Fringilla’s main focus is ethical investments.
Fringilla was started in 1986 to deliver consultancy services within the fields of management and computing. The name in Norwegian is bokfink, which means Chaffinch in English. In the original it also suggests books, as the Norwegian for book is bok.
2007-2010 The company participated in developing what became ISO 26000, which sets the gold standard for Social Responsibility. This was an international effort involving 100 countries.
2010 The Masters level course Cyberethics was started, partly based on ISO 26000, which included teaching on social responsibility in ethics, along with systems theory.
2012 The seminar Ethical Management was launched, addressing the need for ethics in management. From the start it was able to identify many instances of bad management due to absent or faulty ethics.
2015 Two books were published by Fringilla: firstly, Ethics, a textbook for Cyberethics which may be called Aristotle 2.0, offering as it does a significant extension to the philosopher’s earlier text on ethics. The other book, based partly on Ethics, is called Helseledelse in Norwegian and Health Management in English. Health management was selected as the theme of the second publication because it was the management ‘extreme sport’, involving as it does many variations from traditional management, for instance the idea that products are produced. Health management is a service with its own particular challenges.
2018 Ethical Management was written to establish a new management theory targeting the modern world. Its main themes are creativity, service management, Nordic management and modern governance. Ethical Management covers not only daily management, but also planning, development, quality, security, trust and ethics. Thus any tuition based on this book may need to be extensive. Modern medicine can be an inspiration, with rigorous education, good textbooks and competent teachers. Increasingly ethical investments became the main source of income for Fringilla, because of the impact of ISO 26000.
Increasingly ethical investments became the main source of income for Fringilla, because of the impact of ISO 26000.
Below are some examples of green investments, which also involve sophisticated technology:
Algeta, a Norwegian start-up, developed treatment for prostate cancer. Radium is sent to the cancer, with the purpose of killing the cancer by its radiation. Treatment is thus limited to the cancer site, thereby affecting the rest of the patient very little. Algeta was sold to Bayer for 3 billion dollars, and research continues to find a way to replace radium with a more powerful agent and to extend the treatment to all types of cancer.
Nordic Semiconductor was started by Norwegian students in 1983. It operates in all parts of the world and has won many prizes. The primary selling targets have been Bluetooth and low energy applications within the Internet of Things. In 2019 an integrated system-on-a-chip was launched and has been well received. In 2020 their strongest growth has been in health, and they participate in fighting Coronavirus.
In July 2020 their share price had increased 110% over the last 12 months.
BerGenBio is a Norwegian biotechnology firm, working mainly in cancer research. Their drug Bemcentinib strengthens the immune defence of the body and at the same time weakens the defences of the cancer. Bemcentinib was the first treatment to be included in the UK’s ACCORD programme against Coronavirus.
July 2020 their share value had increased 178% over the last 12 months.
The green fund DNB Grønt Norden increased its value by 35% in 2019.
By comparison, when we look at Norwegian industrial companies we see that Equinor fell 17% in the same period and Hydro fell 7%. This does not prove the value of ethical investment, but it is certainly an indication that it should be investigated.
Background for owner Tore Audun Høie:
Civil Engineer Heriot Watt University, Scotland; management diploma Heriot Watt University, PhD Danmarks Tekniske Universitet.
To read my CV follow this link.
