozkececi MCCC’19Dec-S – SVP Commercial & Regional Head, Asia Pacific, Accelya

Hearing from Michelle Woo, VP Venture Build, ENGIE Factory Asia Pacific

How does your business’s commitment to being a force for good align with its overall mission and values?

Faced with the climate emergency and the need to reduce polluting emissions, it is now essential to find faster ways to transition to carbon neutrality. ENGIE is investing and working to conceive new innovative solutions for low-carbon energy and services, or for the circular economy. With one purpose: decarbonize human activities.

In Southeast Asia, ENGIE we are a fast-growing team with a geographical focus in Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines to provide tailor-made integrated solutions for our customers in commercial buildings, industries, cities, and communities. Using globally leading technologies, we create innovative energy and smart solutions that enhance the performance of homes, businesses, and communities to make the world a better place. We act throughout the value chain: strategy, design, engineering, energy-efficient asset construction, digital platforms, operations management, financing syndication and outcome assurance.

To accelerate our decarbonisation efforts, the company has a dedicated corporate startup studio called ENGIE Factory (formed since 2018) which focuses on building new climate-tech startup solutions. ENGIE Factory works with founders to deliver investment-grade venture opportunities. We build their ventures by combining the best of both worlds: the entrepreneurial skillset and the established corporate assets. This results in commercialised climate-tech solutions that are customer-focused, affordable, and market-ready.

Can you discuss any unique or innovative approaches your business has taken to be a force for good?

With our start-up studios, research teams and investments in start-ups, ENGIE has built a single ecosystem focused on innovation. ENGIE Factory was created as the startup studio of ENGIE Group. We partner with entrepreneurs to build new, scalable startups that will impact our climate. We co-build the new business with the founders, provide early-stage funding, and direct access to enterprise-grade resources and networks from ENGIE which gives our startups a competitive advantage and fast track to global growth.

The climate-tech businesses that our founders build with us are all on the same mission to accelerate decarbonisation and resolve our climate urgency. And the ENGIE Factory team is dedicated to supporting our startups throughout their growth.

Can you discuss any partnerships or collaborations your business has formed in order to have a greater positive impact?

As a leader in the energy revolution, ENGIE offers a comprehensive range of clean mobility solutions that transform the way energy is used. We are proud to share that ComfortDelGro ENGIE Pte Ltd (CDG ENGIE) is set to grow its islandwide network of electric vehicle (EV) charging points with its latest tender win.

The year-old consortium comprising ComfortDelGro’s wholly-owned subsidiary, ComfortDelGro Engineering Pte Ltd and ENGIE South East Asia (ENGIE), has been awarded two in 10 packages in a highly contested Land Transport Authority (LTA) tender for the installation of EV charging points covering nearly 2,000 Housing Development Board (HDB) car parks. This further cements CDG ENGIE as one of Singapore’s largest EV charging operators with operations spanning across the East, West, Central as well as the North regions of Singapore.

The latest tender win, which comprises up to 4,509 alternate current (AC) charging points at 387 HDB car parks comes hot on the heels of its successful bid in the 2021 pilot tender by the Land Transport Authority-Urban Redevelopment Authority (LTA-URA) for the operation of 479 charging points at car parks managed by HDB, JTC Corporation, NParks, People’s Association and URA. Two-thirds of these charging points have been deployed, with the remaining on track to be deployed in the next few months. Outside of the LTA-URA pilot tender, CDG ENGIE also operates charging points at car parks on ComfortDelGro premises, school campuses and commercial sites.

Beyond this tender, CDG ENGIE has also been working very closely with the authorities and its partners to encourage the adoption of EVs. In May 2022, CDG ENGIE collaborated with GetGo Carsharing to support the deployment of GetGo EVs at Jurong Spring on its electric charging platform, with plans to expand islandwide. In June, CDG ENGIE also joined Voltality, an eMobility platform which provides EV drivers with the convenience of using any EV charger across Singapore using a single interface.

Can you discuss any ways in which your business’s efforts to be a force for good have positively impacted the local community?

With our partners, ENGIE is switching on the power of solar across Singapore. Singapore is targeting to increase its solar capacity to at least 2 gigawatt-peak by 2030. ENGIE is committed to helping Singapore unlock its full solar power potential and achieve its Green Plan 2030 ambitions.

This will mean producing enough energy to power approximately 350,000 households a year sustainably. While Singapore is on track, there is still much to be done, with nearly half of that targeted solar capacity yet to be achieved. We are proud to share that we have secured multiple solar rooftop projects across the country. In fact, we commissioned three solar projects in November alone. In their first year of operation, these projects will provide over 12,800 MWh of energy generation and save over 5,000 tons in carbon (CO2) emissions. That CO2 saving is equivalent to the impact of planting more than 250,000 rain trees, in a single year.

Can you discuss any advice or lessons learned that you would like to share with other businesses that are looking to make a positive impact?

In order to accelerate the transition to a carbon neutral economy, ENGIE strategically partners with startups and innovators. Corporates who work with startups gain a fast track to testing new solutions, exploring new markets and disrupting the market with different business models. Most importantly, working with startups helps corporates keep up with emerging trends and changes in the market.

Our startup studio, ENGIE Factory, partners with entrepreneurs to build new, scalable startups that will impact our climate. We co-build the new business with the founders, provide early-stage funding, and direct access to enterprise-grade resources and networks from ENGIE which gives our startups a competitive advantage and fast track to global growth. The climate-tech businesses that our founders build with us are all on the same mission to accelerate decarbonisation and resolve our climate urgency.

Meeting our 2023 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Diana Gan – Founder of Elementary Capital

Catch-up with 2022 Winners – Interview series

Post #1 – Michelle Woo, VP Venture Build, ENGIE Factory Asia Pacific (Corporate Winner)

Catch-up with 2022 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

Post #2 – Apo Ozkececi MCCC’19Dec-S – SVP Commercial & Regional Head, Asia Pacific, Accelya

The INSEAD Masters Programmes Team led by Antony Widjaja, Associate Director, EMBA Marketing and Recruitment, organised a panel discussion on The Role of Allyship in Advancing Equality and Inclusive Leadership on 19 January 2023.

Speakers:

Dr Vinika Rao

• Dr. Vinika Devasar Rao (Chairwoman | Executive Director, INSEAD Emerging Markets Institute & Gender Initiative; Director, HGIBS Asia)

moderated the panel with fellow panellists:

• Corinna Lim (Panellist | Executive Director, The Association of Women for Action and Research | Director and Consultant, Catalyse Consulting, Business Unit of AWARE)
• Professor Michael Jarrett (Panellist | Professor of Management Practice in Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD)
• Hari Krishnan (Panellist | MBA’05D Alumnus | CEO, PropertyGuru Group)

Topics discussed during the session included learning how to recognise talent, sponsorship of talents,  acknowledging that the office can be a safe haven. We also touched on topics such as how we can be first responders if an employee works in a violent home. Most importantly, the main takeaway from the event was on how we should be the voice of each other as an ally.

To end off the session, Sharon Brooks, Executive Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, INSEAD closed the session. It was an interactive session and the audience had a great time mingling post the session.

INSEAD commits to cultivating a community that pursues equity, exemplifies inclusion, and cherishes diversity in all its dimensions. In a similar vein, the INSEAD Alumni Association is holding the Business as a Force for Good Award and nominations are open. Read more here: https://blogs.insead.edu/singapore-iaa/bafg-awards-2023-is-back/

Please nominate deserving companies here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdAuG3FVRvVw1eHl64RnTq_20VRDHxZVnMjSRB_4MNGiee1kg/viewform

Hearing from Apo Ozkececi MCCC’19Dec-S  – SVP Commercial & Regional Head, Asia Pacific, Accelya

How do you balance the need to recognize businesses that are making a positive impact with the reality that many businesses must prioritize profitability in order to survive? Making a positive impact and prioritizing profitable are not necessarily competing objectives. On the contrary, we would prefer an impactful business also to be profitable so that they can sustain their operations for the longer term with economic benefits to the society and individuals who are making the change. Positive impact is not and should not be an area of non-profits only, and the companies with bigger profits can do more to create bigger impacts for the values and objectives they lay down.

How did you determine which businesses demonstrated a strong commitment to being a force for good? Being a force for good can be interpreted differently depending on the industry and the provided value by the business. For me, it was relatively a simple call; would the world be a better place if this business is successful and potentially bigger. If the answer is YES, then I believe the business demonstrates a commitment to being a force for good.

Can you discuss any examples of businesses that you felt were particularly impactful in terms of their positive impact on society or the environment? In last year’s applications, we had an application from RightShip, who is focused on sustainability and governance in shipping business; which is not so visible in our daily lives albeit we benefit from the shipping industry every second of our lives. As we learnt more about their business, the lives they save, improvements they bring to the planet and environment; we realized how little we knew of some of these companies’ impact on society. It was an eye-opener in 30 minutes discussion.

Meeting our 2023 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Diana Gan – Founder of Elementary Capital

Catch-up with 2022 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

Post #2 – Apo Ozkececi MCCC’19Dec-S – SVP Commercial & Regional Head, Asia Pacific, Accelya

Hearing from Diana Gan, EMBA’19Dec – Founder of Elementary Capital

What were your key takeaways after graduating from INSEAD in relation to having a positive social impact on the community? Creating positive impact starts from realising how our relationship with other people and the planet are shaped. Understanding impact lays the foundation for which we exist, and it can be a competitive advantage for businesses.

What do you believe are the critical elements for a business to act as a force for good? Nurturing people and getting the organisation mindset ready. If we provide people with the knowledge and the tools to create impact, the leadership sets a clear direction and empowers individual agency to drive the movement, collective transformation can happen.

What are some specific actions employees should do to enable a positive social impact on our community? Respect and care for others, take pride in doing the right thing, have no fear in calling out influences and behaviour that are toxic to the environment and toxic to other people.

What are some examples in your profession/ company where you’ve experienced BAFG first-hand? Educational offering that is democratising access to quality education, protecting the teaching profession and solving mental health issues. Climate tech companies that are driving decarbonisation. Waste management companies that are reducing plastic and other environmental pollution.

What key BAFG principles would you like businesses in Singapore to embrace? Act as a beacon for creating and sustaining impact. Share best practices with the world. Encourage international exchanges to leverage on latest R&D.

What were the main reasons for accepting an invitation to be an IAA Singapore BAFG judge? There are many like-minded people who care about leading impactful lives. This is a lifelong pursuit underscored by a sense of urgency; if we keep driving the impact agenda collectively, together we can go further and…faster…

What motivated you to be an advocate for businesses to act as a force for good? The destructive forces of over-consumption and neglect for the environment are untenable. We also need to take a hard look at people-to-people connection. I hope I can create some positive examples upon which my children can continue to build.

Catch-up with 2022 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

Meeting our 2023 Judges – Interview series

Post #1 – Diana Gan – Founder of Elementary Capital

Hearing from Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

How did you determine which businesses demonstrated a strong commitment to being a force for good? Essentially I used frameworks to judge. The ESG notion of People, Planet and Profit was an easy trio to remember so I looked for companies that not just tick the boxes but balance them. At the interview stage, I asked more probing questions about their business model because if these frameworks are not built into their ethos, then it probably will not be a sustainable force for good. 

How do you balance the need to recognize businesses that are making a positive impact with the reality that many businesses must prioritize profitability in order to survive? Most people think of the environment, but I also focused on the communities in which they exist, and whether their governance structure could withstand threats from externalities. I used DEI frameworks as well because it generates significantly better business decisions, so I know that those companies are also in good hands and perhaps more bankable. Like all VCs say, it’s the team that matters.

Meet the judges interview series

Series #1 – Li Lian Liew GEMBA’13 – Director, Corporate Planning at Tan Tock Seng Hospital & Central Health

In the years following World War II, Georges Doriot came up with the idea that the world needed a new kind of educational institution—one that united people, embraced diversity, and leveraged business to rebuild nations and promote peace. He envisioned an institution that could make a meaningful contribution to society.

That institution, of course, was INSEAD. In the decades since its founding in 1957, our school has never wavered from that vision. Our belief in using business as a force for good has come to define who we are, what we stand for, and how we conduct ourselves in the world.

INSEAD Alumni Association Singapore is pleased to launch “Business as a Force for Good” Award (BAFG Award) 2023.

Objectives

The Award recognizes Singapore companies and individuals who have demonstrated thought-leadership with respect to “Business as a Force for Good”, have a vision, mission statement and strategy clearly demonstrating their commitment, have developed best practices and have achieved remarkable economical results and/or meaningful societal impact.

Eligibility and Award Categories

All Singapore based companies* will be considered for the following award categories:

• BAFG Award 2023 for social enterprise in Singapore
• BAFG Award 2023 for start-ups in Singapore (established under 3 years)
• BAFG Award 2023 for SMEs in Singapore (revenue under S$100m or less than 200 workers)
• BAFG Award 2023 for corporates in Singapore (revenue more than S$100m or more than 200 workers)
• BAFG Award 2023 for incubator/accelarator/VC 

*Operating as a Singapore legal entity and registered with ACRA https://www.acra.gov.sg/

A jury made up of alumni leaders from various industries will identify the award winner. Selections will be based on the positive impact the organization has had on society through its programme or its core business activities.

Awards

The winners will be announced at the IAA Singapore AGM on Mar 2023.

Application or nomination

Please complete this link with the name of your company or a company you would like to nominate. We will need the name of a representative (yourself or another person-in-charge from the company nominated) whom the selection committee will contact for further details.

We will shortlist the Top 3 finalists from each category and they will have to submit a document (Powerpoint / PDF) with no more than 10 slides / pages including the introduction of your company and any other supplementary information.

The top 3 finalists from each category will then present to a panel of judges between 14 to 18 Feb 2023. They will have 15 mins to present and another 15 mins for Q&A.

Application and Nominations must be received no later than 5 PM Singapore time, 3 Feb 2023.

Conclusion

The “Business as a Force for Good” Award is a wonderful opportunity to recognize best practices, to give visibility to deserving companies and to promote INSEAD’s mission. We are very much looking forward to hearing from you soon.

For more information, contact Tan Eng Hwa at [email protected] or Jaz Chua [email protected] 

Gold Sponsors:

Diversity and Performance

Past Winners

2022 

• Corporate Winner – ENGIE Factory Asia Pacific & ENGIE South East Asia, Thomas Baudlot and Edwin Cheang
• SME Winner – RightShip, Gurpreet Singh MBA’14D
• Startup Winner – INSEACT, Michael Badeski MBA’19J and Tim Van Vliet MBA’19J,
• Social Enterprise Winner – B1G1, Masami Sato

2021

• Kacific Broadband Satellite, Christian Patouraux MBA’03D,CEO

2020

• Right People Renewable Energy, Robin Pho EMEBA’17Jan, Founder
  

2019

• ECOSOFTT, Marcus Lim (TIEMBA’13Jan) and Stanley Samuel (TIEMBA’13Jan), Founders

Where are they now? Catching up with past winners

• Right People Renewable Energy
• ECOSOFTT – MoneyFM
• ECOSOFTT – Study International

ECOSOFFT. Sam Al-Schamma (TIEMBA ‘13 ), a board member and investor in ECOSOFTT accepted the award on behalf of Marcus Lim (TIEMBA’13) and Stanley Samuel (TIEMBA’13). This social enterprise aims to address the global challenge of water shortage, scarcity and quality. ECOSOFTT has delivered more than 50 projects, providing safe drinking water to thousands of people; reduced fresh water intake by almost five-million litres per day; and reclaimed millions of litres of dirty water for re-use.

Congratulations to ECOSOFTT for winning the ‘Business as a Force for Good Award Singapore 2019 Edition’.

Nominations for the award included firms from a variety of industries and ECOSOFTT, a social enterprise that aims to address the global challenge of water shortage, scarcity and quality, emerged as the winner.

ECOSOFTT was founded by two graduates of the INSEAD TIEMBA programme, Stanley Samuel and Marcus Lim, both TIEMBA’13J. Their work has helped enable numerous communities to be self-reliant, water secure and sustainable.

At the moment the company’s projects reduce fresh water intake by almost five-million litres per day. It has also transformed the lives of thousands of women and girls who have returned to school or learnt economically-useful skills, because they no longer spend hours each day collecting water.

It is wonderful to see that many INSEAD alumni are enabling ‘Business as a Force for Good’ and the National Alumni Association in Singapore is looking forward to recognising such initiatives by making this award an annual tradition

ECOSOFTT is a social enterprise that aims to address the global challenge of water shortage, scarcity and quality by providing modular, water-management solutions. These enable communities to be self-reliant, water secure and sustainable.

They reduce fresh water intake and footprint by over 50%; reclaim, recycle and reuse over 80% of used water and discharge the surplus in an environmentally-friendly way to replenish sources or give to others.

So far ECOSOFTT has delivered more than 50 projects, providing safe drinking water to thousands of people; reduced fresh water intake by almost five-million litres per day; and reclaimed millions of litres of dirty water for re-use.

They’ve also transformed the lives of more than a thousand women and girls who have returned to school or learnt economically-useful skills, because they no longer spend hours each day collecting water.

ECOSOFTT’s vision is by 2050 to treat over one-trillion litres of water per day; enable 10,000 communities to become water smart; and protect, clean and restore a thousand water bodies.