Blueprint for a sustainable enterpriseThe success of a company and thewelibeing of the communities it servesare connected. A business needs stableand viable communities to be successful,and communities depend on successfulbusinesses to provide products, services,jobs and infrastructure.

Many corporations from aroundthe globe have thought deeply abouttheir social and environmental impactsand performance. In some cases, theseconsiderations have dramaticallyshifted the organisation's focus, fromregulatory compliance at the peripheryof operations to a more holistic drivingforce for corporate intent, strategy andvalue creation.

The United Nations' Global Compactprogram has informed such corporateactions over the pa.st decade. The GlobalCompact's Ten Principles 1 define a rangeof outcomes for private sector signatoriesto embrace, support and enact in areassuch as human rights, labour standards,the environment and anti-corruption. Theidea is that by embracing these principlesat an enterprise scale, businesses can helpaddre.ss major social and environmentalchallenges in ways that will benefiteconomies and societies everywhere.

However, having a set of principlesis just the starting point. Translatingthem into meaningful actions andoutcomes presents a whole new set ofchallenges. Fortunately, two recent majordevelopments are helping organisationseffect social and environmentalperformance objectives: the CeresRoadmap and ISO 26000.

Ceres, a US-ba.sed sustainableenterprise network, has released 'a visionand practical roadmap for integratingsustainability into the DNA of business':The 21" Century Corporation: The CeresRoadmap for Sustainability^.

The Roadmap takes a whole-of-enterprise approach to sustainability,drawing upon practical experience andevidence from across 20 sectors andmore than 200 companies. It reflects thechanging dynamic in the relationshipbetween business and society, withCeres President, Ms Mindy S Lubber,

Tea plantation worker, Sri Lanka: ISO26000 provides organisations with acomprehensive approach to embeddingsocial responsibility issues - such as humanrights and labour practices in the supplychain - in strategy and operations, ¡««kp̂ io

acknowledging that 'the best performingcompanies of the 21st century will be thosethat recognise this evolving new order, andinvest and act now.'

The Roadmap suggests 20 'keyexpectations' held by a range ofstakeholders - government, investors,unions, civil society, suppliers, consumersand employees - with respect to themanagement and performance of asustainable enterprise. These expectationsform a basis upon which currentperformance can be assessed and areas forimprovement identified. The expectationsare grouped around four discreteorganisational functions - governance,stakeholder engagement, disclosure andperformance (ie employees, operations,supply chain, transportation and logistics,and products and services).

In the second major development,the International Organization forStandardization (ISO) has producedan international standard for socialresponsibility. ISO 26000 Guidance onSocial Responsibility' was developedthrough a six-year multi-stakeholderapproach, which consisted of more than500 participants from 90 countries.

Social responsibility is defined inthe standard as the 'responsibUity of

an organisation for the impacts of itsdecisions and activities on society and theenvironment, through transparent andethical behaviour that:

• contributes to sustainable development,including health and the welfare ofsociety

• takes into account the expectations ofstakeholders

• is in compliance with applicable law andconsistent with international norms ofbehaviour, and

• is integrated throughout theorganisation and is practisedin relationships'.

ISO 26000 provides organisations witha comprehensive and integrated approachto embedding social responsibUity instrategy and operations. It can be used byall types of organisations, whether large orsmall, public, private or NGO.

The standard provides a context forsocial responsibility across eight key areas:organisational governance, human rights,labour practices, the environment, fairoperating practices, consumer issues, andcommunity involvement and development.

Unlike many other ISO Standards,ISO 26000 is voluntary: that is, not forcertifiable accreditation. However, giventhe pervasive nature of the ISO Standardsmodel, ISO 26000 is anticipated to becomeuniversally recognised and applied.

Both the Ceres Roadmap and ISO26000 enable organisations to createvalue for shareholders and stakeholdersalike, by 'creating shared value' - asdescribed by esteemed Harvard Universityacademic, Profe.ssor Michael E Porter.''In other words, by creating social value,private sector organisations can buildprofitability, competitive advantage andlong-term success.• Sean Rooney

Sean Rooney is SustainabilityProgram Manager at SinclairKnight Merz and former Director ofCSIRO's Sustainable CommunitiesInitiative. Through the SustainableEnterprise column, Sean highlights

businesses and organisations that are puttingsustainability theory into practice.

1 www.unglobalcotnpact.org/AboutTheGC/TheTenPrinciptes2 www.ceres.org/ceresroadmap3 www.iso.org/iso/iso_cataIogue/management_standards/sociaLresponsibillty.htni4 Porter. ME and Kramer. MR (2011). The big idea: creating shared value. Harvard Rusinesi R -Jan-Feb http://bbr.Org/2011/0l/tbe-big.idea-creating-shared.value/ar/l

159 I FEB-MAR I 20'

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