Less is More in Sustainability Reporting
The emergence and (tentative) mainstreaming of sustainability has helped unlock new sources of innovation and opportunity for business – to say nothing of helping to reduce humanity’s footprint on the Earth. That ‘s the good news. The bad news is that in the rush to demonstrate their sustainability credibility, many companies are spending too much time and money on sustainability reports groaning under the weight of too many “metrics” and “indicators”. By way of example, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines – an influential set of sustainability reporting tools – suggest up to 81 indicators! Even the Balanced Scorecard, the most influential strategy measurement template of the past decade, recommends 20-25 measures. These one-size fits all efforts don’t really speak to or “fit” anyone. Worse, tracking too many measures may cause managers to lose sight of the few that really drive the achievement of strategic objectives. Hence, less is actually more when it comes to measuring and communicating sustainability performance.
Posted in The Strategist on May 9th, 2012
Making Sense of Sustainability
In November of 2011, I was invited to present a series of lectures at Montana State University in Bozeman, MT. The subject of those lectures was principally, but not exclusively, about sustainability. During the course of my time on campus it became clear that sustainability was a subject that stirred powerful reactions – both emotional and intellectual, pro and con. As a result, I wrote this short essay to expand on some of the material covered in my lectures, and to open up new avenues of inquiry into a subject about which I am a passionate advocate.
Posted in The Strategist on February 27th, 2012
The Price is Wrong: Bluefin Tuna and the Ethics of Extinction
Regular readers of my blog know that I track the first Bluefin Tuna auctions of the year at Tokyo’s Tsukji fish market with a sense of grim inevitability. Last year, a single tuna sold for 32.49 million yen. This year, bidders made that number seem paltry; a single 539-pound tuna sold for 56.49 million yen or nearly $736,000. That’s a shade under $1,250 per pound if you’re counting. Now, it should be said that the first bluefin auction in January is an important cultural event; a key part of Japan’s New Year’s celebrations, and the country is the world’s biggest consumer of seafood. It should also be noted that this year’s winning bidder, Kiyoshi Kimura, president of a sushi restaurant chain, reportedly said following the auction that his bid was an attempt to “liven up Japan” in the wake of last year’s devastating tsunami, nuclear plant failure and economic stagnation. Fair enough. Still, is there not a larger issue at play?
Posted in The Strategist on February 22nd, 2012
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