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Why
Do It?
Because
it supports commercial objectives
Experience has shown that a wide range of
benefits can arise from following a path towards sustainability.
They will be different for each organisation, but in general will
fall into the following areas:
1. Reduced operational cost.
Through more efficient processes, or even
by completely changing how things are done, e.g. saving energy reduces
fuel bills.
2. Anticipation and management of risk.
Pro-active sustainability management reduces
the chances of non-compliance with legislation, crisis incidents
and poor media coverage.
3. Better stakeholder relations.
Organisations are better able to maintain
a ‘licence to operate’ from their local communities, regulators
and other stakeholders through understanding their concerns and
acting on them. Positive relationships can also reduce costs, speed
up delivery of projects and identify additional business opportunities.
4. Greater organisation efficiency.
Productivity and organisational effectiveness
can be raised through good sustainability management. For example,
higher standards, better understanding of stakeholder needs, better
trained staff.
5. Improved recruitment and retention.
Organisations adopting sustainability approaches
find it easier to attract and retain the best staff.
6. Favourable financial access.
There are widespread moves towards including
sustainability criteria in organisational and project assessments,
be it for lending, insurance premiums or investment decisions. Organisations
with good sustainability management will be at an advantage over
their peers through lower insurance premiums, fewer liabilities
and improved access to capital.
7. Market differentiation and increased
sales.
Organisations can tap new markets, avoid
boycotts, meet increasingly stringent tender requirements and stand
out from the crowd by improving the sustainability of their products
and services.
8. Higher brand value and better reputation.
Systematic sustainability management helps
to retain and improve delicate and valuable brand equity and corporate
reputation through increased loyalty and trust from customers and
a wide range of influential stakeholders.
Because it’s the right thing to do
Few would disagree that reducing pollution,
having happy employees, or supporting local communities are desirable
goals. Yet hard-nosed corporate doctrine would hold that these are
not the business of business whose sole aim is to make money for
shareholders. As the world shrinks and multinational power grows,
it becomes increasingly clear that unless sustainability becomes
the business of business, things are unlikely to improve.
Therefore, if we aspire to the goals of sustainable development,
we must ensure that these goals are incorporated into the heart
of business. Companies can be helped along the road by changes to
the law and the fiscal environment; they can be sent strong messages
by the actions of their customers. But there remains an argument
that companies should be doing this anyway because it is the right
thing to do, and not to do it would be a flagrant disregard for
the common values that their employees, customers and even shareholders
- would profess to uphold.
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