Case Studies
The case study database provides an overview of capitals assessments that have been carried out by organizations in the capitals community. Assessments are categorized and can be filtered using the ‘filter by’ and the search functions.
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Novartis – Social impact of wages
Social and Human Capital
Novartis – Social impact of wages
International
Details
The global dataset of living wages is intended to support Novartis and other companies in the quest to measure and value the social impact of wages, benchmarking the wage levels provided in their direct operations as well as through their value chains.Outcome
“Novartis used the living wage dataset to benchmark salaries for the societal impact of living wage valuation. The analysis included all salaries provided to Novartis employees around the world, covering more than 120’000 employees. Novartis has already implemented a living wage policy to ensure no employee is paid below a living wage and adjust any salary where deviations from the policy occur. The new Living Wage Global Dataset provides a new point of comparison that Novartis can use for own operations and its supply chain. Based on the global living wage dataset and HUI approach, the social impact of living wages was calculated for 75 countries in which Novartis operates, in 2017. Overall, the impact of Novartis supply chain generated a USD 0.73bn net positive societal impact, with a negative impact of USD 0.73bn and a positive impact of USD 1.46bn. The low-skilled jobs were estimated to have a negative social impact value of USD 731m and a positive social impact value of USD 0.32m. The medium-skilled jobs created contributed negatively with USD 553m and positively with USD 1’065m. The high skilled jobs contributed only positively with USD 512m. ”Stakeholder group
Business
Sector of focus
Pharmaceuticals
Valuation
QuantitativeMonetary
Organizational focus
Corporate
Social and human capital issues
Employment and remunerationHealth and safety
Type of application
Corporate
Value chain
UpstreamDirect operationsDownstream
Value perspective
Business and Society
Impacts and/or dependencies
Impacts and Dependencies
Novartis – Social impact of medicines
Social and Human Capital
Novartis – Social impact of medicines
South Africa
Details
“Social impact, both positive and negative, is a key element of Novartis´ Financial, Environmental and Social (FES) impact valuation, the Novartis version of the Triple Bottom Line approach. In this study, a novel framework that is generalizable and scalable across different countries and medicine portfolios has been developed. This framework capitalizes on a plethora of published medical literature that has been substantially growing in the last few decades. This literature allows for the estimation of health gains generated by Novartis’ medicines expressed in Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) and Years of Life Saved (YLS). Through the subsequent steps of this approach, health gains are translated into gains in paid and unpaid work activities. Owing to a healthier and more active patient population, those gains eventually contribute “monetary revenue” to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This monetary revenue is referred to as the Social Impact.”Outcome
The study was conducted using a phased approach to calculate the global social impact of the Novartis medicines in scope. The first phase involved calculating the drugs´ Health Benefits through the incremental gains in QALYs and YLS on the relevant patients. These were then aggregated and translated into activity gains comprising paid and unpaid work. Last, the Socioeconomic Benefits were calculated as monetary contributions to the national GDP in US dollars. Overall, 46 publications were used to derive QALY estimates for 33 medicines and YLS estimate for one medicine (amlodipine). Total patients reached per medicine varied widely, and therefore the number of patients reached per medicine and country along with the country specific economic parameters influenced the total Social Impact of a drug portfolio in the corresponding country. For the year 2017 in South Africa and 2016 in Kenya, based on the numbers of patients reached, a total of 56,711 QALYs and 59 YLS were generated through the use of the 34 medicines. This amounted to a total of USD 1.95 billion as monetized Social Impact. Social impact measurements and valuation of individual pharmaceutical products was performed previously, but based on the successful coverage of an entire portfolio for a country and a line of business, the scope of this work was extended.Stakeholder group
Business
Sector of focus
Pharmaceuticals
Valuation
QuantitativeMonetary
Social and human capital issues
Health and safety
Value perspective
Society
Novartis – Estimating environmental externalities
Natural Capital
Novartis – Estimating environmental externalities
International
Details
Novartis set out to measure, value and compare relevant natural capital impacts and dependencies for their direct operations and materials supply chain for specific country scopes. Their interest was in understanding risks and opportunities in different geographical and operational areas, and comparing impacts and dependencies to identify hotspots.Outcome
The results of the Natural Capital Protocol assessment confirmed that carbon and other air emissions, as well as water use along the supply chain, are the major external environmental costs for Novartis. Another result was that environmental or social benefits from forest sink projects reach similar or greater returns than from carbon sequestration alone. Carefully designed forestry projects were found to be net positive through protection of watersheds and increasing biodiversity, as well as for social development and long-term economic growth in project areas. Novartis identified several areas for future work, such as broadening their analysis of supply chain impacts and dependencies, and continuing to embed these results throughout their organisation. Their initial natural capital assessment led to a follow up process for the assessment of social return on investment for specific environmental projects.Stakeholder group
Business
Sector of focus
Pharmaceuticals
Valuation
Monetary
Organizational focus
Project
Natural captital issues
Fresh waterClimate and energyOther air emissionsWaste
Type of application
Project
Value chain
UpstreamDirect operationsDownstream
Value perspective
Business and Society
Impacts and/or dependencies
Impacts and Dependencies
Novartis & WifOR Institute – Exploring the Social Impact of D&I
Social and Human Capital
Novartis & WifOR Institute – Exploring the Social Impact of D&I
International
Details
The purpose of this case study is to examine the relationship between diversity and inclusion and more importantly, prepare the grounds for a social impact framework for diversity, inclusion and employee well-being. As recognized leaders in Impact Valuation, Novartis and WifOR Institute suggest with this case study new impact pathways for diversity, inclusion, and employee well-being in the business environment. The explorative study sheds some light on how companies can connect their diversity and inclusion initiatives to their impact on society statements.Outcome
The explorative case study proved how interdependent the topics of diversity, equity and inclusion are. Furthermore, the study analyzed descriptively to what extent the inclusion of employees at Novartis influenced their well-being (utilizing absenteeism as a proxy). Based on the findings from the literature review, the correlation analysis of D&I and the considerations regarding absenteeism, the framework for two impact pathways (value to society) was developed. Going forward, these can be applied to monetize the social impact of absenteeism or turnover.Stakeholder group
Business
Sector of focus
Multi-sector
Valuation
Quantitative
Organizational focus
Corporate
Social and human capital issues
Inclusion and diversity
Type of application
Corporate
Value chain
Direct operations
Value perspective
Business and Society
Impacts and/or dependencies
Impacts and Dependencies
Novartis – Human rights impact valuation
Social and Human Capital
Novartis – Human rights impact valuation
International
Details
An impact valuation method has been developed to screen and assess human rights impact in the supply chain of companies. We present as well in this report a case study for Novartis, showing the results for child labour, forced labour, gender inequality, wage and living wage, occupational safety and so on.Outcome
This approach provides a concrete way to identify potential human rights risks and impact in the supply chain of companies at a level of detail and precision that was not possible until now. The impact valuation results provide a clear prioritization tool that can be used for awareness raising, high level prioritization for corporate sustainability strategy, action plan development, engagement with suppliers, risks assessment and engagement with stakeholders in general. Frank Seyer, former Head of Human Rights at Novartis said that “This approach could become a valuable tool in helping Novartis pinpoint those specific hotspots of human rights risk in our supply chain —although granularity is everything and this approach will need to be combined with (and could inform) other existing approaches to address human risks such as audits, contractual relationship, partnerships with other stakeholders and so on”.Stakeholder group
Business
Sector of focus
Pharmaceuticals
Valuation
QuantitativeMonetary
Organizational focus
Corporate
Social and human capital issues
Access to essential servicesEmployment and remunerationHealth and safetyInclusion and diversityLabor relationsValue chain relationshipsPhysical and economic freedom of movement
Type of application
Corporate
Value chain
Upstream
Value perspective
Society
Impacts and/or dependencies
Impacts
WifOR Institute – The Social Impact of Tubeho Neza Public Health Program in Rwanda
Natural CapitalSocial and Human Capital
WifOR Institute – The Social Impact of Tubeho Neza Public Health Program in Rwanda
Rwanda
Details
The objective of this case study was to develop an assessment model for measuring the Social Impact of large-scale interventions with environmental health technologies in the context of the Tubeho Neza Program in Rwanda. The Program’s objective was to provide the means to the poorest segment of the population of Rwanda to combat two major causes of infantile mortality for children under 5 years, Diarrhoea and Acute Respiratory Infections. The interventions consisted of providing water-filters and modern cookstoves to provide clean water and improved air conditions to a population of over 1.5 million people. The motivation of this analysis was to highlight the combined impact of the interventions, by articulating the disease burden, for both patients and caregivers, and the corresponding benefit of prevention. This analytical approach could guide future similar activities and provide evidence-based insights and quantifiable macro-economic results for impacts, that could guide future actions.The key results of this analysis were the following:
o The Socioeconomic gains of the Tubeho Neza initiative are US$ 9.1 million/year that by far offset the US$ 5.6 M investment related to the intervention
o US$ 11.75 benefit per person – US$ 8.77 of avoided cost per typical household in Rwanda
o US$ 1 spent on the intervention resulted in US$ 3.1 for the society
Outcome
The approach was based on the socioeconomic assessment model that we developed for the purposes of the Tubeho Neza project, but that can also be adapted to any health-related, large-scale investment/intervention. Therefore, for our Organization, this is a methodological approach that we could adapt and apply in other research and assessment projects.Support from
Stakeholder group
Business
Sector of focus
Multi-sector
Valuation
QualitativeQuantitativeMonetary
Organizational focus
Project
Natural captital issues
Fresh waterOther air emissionsWell-being and spiritual/ethical
Social and human capital issues
Access to essential servicesEmployment and remunerationHealth and safetyInclusion and diversity
Type of application
Project
Value perspective
Society
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