Sustainability: business, life, environment

If you set a goal to change the world, would you be setting yourself up for success or failure?  What if you simply set out to quantify your contributions to the overall global effort; would you encounter similar challenges?  In any pursuit, the mark of progress, whether internal or external, is often a point of discussion.

Relative to business sustainability monitoring and reporting, the debate continues on whether a company should focus on transparency and continuous individual improvement or corporate performance measures relative to a broader all-encompassing target.  Rather than separating traditional performance from sustainability, would the business be better served in aligning business sustainability with traditional financial reporting?

A recent article appearing in Environmental Leader provides commentary on the evolving standards of corporate sustainability reporting and the current corporate efforts to provide greater transparency.  Calling for an end-state of quantified environmental and social impacts and reductions contributing to global targets, the author describes a level of reporting that has traditionally scared off many organizations from attempting to improve transparency or current business sustainability measures.

An alternative perspective would be a focus on incremental and continuous improvement relative to traditional measures.  Rather than jumping directly to consequence and accountability, a global business shift toward greater transparency and aligned business sustainability metrics could drive significant change. 

•    What are the business sustainability risks poised to limit company growth?
•    What are the business sustainability threats that may impact stakeholder return?
•    How have recent business actions impacted internal and external costs?
•    How have recent business actions affected revenue?

Business sustainability pursuits focused on a business mindset shift as an end-state create a positive incentive for sustainability measurement and reporting.  Focusing business sustainability attention towards rather than away from traditional measures of financial success, leading organizations can reevaluate their economic and sustainability metrics, improve internal and external communication, and create alignment across the value chain.