Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing: Doing Good to Do Well

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has been a litmus test for old-style shareholder capitalism. As the world emerges from the tyranny of the virus, new standards of organizational behaviors will be expected: one where humankind demands that organizations fulfill a broader purpose and has at its center enhancing societal value and contribution. The environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors of the organizations now become important yardsticks of measuring a resilient organization, and therefore, a sustainable society. Gone are the days when what was good for business, was good for the society. A new frame is evolving which inverses the proposition, i.e., what is good for the society is good for business. ESG is that new frame. The article explores this paradigm shift in thinking. It explores academic literature on the evolution of ESG investing, illustrating its application in one organization as a case study Unilever and then addressing important ways of measuring ESG. The article concludes with challenges that ESG faces today and in moving forward. Overall , the objective of the article is to provide a short synthesis of the evolution of ESG as an important new organizational success measure demanded by the society, particularly due to experience of the pandemic and related crises during 2020.