Sustainability As a Business Operating System

www.cesjournal.com Sustainability as a Business Operating System netLogex Sustainability as a Business Operating System W illiam R. Blackburn Sustainable development is an engaging concept. Who can disagree with the notion that economic and natural resources should be managed wisely and that people and other living things should be re- spected? The problem comes in the practical implementation of the concept within a corporate setting. The key is an enterprise-wide sustainability operating system or SOS. By using an SOS, one can sort through the broad array of options for action, evaluating each against sustainability trends as well as business risks and opportunities, to identify those efforts that will provide the greatest business value. This article describes this process and the elements that will help assure its success within a company. The introduction of the SOS changes the business case for sustainability that many have found so elusive. Now the issue is the business case for a process that finds for each company the most valuable actions that they can take in furtherance of sustainability. © 2005 William R. Blackburn Published by NetLogex, LLC. With permission. William R. Blackburn is president, W illiam stronger and more competitive. It can Blackburn Consulting, Ltd., and formerly vice strengthen risk management, compliance, president and chief counsel, Corporate Envi- productivity and credibility. It can help the ronment Health and Safety at Baxter Interna- firm avoid many problems of the past and tional Inc. seize new opportunities for the future. In Corresponding Author: William R. Blackburn, William short, it can become part of the lifeblood of Blackburn Consulting, Ltd., Long Grove, IL; phone: 1 847 the company that continues to contribute in 530 4014; e-mail: mailto:[email protected]; good times and bad. W hile the benefit of a website: http://www.blackburnconsulting.com. sustainability operating system — let us call it an “SOS” for the help that it brings — will vary from company to company, all who Introduction make a serious effort to implement one should find the effort well worth the invest- business cannot guarantee its success ment. merely by adopting a sustainability initiative. This is particularly true of The value of an SOS is at the heart of the A business case supporting the drive toward sus- the company that sees sustainability only as a reputation enhancer to be splashed around in tainability. Much has been written about this promotional puffery. Shallow sustainability elusive case, the Holy Grail of social activists. programs of this type don’t last. If used as The problem is that pursuing sustainability is the foundation of a business operating system, not just about going after one thing but many however, sustainability can make a business things, each with a different priority and busi- William R. Blackburn 1 Corporate Environmental Strategy: International Journal for Sustainable Business Vol. 12, Issue 2 (February 2005) ISSN 1066-7938 © 2005 William R. Blackburn Published by NetLogex, LLC., with permission. Sustainability as a Business Operating System ness justification. For example, reducing shakers of the company and to form a core waste for the purpose of cutting cost — team to move the idea forward. something with visible short- and long-term Once the organization decides to implement financial benefits — is almost always more an SOS, a team leader must be identified who attractive to a business than advancing biodi- can coordinate and facilitate the companywide versity. It is hopeless to search for overarch- efforts. The leader may or may not be the ing arguments supporting an aggressive ad- champion. W hoever is selected must be vancement on all sustainability topics. In- trusted by the group; be process- and goal- stead, one must first define a process like an oriented; possess good communication, col- SOS, which enables a company to comb laboration and organizational skills; and have through the topics, applying evaluation criteria the extra time to lead this initiative. The to determine which deserve attention and leader must assure the right people are on the which do not. In other words, with an SOS, teams, that their roles are clear and that the you have a way of examining the business case teams are making adequate progress. She for sustainability on a topic-by-topic basis must ensure sustainability efforts are geared to from the unique viewpoint of each company. available resources and vice versa, and seek Since the business case is concerned not only help from superiors if necessary to achieve with economic advantage but also with legal this balance. The leader should consider re- compliance and other risks, an SOS should be cruiting an executive sponsor from the CEO’s within every business attorney’s toolbox. staff if needed for this purpose, and for use as An SOS comprises a number of elements, the an occasional sounding board and coach. most important of which can be grouped in The second driver is the approach for selling man- drivers, four categories: (1) the which assure agement on sustainability. The champion will the organization is continually motivated to need this to be successful. The leader will efficient en- drive toward sustainability; (2) the need it to maintain support for the SOS. Sev- ablers , which enable the organization to under- eral things should go into this sales pitch. take its sustainability efforts in a logical, coor- dinated, and efficient way; (3) the pathway ele- First, the sales approach must offer a vision ments, which map the path toward sustain- for moving the company toward sustainabil- ability; and (4) the evaluators needed to gauge ity. To make that jump most engaging, the the organization’s progress toward sustainabil- salesperson should try to link sustainability to ity and permit it to make appropriate adjust- any vision and values the company may have ments along the way. Let us examine each in already proclaimed. Unfortunately, the con- some detail. cept of sustainability is not easy to grasp. Companies that try to use the term internally The Drivers often shift to other terms, like global corporate citizenship, corporate responsibility or A key driver is the champion/leader. The cham- corporate social responsibility which seem pion is the person within the organization easier to grasp. The problem, though, is that who brings forward the idea of a sustainability sustainability and sustainable development business agenda and starts things moving. continue to be the words used by govern- Champions can come from nearly anywhere ments, investors, activists and other stake- in the organization. They are the inspired true holders. So while other terms may be used believers, the people with the insight that sus- with employees, the concept of sustainability tainability is vital to the company’s and soci- should not be ignored. For this purpose, sus- ety’s long-term success. Their main task is to tainability can be defined using one of the gain other converts among the movers and common definitions which in one way or an- 2 William R. Blackburn Corporate Environmental Strategy: International Journal for Sustainable Business Vol. 12, Issue 2 (February 2005) ISSN 1066-7938 © 2005 William R. Blackburn Published by NetLogex, LLC, with permission Sustainability as a Business Operating System other refer to the wise use of natural and fi- enlightening if they show how sustainability nancial resources and respect for people and helped secure a business advantage or how other living things, all for the purpose of the lack of attention to sustainability led to achieving global long-term well being. Ulti- failure. To boost credibility, the salesperson mately, sustainability must be presented using must acknowledge that many successful com- a definition that is more meaningful to the panies do not openly embrace sustainability. company. That practical definition can take Fourth, the sales pitch should discuss the the form of a sustainability policy. Ideas for challenges and opportunities that current sus- such a policy can be obtained from the ap- tainability trends may pose for the organiza- SD Planner pendix of the ™ published by the tion. Trends on population, pollution, re- Global Environmental Management Initiative 1 source depletion, biodiversity, globalization, (GEMI) or by reviewing the model sustain- socially responsible investing, extended pro- ability policy found in my forthcoming book, ducer responsibility, poverty, health, educa- The Sustainability Handbook for Business , to be tion, governance, human rights and other sus- published by the Environmental Law Insti- 2 tainability topics may be obtained from a tute. number of books, including: W hich W orld: Second, the sustainability salesperson must Scenarios for the 21st Century;7 Tomorrow’s Mar- introduce the idea of achieving sustainability kets;8 Vital Signs;9 and my Sustainability Hand- through an SOS. She must discuss its ele- book. Legal experts can contribute regulatory ments, talk about the time and money the ef- and enforcement trends concerning many of fort may take. For companies where re- these topics. If the company has already en- sources are tight, the plan should initially be gaged in some sustainability reporting, these modest, relying on existing resources as much reports may be a good starting point for this as possible. Resource needs can be reassessed discussion since they show how sustainability later as progress is made and the value of the already applies to the company. effort becomes more apparent. Finally, the advocates should use the language Third, sales effort should articulate the busi- of business. They should talk of conducting ness case for pursuing an SOS. Information an enterprise-wide risk and opportunity as- on how to do that can be obtained from sev- sessment, protecting assets and investments, eral web sites, such as those of GEMI, the responding to the growing interest of inves- W orld Business Council for Sustainable De- tors, strengthening brands, and building velopment (W BCSD),3 Business for Social credibility with key constituents.

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