TRENDS AND ISSUES IN THE WORLDOF CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY

The emerging stars of sustainability

Are Nordic companies the new stars of sustainability?

Directions Supplement

August / September 09

Welcome to the August / September special edition of the DirectionsSupplement series.

In this issue we provide a snapshot of what appearsto be an emerging strength and condence in the approaches tosustainability being adopted by Scandinavian companies – and theyalso appear to be more willing than in the past to communicate on thesubject. By highlighting the stars from around the region we have collatedtrends and areas of best practice that we feel are worth mentioning.And with COP-15 just round the corner we invited our ‘best friend’agency in Denmark, RelationsPeople, to reect on the strong socialwelfare traditions that underpin the region and take a look at theenergy sector’s experience of communications around climate change.

Sustainability is obviously not a new conceptin Scandinavia. Indeed in many of the regionscompanies have long been at the vanguardof sustainability thinking and the Nordicsustainability model resurfaces time and againas the style of capitalism that must be imitatedto help build a more sustainable future.But in our experience of working with theleading companies in the region, the approachto communications on sustainability has oftenlagged behind the reality and not really done justice to the strength of the thinking and theactual activity.There are lots of very good reasons for this:Government regulation has never really pushedthe subject; society’s relationship with businesshas tended to be fairly positive and trustrelatively high; stakeholder groups (where theyexist) have not tended to demand too muchradical action; there also seems to be a veryconsistent view that sustainability should beabout substance rst and communicationssecond (we would share this view); and thenthere is what several of our clients have referredto as the cultural trait of under-statement andmodesty – it seems Scandinavian companiesprefer not to blow their own trumpets.But in our view a lot of this is changing. Newregulations in Denmark and Norway. Increasedstakeholder activism. The transparency neededaround global supply chains. The increasedglobal access to company information affordedby the internet. Several corruption scandals.Increasing consumer awareness of issues anddecreasing consumer trust of business. Climatechange science. The nancial crisis. All of thesefactors appear to be leading Scandinaviancompanies to re-think their approach tocommunications and this is being reectedin more visibility, more transparency andgenerally more communications noise.But above all others we think there is oneparticular factor that is driving this subtle shiftin mindset – it’s the market opportunity. Thereseems to be a growing realisation that thesubstance-based approach, that has been usedup until now, means that Scandinavian companiesare well placed to reap the benets of this long-termism. They’re realising that this substance,when allied to good communications, can nowprovide competitive advantage.And those companies that aren’t spotting thisopportunity are increasingly at risk of losing out.Scandinavian companies are globallycompetitive businesses often working in highimpact sectors or innovation-based industries.They must now be at least as adept as theirpeers at engaging stakeholders around thedifcult issues they face – taking an understatedapproach will no longer do but so many arestill doing this.So it is this gap and this emerging trend thatwe want to explore. As with their much-admiredmodel of capitalism, Nordic companies havea unique opportunity to rightly stake theirclaim to being responsible leaders. Effectivesustainability communications in amultidimensional, interconnected world is acritical element to realising this advantage.So we have put some of the biggest companiesin Scandinavia under the spotlight and, lookingat what we think is great about what theyare doing to communicate their sustainabilityinitiatives, we pick out a few of the stars. Itcould be a one-off campaign, a new strategy,an issue-focused microsite, an interactive casestudy map, a unique take on grappling with thebig challenges, or a great approach to dialoguewith key stakeholders. Whatever it is that strikesus as demonstrating this new-found voice andcondence in communications.

Nigel Salter

Directorsalterbaxter

Sweden’s leading companies have, for sometime now, been amongst the best and mostvisible in the region when it comes tosustainability communications. The approachesof the leaders are equal to and in many casesexceed the effort of global peers making thiscountry stand out on the world stage.The

Volvo

online report has many entrypoints for different stakeholders, with tieredinformation where each page leads you togreater level of detail or external links. Allthe data in one scorecard at the front of the40-page report showing the useful economic,environmental, and social data. A blog frommanagers and polls on different issues arealso great features.The

Ericsson

report starts with its mostrelevant issues and these then guide thecommunications. Features include aninteractive case study map and CEO video.

Skanska

has a great ‘triple bottom line’interactive video and timeline showcasingits sustainability history.

SCA’s

communications feature an engaginglifecycle brochure. But most importantly thecompany is clear in identifying the controversialissues that are key to the business.With a Youtube style climate site containinginformation around the different stages ofthe build up to COP15,

Vattenfall

has an easyto understand map of where the businessis going. It also features many interactiveslideshow presentations around key issues,providing useful explanations of the businessimpacts and processes looking at issues suchas CSS and nuclear. Companies around theworld could learn a lot from Vatenfall’sapproach to sustainability communications.

Electrolux

engages well on individual issueswith a standalone water savings site – whichis actually a product site for an efcientdishwasher! A good example of a company withsustainability well-integrated into its approach.The

TeliaSonera

report site is well laid out andgives a good perspective of business operations.Stakeholder assessment of issues andstakeholder engagement are well presented.

H&M

takes a transparent ‘no stone unturned’approach to explaining impacts in the supplychain. The company identies the top tennon-compliance issues and individualsaccountable for achieving targets are named.The stakeholder feedback Q&A section alsoadds credibility. No doubt that this companyis a Nordic star of sustainability.

SAS

has an offset calculator which is a useful,if uninspiring tool. SAS has a good assessmentof steps the airline industry can take toreduce emissions.There’s some original thinking being donein Finland and, for the most part, Finnishcompanies are comfortable talking about theissues that they are facing. With some worldleaders based in the country and also withsome industries needing to address some ofthe most challenging global issues (forestry,nuclear energy, renewables), the approachesand the ambition being demonstrated by someof the companies show real star quality.With an integrated report and separateenvironmental brochure,

Neste Oil

displaysthat the business is aligned with environmentalchallenges. It also leads on issues such assustainable palm oil, clean diesel and vehicleemissions reductions.

Nokia

is a great example of a companycompletely integrating its sustainabilityprinciples through the development of anenvironment-focused product line called‘Power of We’. It uses an interactive CR mapto outline global initiatives across a numberof different areas e.g. disaster relief and youth.In partnership with WWF, Nokia has created ayoung online community talking about variousenvironmental issues.The highlight of

Stora Enso’s

site is the quickand easy reader survey facilitating feedback.The company takes an honest approach, forexample when talking about fatal accidents.A great sustainable forestry micro-siteand good technical data, but unfortunatelycommunications presented by

UPM-Kymmene

are a bit dry. More could also be made of the‘UPM stories’ section covering its big impactareas. And how will it start to develop itsposition on water?

Fortum

has a number of position papers aroundkey issues, such as a separate report exploringhow it ts into the climate change debate.There’s also an ambitious new strategy anddirection which bodes well for future initiativesand leadership. Lots of challenges and lots ofengagement and activity to help address them.The conversational tone adopted by the

SOK Group’s

Responsibility Review makes ita great read. And the spirit of the cooperativemovement comes through really well.The

Metsäliitto Cooperative

CR review isincorporated into its annual report. Althoughinformation presented in the report is in depth,the company could benet from consistentcommunications, making the most of online.

SwedenFinland