The “Triple Bottom Line” (TBL) concept was first put forward by John Elkington in 1994.
The key idea
behind the Triple Bottom Line concept is – “Doing Well by Doing Good”, underlining the social role of
the corporate organization and how it can do better by focusing on its customers but also by serving
wider community and stakeholders. According to Elkington, if an organization needs to thrive in the 21st
century then it has to consider not only the profitability, but also the economic prosperity of the
community it serves, environmental issues impacting the stakeholders ecosystem, social justice, and
other equality and diversity movements.
The Triple Bottom Line concept can be broken down in three P’s – People, Profits, and Planet. It is
considered a more comprehensive approach to measure impact and success of an organization, than
just profits and returns to shareholders.
Triple Bottom Line can help Unilever to achieve:
1. Higher retention of top talent – Focusing on sustainability and corporate social responsibility
will help Unilever to retain its best talent.
2. Increased employee productivity – If the Unilever able to hire better and retain its best talent
through its social contract with the wider community using Triple Bottom Line then it will reap
the benefits of higher productivity. According to research, sustainability oriented companies
have higher productivity compare to the organizations that are not focused on social causes and
sustainability.
3. Energy efficiencies – Organizations such as Amazon, Apple, and Wal-Mart are focusing a lot of
resources to increase the energy efficiency at organizational level. Triple Bottom Line concept
can help Unilever to improve energy efficiency through process redesign, product re-design,
supply chain redesign, and sustainability efforts.
4. Water conservation – Triple Bottom Line approach can help in improving the water
conservation efforts not only at the organizational level but also at the societal levels.
5. Increased revenue and market share – According to Nielson research, 48% of the US customers
are willing to change their consumption pattern and product usage to lessen their impact on the
environment. This trend is fast gaining pace. Unilever can increase its revenue and market share
by focusing on product range that caters to environment and sustainability conscious
customers.
6. Less risk from governmental and legislative changes – Government regulatory bodies both at
Federal Level and State levels are coming under increasing pressures from active citizens to
clamp down on emissions. Triple bottom line focuses reduce the risks of government and
legislative action.
7. Reducing sourcing and material costs – According to multiple industry research, sustainability
focused sourcing not only reduces the cost of doing business but also helps the organization to
source better quality material.
8. Easier to attract investors – According to Mckinsey research, companies with high ESG score
deliver superior returns compare to competitors in medium term and long term. So focus on
Triple Bottom Line can help Unilever to attract better investors, whose focus is medium term to
long term success of the organization.
9. Reducing expense and operational costs – A common myth is that sustainability efforts are
expensive and reduce the price competitive advantage of the organization. Organizations such
as Natura Brazil, Starbucks etc has proved that sustainability efforts instead of increasing costs,
reduce the overall operational expenses. Focus on sustainability helps organization to simplify
supply chain and find reliable partners.
10. Improving recruitment - Millennial workforce is one of the most social conscious generation and
it will help Unilever to attract better talent by focusing on Triple Bottom Line factors such as
environmental factors, work force diversity, climate change etc.
11. Reduced risk and easier financing - Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics are
often used to determine how ethical and sustainable an organization is. According to McKinsey,
companies with high ESG ratings consistently outperform the market. So triple bottom line led
approach help organizations to reduce risks and attract investments in medium to long term.
12. Reusing and recycling – TBL can help Unilever to build processes that will encourage reusing and
recycling not only in its internal processes but also at the customers’ end.
13. Improved waste handling – TBL focus can help Unilever to improve its waste handling
processes. This will not only reduce the cost of operations for the local government but also
help the organization to build sustainable reuse and recycling program.
14. Redesign of operations – Triple bottom line efforts can lead to redesign of operations. For
example Natura not only focused on organic products, it also got out of product category that
are highly dependent on chemicals.
