Nicole Notat, Director of Vigeo, told us about her experience with the “extra-financial” rating agency.
Marie-José Forissier, showed us how societal trends increasingly concern business leaders.
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Nicole Notat described to us the awareness we are witnessing of the impact of societal issues on companies and the cohesive role that companies play. It has shown us why strategic decisions can no longer be oriented only towards maximizing a stock market value but must be opened up to broader perspectives – in a form of social contract. Marie-José Forissier, who has studied this phenomenon, in particular through Information and Communication Technologies, told us about the role of catalyst that ICTs have played. In general, this phenomenon requires a broader view that focuses both on intrinsic value but also on the societal and environmental values that the company can create or destroy.
For Nicole Notat, “extra-financial” reflections are necessary to avoid certain pitfalls that appear only with difficulty otherwise. In a way, it involves in particular better controlling the risks concerning the reputation, the attractiveness of the talents or the products, and minimizing the financial and legal risks.
According to her, this transformation in decision-making cannot simply be the result of a legal text or a straitjacket that would only ensure that the strategies comply with a list of pre-established principles but that This requires the ownership by the leaders of the global challenges they have to face. In addition, this affects all the organs of the company, from the HR function to core business activities, including purchasing, which plays a major role in the choice of partners..
