LECTURE 7:

ST R AT E G I C R E S P O N S E S
TO S U STA I N A B I L I T Y

Nguyen Hong Hanh (PhD.)

Yeah, you need to set safety goals, but you can’t set goals,
but you can’t set goals that are ridiculous.

You can’t set a goal of cutting your accident rate by 75%

in two years, because people will just ignore it
 If you don’t set stretch goals, people won’t really work
hard, and they’ll say Alcoa doesn’t really care if we injure
300 people a year because that’s just the way life is.
 You cannot plan to kill three
people a year because you
killed four people last year and
you want to get a little better.

And you can’t plan to have a

thousand people going to
medical centres in Alcoa’s
plants.

SO THE GOAL IS ZERO.

I AM OF THE ZERO FATALITIES.
O P I N I O N T H AT ZERO LOST WORK DAYS.
ZERO IS THE RIGHT ZERO INJURIES.
ZERO REPORTABLE INCIDENTS.
NUMBER.
WHICH MECHANISMS DO BUSINESSES USE WHEN THEY’RE
SEEKING TO EMBED SUSTAINABILITY IN THEIR STRATEGIES
AND PRACTICES?

- Organisational ethics programs

- Corporate social responsibility

- Market-based environmentalism
 • A combination of tools, policies, and
procedures aimed at controlling
or guiding the behavior of
organizational members around
matters of ethics
• Elements of ethic programs:
O R G A N I S AT I O N A L
- Written standards or codes of
ETHICS PROGRAMS
conduct
- Ethics training

- Ethics advice

- Anonymous reporting system

 • Johnson & Johnson: Ethical Credo

“ We believe our first responsibility is

to the doctors, nurses and patients, to
EMERGENCE OF mothers and fathers…”
O R G A N I S AT I O N A L
“We are responsible to our
ETHICS PROGRAMS
employees…”
“We are responsible to the
communities in which we live and
work and to the world community as
well.”
 “WE MUST BE GOOD CITIZENS…”
“OUR FINAL RESPONSIBILITY IS TO OUR
STOCKHOLDERS….”
FO R M U L AT I N G E T H I CA L ST R AT E GY
TYPES OF ETHICS PROGRAMS

• VALUE-BASED PROGRAMS: are those that seek to define

general organization ethical values or aspirations and
encourage employees to identify with these.
• COMPLIANCED-BASED PROGRAMS: focus on detecting
and punishing violations of the code or law

• Members’ belief in the genuineness or otherwise of top

management's commitment to the ethics program
EXPLORING FUTHER RESOURCES

Value and Integrity in:

- Corporate
- Non-profit organization

- Government
C O R P O R AT E S O C I A L R E S P O N S I B I L I T Y ( C S R )

“A range of voluntary measures strategically undertaken by

corporations, to reassure the wider community that business
can be trusted, to look after social and environmental interests
without further regulatory intervention”
 EMERGENCE OF CSR
AND/OR CORPORATE
PHILANTHROPY

• 1890s-1910s: Legitimacy
crisis
EMERGENCE OF CSR
AND/OR CORPORATE
PHILANTHROPY

• 1930-1940
 FO R M U L AT I N G A C S R
ST R AT E GY

- Defensive CSR:

+ Defusing issues
+ Deflect unwanted
attention
+ Lobbying or public
relations
 • Offensive CSR

FO R M U L AT I N G - Can do a lot more

A CSR - Expertise
ST R AT E GY - Resources

- Capabilities
 PROACTIVE CSR

PICKING THE RIGHT ESTABLISING DEPLOYING THE WORKING IN CROSS-

ISSUE CONCRETE GOALS AND COMPANY’S KEY SECTORAL
REPORTING PROGRESS ASSETS PARTNERSHIPS
 • Market opportunities for businesses that
embrace more environmentally sustainable
green practices

- Significant money to be saved

- Significant money to be made

MARKET-BASED - Provide your customers with a competitive

ENVIRONMENTALISM edge
- Sustainability can be a point of
differentiation

- You can shape the future of your industry

- You can become preferred researcher

- You can change your image and brand