Search

By Mor Aframian, co-founder of Redress

During my first semester in undergrad, a friend introduced me to the concept of thrifting for the very first time -- and it was love at first sight. I walked into a store filled with vintage garments that lived unknown, unimaginable lives in the closets and social circles of women I’ve never met, but knew I’d get along with based on their fashion sense. Aisle upon aisle showered me with the opportunity to shop for vintage pieces and spoke to the old soul within me.

Have you ever thought about the stories the garments in your closet have to tell? Or the stories they will tell long after you’ve let them go? Which moments of your time together will stand out?

In saying all of this, there’s an assumption that you -- the reader -- already have a relationship with the items in your closet. There’s an assumption that you intimately know every detail about some of your favorite garments, can recall when and where you got them, how much you paid for them, and you take extra care of them. When your favorite garments are "hurt" you’re quick to take them to the tailor or a friend with great sewing skills, and while these garments are getting fixed, you find yourself missing their presence in your closet.

There’s an assumption that you’re emotionally invested in the well-being of your favorite garments because they play a role in the daily, non-verbal expression of who you are and your sense of style. This emotional investment goes beyond your garments and to the rest of the items that adorn your body: your jewelry, shoes, handbags, neckties, hats, and so on. There’s an assumption that everything you put on your body has a meaning and story to tell; a story that will be told for generations to come; a story that will be passed down to a family member or a stranger you may never encounter.

But, are these assumptions coming from an ideal and naive perspective that you have a relationship with the items in your closet? Is it too much to assume that you are intentional and calculated about your fashion purchases? Is the assumption that you’re not one to buy disposable clothing that lacks an authentic story making you uncomfortable?

Imagine if we lived in a world where all people have meaningful relationships with the items in their closets and treated those items with the love and respect they deserve. Imagine a world where all people have a deep understanding of the process and craftsmanship required to produce a quality item capable of living many lives and telling many stories. Imagine a world where all people are committed to purchase new items from conscious designers and makers who seek to continuously reduce the environmental and social impact of their products. Imagine a fashion industry utopia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3CyR7a5qIE

Utopia is up to us to make, and though it’s possible you and I will never live to see this utopian world, it’s up to me and you to trailblaze the path for it. It takes people

like Darcy Cropp, a loyal customer and friend of Jamie Powell, Raleigh-based designer of Seven Sages and co-founder of Redress. “I love Jamie’s clothes for a lot of reasons. One is the quality of fabrics she uses. They are soft, comfortable, and wear well. Two is because the cuts fit myself and the rest of my family well. We are all different shapes and sizes but her clothes work well for my sister, mom, sister-in-law, and myself! Lastly, I know I am supporting someone who has created a unique design that makes me and my family look and feel good," says Cropp.

The residents of Raleigh, N.C. are spoiled with the number of talented eco-friendly designers who make their products readily available at local boutiques and marketplaces that happen throughout the year. Likely, you also have access to sustainable designers in your area -- or to a consignment shop, thrift store or craft market that features fashion designers. If you have a solid connection to the Internet then you have access to hundreds of designers who produce eco-conscious products -- you just need to take the time to find the ones that tell the stories that align with you.

Next time you find yourself shopping for new clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc. ask yourself, “What is the story of this product, and is it one I want to share with others?”

Mor Aframian is the co-founder and Creative Director of Redress, a company that connects and champions eco-conscious designers and companies through event planning and marketing. Aframian loves to work with designers on their new concepts and designs. She also teaches Fashion Design at Youth Digital Studio.

“One way to read the injunction for Right Conduct, an essential part of the Eightfold Path, is to see it as calling us—as citizens—to translate the dharma into specific acts of social responsibility.” - Buddhist author and professor, Charles Johnson, writing in the Tricycle magazine.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness has been in the news a lot lately, in part due to its infiltration of the board room, and the list of high-level executives and thought leaders who practice mindfulness exercises such as meditation is long. To those of us who meditate, this is not really a surprise (in light of meditation’s myriad benefits), and though the co-opting of an ancient Buddhist practice for profit is slightly disturbing, as the renowned Mindfulness master, Thich Nhat Hahn, recently put it: With mindfulness, the means and the ends are one in the same.

But what is mindfulness?  Technically, it is the nonjudgmental observation of the present moment, no matter what that moment may entail, and it is arguably the paramount Buddhist instruction. The essence of mindfulness, though, is simply “paying attention," the natural byproduct of which is heightened compassion and consideration of the impact of one's actions on others.  Some real-world examples of mindful behavior might include: pausing to think before habitually reacting; choosing to recycle, rather than to litter; or choosing to eat humanely raised chicken, rather than broiler chicken from a factory farm. Put another way, mindful behavior is behavior that is socially responsible.

Mindfulness, corporations and "360-Degree Social Responsibility"

From a corporate standpoint, then, mindfulness could manifest either externally or internally. Corporate policies that are externally mindful (or “externally socially responsible”) would be those that concern how the corporation interacts with the outside world.  The type of conduct typically associated with classic corporate social responsibility (CSR) endeavors, in other words. Does the corporation minimize its impact on the environment?  Does it incorporate human rights into its day-to-day operations? Does it do diligence on its supply chain?

Internal mindfulness (or “internal social responsibility”), on the other hand, would refer to employee well-being. If a company is being internally socially responsible, it is paying attention to the way it treats its own people.  Does it pay an adequate wage? Does it give its employees reasonable maternity and paternity leave? Or, is the corporation mindful of the impact of the job on the individual? The most well-known example of a company taking internal social responsibility seriously (though not referring to it as such) is Google. Famous for its napping pods, yoga classes and community gardens, the company even offers a class on the practice of mindfulness itself.  “Search Inside Yourself,” as the course is called (pun intended, I imagine), is one of the company’s most popular offerings. (Perhaps this wasn’t so far off, after all.)

We could therefore call a company “360-Degree Socially Responsible” if it is mindful of the way it treats both its own employees as well as the larger, external world. Yet, companies rarely -- if ever -- use sustainability or CSR language to talk about (what I’m referring to as) their internal social responsibility efforts.  Why does a company’s CSR or sustainability report not have a section on employee satisfaction or a company's wellness programs? To behave mindfully is really to act socially responsible, and from a corporate standpoint the 360-degree view ought to concern both those within the company's walls as well as those without.

The point isn’t to redirect the focus of CSR/sustainability from how companies are warming the planet and abusing human rights to how they are are overworking their employees and ignoring the very clear data about happiness and productivity. Rather, it is to stress that any external CSR program without a corresponding internal dimension -- and vice versa -- is an exercise in hypocrisy.

Changing the way we talk about social responsibility

Even Google, a company that is arguably getting this whole sustainability/social responsibility thing right, is not talking about it in the right way. When the company discusses what it is doing “on its own turf,” it focuses entirely on its “Google Green” initiatives, and there is no internal discussion on its separate CSR page. In other words, it chooses to ignore the incredible things it is doing for its own people unless these “perks” also relate to its external environmental sustainability measures. In part, that is because Google, like many companies, misguidedly uses sustainability language exclusively when talking about the environment; relegates its “other” CSR efforts to a separate, less flashy Web page; and ignores the fact that all of these efforts -- be they human rights protections, green initiatives, or workplace benefits -- are really part of the same operating philosophy.

While it would be great if more companies followed Google’s lead and literally offered training in mindfulness practices, the real point is that CSR is about more than just whether a company is moving toward renewable energy and considering its impact on local communities.  It is just as much about how companies treat their own, and without this 360-degree approach, businesses are really only going part of the way.

(For more information on the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, check out Thich Nhat Hahn’s “The Miracle of Mindfulness” or Jon Kabat-Zinn’s “Wherever You Go, There You Are.”)

By Eric Smith, Senda Athletics

In 2011, the United States Power Wheelchair Soccer team won its second consecutive World Cup title, making them the only U.S. soccer team in history to win back-to-back World Cups. Despite this momentous achievement, the team has not yet been invited to the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama. I truly believe that it is time for the White House to take the initiative in celebrating the dedication and achievements of athletes of all abilities representing the U.S.A.

This April, the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team will visit the White House on their way to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The goal of this campaign is to seek an invitation for the U.S. Power Soccer Team to join the U.S. Men’s National Team in their visit. This is a unique opportunity for President Obama to honor both teams' achievements together, on the world stage. Thus far, the change.org campaign to make this happen has reached nearly 1,000 supporters, and word is being spread through all of the major social media channels. 

The United States won the first Power Soccer World Cup in Tokyo in 2007, defeating Belgium, England, Denmark, Japan and Portugal before beating France in a penalty shoot-out in the finals to win the cup. The team then made history when it defended its title in Paris four years later, defeating England 3-0 in the final becoming the first American soccer team to defend their title as world champions.

“Each year, winning teams in major sports in the U.S. spend time with the President; it is an honor athletes who reach the highest of milestones enjoy,” said Chris Finn, Head Coach of the U.S. team. “Considering we are the only team in U.S. history to win TWO world cups, I think it is prudent for our team to visit with the President and introduce him to our growing global sport.”

Power Soccer is the fastest growing sport for power wheelchair users. Players use these power wheelchairs to pass, defend and spin-kick a large 13-inch soccer ball in a skilled and challenging game similar to traditional soccer. Teams of four athletes compete on a regulation-sized basketball court, under rules established by the governing body of power soccer, the Federation Internationale de Powerchair Football Association (FIFPA). This sport provides an unparalleled opportunity for everyone to be able to experience the magic of soccer.

As believer in sports as a tool to bring people together, I know that with the help of the White House, the U.S. Power Soccer Team can inspire millions with their accomplishments, and that President Obama has an incredible opportunity to honor this inspiring group of players.

To achieve this goal, USPSA and Senda Athletics are launching a Change.org campaign to gather 1,000 signatures of support, generate awareness for this cause and send the two-time defending World Cup champions to the White House.

For those of you on Twitter, we have created a web page that allows you to send a tweet to the people at the White House and U.S. Soccer that can make this happen.

Tech Networks of Boston (TNB), is a 47-person professional information services company. It delivers help desk, remote monitoring and maintenance, staff augmentation, onsite support, training and project IT services to nonprofits and businesses in the greater Boston area. TNB, founded in 1994, has incorporated the principles of sustainable business from its inception. The company has steadily expanded its sustainability initiatives enabling the firm to broaden the range of services it provides.

Susan Labandibar, founder, president and chief mission officer of Tech Networks Boston, converted her environmental activist career into an earth-steward, job creation role with the launch of TNB. At its inception, TNB saved computers from heading to the landfill by refurbishing them and giving them a second life. The company evolved to bringing energy efficient computers and servers to the market. The company’s Earth-PC and Earth-servers used 25 percent less energy than well-known commercial computing devices. At the time, energy efficient computing devices was a groundbreaking, novel idea that has since taken hold of the entire computer industry.

TNB’s mission has evolved from salvaging and repurposing old computers to building energy efficient models. The firm now provides a suite of technology-related services aimed at significantly reducing the resource consumption of its clients. The suite of services includes training customers to optimize computer technology and software; properly manage, store and back-up information; and use IT tools to serve business needs. Through proper use, firms can maximize the return on their technology investments without wasting compute cycles, energy or money by purchasing more equipment than needed.

TNB has successfully integrated the financial, environmental and social elements of sustainable practices into its own business as well as its clients’ businesses, building a resilient company that has prospered for 20 years, establishing a strong competitive position in its local market.

Remote IT management, the genesis of cloud computing, is designed to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, intensive capital equipment requirements. TNB launched with the development of energy efficient compute devices; it has evolved to a managed services provider. Along the way, the firm adopted a range of sustainable business initiatives for itself.

TNB opened its original store on a subway portal. This location enables its customers and prospective customers to visit the shop without having to drive private vehicles. This simple site selection has saved thousands of driving miles.

As the company added employees, the location enabled the firm to actively promote its core values through the subsidization of transit passes. Three-quarters of the employees take advantage of the pass, removing more than 35 cars from day-to-day commuting. Using EPA-based measures of 5.1 tons of CO2 per year, per vehicle, TNB prevents over 178 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere annually. Employees who need to visit customer sites have TNB’s electric vehicle available for use.

Office waste management is an operational cost where TNB has applied disciplined handling. The company has implemented aggressive recycling and composting initiatives. These initiatives have reduced its waste from operations significantly. The City of Boston provides recycle services and TNB uses a third party for compostable pickup services. The firm has eliminated its landfill-destined waste by more than 50 pounds each month.

One of TNB’s most successful sustainability initiatives is the greening of its office. The site is a repurposed building in a neighborhood undergoing revitalization. TNB is working on upgrading its older inefficient florescent lighting to new, fifth-generation fluorescent lights. The new lights use the existing fixtures and infrastructure which represent up to 80 percent of a lighting upgrade cost. The new lighting technology enables a faster, more cost effective lighting upgrade; and eliminates adding functional fixtures to the landfill. This change is expected to have a dramatic impact, reducing the firm’s energy costs by more than 20-percent, or approximately $75 per month. TNB recognized the electric waste of having a hot water heater at its first facility and removed it.

In 2013 TNB pursued B-Corporation status, increasingly thought of as representing the ultimate commitment to sustainability by small business leaders. It took three months to accomplish this goal. Along the way to becoming a B-Corp, the company learned it was an industry thought leader on many corporate practices; however, the firm needed to put a stronger emphasis on establishing and tracking metrics for energy, waste, and their ecological footprint.

The B-Corp status was important to Labandibar and the firm because it identifies TNB as an earth-friendly, mission-based company. The status certifies TNB as an accredited, mission driven organization focused on its own environmental impact as well as its role in driving sustainability within the community.

Image credit: Flickr/izzymunchted

Scepticism is still rife among French and UK households when it comes to where their recycling lands up and the aesthetics of recycling bins also leave a lot to be desired.

These are just two of the ongoing barriers to better levels of household recycling revealed in a new study commissioned by Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) in partnership with the University of Exeter.

As a result CCE has launched a recycling challenge to co-create solutions to help improve at-home recycling habits, in partnership with open innovation platform, OpenIDEO.com.

The 11-week challenge will draw on the platform’s 60,000 members from across the globe as part of CCE’s Recycle for the Future campaign.

Joe Franses, corporate responsibility and sustainability director, Coca-Cola Enterprises, explained: “Recycling is something in which we all have a role to play, and as one of the world’s largest independent Coca-Cola bottlers we recognise we have a responsibility to address today’s social and environmental challenges.

“While we can leverage our experience and expertise to educate and inspire consumers to recycle more often, we recognise we don’t have all the answers. So, we are collaborating with other thought leaders, and the best creative minds in the OpenIDEO global community, to help generate ideas that could deliver real change in at-home recycling habits.”

To find out more, or to get involved, see here and follow #recyclechallenge on Twitter for updates on the challenge.
 

Banks have drawn more criticism with their new round of large salary and bonus announcements.

Much of the anger results from Barclays’ revelation that the number of its staff on £1m ($1.66m, €1.2m) rose last year by more than 12% from 428 to 481. Half the recipients worked in the US and a quarter in the UK.

Those paid more than £5m rose from five to eight. They all worked outside the UK. One unidentified employee received a £3m pay-off.

Barclays was criticised earlier for swelling its investment bank bonus pool by £200m to £1.6bn despite a £37% slide in profits.

Chief executive Antony Jenkins himself, who refused his 2013 bonus, is nevertheless receiving shares worth £1m.
Jenkins gave the usual explanation that inducements were necessary to retain staff and business: “People are less attracted to come to you, both clients and employees. You get into something of a death spiral. Your brand deteriorates, and you can move very quickly from being a first-tier player to one in the second or third tier if you don’t protect the franchise.”

He reported that hundreds of key staff had already left Barclays’ US investment bank.

Lloyds Banking Group, 32.7% of which is government-owned, announced it paid 27 staff more than €1m ($1.39m, £836,000) last year.

Chief executive António Horta-Osório received a £1.7m bonus in addition to his £1m salary, and Juan Colombás, the head of risk, was paid £3.1m.

HSBC, the world’s largest bank in asset terms, revealed it paid more than €1m to 330 staff, and that 192 key staff received on average $1.5m (£903,000, €1.08m).

The pay and bonuses deal given to group chief executive Stuart Gulliver last year was £8m, up from £6.3m in 2012. Gulliver will also receive £1.7m in shares annually. The deal offered to chairman Douglas Flint could almost double his potential remuneration from £2.4m to £4.6m.

Emolument, the salary data specialist, has reported that the 2014 median bonus in UK investment bank trading divisions will be 52% higher than last year’s. The median bonus for directors was put at £200,000, compared with £106,000 last year.

Some bonuses, however, could be under threat. The Bank of England is consulting on proposals for clawing back bonuses in cases of misconduct or material error by individuals or a company’s financial downturn or risk management failure. The rules would be applied from 1 January, 2015.

The payments have upset even the Institute of Directors, which attacked Barclays for paying too much to senior staff and too little to shareholders.

The Trades Union Congress, the unions’ umbrella group, accused Barclays of “sticking two fingers” up to the public, and condemned HSBC for “soaraway boardroom greed”.

General secretary Frances O’Grady said: “It would be great if banks put the same effort into lending to small businesses as they do to getting round EU rules on boardroom bonuses.”
 

The Swedish multinational clothes retailer H&M has reinforced its campaign for improvements in Bangladesh’s garment industry by joining the UN-based Business Call to Action (BCtA).

Its objective in Bangladesh is to ensure better work conditions in the industry, skills and development training, social dialogue and opportunities for women.

With BCtA’s help H&M intends to create a skills centre in Bangladesh to raise vocational training standards, increase productivity and ensure the long-term employability of garment workers.

The company hopes later to establish a formal system for the training and support of skilled employees in Bangladesh. It expects the skills programme to benefit 5,000 workers by 2016.

The campaign is a “win-win for all”, said Sabha Sobhani, programme manager at BCtA, which aims to persuade companies that realising workers’ potential also brings commercial success.
More than 70 labour rights groups and trade unions are now urging clothing brands to contribute to the Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund for the families and victims of the factory building collapse that killed 1,138 Bangladeshi garment workers and injured more than 2,000 a year ago.

The fund target is $40m (£24m, €28.7m), the amount needed to cover medical expenses and loss of income.

The pressure group includes more than 30 Bangladeshi bodies, 21 Canadian groups, trade union federations in Asia, Europe and the US, and the Amsterdam-based Clean Clothes Campaign, which is dedicated to improving conditions in the garment industry.

Seven brands have so far promised contributions, including Bonmarché and Mango.

* The Bangladesh Accord Foundation has recently completed its first reports detailing the results of factory inspections in Bangladesh and find that there are no current issues of a similar magnitude to those which caused the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in April 2013. They do identify a number of issues to be addressed and explain the steps to be taken to resolve them.

Commenting on the reports publication, Alan Roberts, the Bangladesh Accord Foundation’s executive director said: “The publication of these reports is an important milestone in the Accord’s progress and a demonstration of our commitment to transparency but it is only really the beginning of our work. There is a big task ahead of the inspection teams and the Accord will be working hard with brands, unions, workers and the factory owners themselves to see that the actions the inspections identify are undertaken.”
 

China’s new era of austerity could lead to a new way of global corporate governance, a Beijing forum has been told. Its still-growing economy will set the tone for a new world way of doing things, as the west continues to contract under its own debt-reduction programme.

The forum, organised by the British Chamber of Commerce, and the China-Britain Business Council heard from leading CSR speakers, including Wang Liwei, editor of Charitarian magazine, Sammy Feng, head of CSR at DLA Piper and Carma Eliott from the British Council.

Eighteen months since China’s new leadership of President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang took power, the new business landscape is becoming much clearer.

Firstly, there has been the clampdown on corruption, with a pledge that no matter how senior a figure is politically or commercially, they will all be targeted as “tigers and flies” in Xi’s own words.

Following corruption, extravagance is also now a no-no, with lavish banquets and the giving of luxury items banned.
Wang especially says this means the end of a grey area for foreign firms, including the high-profile bribery case of UK pharma giant, GSK, wherein the line now stands in doing business.

“In the past there was probably a breakdown in communications between foreign managers and their Chinese managers over ways of doing things. That is over now, “ he said.

Sammy Feng added: “What Xi has done has a major impact on big companies, especially in terms of government procurement in areas such as the telecoms and construction sectors, and of course the impact is felt in the hospitality industry.”

The strength of the crackdown has taken many people by surprise.

Figures presented to China’s parliament early in March showed that last year, 51,306 officials and 37,551 cases were investigated for work-related crimes including bribery and embezzlement - figures representing an 8.4% increase in the number of officials and 9.4% in cases - according to the work report of China’s top procuratorate, according to China Daily.

But that’s also good news for the future.

“It means a much more level playing field for everyone, domestic and foreign firms, a new era of transparency,” said Feng.

And as China’s economy grows to become the world’s number one, it will set a benchmark for the future way of doing business.

“Clearly what that means is that companies will need to follow the rules of doing business in China, globally,” he added. 

In the simplest terms, integrated reporting is when a company communicates the full range of factors that contribute to long-term value creation over time. Integrated reporting is an approach to corporate accounting which recognises the interdependence of commercial, social and environmental performance as part of one strategy. It enables businesses to demonstrate that sustainability has been integrated into strategy and long-term decision-making, and indicates that a business is thinking beyond short-term targets or short-lived profits.

Of course, integrated reporting is more than just a new way to produce a report. It reflects a fundamental shift in how value within a business is determined and communicated.

An integrated report is therefore the output of ‘integrated thinking,' the approach that must come before integrated reporting.

Why adopt integrated thinking?

We know from recent conversations with Business in the Community member companies that 9 out of 10 chief executives believe they have a greater social purpose than simply returning profit, and more than 70% of them think too much attention is given to short term business goals. Companies tell us that the majority of investors regard shorter-term financial indicators as the main metric of business success.

An integrated approach will improve decision making and deliver a report that clearly communicates to stakeholders, including these investors, the added value that sustainability delivers, in a language that they understand.

What questions should integrated reporting answer?

An integrated report should be a better report because it enables investors to clearly understand the answers to some key questions:

 

• What does the organisation do and what are the circumstances under which it operates?
• How does the organisation’s governance structure support its ability to create value in the short, medium and long-term?
• What are the specific opportunities and risks that affect the organisation’s ability to create value over the short, medium and long-term and how is the organisation dealing with them?
• Where does the organisation want to go and how does it intend to get there?
• What is the organisation’s business model and to what extent is it resilient?
• What challenges and uncertainties is the organisation likely to encounter in pursuing its strategy, and what are the potential implications for its business model and its future performance?
• To what extent has the organisation achieved its strategic objectives and what are its outcomes in terms of effects on the capitals?

All organisations depend on various forms of interdependent capital for their success.

For example, an organisation’s financial capital is increased when it makes a profit, and the quality of its human capital is improved when employees become better trained or more engaged.

The IIRC framework comprises six capitals: financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship and natural. These help businesses to consider a full range of their inputs, how they add value in and through them, and then, how to communicate with their stakeholders on this.

Getting started

The Integrated Reporting Framework has been developed by IIRC, an organisation founded by The Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability Project. Globally, many companies have started to embrace the concept (which is now a legislative requirement in South Africa), and within the UK companies taking part in the IIRC pilot programme come from a range of sectors – from support services and banking, to retail and real estate.

As a first step, we suggest you have conversations at the most senior level to understand how global trends such as population growth and resource scarcity affect you, and what risks and opportunities they present today and in the medium and long-term. This enables the parameters and capitals most relevant to your business to be determined.

Then, the IIRC recommends an integrated report follows these guiding principles:

• Strategic focus and future orientation: Provide insight into the organisation’s strategy, and how that relates to its ability to create value in the short, medium and long term and its use of and effects on the capitals.
• Connectivity of information: Show, as a comprehensive value creation story, the combination, inter-relatedness and dependencies between the components that are material to the organisation’s ability to create value over time.
• Stakeholder responsiveness: Provide insight into the quality of the organisation’s relationships with its key stakeholders and how and to what extent the organisation understands, takes into account and responds to their legitimate needs, interests and expectations.
• Materiality and conciseness: Provide concise information that is material to assessing the organisation’s ability to create value in the short, medium and long-term.
• Reliability and completeness: Include all material matters, both positive and negative, in a balanced way and without material error.
• Consistency and comparability: Present information on a basis that is consistent over time and in a way that enables comparison with other organisations to the extent it is material to your organisation’s own value creation story.

Moving forward

Since conventional forms of CSR reporting on relevant performance and management processes already indicate a strong positive correlation to financial returns , it is clear there is business value in adopting an integrated approach.

We are encouraging businesses to move towards integrated thinking and reporting, and the Integrated Reporting Framework has great potential to enable companies to develop and present a more holistic view of business - and guide more sustainable management and value creation into the future.

To find out more about Integrated Reporting Framework, see here.

*Business in the Community research showed that companies which consistently manage and measure their corporate responsibility outperformed their FTSE 350 peers on total shareholder return in seven out of the last eight years – and they recovered more quickly in 2009 compared with their FTSE350 and FTSE All-Share peers 

Image credit: Adrien WIESENBACH/Unsplash

By Jon Woodhead, Head of UK Sustainability, DNV GL – Business Assurance

As expectations grow on companies to take responsibility for sustainability-related issues beyond that of their immediate operations, responsible sourcing has become a prominent issue across many industry sectors. It’s a significant challenge, particularly where there are vast and complex supply chains producing products that are very much in the front of mind for consumers and therefore subject to increased scrutiny. Last year’s horsemeat scandal goes only to show how quick and extensive a problem can become.

There is no one single definition for responsible sourcing, but essentially it comes down to one fundamental aim: satisfaction that the products you source and the suppliers you use, meet or exceed your sustainability expectations. To do this, you need visibility and a collaborative approach.

M&S, for example, believes that 80% of its impacts are within its global supply chain. Part of Plan A includes a £50m fund to help suppliers find new ways of working.
How you ensure visibility and ultimately manage your supply chain impacts, from environmental impacts to quality and safety, is critical. It’s no longer acceptable to only manage and report the impacts within a company’s immediate operational boundaries.

Managing supply chain responsibility is often talked about as a requirement to monitor performance. This is only part of the picture. A successful approach goes one step further, identifying areas where improvements can be made and building capacity through supporting suppliers.

Whilst we see a wide variance in performance, through our research in the Tomorrows Value Rating, our team has observed that, in the food and beverage sector, almost all rated companies have some degree of management system in place, whether a policy statement, framework agreement or supplier code of conduct. The few companies that go beyond minimal compliance describe systems of independent audit and certification, and report on the results.

A number of good examples stand out; Unilever’s Cool Farm tool helps farmers calculate and reduce their carbon emissions. In the interests of promoting best practice across the agricultural sector, Unilever has made the tool available to other companies free of charge. Twenty companies are now using it. Coca-Cola is developing a human rights metric to add to its supplier performance scorecard.

Barriers in addressing responsible sourcing naturally increase with supply chain complexity. Smaller companies often face a lack of resources which, in turn, affects the companies they supply, who can’t meet their sustainability commitments without the support of their suppliers. Take water footprinting: when you are a small-scale producer, supplying a large global corporate, this could be a task outside the skills and resources that you have available. DNV GL has been working with UNIDO to address this, creating an easy-to-use water footprint tool that is accessible to SMEs, reducing the burden on them to comply with their customers’ requests.

Responsible sourcing makes business sense. It promotes closer collaboration with suppliers, unearthing benefits you may not have previously been able to identify, and spotting opportunities to collaborate with suppliers. Importantly, it almost certainly offers huge scope for improving your overall sustainability performance too.