PROFILE
Dr Cooke is the author of Kind Business: Values create Value. This book bridges the gap between commercial success and compassionate leadership. He is the Executive Director of ESG Advisory and is currently an Adjunct Professor at UTS Business School.
David worked at senior levels in the IT industry for over 30 years, most recently as the Managing Director and Chair, Australia New Zealand, of global technology firm Konica Minolta.
He was awarded a doctorate in 2009 for his doctoral research entitled Building Social Capital through Corporate Social Investment, and his work was awarded the Emerald Publishing Global Social Impact Award in 2011.
In 2014 he was awarded the Top Alumnus of the last 20 years by Southern Cross University Business School.
In 2022 he was awarded an honorary doctorate (honoris causa) by Edith Cowan University for the implementation of responsible business initiatives including addressing modern slavery within corporate supply chains.
David has Chaired the UN Global Compact Network Australia and the UNSW Australian Human Rights Institute Advisory Committee, is a former non-executive director of Sustainalytics Aust (a Morningstar company) and has served on the Federal Government’s multi-stakeholder advisory group on business and human rights.
SPEAKING TOPICS
Kind Business: Values create Value
Business as a Force for Good - Profit & Purpose
Debunking the failed ‘Friedmanite’ economic view of how business should be conducted, the shareholder primacy model.
Short termism versus building a long-term sustainable business to increase shareholder returns.
Boosting the bottom line by contributing to the community.
Profit & purpose sometimes seen as opposites but a virtuous circle. We found they nourished and supported each other.
Values create Value!
Our business began to thrive on all commercial metrics.
What our existing staff told us. What people joining us told us. What new customers told us.
Our values were fundamental to our commercial success.
“Courageous companies thrive by giving more than they take” – Paul Polman
Building Strong Corporate Cultures
We surveyed all our staff and asked for their ideas, 95% responded to a voluntary survey. They wanted better communication and more purpose.
We asked them to vote for charity partners and created volunteering days off and matched giving programs, including visits to our Cambodian charity partner.
Employee engagement, turning the dial. Powerful story of one man who had worked in the company for 25 years. “I never told anyone where I worked, it was just a job, but now I tell everyone I meet as I feel so proud to work for a company that cares about young women on the other side of the world who have been trafficked into a life of sexual slavery’.
Amongst the first companies in Australia to develop policies around parental and domestic violence leave and being @SafeAtWork, many of which are still leading global practice, which prompted the UN to invite me to speak at the UN Trailblazing Women conference in NY about our work.
Achieving Workplace Gender Equality Agency accreditation 5 years running.
Psychological safety is the No. 1 determinant of team effectiveness.
Strong link to commercial results, revenue, profit and market share.
Business & Human Rights / Modern Slavery / Ethical Sourcing
Our first encounter with corporate slavery.
Powerful story of a conference we held in Thailand where we heard about slavery in the Thai fishing industry, and how this seafood finds its way into the supply chains of the world’s largest food companies and subsequently our supermarkets, restaurants and onto our tables.
The creation of the dedicated role of Ethical Sourcing Manager at Konica Minolta, the first in Australia for a company our size.
Inviting our suppliers to join with us in fighting modern slavery and their responses.
Our investigation into our supply chain, both the products we sold and the products and services we used.
Speaking at the UN in Geneva. What we learnt, what we found, and what we did.
Stories around our decision to pay a premium to ensure that workers were paid a living wage.
Whereas with ‘the E’ of ESG you can utilise carbon offsets, there are no carbon offsets in the world of human rights (‘the S’).
Konica Minolta was the first company in Australia to be awarded The Freedom Award by Anti-slavery Australia.
Konica Minolta receives the Australian Human Rights Commission Top Business Award in 2018 from a short list of some of the largest firms in Australia.
Despite not being our focus, we began to be awarded large national contracts as prospective clients saw our human rights stance as being the key differentiator between Konica Minolta and our competitors.
Ethical Decision Making
