The Triple Bottom Line Blog

A recent article in ScienceAlert argued very persuasively that CSR should not be simply a communications function, but should be “be seen as an embodiment of the organisation’s culture and values and be embedded in all operations.” Quite true.

In my experience, however, it is very difficult to add a CSR perspective to a large corporation. Not impossible, of course, but extremely difficult. If you’ve ever been involved in such an effort, I suspect you know what I mean – and it would be interesting to see your thoughts in comments below.

All too often, once a CEO or management team has taken the significant step of realizing that it is in the company’s interests to focus on environmental and social impacts, the temptation is to “add on” a CSR competency. This might take the form of hiring a CSR manager, writing up a CSR strategy, devoting funds to CSR activities, and so on. All of them good and necessary steps – but insufficient for the real task at hand: the integration of a sustainability mindset into all of the company’s normal operations.

Sounds simple, right? Just remember to integrate CSR into business operations, and voila! You’re all set! Not so. Here are some common problems companies can face:

• Denial – if you’ve been working for a company very long, as have many key decision-makers at any firm, you’ve probably come to see what you do as right and just. If it weren’t, you wouldn’t be doing it, would you? But there’s a concept you might remember from Psych 101 called “cognitive dissonance” and it says, essentially, that people abhor contradictions. If they run across one, they find a way to get rid of it. Someone who thinks, I am a good person, and yet acts unethically, will resolve that disconnect somehow – if not by changing their actions than by changing their perception of those actions.
  
  In the corporate world, we often feel we don’t have a choice about certain decisions; over the long run, it is easy to start assuming they are right, because if we questioned our impact on the world every day, it might be hard to live with ourselves. As a result, many experienced managers find it extremely difficult to look objectively at what they’ve been doing for the past 20 years, and ask themselves if they’ve been having a negative impact on the world. Asking them to do so goes against our very nature, and puts them in a tough spot both professionally and emotionally.
• Dispersed responsibility – Let’s say that everyone in a given company has been sufficiently convinced that CSR needs to become a higher priority. Now, a common trap is: Great idea, but it’s not my job. In other words, it’s difficult for managers and employees to see the relevance of a new CSR focus on their own day-to-day decision making.

For example, those who source contractors still look at the same list of criteria, price being primary; those who design marketing materials still have the same single goal of selling more stuff; those who hire new employees are still buried so deep under a pile of applications without the time, never mind the authority, to work on making current employees happier.

Somehow, each and every one of these people needs to accept that CSR is his or her job, and to think about how that relates to his or her specific job description. Employees should become better able to recognize their impact, and be empowered (and budgeted!) to make socially-responsible decisions.

• Core activities – if your basic business model is to blame for a less-than-stellar footprint, and if you’ve managed to admit this to yourself, what to do next? Some companies have managed to reinvent themselves.

For example, BP re-branded itself as “Beyond Petroleum” and has begun investing in clean energy technology. Landfill companies have begun to re-shape themselves as waste-management companies, with an emphasis on waste reduction and recycling. International Paper has taken on major forestry initiatives, creating biodiverse ecosystems that recreational users help maintain.

The important thing is to see whatever problems your industry has as an opportunity to do better, and to carve out a role in solving those problems – by providing cleaner energy, less waste, more trees, and so on.

These are only a few of the stumbling blocks I’ve noticed on the path to sustainability; I’m certain there are more. But keep in mind, not every company faces them equally:

• Some firms, especially in recent years, began their existence with a triple-bottom-line focus, and built that into every process from the ground up.
• Other firms are small, or closely held, and can therefore change themselves more quickly than their larger and publicly-held counterparts.
• Still others have been motivated by a reputational crisis, which can act as a blessing in disguise by breaking through denial and opening the coffers – helping, in the end, to focus a significant amount of energy on making things right.

So if your firm finds it difficult to push sustainability into every nook and cranny of your operations, just keep this in mind: it may be a Herculean effort for you, but it may be much easier for some of your competitors. As survey after survey tells us, sustainability is a growth industry right now, and you’ll want to be out ahead of the curve.

Labels: BP, International Paper, Management and Organization