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Private Sector Transformation centre

Climate change and other sustainability pressures demand that we transform quickly. Nowhere is this truer than in the world of business. Some industries will thrive in the new world. Some industries will have to undergo radical reinvention. Some may not survive. All will undergo transformation. The retailer of the 21st century will not be the same as the retailer of the 20th.  The construction industry, automobiles, agriculture, energy – all will need to become masters of change.

The Centre

The Centre for Private Sector Transformation (CoPSECT) is dedicated to understanding and implementing the major transformational changes of the 21st century involving the private sector. These include transformational business models, instigating behavioural change, new models of governance, and organisational change.

Led by Dr Mick Blowfield, it provides four types of service to business, government, and civil society:

  • Research and advice
  • Publications
  • Business education
  • Events

CoPSECT is based at Oxford University but currently has collaborations in SE Asia, Africa, and the USA.

Current Projects

Transforming high impact industries

Combating climate change means that business in the twenty-first century will be different than in previous eras when increased carbon emissions and economic growth were seen as inextricably intertwined. This shift represents an opportunity for some, but a significant challenge for many incumbent industries, especially in those developing economies where industries with a high climate change impact such as coal-derived energy, timber and palm oil can be very important for economic prosperity, yet highly problematic within the climate change process.  This major research programme on high impact industries in SE Asia and Africa addresses three key questions:

  1. What can an interdisciplinary methodology contribute towards effective transformation in the private sector as a response to the challenges presented by climate change to business’ role as economic, social, and environmental actor?
  2. What are the options for high impact industries’ optimal contribution to climate change mitigation/adaptation, and what are acceptable paths of action for realising them?
  3. What does the empirical reality of these sectors in developing countries and the pursuit of optimal climate change mitigation solutions by business tell us about the challenges of transforming high climate change impact industries worldwide?

The latest findings will be presented in March 2010, with publications rolled out over the next two years.

Behavioural dimensions to climate change

Climate change is at least as much a behavioural issue as it is a scientific, economic or technological one. A new area of CoPSECT work focuses on understanding more about behavioural change at the institutional, community and individual level. The work involves researchers from across Oxford University, and the details of our 2010 programme are still being finalised. However, initial thoughts on some of the issues can be found on Mick Blowfield’s In the Shift blog.

Corporate responsibility in developing countries

The Centre and other researchers recently completed a multi-year programme of work exploring the role of business in poverty alleviation and the international development process.  Findings have been presented at numerous conferences, and a detailed discussion of the work can be found in Corporate Responsibility and Global Governance edited by Utting & Marques.

Co-governance models of private sector governance

Collaboration with the Said Business School to examine the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder co-governance initiatives as a way for companies to improve sustainability in their value chains. Initial findings are to be published shortly in the Journal of Business Ethics, and have been presented at six international conferences.  More information can be found at www.sseechange.com under Current Research.

Publications

Blowfield, M.E. & Murray, A. (2011) Corporate Responsibility. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-958107-8 (Second edition)

Blowfield, M.E. “Climategate leads nowhere”, Business Strategy Review, Summer 2010

Blowfield M.E. (2010) Business and poverty – bridging the divide. In Rentdorff, J.E. (ed.) Power and Principle in the Market Place.  Ashgate.

Blowfield, M.E. and Dolan, C.S. (2010) Outsourcing governance: Fairtrade’s message for C21 global governance, Corporate Governance, Vol. 10 Iss: 4, pp.484 – 499

Blowfield, M.E. & Dolan, C.S. (2010) Fairtrade facts and fancies: what Kenyan Fairtrade tea tells us about business’ role as development agent. Journal of Business Ethics.

Blowfield, M.E. (2010) Business, corporate responsibility, and poverty. In: Utting & Marques (eds.) Business and Poverty. Palgrave MacMillan.

Blowfield, M.E. and Murray, A. Corporate Responsibility: a critical introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2008 (First edition)

Blowfield, M.E. Business, Corporate Responsibility, and Poverty.  In Utting & Marques, Business and Poverty,  Palgrave MacMillan, 2010

Blowfield, M.E. “Multi-stakeholder approaches to strategic change”.  In Cunningham & Harney, Corporate strategy, Oxford University Press, forthcoming

Blowfield, M.E.  “Global warning – Why climate change means accelerated change for business” In Business Strategy Review, Summer 2009

Blowfield, M.E. and Dolan, C.S. “Fairtrade facts and fancies: what Kenyan Fairtrade tea tells us about business’ role as development agent” In Journal of Business Ethics, forthcoming

Blowfield, M.E. and Dolan, C.S. “Stewards of Virtue: The Ethical Dilemma of CSR in African Agriculture” In Development and Change, 39(1), 2008


Events

Incongruence: Climate change and business’ challenge – an in-depth look

The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and the Environmental Change Institute co-hosted the Michaelmas 2010 Seminar Series.

The Incongruence seminars were presented by Dr Mick Blowfield, Senior Research Fellow at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, and Mr Leo Johnson, Sustainability Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a Smith School Visiting Fellow. Video of the event can be found by seminar here.

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