In order to know whether or not sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and their related commitments are actually improving the company’s performance it is necessary to have in place procedures for reporting and verification, each of which are important tools for measuring change...
It is clear that over the last several decades organizations have continuously expanded the application of the principles of sustainable development to the business world and that companies have increasingly focused efforts on introducing or changing policies, products and/or processes to address pollution, minimize resource...
There is a considerable body of evidence that shows that sustainable leadership practices are more likely to enhance business performance over the long-term than the traditional approach that puts the interests of shareholders first and focuses primarily on short-term financial metrics.[1] While all leaders should...
International Standard 26000 (ISO 26000) released by the International Organization for Standardization in November 2010 provides internationally recognized guidance on the underlying principles of the social responsibilities of organizations, the core subjects and issues pertaining to social responsibility and ways to integrate socially responsible behavior...
Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) have become mainstays of business activities: the percentage of large global companies professing to practice some form of sustainability and CSR has been steadily increasing, sustainability reporting has become the norm and businesses of all sizes are subject to...
Technology plays a big role in the pursuit of sustainability and economic development. Sustainable technologies include technologies that use durable, low-maintenance, recyclable and economic materials and technologies, including materials and technologies that can be locally sourced to reduce transportation costs. Sustainable technologies may be incorporated...
For many years, “sustainability” fell under the functional description of environmental, health and safety, or “EH&S”, and the primary role of the EH&S leader was to handle audit and compliance matters and interact mainly with permit writers, safety inspectors and low-level compliance staff at regulatory...
While sustainability has become an important issue for many companies, not surprisingly since consumers have confirmed that they would be willing to make purchasing decisions based on the level of social responsibility of the brands from which they are selecting, they often struggle with understanding...
A management system refers to what an organization does to manage its structures, processes, activities and resources in order that its products or services meet the organization’s objectives, such as satisfying the customer’s quality requirements, complying with regulations and/or meeting environmental objectives. Elements of a...
While organizational performance is a much discussed topic, the reality is that there is a good deal of confusion and argument regarding how it should be defined, conceptualized and measured. Traditionally, performance measurement systems relied almost exclusively on management and cost accounting principles, often resulting...