Final thoughts from Scaninavia

It's official...my Corporate Social Responsibility Sustainability trip is now over. It's been a wonderful two weeks learning about all the ways businesses can be involved in making the world a better place. As I mentioned in my first post on this blog, the idea of social responsibility/sustainability was something that I found interesting but I couldn't say that I was a big advocate for. After two weeks in Scandinavia, I have a greater appreciation of what is possible. Here are my observations in no particular order of importance:

1. Sustainability and social responsibility doesn't have to be cumbersome and definitely can be a source of innovation and creativity!

2. It takes team work. Business can take the lead on making changes but there has to be cooperation with other entities (this may be uncomfortable for some Americans - even me- to digest) No one party can do it on their own. 

3. Profitability and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. In fact, you can use sustainability to be more profitable. 

4. Marketing really does make the world go 'round. Many companies had a marketing person as leader of sustainability. It makes sense when you think about it. Marketing is involved in all aspects of getting the product to market. If sustainability is part part of the program by design, marketing will be involved. 

5. The streets in Scandinavia aren't paved in green (although you will see some interesting recycle bins like the wine bin). I guess I was really expecting that everything would be so far advanced in terms of "green" that I would be in awe. That isn't the case. It is true that Scandinavia is ahead of us in some ways, I do believe that we are at parity in some cases . 

6. The U.S. is doing a lot in the area of Sustainability and Social Responsibility and some of the major players may shock critics. We're talking none other than the company that critics love to hate- Walmart- is taking the lead on making sure that things in the supply chain are ethical and sustainable. 

CSR - key to innovation?

Great day today! It started with a visit to transportation giant, Maersk. The presentation by the Head of Group Sustainability was both interesting and refreshing. The most exciting thing to hear in the presentation was that sustainability can be a source of innovation. They see their role in sustainability is to enable trade, increase energy efficiency and invest in education. The line that really sold it for me was at the end of the presentation when the presenter said "We see our purpose to use our expertise to unlock growth for society and Maersk". This type of position may just be the winner to sell sustainability and social responsiblity to the skeptics in the U.S. 

The afternoon session found us at the Copenhagen School of Business where we attended a Governing Responsible Event. It was a panel discussion that included the chair of the advisory board for Transparency International. The discussion on the panel was a mixture of anti-corruption and sustainability. There was a moment when there was a question from the audience that went something like this "if the U.S. politicians are so corrupt, why are they so high on the index?". The response that followed was interesting. Basically, research has shown that while yes, our politicians are on the take- the regular folk just trying to do business are pretty darn honest. Another observation, even though the audience and panel were well aware that there were 20 visiting faculty members from U.S. institutions, they were very direct in their criticism of the U.S. and made no apology about it. I wondered if the shoe were on the other foot, if we would have been so critical in front of foreign friends?!

IKEA

You can't come to Scandinavia and talk about Social Responsibility and not pay a visit to IKEA. They really are the leader in this area although in typical Scandinavian fashion, they downplayed their role as a leader. Sustainability and Social Responsibility are built into the process from the design of the product to the factories in which they are produced. IKEA spends a lot of resources auditing their contractors to ensure that they are adhering to IKEA's IWAY (methods of operation). 

Lunch in the cafeteria at IKEA headquarters is also quite a treat! Although an interesting note, the free lunch does not include sweets but you can get a beer or "near beer"- definitely cultural differences at work here!

Sustainable Fashion

Today's site visit was the Danish Design Institute. It was exciting to see what the clothing industry is doing to become more sustainable. I was surprised to find out that the clothing industry is the 3rd largest industry in the world and one of the biggest polluters. In fact, 1/3 of all pesticides consumed are consumed just for cotton production! 

It was always surprising to find out that this group isn't focusing so much on the supply chain as in the designing the clothing. This is because 80 % of the components of garment is decided in the design phase. In other words, the designers are the ones that are taking responsibility for what happens down the chain. They have committed to changing the way products are developed, consumed and reused/recycled. 

It was especially interesting to hear that there will be a new rating system in place that will alert the consumer to how sustainable a product is just by looking at a portion of the clothing label. Probably the most surprising item was that the founding corporation on this venture was none other than Walmart! 

So, stay tuned... everything in fashion will be changing from the way cotton is sourced, to the way we reuse our products to the way we rent our fashion (instead of purchasing products). It's an exciting time in the fashion world! 

A little primary research...

Today we didn't have any site visits- so I decided to do my own primary research on one of the the companies we visited this week. I checked out H&M to see about their better cotton initiative. The Better Cotton Initiative is focused on building a farmer's capacity to produce better cotton, reduction of pesticides, water and chemical fertilizers, increasing profit for farmers, and improving working conditions of cotton farm families. Sure enough, there were signs everywhere promoting the BCI program and the bring in a piece of used clothing get a coupon for money off program. Of course, I had to make a purchase while I was there. The things I do for research! 

"Sleeping with the enemy?!"

Today's presentation was from the WWF- that would be the World Wildlife Foundation and not the World Wrestling Federation- was an interesting presentation. We found out that companies like IKEA and Coke have their own account manager just like any other business relationship. What I'm sure is unique about this relationship is that no business partner would call IKEA or Coke the enemy in public as the account manager from WWF did today! More disconcerting is when a business professor at a university agrees that business is the enemy. To say this incident left me speechless would be an understatement! 

Modesty in CSR?

Today we had a full agenda. We met with two major companies and an NGO. 

The companies provided a lot of information on what they are doing to promote Social Responsibility and Sustainability. It really is amazing how much power a company can have. 

Scandic, the major hotel chain in the region, has been the leader in sustainability and sustainability. It is ironic that many of the changes have been little ones that have made a major impact like removing soap bottles from rooms. This move reduced the consumption of 40 million tubes per year. My favorite new initiative is the move to organic and sustainable candy! Much to my surprise, the candy is actually pretty good proving it can be good for the planet and good to eat! 

A major retailer has focused social, environmental, and anti corruption. They are getting businesses and governments together and making a difference. One of the current initiatives is convincing consumers to bring in old clothes to complete the cycle. 

The big surprise for me is that many of the things we've talked about are being done at U.S companies. The question becomes why haven't these efforts been better publicized? Do companies feel that people will be skeptical? No one cares about these efforts? That they shouldn't do good and promote it? I

can understand why Scandinavians don't say much about it because they are more reserved, but American companies keeping a lid on it. To me, this is a very curious thing! 

Well, that didn't take long!

Today was our first company visit. We were treated to a warm reception by Ericsson where there were a few different high level officials that came to meet with us about what they were doing in Social Responsibility and Sustainability. The list of accomplishments was impressive. In fact, they listed them all in a Sustainability and Social Responsibility report.

The three performance indicators that are the focus are-

1. Conducting Business Responsibly

2. Energy, Environment, Climate

3. Communication for All - which includes educating children in developing countries by providing them with laptops and access to curriculum in "the cloud", banking the "unbanked" and connecting refugees that have been separated. 

What was really interesting for me was that when one of the conference participants raised the question that Ericsson had recently lost a major deal with Sony and what the company was doing to shore up their bottom line, the conversation was quickly redirected on all the good that the company is doing around the world. This bothered me. While I can honestly say that I've graduated beyond the Milton Friedman thinking strictly speaking "The purpose of a business is to make money" and that's it. I do believe that this should be the primary purpose of business. So, I'm left to struggle with a question is there a company that can equally balance social initiatives with making money OR is one always going to take priority over another? 

On your mark, get set ....

Today starts my faculty development program in Corporate Social Respinsibilty and Sustainability. I'm excited for what surely will be a thought-provoking seminar. I've already been on the lookout for differences in the way sustainably is approached here vs. the U.S. In Sweden, sustainability seems to be the expected norm. In the U.S., it seems to be viewed as something new. 

This morning as I was putting on my make up, I was thinking about how my brand offers a rebate program for recycling the containers. I then wondered if the Scandinavians need to be enticed to recycle or if it is something that is very normal. My guess is that I will find out that companies don't need to convince the people here to do the right thing. 

On your mark, get set... here we go! 

Sustainability- it makes "cents"

A week from now I will be starting a course on Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability in Stockholm, Sweden. I'm tickled to be able to attend this seminar and grateful that my employer is supporting me in this endeavor. To say that me willingly attending this seminar is a surprise would be an understatement. When I was working in corporate America, I was always a fan of Milton Friedman's attitude about Social Responsibility and that is "the most responsible thing a company can do is make money and let the shareholders decide where they want to give their money". I have come to have a change of heart on this view and I do believe that companies should give back to their communities. In business classes, one of the first things we teach students is that there are many stakeholders of the company which includes owners, customers, employees and the communities in which they operate. Giving back in some fashion is now not just for the "big guys" but is becoming more expected of small and medium sized companies. This article from the Financial Times highlights why the Scandinavian model may be the ticket to effectively doing social responsibility.

Committing to sustainability with Unilever CEO Paul Polman