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Corporate Social Responsibility
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12.11.2007 - 11:59pm ET
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New Report Links Leader Mindset Development and Corporate Sustainability Success
Avastone Corporate Sustainability Study (ACSS) Charts Ten Companies across Five Stages of Sustainability; Identifies Gaps and Opportunities for Movement Forward
(CSRwire) ATLANTA, GA - December 10, 2007 - A new study examines the progress of ten
global corporations against a comparative five-stage sustainability
framework and suggests a direct correlation between leader mindsets and
sustainability success. Many companies are missing a critical step in
their sustainability journey, according to the Avastone Corporate
Sustainability Study (ACSS). The ACSS reveals that it is not a lack of
tangible systems and activities that comprise the missing component, but
rather a scarcity of higher-capacity leaders.
The study findings have been released in a new report, Leadership and
the Corporate Sustainability Challenge: Mindsets in Action, issued by
international consultancy Avastone Consulting. To download a copy of the
report, visit: http://www.avastoneconsulting.com/MindsetsInActionReport.html
"Avastone's Mindsets in Action report presents new research
and insight on corporate sustainability, integrating it with research into
sustainability literature and well-grounded leadership development
frameworks," said Kathleen C. Callahan, Deputy Regional Administrator,
Region 2, US Environmental Protection Agency. "And just as your mind
starts burning with 'how will I use this,' Mindsets in Action comes
through with a solid, action-oriented path for you! It is breakthrough work
on sustainability."
Study participants include diverse, global corporations ranging from $1
billion to over $100 billion in revenues. The ACSS finds that all of the
companies interviewed are in the process of moving to higher stages of
sustainability, yet none have reached the fourth stage (Integrate). In
addition, 60% do not view as business-relevant the highest fifth stage
(Redesign), where expanded mindsets are critical on the path to
sustainability.
Sustainability progress is being made, yet there remains a significant
gap.
The Mindsets in Action report explores the nature of leader
mindsets and discusses how these mindsets impact sustainability. "While
leading companies have become sophisticated in their approach to
sustainability and committed to making progress, few focus on the
influence of patterns of the mind and how these shape our understanding of
the world," said John Schmidt, CEO of Avastone Consulting. "Certain
mindsets allow organizations to navigate the complexity of sustainability
and proactively work with other key players toward sustainability at the
scale needed."
The report details variations in leader mindset capacity development,
which explains the diverse views of sustainability and why some leaders
possess ability to support fifth stage sustainability efforts, while
others do not. The report suggests that, without engagement of
higher-capacity leader mindsets, organizations will find it difficult to
attain the upper stages of corporate sustainability.
The comparative framework used in the study to assess company progress on
their sustainability journey includes five stages or "gears," based upon
SustainAbility's Corporate Responsibility Gearbox.
- 1.0 Comply Gear—companies commonly focus their
sustainability efforts on compliance and philanthropy.
- 2.0 Volunteer Gear—they put in
place impact reduction and eco-efficiency programs.
- 3.0 Partner Gear—companies begin
to manage risk more proactively while building their brand and
reputations.
- 4.0 Integrate
Gear—sustainability becomes strategic, and companies embed
sustainability within the business and across the value chain.
- 5.0 Redesign Gear—at this most
elusive stage, companies contribute to large-scale systems changes that
recast markets, redesign financial systems, and root out drivers of
non-sustainability.
"The 21st-century global landscape calls for
leaders with mindsets that view all five gears of sustainability as
relevant to the business, not simply the gears that are obviously required
to move the business forward," said Cynthia McEwen, Principal,
Sustainability & Leadership at Avastone Consulting and co-author of the
report. "The ACSS identifies an intricate relationship between leader
mindset and achievement of complex sustainability outcomes. In other
words, it states that sustainability is as much about the mindset through
which the world is seen as it is about the activities taken in support of
it."
The report further details the success factors critical to the ten
surveyed companies' sustainability progress. ACSS findings demonstrate
that, while technical and business systems may be necessary, they are not
sufficient by themselves as drivers of sustainability success; subjective
aspects like culture, shared values, and guiding principles are just as
important. The report offers practical ways to accelerate progress based
on the findings.
About Avastone Consulting
Avastone Consulting (www.avastoneconsulting.com)
is an international consultancy committed to the vitality and
sustainability of client organizations and the larger global community.
Avastone serves as advisors to global corporations and non-governmental
enterprises, bringing thought leadership, integral consulting and design,
and practical impact-oriented solutions to complex challenges and human
development. This includes executive and leadership development and
whole-systems approaches to organization development and change.
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