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Thursday, 1 April 2010
Ethical Questions
I've been working on a chapter of The Green Executive covering personal and corporate values. This is probably the trickiest chapter of all as personal values are by definition subjective. As corporate values flow from personal values, the subjectivity flows with them. I'm an engineer by education, so I like things to be objective and it takes me a while to frame subjective issues properly - many industrialists have the same problem.Here are some ethical questions when it comes to going green:
• To what extent are you responsible for your staff?
• To what extent are you responsible for the well being of people working in your supply chain?
• To what extent are you responsible for the environmental performance of your supply chain?
• To what extent are you responsible for the well being of people using your product?
• To what extent are you responsible for the environmental or social impacts of your product in use?
• To what extent are you responsible for the safe disposal of your product?
• Are stakeholders in your product’s lifecycle treated equally well irrespective of nationality, ethnicity, gender, disability or income?
• Is it OK to make a profit from the impacts of climate change?
• Is it OK to make a profit from tackling climate change?
• Is it OK to make a profit from the poor?
• How ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ does a product or service have to be before you can sell it as such?
Tricky, aren't they. I can't give you the answer, either, you've got to decide for yourself!
Labels: ethics, green executive
# posted by Gareth Kane : 11:17
0 Comments
Monday, 7 September 2009
There's more to it than money...
Last Friday I was editing the nine interviews I have carried out with CSR/environment executives for book#2, The Green Executive. Reading through all nine in quick succession, it struck me how few of them were driven primarily by cost savings. While cost is a factor, the majority say that an overriding factor is company image. Building a trustworthy, progressive and friendly image will enhance sales, win contracts and attract and retain good staff. All of this will improve the bottom line. But there's more than this - the interviewees talk about bringing their values to the workplace and greater personal satisfaction that they are doing something for the greater good.So we have to remember two points:
1. The financial benefits to going green are much wider and greater than cutting utility and raw material costs. This has to be understood and factored into investment decisions (the next edition of The Low Carbon Agenda will address this in more detail).
2. We should not forget the deeper, philosophical questions about who we are and why we do what we do as soon as we enter our workplaces. We should not feel, or be made to feel, guilty for doing the right thing.
Labels: costs, economics, ethics, green executive
# posted by Gareth Kane : 08:26
2 Comments
Tuesday, 30 September 2008
Are we at a point where Sustainability = sustainability?
I'm not an economist, but here's my take on the current financial situation. The bank crashes are due to the bubble bursting in the 'sub prime' mortgage market - too much money lent to too many people who can't afford to pay it back - a clear Corporate Social Responsibility issue (that's real grown up CSR, not the paper thin small-local-donations type CSR). We are also afflicted by 'short selling' - betting on shares losing value has serious ethical implications too - gambling on horses losing is illegal in many countries for good reason. Other industries and the general public are struggling with high and rising oil prices (an environmental issue) - leading to a breakdown in consumer confidence which furthers the vicious circle.Sustainability with a big 'S' is about economics, environment and ethics. In the past there has been a need to differentiate between this and the small 's' sustainability ie the medium term viability of an organisation. But now I believe the two have converged and Sustainability is not an option when it comes to sustainability. Proper CSR would have saved the banks, and energy efficiency and/or a distributed energy system would make the economy much less dependent on the price of oil.
Maybe now we will wake up and smell the (sustainably sourced) coffee.
Labels: csr, ethics, sustainability, sustainable business
# posted by Gareth Kane : 05:31
1 Comments
A highly accessible, practical guide to those who want to introduce sustainability into their business or organization quickly and effectively.
