Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes
There is a concept in the ‘World of Sustainability’ that speaks to the evolution of a business towards becoming sustainable called the Sustainability Continuum (yes, it sounds like something from Star Trek!). I’m not sure if he coined the phrase, but it’s referenced in Bob Willard’s book, “The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-in” (New Society Publishers, 2005).
There are five stages to the Sustainability Continuum:
Stage 1 – The company is profit driven, cuts corners and tries not to get caught
Stage 2 – The company obeys laws but reacts to change when required. Sustainability is given lip service.
Stage 3 – The company moves from defense to offense. It realizes being proactive and community minded saves money and enhances reputation
Stage 4 – The company has re-branded and is committed to sustainability. Product life-cycle and stakeholder benefits are key concepts.
Stage 5 – The company has a values based commitment to building a better world and is driven to improve the well-being of the company, society and the environment
Most organizations are in the Stage 1 – 2 range; somewhere between being “unaware” of their legal obligations and assuming that awareness of legal compliance equates to being sustainable.
The organizations that “get it” are those that recognize that corporate sustainability is not an annual report; it’s not about calculating your carbon footprint; it’s not what you do well or responsibly; it’s not a message nor a campaign or a product innovation. They see sustainability as a process rather than a single event, phase, or goal. Sustainability entails constant adaptation to changing circumstances—both risks and opportunities—in communities, institutions, markets, and, of course, the global environment. Specifically, it requires a recalibration of how organizations produce an internal “good”—profitability— while aiming toward the creation of more and better public “goods” such as healthy ecosystems, thriving societies, stable nations, and productive economies.
Very few companies get to Stage 4, fewer still to Stage 5. It requires the singular vision of a charismatic leader who generates energy, creates commitment and directs the organization towards new objectives. An example of a company in this range is TOMS Shoes, who give away a pair of shoes to a child in need with every pair we buy. But this is not typical of how organizations are structured. Anyone who works with business management systems will tell you it starts with management commitment and a clear vision. Because there is no single definition of sustainability, clarity in vision is usually lacking. So the implementation process looks more like the figure above—there is an iterative process of analysis, strategy development, implementation, analysis, etc., that eventually leads to a vision. When organizations can define their vision, they have arrived at Stage 3.
Getting past Stage 3 depends largely on the vision and strategy. Rupert J. Baumgartner and Christian Zielowski describe it this way: Some organizations develop a Visionary strategy that focuses on sustainability issues within all business activities. They incorporate Sustainable Development in vision and strategy. Competitive advantages are derived from differentiation and innovation, offering stakeholders unique advantages, where, for example new “product to service solutions” are introduced. Management board has to choose the relevant strategy type and to develop the corporate sustainability strategy. Some organizations choose a Transformative Strategy that interacts with the market and tries to change market conditions actively. This strategy aims to create new market opportunities in the light of Sustainable Development.
To learn more about organizational culture and leadership requirements for sustainability, I suggest checking out the work of Edgar H. Schein.
This article was written by Glenn Keays MSc, CEA (SFM), EMS(LA), Senior Consultant, Sustainability Services, AMEC Earth & Enviornmental (www.amec.com)
A specialist in environment, natural resources and sustainability management with the Earth & Environmental division of AMEC Americas Ltd., in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Glenn has extensive experience in environmental auditing, program review and assurance; facilitation and training; carbon management strategies; development and implementation of environmental programs and management systems; and in development of strategic approaches to deal with environmental and sustainability issues. Glenn has over 20 years experience as an environmental manager and consultant, is a certified non-financial auditor, and chairs the Atlantic Chapter of the Auditing Association of Canada.
