The purpose-driven approach to covid19 crisis

When the hidden enemy targets all indiscriminately, we need a collective approach. Business consultant Dr Axel Kravatzky talks about why Covax might still be the best idea against covid19.

When UN Secretary-General António Guterres confirmed that more than 82 per cent of the world's vaccine doses had gone to affluent countries, he restated an earlier assertion that “no one will be safe until everyone is safe” – a reminder of just how interconnected human wellbeing is.

We are far from the breakthrough needed, having shipped only 90 million doses through the Covax facility to 133 countries and 42 million doses donated.

By the end of 2021, the Covax facility, the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation, is expected to have two billion doses ready for delivery in 190 countries. The overall vaccine production capacity is expected to rise sharply from approximately 13.5 billion in 2021 to about 43.5 billion doses in 2022.

The Covax facility, a broad partnership, was developed under the leadership of Gavi, a public-private alliance, with core partners the WHO, UNICEF, the World Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

This experience has shown that such collaborations require a lot of work and complex governance to agree on solutions and even then, co-operation is not always very stable. Covax was indeed developed on an all-for-one-and-one-for-all approach for defeating the pandemic; it relied on all countries, including the higher-income countries, purchasing significant amounts of vaccines through the facility. In unity, there is strength.

The generally agreed target was that Covax would provide sufficient vaccines for 20 per cent of the population in lower-income countries. That is far from the widely used estimate of at least 70 per cent population immunisation, the requirement to achieve herd immunity.

But even the 20 per cent were put at risk. Three dozen countries bypassed the facility and made huge bilateral deals with the manufacturers – thereby literally clearing the shelves. By August 2020, the US had entered into seven bilateral deals with six companies for 800 million doses, enough to vaccinate 140 per cent of its population.

Not much later, the EU followed with two deals for 500 million doses, and the UK had entered into five deals, securing 270 million doses, enough for 225 per cent of the UK population.

Fighting a pandemic can only be overcome by collective, integrated efforts. Isn't it time for rich and poor, private and public, to innovate further and find robust ways of working together to better all? Because until we find more ways to bring equitable support to deal with pandemics and other global threats, we fight a losing battle.

The solution is to ensure that all organisations, including corporations, put their true purpose at their core. Purpose-driven organisations act differently, since they focus on the ultimate wellbeing, the health and welfare of the planet and its people. Yet they remain astoundingly profitable.

Contrary to the public commitments and declarations of governments and companies, the process of distributing vaccines has resulted in outrageous inequity. It will be very interesting when the details of the contracts that these corporations signed in bilateral agreements with governments, especially the export restrictions (not only of ready-made vaccines but the vital materials for the production of vaccines) that were imposed in the US, Europe, and beyond, emerge.

This is not only a case of political vaccine nationalism but also one of bad corporate governance. Strive Masiyiwa, African Union special envoy to the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (AVATT), highlights this, based on the meetings he had with all vaccine manufacturers in December 2020, in which they told him that all the production capacity for 2021 had been already sold to the few who used their economic power to muscle their way to the front of the line, while others, who also wanted to buy, were persuaded and kept out of a bilateral zero-sum race. Their alternative was to be the joined-up route through the Covax facility.

Many of the pharmaceutical company websites speak of their commitment to equity and health for all.

But, asks Mr Masiyiwa, “How can a board of directors think such decisions are moral? To knowingly sell, or buy, the entire production capacity and leave 500,000 for a continent of 1.3 billion people?”

Simply put, purposeful organisations, at their core, always keep their focus on making one or more of these wellbeing aspects of our lives “better” by working to find ways that also generate returns, surpluses, and profit. Governments must also be purposeful by working to make the lives of citizens better in fundamental and longer-term ways, and not give in to short-term populism that may win the next election but at great longer-term costs, which may undermine not only the natural capital base but of trust and other social capital.

In considering the current crisis over the inequitable distribution of covid19 vaccines, the purpose-driven approach will find more innovative, integrated, and equitable solutions for vaccination instead of organisations that do not exercise ethical leadership themselves, and having companies and governments that focus on those who can pay or serve only their direct and immediate constituents.

Current approaches to building an organisation’s identity have given more guidance on the role of mission, vision, and values. These concepts, however, do not in and of themselves always create a clear path to identify, define or fulfil a purpose that includes the health and wellbeing of the planet and its people.

Organisations need a systematic way to determine and articulate their purpose and this includes but goes beyond the intermediary goals of the profit, surplus, and growth generated from selling goods or services. The focus and the starting point is and needs to be the “why” behind the production and selling of goods and services.

Information and consultation provided by Richard Ramdial, Mark Stephens, Axel Kravatzky, Syntegra-ESG.

Dr Axel Kravatzky is managing partner of Syntegra-ESG LLC, vice-chair of ISO/TC309 Governance of organizations, and the co-convenor and editor of ISO 37000 Governance of organizations – Guidance.   Disclaimer: the views presented are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of any of the organizations he is associated with.  

Comments and feedback that further the regional dialogue are welcome at axel.kravatzky@syntegra-esg.com