sustainability as a business model version 2
DESCRIPTION
This is presentation for a Transition Towns workshop in Kerikeri New Zealand 21/09/2010. It explores sustainability as the "motherlode of innovation" and advocates the need for inclusive thinking to bridge gaps between business, environmental and social mindsets.TRANSCRIPT
Sustainabilitythe new business model
industrialisation
sustainability
1776image: made available copyright free from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:20070616_Dampfmaschine.jpg
image from: http://www.pprune.org/jet-blast/376204-really-really-boring-totally-pointless-snippets-information-thread-mk-xiii-151.htmlWe don’t need no education _ Pink Floyd
image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Silent_Spring_Book-of-the-Month-Club_edition.JPG
Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring draws attention to the environmental impacts of synthetic pesticides.
1962
The Cuban Missile Crisis brings the world to the brink of nuclear war raising alarm about environmental issues.
1962
Zager and Evans song In the Year 2525 typifies protest songs with a bleak outlook for humanity’s future.
1969
Milton Friedman argues that the main social responsibility of business is to increase profit – for its shareholders (stockholders)
1970
British economist Ernst Schumacher’s Small is Beautiful critiqued orthodox economics.
1973
Professor Muhammad Yunus starts the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh introducing micro-credit to the world.
1974
Edward Freeman advocates for stakeholders and challenges the concept of the shareholder as the dominant voice of corporations
1984
The U.N.’s Brundtland Commission report Our Common Future advocated for sustainable development.
1987
Dame Anita Roddick opens the firs Body Shop in the U.K. She is one of the pioneers of Corporate Social Responsibility.
1987
from www.stakeholderengagement.co.nz with permission
The Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit focussed on sustainability issues. 12 year old Severn Suzuki presented a powerful message.
1992
John Elkington coins the phrase “triple bottom line” 1994Shell’s disposal of the Brent Spar oil bouy sparked widespread protest that forced Shell to listen to its stakeholders and change its practices.
1995
AccountAbility is establihed in the U.K. 1997The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is developed by Ceres, the Tellus Institute with the support of the U. N. Environmental Programme.
1997
The Kyoto Protocol is adopted aiming to limit greenhouse gas emissions 1997The International Fairtrade Certification Mark is launched. 2002AccountAbility launches the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard. 2005Muhammed Yunus is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. 2006Better Place is founded and develops plans for the mass adoption of electric cars.
2007
Grameen’s first social business begins 2007
The price of oil peaks at over $US140 2008
from www.stakeholderengagement.co.nz with permission
Resource depletion
“This situation has become today’s decisive environmental challenge, and is fast becoming tomorrow’s critical economic challenge.”
John elkington, The Power of Unreasonable People, p.185
Resource needs by 2020
Resource needs by 2030
Inequity
The richest 2% of adults own more than half global wealth.
What is the impact of this information? How do you feel about our world?
– living in ways that don’t compromise future generations
– “we have to broaden our sense of identity … so that we think of the human race as our fellow soujourners and our other creatures here as part of our evolutionary family, and the biosphere as our community”
- Jeremy Riftkin, The Empathic Civilisation
Sustainability
prosperity and equity
vibrant unified communities
environmental stewardship
How confident are you that we can achieve this?
Sustainability
behaviour(what we say and do)
image from: http://www.atam.org/OctoberSurprises.html
beliefsattitudesperceptionsvaluescapabilities
adapted from Sue Knight, NLP at Work
Bridging perceptual gaps
aspires to sustainability
appreciates diverse efforts
and approaches
cares only for profit – would sell
grandmother’s kidneys
thinks vegans oppress vegetables
– belongs to VHEMT
Where are you placed?
If you regard yourself as a business person:1. Where do you sit on the business continuum?2. Where do think sustainability advocates sit (on average)
If you regard yourself as a sustainability advocate:3. Where do you sit on the sustainability continuum?4. Where do think business people sit (on average)
How SuperCorps are Changing the Workforce and the World Rosabeth Moss Kanter (Harvard Video Ideacast)
Sustainable businesses generate solutions for the betterment of mankind.
as innovation “.. as processes of value creation and securing competitive advantage”
C.K. Prahalad
Sustainability…
“In the U.S. we have a whole buch of legacy systems and legacy thinking”.
C.K. Prahalad
CK Prahald’s Agenda for the Future of HumanityThinkers 50
Better Place
Shai Agassi’s bold plan for electric cars - TED
World investments in cleantech
$USbillion 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
20042005200620082009
source: http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/seven-renewable-energy-targets-for-2020/8471/
“Poverty is not created by poor people. It is created by the systems we have built, the institutions we have designed, and the concepts we have formulated”.
Building Social Business, p.5
Muhammad Yunus – The Social Business Model (Fora TV)
I was pleased, but not fully satisfied. I looked at this cornstarch cup and asked, “Could I eat it? Why should poor people pay for this container that has to be thrown away? Why can’t you make an edible cup? Children will eat the cup after they have finished the yoghurt, and that way they will receive even more nutrition.” The Danone research team in Paris is working on meeting this goal. I predict they will do it – and that the result may sometime revolutionize food packaging.
Muhammad Yunus, Building Social Business, p 91
Grameen CompaniesEarly companies (1974 – 1996) Social businesses
Grameen Bank (microcredit)Grameen Telecom and Grameen PhoneGrameen Shakti (renewable energy)Grameen Kalyan (health)Grameen Fisheries and Livestock FoundationGrameen Shikkha (education)Grameen Uddog (textiles)Grameen Shamogree (textiles)
Grameen DanoneGrameen Veolia (water)Brameen + BASF (moquito nets)Grameen Intel (healthcare)Grameen Addidas (footware)Otto Grameen (textile and garment exports)
Grameen Bank: 8 million borrowers – 97% are womenMission: To eradicate poverty
Ray Avery – World Class New Zealand – Mondiale
TEDxAuckland – Ray Avery – Medical Innovation and Applied Knowledge
Conventional business Sustainable business
extracts value adds value
driven by profit motive driven by aspiration
assumptions of growth assumptions of sustainability
follows cultural software creates a new path
from The 8th Habit, Stephen Covey
Some principles1.Everyone is included (pragmatic and just)2.Povery is as great a threat as climate
change (intractable problems)3.Fresh thinking and fresh perspectives are
needed (unity and inclusiveness)
What else do you get out of the concepts and examples presented?
If a…BusinessmanBankerDoctorChristianMuslimAetheistGreeniePolitician comes up with a good idea – it’s a good idea.
We need to encourageinclusive thinking!
0IVII500
Business opportunities?1.Sustainability at the heart of strategy2.Innovate3.Reduce costs and broaden the market
1. demographics (population)
2. finance (haves and have nots)
3. nutrition4. resources5. environment6. health7. gender8. education9. technology10.security
10 great divides
Business opportunities?Creating social businesses reducing costs for kiwis:
• housing/rental/mortgage• electricity• vehicle costs/fuel costs• rates• food?• dependency
What opportunities can you see, what would you like to solve?
Next steps and takeaways• Attend the Employment Forum (Friday 15 October)• Review some of the resources in this presentation – see slide share• Join Transition Towns/ website discussions?• Reflect on your possible perceptual gaps.• Read Sustainability 2.0 (free on the net) • Read Peter’s blog “Sustainability 2.0”• Read “The Power of Unreasonable People by Joh Elkington and Pamela Hartigan• Read Building Social Business by Muhammad Yunus • Contact me to talk further: Peter Bruce [email protected]
