Let’s get critical….

• Brainstorm the ways

organisations might:
• Maintain and enhance natural
capital
• Enhance its human capital
• Enhance social capital
• Enhance manufacturing capital
• Enhance financial capital
Corporate sustainability - mod
What does sustainability look like?
1. Ethics
2. Governance
3. Transparency
4. Business relationships
5. Financial return
6. Community involvement/ economic development
7. Value of products/services
8. Employment practices
9. Protection of environment
• Use the handout to consider what indicators you would put under
each one?
Sustainability success
• For sustainability to be long-lasting and useful, it must be
representative of and integrated into day-to-day corporate activities
and corporate performance.
• Must be inclusive; of opinions, thoughts and people
• Must generate long-term value and not be just a PR exercise; this can
even be a value destroyer.
• Organisations must integrate sustainability into business decisions;
identify, measure, and report (both internally and externally) the
present and future impacts of products, services, processes, and
activities.
Corporate sustainability
Incorporates four strands…..
1. Sustainable development: broader concept developed to address
issues arising from the pursuit of purely economic growth (SDG’s)
2. Corporate social responsibility: role of business in society and
ethical responsibility to consider and address needs of society not
just shareholders of business (Social contract theory)
3. Stakeholder theory: moved beyond shareholders to consider all
stakeholders in a business. Arguably, if this is pursued then
sustainability will be a natural outcome. Problem?
4. Corporate accountability: transparency and need to account for
performance (good and bad). Often focused on relationship between
company and shareholders.
Stakeholders
• Find your stakeholder map from last week?
• Who were the stakeholders of your company?
• What did you define as their objectives/wants/needs/demands?
• Do they all align or are there potential conflicts?
 Wider

context
context
Internal

Business
Inputs

resources
environment

Human/financial
Leadership
Process

Sustainability strategy, structure and

systems, programmes and actions
2

Sustainability performance:
Public image, employee hiring, customer
reactions, market share
Outputs

Stakeholder reactions
3

Long term financial performance

Corporate sustainability model (Epstein and Buhovac, 2017: 30)
Outcomes

loop
Feedback
Understanding the model - Inputs
• Influence and pressures of external or wider environment on
sustainability choices and strategy – examples?
• Internally, the impact of each business unit (marketing, operations
etc) on sustainability – are they all integrated into a single policy?
• The financial and human resources available to drive sustainability –
such as?
• The business context; the industry in which the business operates will
often drive focus of sustainability – where might mining/ oil
companies focus their sustainability strategy?
Understanding the model - Leadership
• Top down approach to sustainability driven by leaders
• How CS strategy is communicated throughout organisation
• Knowledge and awareness of senior executives
• Commitment of board should filter down to employees
• Unknowledgeable leaders = lack of communication to team
• Are there any councils/groups/workshops that facilitate
sustainability?
Understanding the model - CS strategy
• Guided by current legislation and standards for industry
• Any Government recommendations?
• Funding opportunities
• SDG’s(The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were
adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end
poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.)
• Global principles for industry; fragmented and no single cohesive format
• Modern slavery
• Animal welfare
• Child labour
• Environmental standards
• Global or local strategy?
Understanding the model – Sustainability
structure
• How is CS developed and controlled?
• Whose responsibility is it?
• Often separated: HR – labour, Operations – environment, legal –
responsibility
• Must be an integrated approach
Understanding the model – Sustainability
systems and actions
• How is information logged? Data gathered? Impacts assessed?
• ISO 14001 EMS (environmental management system)
• GRI standards for reporting
• Internal actions:
• Lifecycle analysis (next week)
• Environment/social practice audits
• Employee volunteer programs
• Training and development of employees
• Labour practices and benefits
• External actions
• Philanthropy
• Community outreach
• Supplier certification
• Supplier audits
• Public reporting for performance
• Are these communicated to stakeholders? Marketing comms?
Understanding the model - performance
• Company actions have impacts- negative and positive
• Environmental and social indicators broader and more difficult to quantify;
less tangible than financial performance
• Reduce negative impacts, increase positive impacts or combination of both
• Can be output or outcome – why?
• Demonstrate measurement of sustainability performance and its
effectiveness
• Recognise impacts the organisation makes
• Determine how the organisation can improve contribution to environ,
society, economy as well as to the organisation itself
Understanding the model – stakeholder
reaction
• Why is this important?
• How might the following stakeholders show their reaction?
• Customers
• Loyalty/boycott
• Employees
• Retention/commitment/productivity/motivation
• Regulators/communities
• Increase/decrease regulation
• Monitoring/enforcement based on performance
• Shareholders
• Determine level of investment
• Decisions may be based on CS performance
Financial performance
• Use the triple line to boost the bottom line
• Consumers want organisations to be more sustainable; reputation
• More conscious consumers; growth in sales of fair trade products,
demand for less packaging, products made from recycled material
(Baram, 2019)
• Customers willing to switch to brands with strong social commitment
• Green marketing opportunities
• Cause-related marketing
• Reduce operating costs – how?
• Choose a company and map out all the ways they could/have saved
money through CS
Feedback loop
• Why is feedback important to the process?
• How does this model reflect the pillars of sustainability?
• Which section(s) would relate to the principles of sustainability?
• Where would you use the SDGs in this model?
• Are there any criticisms to the model you can think of?
References
• Baram, C. (2019) ‘Are shoppers dreaming of a green Christmas?’ [online] Available
at: Mintel https://academic.mintel.com/display/990834/?highlight (Accessed 23rd
January 2020)
• Epstein, M.J. and Buhovac, A. R. (2017) Making Sustainability Work, Best Practices
in Managing and Measuring Corporate Social, Environmental and Economic
Impacts. 2nd Edn. London: Routledge
• Epstein, M.J and Roy, M.J. (2003) Improving Sustainability Performance: Specifying,
Implementing, and Measuring Key Principles, Journal of General Management,
29(1), ,p.15-31
• Epstein, M.J. and Roy, M.J. (2003) Making the Business Case for Sustainability:
Linking Social and Environmental Actions to Financial Performance, Journal of
Corporate Citizenship, 9(Spring), p.79-97