The new specification — PAS 220 — is intended to work in conjunction with the ISO22000 global standard for food safety. it looks at harmonizing and extending existing procedures for managing these processes.

The PAS 220 covers input areas such as manufacturing site layouts, water and energy use, and prevention of cross-contamination as well as output issues such as bioterrorism, food defense, and product-recall procedures.

With recent food safety scares (many from China) still fresh in consumers’ minds, the PAS 220 is well-placed to be the next logical step in assuring them of what they are eating and how it has been produced.

A recent McKinsey Quarterly report, entitled “Reassessing China’s state-owned enterprises“, talks about an emerging new paradigm for judging Chinese businesses. In the authors’ words, “openness, not ownership, is key.” Rather than using a business’ ownership structure as the prima facie evaluative tool, a company’s openness — in terms of its partnerships, hiring practices, supply chain management, and R&D spending — are the new crucibles for competitiveness. In other words, the speed and ease of adaptability to changing conditions is paramount.

Another article in the Financial Times discusses how China is now the global leader, ahead of both the US and Japan, in terms of the number of patents being issued to companies (700,000 last year alone, and more than quadruple 2000 numbers).

Will budding interest in intellectual property rights create increased accountability in a marketplace notorious for piracy? And more importantly, as the McKinsey report suggests, does this even matter in such a fast-paced economy where the threat of obsolescence could be replacing the threat of piracy?

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The presentation describes a move from brand opacity (obscuring knowledge, to build brand premiums) through translucency (offering sneak peeks to support brand story telling), to fully-fledged transparency (a free and open information exchange with stakeholders).

The end-point is both inevitable, and very scary to many brand owners. In an age of transparency, deeply-held marketing notions like trust, reputation and even relationships will be increasingly outdated. Control and persuasion are replaced by influence and conversation, working on behalf of the individual – social communication, in other words.

For brands that wish to survive in the era of transparency:

The drive to secure Trust will be replaced by an instinct to be Trustworthy.

The drive to manage Reputation will be replaced by an instinct to manage Brand Integrity.

The drive to own Relationships will be replaced by an instinct to enable stakeholders to make better Decisions.

And finally, the use of stakeholder engagement as a prop for CSR reporting will be replaced by genuine Stakeholder Collaboration around issues of both material and mutual concern…

Managing the transition from opacity through translucency to eventual transparency requires careful navigation, with high levels of engagement. Transparency age brands needs Brand Assurance Programmes that go beyond celebrity endorsement and CSR reports.

Brand assurance requires an almost geological approach to brand analysis, understanding the tectonic shifts displacing your brand positioning and the stakeholder geopolitics that will shape your room for manoeuvre. In the age of transparency brand management increasingly resembles ’stakecraft’.

PS. I’ve blogged a little more on the evolution of Brand Assurance and BAPs over at timkitchin.com, for those with deeper interest in protecting their brand integrity. For anyone who wants to understand the connections to technology and social media, see my brief explanation at Right Side Up.

These social issues — such as child labour practice, minimum wage rates, and working conditions and hours — affect the values underpinning the clothing’s brand, which in turn represents the consumer herself.

Supply chain issues are complex and can require huge resources to manage successfully. Multinationals like the Gap (in India) and Mattel (in China) have faced accusations of late for ethically questionable or sub-standard work from suppliers.

As global flows of information and demands for transparency continue to increase (80% of Brits still think retailers are not doing enough on the CSR front), premium brands may be able to differentiate themselves further form competitors but must also build the necessary infrastructure to monitor, control, and report on their ethical credentials if they hope to substantiate their premium prices.

The issue of measuring carbon footprints throughout the supply chain was the topic of discussion at a recent conference hosted by Glasshouse client Lloyd’s Register. Many participants focused on the fact that what is measurable can be managed; however, they also stressed the difficulty of accurately determining their impact comprehensively while maintaining the competitiveness of their offering.

It will also be interesting to see whether these standards will be able to actually shift business behaviour and consumer decision-making in addition to creating a measurable system which can be uniformly certified.

High-level officials in the central government are known for being hyper-aware of the personal legacy which their administration will leave. For Deng Xiaoping, it was launching economic reforms and opening to the west; for Jiang Zemin, it was single-mindedly driving these economic reforms at almost any cost. The current fourth-generation leaders, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen, the legacy which already appears to be surfacing is one seeking a more sustainable, environmentally-compatible form of economic growth. Urban-rural inequality in China is one of the world’s worst, and the countryside has seen little of the economic benefit which coastal cities have (Some say they are even worse off as basic education and health care provision have withered away after market reforms).

Because local officials are largely responsible for overseeing their own local development, they are incentivised simply to produce high levels of economic growth (which equates to more taxes for their area, more bribes, and quicker personal promotions up the party ranks). Because non-financial metrics have not been incorporated into these incentive structures nor have they been sufficiently institutionalised in the rule of law, environmental and social factors have largely been ignored.

All things considered, the government has closed ranks well in order to cover up these oversights up to now. (When I was living in Beijing in the summer of 2001, they famously shut down all the factories before the Olympic Committee visit and spray painted the grass green to reduce the feeling of pollution in the capital.)

Nonetheless, as the Chinese economy deepens and the demands for supply chain transparency increase around the world, Chinese leaders and businesses will face pressing challenges in incorporating sustainability metrics into the country’s future path of growth.