What Is It?

  Benefits

  How Do I Do It?

Benefits

The benefits are threefold, each one with a matrix of positive effects:

Good business practice: When a business or organization chooses to report, whichever objectives it has, it will undergo an exercise where it captures and makes public its findings. This focuses attention upon business practices that are suboptimal or just plain bad business. For manufacturers, waste management is one such area that highlights bad practice – to improve upon poor waste management metrics will usually involve making processes more efficient in terms of waste produced per volume of actual goods.

Compliance: Where regulatory bodies have created strict regulations or even loose guidelines, organizations need to comply or face whatever penalty is imposed. Such penalties may be blacklisting or a recommendation not to purchase or invest or for government imposed regulatory compliance, then a possible jail sentence.

Positive public relations: People like to do good and they prefer to support companies that also do good. Therefore, when two companies are competing and the only difference between them is the perception of how socially and environmentally responsible they are, then this may be the competitive edge. Therefore, the use of the sustainability report and similar stakeholder communications can be a positive way to communicate to key audiences.

Anticipated Results of Sustainability Reporting for the Reporting Organization:

• Improved management tools to measure and benchmark performance, internally and externally.

• Increased ability to compare and reduce costs especially if the report is integrated into a company’s reporting processes.

• Improved ability to ensure that suppliers’ business processes are consistent with your company’s brand and value system.

• Reduced costs because the results of reporting should identify and eliminate waste and often helps identify new business opportunities.

• Improved communications because a common reporting format provides a set of indicators that can be used to discuss performance among stakeholders.

Anticipated Results of Sustainability Reporting for report users:

• Increased ability of banks, investors and ratings organizations to benchmark and rate companies. Using a standard reporting protocol helps provide high quality and comparable information about corporate performance.

• Increased ability of stakeholders, including government and advocacy groups, to assess the quality of a company management’s governance ability, especially its ability to anticipate and respond to emerging issues.

• Increased ability of employees, customers, and other stakeholders to obtain information about corporate social and environmental responsibility policies and activities.