Editor’s note: Sustainable consumption is one of the topics to be featured at the upcoming BSR conference in New York. This blog is part two of a two-part discussion. The first is available here.
How can sustainability play a meaningful role in a business world that caters to a rather base goal to «deliver what people want»? In short — by seeing the reality as an opportunity.
Here, we continue with the second half of this deceptively simple equation: understanding what people want and then delivering it to them.
Want
One rule that economists have figured out is the principle of rising expectations. Once people have something — take the internet, for example — they typically and rather quickly want more, such as access on their phone or on a plane. Or as Pete Townsend of The Who exclaims in «Magic Bus« — «I want it, I want it, I want it!»
Sustainability planners have an opportunity here as well. In China, for example, a rising middle class increasingly wants healthy food and air and is willing to pay for what they want. In the U.S., the success of Whole Foods and Patagonia demonstrate the strength of the demands of «sustainable» consumers. At its root, want is fundamentally a term of value. To the extent CSOs can demonstrate that people legitimately want a car that goes further without refueling or food that is healthy or technology that benefits the community, then they have integrated sustainable principles into the core business model.
Our last link in the chain represents the «how» – everything from organizational structure and workflow to the lifecycle of product delivery, including supply chain, transport, sales and re-use where possible. Here, sustainable principles, from improved factory labor practices that raise staff morale, retention and productivity to increased fuel efficiency in freight transport, have tremendous opportunities for impact.
To the extent that sustainability helps to connect production with people, and services with consumers, it also serves as a lever that can transform the short-term consumer model to a longer-term relationship model, where businesses foster loyalty to employees and the general public. Yet at the organizational level, sustainable business is often on the outside looking in. Sustainability functions are often relegated to the public affairs department or are confined to EHS compliance and reporting roles. While both functions are important, such placement is self-limiting. It prevents sustainability from fulfilling its natural role in business resource planning, corporate branding, and the rebuilding of employee and consumer loyalty that is critical to long term business success.
In sum, speaking simply helps to ensure we are talking about the same things, which is not always easy when a green-heart speaks to an accountant. To the extent that CEOs, CFOs, and CSOs can align on the best way to deliver what people want, we will be able to integrate sustainable business practices with long-term business success. The key is to position each — from program planning to product delivery — in a way to achieve that success.
Source / Fuente: greenbiz.com
Author / Autor: Steve McCoy-Thompson
Date / Fecha: 02/10/12
Visit our Facebook / Visite nuestro Facebook:
Visit our YouTube channel / Visite nuestro canal de YouTube:
Sostenibilidad y Negocios 