A Watershed Moment: Corporate Citizenship

Can corporate cultures accommodate moral imperatives? Can they afford not to?

By: Alison Palkhivala | Photography by: Ami Vitale

When drought-ridden communities in Kerala, India rose up against a local Coca-Cola bottling plant, the company learned the importance of good corporate citizenship the hard way. Actually, the plant was not sourcing its water from the same location as the community, but that didn’t  diminish the importance of being sensitive to the vulnerabilities of the locals, says Denise Knight, Water and Sustainable Agriculture Director for The Coca-Cola Company.

Fast-forward a year and, having met with locals to address the issue, Coca-Cola has committed to giving back 100% of the water it uses in India through such initiatives as rainwater collection and promoting the efficient use of water in its production process. Knight speaks of Coca-Cola’s self-imposed commitment to setting regular water efficiency goals and to treating wastewater so that it can support aquatic life when it is returned into the environment. “We’re about 96% to 98% there,” she says. Welcome to the world of “corporate citizenship.”

Respecting the environment, supporting diversity programs, giving back to the community… they’re not just for governments and wealthy  philanthropists anymore. As corporations grow and gain power, they have a responsibility to foster a philosophy and sustainability platform that everyone can live with. And what about you? Are you a good corporate citizen? Do you work for one?

WHAT IS A GOOD CORPORATE CITIZEN?

Karen Kun has made it her profession to define and encourage good corporate citizenship. She is publisher of Corporate Knights magazine, a  Toronto-based publication on a mission to promote clean capitalism.

The magazine has initiated two annual ranking systems for corporations. First is the Best 50 Corporate Citizens in Canada, with rankings based on publicly available environmental, social, and governance indicators. These include energy, water, and carbon productivity, taxes paid, pension plans, the presence of women and minorities on the boards of directors, and transparency of operations.

The second is the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, with rankings based on a combination of baseline and industry-specific key performance indicators. These include factors such as energy, carbon, water, and waste productivity, sustainability leadership, and innovation capacity.

WHY BE A GOOD CORPORATE CITIZEN?

“There’s not a single company out there that can’t benefit from a strategic corporate responsibility platform,” says Kun in a telephone interview. Benefits to the company include everything from improved employee retention to better customer loyalty. It’s also good for the bottom line.

Corporations also have a responsibility to be good citizens.

“Corporations play a very large role in the fabric of how we live our lives, in the products we consume, the way we move ourselves, and even in  how we communicate and what we discuss,” says Kun. “With that kind of power comes responsibility to ask how are we treating our customers? At the end of the day, we’re all on this planet together.

“If you’re not on board by now, you really should be. If you’re not even thinking about this,  you’re a real laggard.”

WHAT ARE OTHERS DOING?

In October, the International Women’s Forum (IWF) hosted its 2010 IWF World Leadership Conference in Montréal. This year, the focus was on  preserving the world’s water resources, and one panel session, moderated by Kun, highlighted how some of the largest corporations in this country and abroad are making good corporate citizenship a priority.

Dawn Farrell, chief operating officer of TransAlta, highlighted the need for  industries to collaborate to improve efficiencies.

“We run natural gas [through turbines], and we make power, and that’s about a 40-45% efficiency. If we take that same gas turbine and we take the heat off the exhaust and make steam, we can run that steam through a turbine, and we can increase the efficiency of that heat to about 55%. If we work with Suncor [at their oil sands sites], and we [use that steam to extract] bitumen, and we re-optimize the electricity that we’re making, we can not only get up to about an 80% efficiency, but we also make extra megawatts that we sell into the market.”

Farrell also spoke about the importance of producing sustainability reports.

“It’s all [information] you’re using in your operation anyway, and it’s just a matter of getting it out there.”

Panelist Christianne Urioste Canavero is the director of sustainability at Walmart Brazil, Ltd. She pointed out how large retailers like Walmart, “are the link between our supply chains and our customers.” They can therefore influence multiple suppliers to develop sustainability platforms. “Cattle for beef production is one of the key drivers of deforestation in the Amazon,” she says. “And some of our suppliers have operations in that region. We are working with them to guarantee that the beef that we have on our shelves does not contribute to deforestation.”

Another panelist was Dr. Sharon Nunes, vice president of big green innovation for IBM Corporation. She heads up programs to use new technology to collect and interpret data to improve efficiency and sustainability. “You can’t manage what’s not measured,” she says in a  private interview. “You need to have metrics. You need to understand your baseline first.” Then you can set goals, measure your progress, and make that progress known to the world.

HOW CAN I BE A BETTER CORPORATE CITIZEN?

Find out what responsibility platforms your corporation supports and get on board. If that isn’t happening yet, find out what issues are most important to fellow employees, look for opportunities to give back to your community, determine where your company takes from the  environment, and learn to measure and manage it. Develop a specific plan, and make a strategic pitch to a change-maker at your company, says  Kun. Choose someone in senior management or with the ear of senior management.

Don’t know where to start? Find out what other companies in your industry are doing. Check their websites for sustainability reports as well as the website of the Global Reporting Initiative at www.globalreporting.org.