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29 Jan 2007
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Triple Bottom Line
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Many organizations have become interested in reporting more than financial information to their stakeholders. One recognized idea is the “Triple Bottom Line.” The triple bottom line idea allows an organization, its shareholders and/or the general public, depending on the nature of the company, to look at a company’s
• financial results,
• environmental results or footprint, and
• social responsibility results.
Exemplary manufacturing companies have begun to do this (Visit the Interface Sustainability site and/or see CEO Ray Anderson’s book Mid-Course Correction ). Some companies have begun triple bottom line action and reporting because “they can do well by doing good.”
This tagline was a sub-title for the “ Business as an Agent of World Benefit ” (BAWB) conference in which I presented a paper. The conference was co-sponsored by the Academy of Management, the Case Weatherhead School of Management, and the UN Global Compact. The conference was generally focused on global sustainability issues, attended by CEOs, NGOs, and business academia.
The paper I co-authored was about sustainability of the elderly population in this country, particularly those who go hungry. Why did I participate in writing such a paper? Not because doing this good would help a little firm like us (frankly, few would even notice since we are so small). Rather, it is because it is the right thing to do. Writing the paper was a way to help focus the efforts of a not-for-profit, for which I am a Board member, and to end senior hunger by using business-based ideas like shared services to end waiting lists without additional Federal funding.
The paper was the vehicle that took me to the BAWB conference. Once there, I was greatly moved by the commitments of many global companies to make a global difference, to help out at the bottom of the pyramid, and to become energy-neutral.
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing… So, I started to ask our great staff how a little firm like ours might make a difference at our own scale.
• Environmentally speaking, we quickly became more conscious of our energy and resource use. We’re not in a line of business nor do we have the scale to do Carbon Emissions Trading—even if we wanted to. Yet one simple thing we did was look at how much paper we used last year. Even at our scale, it surprised us all. So, we started measuring and posting the results. We have a measurable goal to use less paper this year. We have improved our recycling-both in terms of breadth of what we recycle and our commitment to it.
• Social responsibility-wise, the individual staff members of our firm each contribute to many causes. As a company, we have done substantial pro bono work. But as a company we had not done organization-wide thinking and planning about these matters. These are tricky waters that run deep. As a group, how do we decide what is the right thing to do? One thing we did is we talked about it, we made a list, we voted on the list anonymously, and we have started participating in various ways. We also figured out that by giving our help away to community-based organizations that can’t afford us, we can also gain a richer understanding of social responsibility, as well as creating learning environments for both ourselves and these organizations. It’s quite a bit like a one-company version of the Seattle-based Community Consulting Project that Geoff Bellman and his colleagues have created.
My partner, Allison Gurnitz, has made a huge commitment to fundraising for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society this year, and voluntarily, we are all behind her.
We’re just starting, but it feels good. Check back on us regularly as we figure out how to report on the triple bottom line in a way that feels natural and values-based. Read the abstract to my paper, Imagine There’s No Hunger (see the link below). Then, please give us your feedback on how we can be conscious of our triple-framed impact on the world. If you are interested in reading the full paper, please email co-author Kevin Coray .
Your ideas are another way to make a difference!
Imagine Theres No Hunger-Final Abstract.doc
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| posted by Kevin Coray
at 17:26 | trackbacks [1131] |
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