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  • 1.  Sustainability as Strategy

    Posted 02-24-2010 11:22

    Bruce...let me guess, your dean comes from finance or accounting?...smile

     

    As a start, show him Porter and Kramer's award-winning HBR article (12/2006), "Strategy and Society: Competitive Advantage and CSR."  When the venerable Dr. Porter admits that CSR is more than just a necessary component of a firm's strategy you know things are changing.

     

    I use Werther and Chandler's "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility" (2nd edition coming out soon) along with a number of supplemental articles and cases in my strategic management class quite successfully. Historically, because textbook content tends to lag industry practice and academic research by at least 3-4 years (often more like 6-8), I expect to see mainstream strategy books incorporating stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility substantially in the coming years. Help him to see that this is the way the field is moving and that you want your COB to be on the cutting edge not lagging behind. If he needs more practical examples, show him all the stuff being written about WalMart and their "conversion" (of course, being a skeptic it may just be greenwashing).

     

    Dale



  • 2.  Sustainability as Strategy

    Posted 02-26-2010 00:05
    It is all greenwashing. The only measure of any real consequence is financial performance. Hence, if sustainability is going to get a gernsey it has to be reduced to is financial financial terms

    Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
    Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
    Graduate School of Business
    my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory"
    now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net
    >>> "Fitzgibbons, Dale" <defitz@ILSTU.EDU> 25/02/10 3:24 AM >>>
    Bruce...let me guess, your dean comes from finance or
    accounting?...smile



    As a start, show him Porter and Kramer's award-winning HBR article
    (12/2006), "Strategy and Society: Competitive Advantage and CSR." When
    the venerable Dr. Porter admits that CSR is more than just a necessary
    component of a firm's strategy you know things are changing.



    I use Werther and Chandler's "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility"
    (2nd edition coming out soon) along with a number of supplemental
    articles and cases in my strategic management class quite successfully.
    Historically, because textbook content tends to lag industry practice
    and academic research by at least 3-4 years (often more like 6-8), I
    expect to see mainstream strategy books incorporating stakeholder theory
    and corporate social responsibility substantially in the coming years.
    Help him to see that this is the way the field is moving and that you
    want your COB to be on the cutting edge not lagging behind. If he needs
    more practical examples, show him all the stuff being written about
    WalMart and their "conversion" (of course, being a skeptic it may just
    be greenwashing).



    Dale


  • 3.  Sustainability as Strategy

    Posted 02-26-2010 01:28
    Has anyone ever seen a study using, say annual reports, of MNCs that attempts to study the CSR as measured in marketing terms and also in accounting or financial terms? This is something I have toyed with for a number of years and was wondering if anyone had seen anything like it or if you believe such a study would be of any value?

    Wayne Coleman

    ________________________________

    From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion on behalf of Lionel Boxer
    Sent: Thu 2/25/2010 11:04 PM
    To: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Sustainability as Strategy



    It is all greenwashing. The only measure of any real consequence is financial performance. Hence, if sustainability is going to get a gernsey it has to be reduced to is financial financial terms

    Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
    Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
    Graduate School of Business
    my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory"
    now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net <http://intergon.net/>
    >>> "Fitzgibbons, Dale" <defitz@ILSTU.EDU> 25/02/10 3:24 AM >>>
    Bruce...let me guess, your dean comes from finance or
    accounting?...smile



    As a start, show him Porter and Kramer's award-winning HBR article
    (12/2006), "Strategy and Society: Competitive Advantage and CSR." When
    the venerable Dr. Porter admits that CSR is more than just a necessary
    component of a firm's strategy you know things are changing.



    I use Werther and Chandler's "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility"
    (2nd edition coming out soon) along with a number of supplemental
    articles and cases in my strategic management class quite successfully.
    Historically, because textbook content tends to lag industry practice
    and academic research by at least 3-4 years (often more like 6-8), I
    expect to see mainstream strategy books incorporating stakeholder theory
    and corporate social responsibility substantially in the coming years.
    Help him to see that this is the way the field is moving and that you
    want your COB to be on the cutting edge not lagging behind. If he needs
    more practical examples, show him all the stuff being written about
    WalMart and their "conversion" (of course, being a skeptic it may just
    be greenwashing).



    Dale


  • 4.  Sustainability as Strategy

    Posted 02-26-2010 12:02
    Great discussion 'trigger', Bruce!
    Picking up on your original premise, and on Paul's, Lionel's and Wayne's
    input - I propose we set up a caucus at AoM 2010 to discuss the strategic
    implications of sustainability. This will be a topic-centered initiative and
    an attempt to link the discourses across the different management
    disciplines (Paul's point). Carol-Ann Tetrault Sirsly from Carlton
    University and I will organize the caucus and need at least five AoM members
    to support the initiative. Carol-Ann and I will draft out the call for the
    caucus over the weekend and post it on BPS as well as ONE listservers prior
    to submitting it by the March 9th deadline. Our intention is to start a
    blog/discussion board prior to the AoM meeting to allow everyone to put
    forth their discussion points, so that during the 90 minutes at the caucus
    we can focus on the topic(s) of most interest.

    Wayne, if you go to the NBS website (http://www.nbs.net/) you will find some
    reviews on CSR, as well as a network of academics and practitioners
    interested in the topic. John Peloza
    (http://business.sfu.ca/profiles/JohnPeloza) did some marketing specific
    work with NBS.

    Lionel, last year Carol-Ann and I organised an all-academy symposium on
    sustainability metrics, and the panel speakers echoed your concern about
    'translating' sustainability into financial terms, and put forth some
    recommendations. If you so desire, I can send you the symposium slides.

    Best regards,

    Sujit Sur


    -----Original Message-----
    From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion
    [mailto:ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Richard Coleman
    Sent: February 26, 2010 2:28 AM
    To: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Sustainability as Strategy

    Has anyone ever seen a study using, say annual reports, of MNCs that
    attempts to study the CSR as measured in marketing terms and also in
    accounting or financial terms? This is something I have toyed with for a
    number of years and was wondering if anyone had seen anything like it or if
    you believe such a study would be of any value?

    Wayne Coleman

    ________________________________

    From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion on behalf of
    Lionel Boxer
    Sent: Thu 2/25/2010 11:04 PM
    To: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Sustainability as Strategy



    It is all greenwashing. The only measure of any real consequence is
    financial performance. Hence, if sustainability is going to get a gernsey
    it has to be reduced to is financial financial terms


    Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256 Associate of RMIT
    University - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au Graduate School of Business my
    "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory"
    now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net <http://intergon.net/>

    >>> "Fitzgibbons, Dale" <defitz@ILSTU.EDU> 25/02/10 3:24 AM >>>
    Bruce...let me guess, your dean comes from finance or accounting?...smile



    As a start, show him Porter and Kramer's award-winning HBR article
    (12/2006), "Strategy and Society: Competitive Advantage and CSR." When the
    venerable Dr. Porter admits that CSR is more than just a necessary component
    of a firm's strategy you know things are changing.



    I use Werther and Chandler's "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility"
    (2nd edition coming out soon) along with a number of supplemental articles
    and cases in my strategic management class quite successfully.
    Historically, because textbook content tends to lag industry practice and
    academic research by at least 3-4 years (often more like 6-8), I expect to
    see mainstream strategy books incorporating stakeholder theory and corporate
    social responsibility substantially in the coming years.
    Help him to see that this is the way the field is moving and that you want
    your COB to be on the cutting edge not lagging behind. If he needs more
    practical examples, show him all the stuff being written about WalMart and
    their "conversion" (of course, being a skeptic it may just be greenwashing).



    Dale


  • 5.  Sustainability as Strategy

    Posted 02-26-2010 15:03
    I did an annual report study in 1999 looking for mention of Triple Bottom Line/Sustainability/CSR. Not much was happening then - some businesses were mentioning care for the environment and society, but at the same time their was no evidence tha they were engaging in those behaviours. This was not published, and preliminary work for my PhD.

    Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
    Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
    Graduate School of Business
    my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory"
    now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net
    >>> Richard Coleman <kfrwc00@TAMUK.EDU> 26/02/10 6:13 PM >>>
    Has anyone ever seen a study using, say annual reports, of MNCs that attempts to study the CSR as measured in marketing terms and also in accounting or financial terms? This is something I have toyed with for a number of years and was wondering if anyone had seen anything like it or if you believe such a study would be of any value?

    Wayne Coleman

    ________________________________

    From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion on behalf of Lionel Boxer
    Sent: Thu 2/25/2010 11:04 PM
    To: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Sustainability as Strategy



    It is all greenwashing. The only measure of any real consequence is financial performance. Hence, if sustainability is going to get a gernsey it has to be reduced to is financial financial terms

    Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256
    Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au
    Graduate School of Business
    my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory"
    now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net <http://intergon.net/>
    >>> "Fitzgibbons, Dale" <defitz@ILSTU.EDU> 25/02/10 3:24 AM >>>
    Bruce...let me guess, your dean comes from finance or
    accounting?...smile



    As a start, show him Porter and Kramer's award-winning HBR article
    (12/2006), "Strategy and Society: Competitive Advantage and CSR." When
    the venerable Dr. Porter admits that CSR is more than just a necessary
    component of a firm's strategy you know things are changing.



    I use Werther and Chandler's "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility"
    (2nd edition coming out soon) along with a number of supplemental
    articles and cases in my strategic management class quite successfully.
    Historically, because textbook content tends to lag industry practice
    and academic research by at least 3-4 years (often more like 6-8), I
    expect to see mainstream strategy books incorporating stakeholder theory
    and corporate social responsibility substantially in the coming years.
    Help him to see that this is the way the field is moving and that you
    want your COB to be on the cutting edge not lagging behind. If he needs
    more practical examples, show him all the stuff being written about
    WalMart and their "conversion" (of course, being a skeptic it may just
    be greenwashing).



    Dale


  • 6.  Sustainability as Strategy

    Posted 02-26-2010 16:17
    Wayne, as a historical footnote on how companies responded to environmental issues over time, my dissertation examined the responses by 10 major U.S. oil refining companies to the air pollution issue as it evolved from 1945 to 1980. I used annual report data as well as creation of a company policy, assignment of environmental personnel, and voluntary technical actions to reduce air pollution to rank company responses. The methodology was chiefly archival.

    Initially I believed that I would be able to find linkages to financial performance but this was not possible because so many factors influenced financial performance over time in addition to how these 10 companies responded to concerns about air pollution in their refineries. And yes, I did identify differences in how the companies responded.

    Happy to share the article if you have an interest.

    -- Jeanne M. Logsdon
    Regents Professor &
    Rust Professor of Business Ethics
    Anderson School of Management, MSC05 3090
    University of New Mexico
    Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
    USA

    Telephone: 505-277-8352
    Fax Number: 505-277-7108





    -----Original Message-----
    From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion [mailto:ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Richard Coleman
    Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 11:28 PM
    To: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Sustainability as Strategy

    Has anyone ever seen a study using, say annual reports, of MNCs that attempts to study the CSR as measured in marketing terms and also in accounting or financial terms? This is something I have toyed with for a number of years and was wondering if anyone had seen anything like it or if you believe such a study would be of any value?

    Wayne Coleman

    ________________________________

    From: Organizations and the Natural Environment Discussion on behalf of Lionel Boxer
    Sent: Thu 2/25/2010 11:04 PM
    To: ONE-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Re: Sustainability as Strategy



    It is all greenwashing. The only measure of any real consequence is financial performance. Hence, if sustainability is going to get a gernsey it has to be reduced to is financial financial terms

    Lionel Boxer CD PhD MBA BTech(IndEng) - 0411267256 Associate of RMIT University - lionel.boxer@rmit.edu.au Graduate School of Business my "Assessment of Quality Systems with Positioning Theory"
    now in a googe book - see link at http://intergon.net <http://intergon.net/>
    >>> "Fitzgibbons, Dale" <defitz@ILSTU.EDU> 25/02/10 3:24 AM >>>
    Bruce...let me guess, your dean comes from finance or accounting?...smile



    As a start, show him Porter and Kramer's award-winning HBR article (12/2006), "Strategy and Society: Competitive Advantage and CSR." When the venerable Dr. Porter admits that CSR is more than just a necessary component of a firm's strategy you know things are changing.



    I use Werther and Chandler's "Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility"
    (2nd edition coming out soon) along with a number of supplemental articles and cases in my strategic management class quite successfully.
    Historically, because textbook content tends to lag industry practice and academic research by at least 3-4 years (often more like 6-8), I expect to see mainstream strategy books incorporating stakeholder theory and corporate social responsibility substantially in the coming years.
    Help him to see that this is the way the field is moving and that you want your COB to be on the cutting edge not lagging behind. If he needs more practical examples, show him all the stuff being written about WalMart and their "conversion" (of course, being a skeptic it may just be greenwashing).



    Dale



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