Walking the Talk: The Business Case for Sustainable Development

Rating:
Summary: Read this book if you want to improve your bottom line
Review: Business has always had as its prime responsibility making profits and this is what most stakeholders seek from their investment. It is only when business is convinced that it will make better profits over the long term by being socially and environmentally responsible that we will see the changes that are required to leave a better world to our children. It was therefore like a breath of fresh air to discover this book written by influential businessmen showing that corporate social and environmental practice will improve both the bottom line and the planet. More than 160 companies have joined the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and are trying to run their companies in the best interests of human society and the natural environment. Emerging from the vision of a small group of business leaders prior to the 1992 Earth Summit, the WBCSD published this book prior to the 2002 Johannesburg Summit. They found that the term 'sustainable development' is unknown to most of the world's inhabitants and that it is mildly annoying to almost all environment actors and thinkers but some corporations were drawn to it because it is not anti-growth and serious economic growth is required to meet the needs of the current population. Moreover, the issues of sustaining a planet are similar to those of sustaining a corporation - primarily managing a balancing act between the short-term and the long-term - and getting it wrong in either direction can mean extinction. Thinking in terms of sustainable development opens up new ways to grow and led to the more business friendly term of 'sustainable growth'.

As the market is good at reflecting short-term economic realities but poor at reflecting long-term economic realities and environmental realities the WBCSD prepared a report for the 1992 Summit calling for full-cost pricing, taxes and tradable permits rather than regulation, phasing out of subsidies, and accounting changes to reflect environmental scarcity. However, adoption of these measures would result in higher prices and the other two pillars of society - civil society and government - needed to accept such a change. Each sector tends to wait on the other; politicians do not want to become unpopular by pushing for higher prices nor do consumers want to spend more. "There will not be real progress until business, government, and civil society team up in new and dynamic partnerships."

Adoption of the phrase 'eco-efficiency' was a conceptual breakthrough that allowed moral and ethical practice to be linked to good business practice and set an agenda of producing more with less - a package that would make companies more competitive. Companies could be more profitable while keeping a human face and as few companies were prepared for consumer's ability to get their concerns into board rooms, managing a company's reputation became a central element in managing a corporation. This led to companies adding an environmental section to their annual financial report and reporting on the triple bottom line - financial, environmental and social. This has already brought about some radical changes. "Companies that once sold paint to car companies now sell the service of painting cars. So where once they improved their bottom line by maximizing cans of paint sold, they now improve the bottom line by minimizing the use of paint per car." DuPont decided that if it wanted its business to be sustainable it had to improve earnings by using fewer raw materials. This lead to the concept of shareholder value added (SVA) per pound of production and the goal of doubling the SVA of Kevlar fiber over the next five years. "Dupont Flooring Services has developed a system to offer certified installation, patented maintenance and end-of-life recycling to the already world-class carpet offering of DuPont Antron." At DuPont the question of whether sustainability improves the bottom line is not asked any more: "That is how we will get our bottom line, and that is how we will create value for our shareholders and for society."

By devoting 2% of its annual capital investment to environmental performance, a Swiss-based company has a vision of being a 'zero-equivalent carbon dioxide emission company' through a 5% pa annual reduction of energy per unit, increased use of alternative and renewable energy and by planting 35,000 hectares of land with trees to compensate for the remaining emissions, with a projected saving of $1 billion between 1994 and 2010. "Thanks to these measures, the planet has been spared the burden of another 100-megawatt power plant; the water we have saved could quench the thirst of 50 million people a year. We are using 28% less electricity and 45% less water than in 1994 for the same output. This translates, with a large increase in volume today, into a saving of $50 million in 2000 alone."

This book has 67 case studies that present current leading edge thinking. For a company that believes that it will remain competitive by neglecting environmental issues, this book will be an eye-opener. For others it is impossible to read this book without coming away with ideas for improving performance and the bottom line.

Rating:
Summary: Read before walking!
Review: First of all I should declare my interest and bias: I was involved in the production of the book. But this is also an advantage. I know first hand what the authors wanted to convey - a serious sense of the responsibility and opportunities for business to make globalization and markets work for all and our environment. This book engages in one of the broadest review of the issues of sustainable development as perceived by engaged business leaders. From the "technocratic" approaches to material efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts and risks to the "soft" and daunting issues of fighting poverty through enterprise and wealth creation. It also does not duck the questions of corporate accountability and market reforms.
Plenty of books have covered the issues of globalization but most have an anti-business perspective. Here at last we have a powerful business view.

As business people the authors take a lot of space to provide evidence, from their own organizations and like-minded peers, in the form of case studies. They also look under the top line of financial sustainability indices and provide exclusive statistics of business behavior from the 2002 survey that is at the basis of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.
Any downside to this book? Yes - It begs the question why the companies next door are not yet following the lead. If they were to "read the talk" would they also "walk the talk"?

Rating:
Summary: a persuasive business case
Review: In the next society', observes Peter Drucker, 'the biggest challenge for the large company - especially for the multinational-may be its social legitimacy: its values, its missions, its vision.' (quoted on P. 128 of Walking the Talk).
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is an association of over 160 large companies who believe that the imperatives of making a profit are compatible with "... [running] their companies in the best interests of human society and the natural environment, now and in the future."
The book seeks to explore the opportunities and problems in doing so, and to describe the progress made over the last ten years. It is overtly evangelical, seeking to recruit more successful businesses (and specifically their CEOs) to the cause of sustainability as the authors define it. The authors are writing within a mental model that believes in the benefits of free markets, globalization, continuing economic growth and in the contemporary model of business. Although they recognize that there are alternative mental models, their primary purpose is not to address these, but to persuade those who share their broad views (which would include the vast majority of business people) that a concern for environmental sustainability and social justice is good business - that pursuit of these wider goals is the best way of ensuring a healthy bottom line now and in the future.
The book is well argued within its framework. More important, it carries the names of three of the world's most senior Chief Executives, which gives it immense clout in its avowed task of persuading other CEOs to joint the sustainability movement.
A 'foundation' chapter, which describes the business case for sustainability, is followed by a brief overview of each of ten key elements in moving toward sustainability, with each chapter illustrated with detailed case studies (significantly, they are nearly all companies and utilities which supply to industrial markets).
In building their case, they identify the dilemmas, and particularly the issue of how to balance concern for the future with prudence in the present. They also note that current market failures (failure to price for 'externalities', perverse subsidies, inappropriate tax regimes) make it more difficult to persuade many companies that pursuit of sustainability is in their best interest. In consequence, they call for partnership with government to correct these problems, and describe experience to date and needs for the future.
The 'ten building blocks' therefore include chapters on The Right Framework - what conditions are needed for business success truly to reflect sustainable operation - and From Dialogue to Partnership - how to enter partnership with the full range of stakeholders.
Too much of the literature on sustainability is taken up with immoderate attack on business and globalization - often with the inference that it is inherently evil - and equally immoderate defence of the (implied) perfection of the present state of globalization and behaviour of companies. It is therefore very refreshing to have an impeccable business source that acknowledges the move to sustainability as important business that is still in its early stages and is prepared to describe the successes, failings, dilemmas and rewards on the journey to sustainability.
Given their objective, there are some important and difficult issues that the authors do not tackle. For example, Hamilton in Growth Fetish, points to:
* the inadequacy of economic measures of progress,
* the importance of a distinction between growth and development and
* the evils of a framework that systematically promotes over-consumption.
These issues need to be argued, and could have very serious implications for business, but they are not the subject of this book.
Those who have a radically different view of the current business system and who disagree with the authors' views on globalization may well see the book as simply offering symptomatic solutions without tackling the real issues. They will none the less take comfort from the fact that community protests about unacceptable business activities (environmental degradation, comfort to repressive regimes, sweatshop labour) clearly send signals that influence the behaviour of corporate decision makers.

Rating:
Summary: A fascinating insight into better business practise.
Review: This book will be of interest to anyone remotely curious about economics, finance, society and progress. It is a concrete and realistic account of how businesses can engage in a medium/long term win-win game, benefiting both sustainable development and companies. It shows the evolution in business practise, and the future trend it is likely to take because of the new dimension of competitively in such troubled times: sustainability.

A clear and transparent account of how to achieve it (and what the past and current attempts are) is made through theoretical definitions of eco-efficiency, corporate social responsibility, the role of innovation, the attempt to control market failures, and make both frameworks and consumer choice allies in achieving more environmentally and socially viable economic growth. Those are illustrated by 66 case studies ranging from all sectors and countries. It dares to face many different scenarios so as to recognise possible costs or tradeoffs, but manages to prove the overwhelming victory of the business case for sustainable development.

The importance of this book, setting the trend for the next 60 years or so, comes from the fact that it was written by credible businessman. Their vision on today's and tomorrow's business practise is sharp. As a student at the London School of Economics, concentrating on how markets can bring more efficient solutions to poverty, corruption and environmental crisis, this book comes in as one of my absolute favourites. It is easy to read, and very actual. Though there aren't any easy answers to the problems it tackles, the book provides an important insight of the role of businesses in achieving sustainable development, and the clear advantages that emanate from doing so.

Rating:
Summary: Walking the Talk
Review: Walking the Talk offers the general reader a useful introduction to the business case for sustainable development. It argues that, contrary to common assumptions, sustainable development is good for business and business is good for sustainable development.

The underlying concepts and ideas are well spelled out. But what makes this book truly special is the abundance of case studies and examples of companies' practices that illustrate how these concepts are translated into practice. CEO's interviews provide a lively account on the private sector's perspectives on sustainable development.

One of the great advantages of this book is that each chapter can be read in isolation. An enjoyable read for conventional back-to-back readers, it is also easy for those interested in specific issues to navigate back and forth between chapters. Each contains a wealth of information on individual themes (ranging from innovation and eco-efficiency to corporate social responsibility). The book is structured around ten chapters, which represent the ten building blocks that pave the corporate journey towards sustainable development.

Each chapter investigates a different component of a sustainability-driven strategy. Overall, the book argues that companies need to embrace innovations to devise new ways of producing more with less natural resources; move from dialogue to partnerships; orient patterns of consumption by informing consumers about the environmental impact of their choices and by reflecting the value of the planet in products and services they deliver.

Co-authored by big corporate leaders, this book is a timely contribution to the debate surrounding sustainable development. Although there is unquestionably still room for work and improvement on the part of the private sector, Walking the Talk builds a convincing argument that business should get involved (and sometimes even take the lead) in sustainability issues.