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Working
๏ง Alberstons/SuperValu
๏ง Led Zero Waste Programs designed to divert at least 90% of waste from landfill
๏ง Project Manager leading multi-year, multi-firm, & international projects
Writing
๏ง Columnist/Contributor: Salt Magazine, Harvard Business Review, CSR Asia, Sustainable
Brands
๏ง Publisher/Editor: The Wicked Problems Collaborative
Learning
๏ง Olin Business School; Washington University in St. Louis: Executive MBA
๏ง Harvard University: Masters in Environmental Management (ALM)
Serving
๏ง FRSA and RSA Connector for Thailand
๏ง President โ St. Louis PMI (Project Management Institute)
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๏ง Supply Chain & Retail Recycling Programs
๏ง Cardboard, Plastics, Metals, Wood (Pallets), Styrofoam
๏ง Special Projects
๏ง Carts, Check processing machines, etc.
๏ง Food Diversion
๏ง Donations, Waste to Animal Feed, Waste to Energy
๏ง Internal Zero Waste Certification Program
๏ง Cost Saving Mandate
๏ง Results:
๏ง Reduced costs, increased revenues, and saved jobs (and programs from being cancelled)
during an economic downturn.
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1) The โWhatโ
๏ง The Changing Paradigm
๏ง RSA Bangkok Stammtisch/George the Poet
on Climate Change
๏ง Inverting the Waste Pyramid
2) The โWhyโ
๏ง The SDGs
๏ง Avoiding Complexity/A Note of Caution
3) The โHowโ
๏ง Story: Ugly Fruits
4) Case Studies
๏ง Guidelines
๏ง Story: Compete on Execution
๏ง Case #1 โ Philanthropic Fiasco
๏ง Story: Bio Bean
๏ง Case #2 โ Coconut Castoffs
๏ง Making it Work (Hard & Soft System
Design)
๏ง Case #3 โ New Horizons or Holistic Hotels
๏ง Balanced Approach
๏ง Case #4 โ Floundering Fishermen
๏ง Maintaining Momentum
๏ง Case Study Review
5) A Journey Without End
6) Wrap-Up/Resources
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๏ง Herman Dalyโs Model:
1. For renewable resources: The rate of harvest should not exceed the rate of
regeneration (sustainable yield) Ex: Fish, trees, water
2. For pollution: The rates of waste generation from projects should not exceed the
assimilative capacity of the environment (sustainable waste disposal) Ex: Sewage,
CO2
3. For nonrenewable resources: The depletion of the nonrenewable resources should
require comparable development of renewable substitutes for that resource. Ex:
Developing solar/wind to replace coal/oil use
Potential business approaches:
๏ง CSR Leader/Department
๏ง Integrate Sustainability
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Old: Big world, Few people, Plentiful
resources
๏ง New: Small world, Many people,
Fewer resources
Take Make Waste
Take
Make
Replace
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๏ง Listed Thai companies are encouraged to draft CSR reports
๏ง Governments tend to start with โEncouragedโ before going to โRequiredโ
๏ง A growing number of customers demand it
๏ง Avoiding Complexity โ A Business Transformation Opportunity
๏ง Staying ahead can provide competitive advantages and helps avoid the need to react to
regulatory changes
๏ง Itโs about staying ahead of regulations, and the competition
๏ง Waiting to react can lead to the Rube Goldberg Effect
๏ง Done properly, it can improve business performance
๏ง The UNโs Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
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๏ง Treat the case studies as initial committee meetings designed to seek options.
๏ง Please use the ideation process thatโs requested with each case.
๏ง Please donโt hesitate to ask questions!
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๏ง Format: Group Brainstorming
๏ง Work together to seek opportunities that might be worth further investigation.
๏ง Questions to consider if you get stuck
๏ง What communities do you serve and what are their most pressing needs?
๏ง Do any of their needs align with your companyโs products, services, or competencies?
๏ง Review the SDGs for potential opportunities.
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๏ง Format: Note and Vote (We can skip the voting part)
๏ง Work together to seek opportunities that might be worth further investigation.
๏ง Questions to consider:
๏ง What communities do you serve and what are their most pressing needs?
๏ง Do any of their needs align with your companyโs products, services, or competencies?
๏ง Review the inverted waste hierarchy.
๏ง Review the SDGs for potential opportunities.
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๏ง Format: Brain Writing
๏ง Work together to seek opportunities that might be worth further investigation.
๏ง Questions to consider:
๏ง Who might you put in charge of this work? Will it be a specific departmentโs
responsibility, or could it be integrated throughout the firm? Should they limit their
activities to the problem/opportunity at hand, or should they
๏ง If physical systems (the โhardโ stuff) are needed, how might those be designed?
๏ง How might you get the company culture to accept and support these changes? (How will
you get the changes to stick?)
๏ง Can the firm handle the work thatโs needed, or do you need to find partners?
๏ง Given the circumstances, what criteria might be important for evaluating partners beyond the
ability to provide the desired service?
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๏ง Good โHardโ systems make it possible for the system to work
๏ง Good โSoftโ systems make it happen
๏ง Good โHardโ systems on their own will often not be used
๏ง Good โSoftโ systems might work on their own, but theyโll be dependent on
individuals to keep it going
๏ง Note: Having people committed to make the system work is crucial. Brining them
to the table when the system is designed/tested can help a great deal.
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๏ง Format: Split Session
๏ง Work together to seek opportunities that might be worth further investigation.
๏ง Questions to consider:
๏ง What are likely the firmโs capabilities?
๏ง What are adjacent industries
๏ง What could they do to minimize the changes to their business?
๏ง What big changes could the consider?
๏ง Could they pilot something small to reduce risks?
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๏ง Were these cases helpful for helping you frame some of these issues?
๏ง Did you prefer any of the formats more or less?
๏ง What did you like/dislike?
๏ง Do you feel like you could start looking at problems like this for your firm?
Cases โ Underlying Themes:
1. Philanthropic Fiasco (Internal Consistency)
2. Coconut Castoffs (Reducing Waste)
3. New Horizons & Holistic Hotels (Aligning Strategy with SDGs & Creating
Opportunities)
4. Floundering Fishermen (Adapting to Changing Circumstances)
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๏ง The SDGs: https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs
๏ง Resilience Exchange: https://resilience-exchange.sphaera.world/
๏ง Sustainable Brands: http://www.sustainablebrands.com/
๏ง CSR Asia: http://www.csr-asia.com/
๏ง International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD): https://www.iisd.org/
๏ง Practictionerโs Hub for Inclusive Business: http://www.inclusivebusinesshub.org/
๏ง CSRwire: http://www.csrwire.com/
๏ง Triple Pundit: http://www.triplepundit.com/
๏ง The Donella Meadows Institute: http://donellameadows.org/
๏ง Food Marketing Institute โ Sustainability: http://www.fmi.org/industry-
topics/sustainability
๏ง MSI Apparel Coalition: http://msi.apparelcoalition.org/
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Internal consistency
Ensuring that the values of sustainable development permeate throughout the company usually starts at the CEO's office.
However, the best intentions are meaningless if they are lodged in the mind of one individual. Changing a company's culture and
outlook requires a contribution from everyone, working as a team.
๏ฑ Prepare a mission statement
๏ฑ Measure and report on your progress and performance
๏ฑ In-house waste reduction and pollution prevention teams
๏ฑ Materials that inform employees about economic, environmental and social trends
๏ฑ Lines of communication
External credibility
Customer loyalty, public credibility, and investor confidence are gained by companies that are perceived to be doing things right.
Perfection is not possible, but definable progress and effective communications are essential.
๏ฑ Annual sustainable development report
๏ฑ A commitment to honest and accessible public relations
๏ฑ A commitment to community development efforts
Forging external relationships
๏ฑ Work with innovative business associations
๏ฑ Tap the expertise of non-profit organizations
๏ฑ Contract with the best
๏ฑ Have fun, stay healthy, and enjoy your work in an increasingly stressful world
Weโre here to talk about business transformation. You probably expected discussions of strategy, operations, finance, accounting, and others. You probably didnโt expect to discuss sustainability. Right? That save the planet stuff costs money, right? In my experience, it depends on how you do it.
How might we define it?
-We tend to think of it in terms of the environment, but thatโs just the way it tends to be used. Itโs really just about any behavior being able to continue.
Herman Daly โ Well known American Environmental Economist
Renewable Resources: Fish stocks
Renewable Resources: Fish stocks
For pollution:ย Cars, coal-fired energy plants
For nonrenewable resources: Coal
Business approaches:
CSR Department โ Area which focuses on these matters. Possibly a good way to get started
Integrated โ The entire firm is expected to focus on this.
World population reached:YearTime to add 1 billion
1 billion 1804
2 billion1927 - 123 years
3 billion1960 - 33 years
4 billion1974 - 14 years
5 billion1987 - 13 years
6 billion1999 - 12 years
7 billion
Current: 7.3 billion
http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/
The top 50 listed firms already do create sustainability reports
Povertyย -ย End poverty in all its forms everywhere[20]
Foodย -ย End hunger, achieveย food securityย and improved nutrition and promoteย sustainable agriculture[21]
Healthย - Ensure healthy lives and promoteย well-beingย for all at all ages[22]
Educationย - Ensureย inclusiveย andย equitableย quality education and promoteย lifelong learningย opportunities for all[23]
Womenย - Achieveย gender equalityย andย empowerย all women and girls[24]
Waterย - Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all[25]
Energyย - Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all[26]
Economyย - Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment andย decent workย for all[27]
Infrastructureย - Build resilientย infrastructure, promote inclusive andย sustainable industrializationย and fosterย innovation[28]
Inequalityย - Reduceย inequalityย within and among countries[29]
Habitationย - Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable[30]
Consumptionย - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns[31]
Climateย - Take urgent action to combatย climate changeย and its impacts[32]
Marine-ecosystemsย - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marineย resourcesย for sustainable development[33]
Ecosystemsย - Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrialย ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combatย desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and haltย biodiversityย loss[34]
Institutionsย - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies forย sustainable development, provideย access to justiceย for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels[35]
Sustainabilityย - Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership forย sustainable development[36]
Take a minute to read the case together and then spend a couple of minutes thinking up ideas individually before discussing them as a group. The focus should be on generating ideas which might be worth researching to see if they could be useful options. At the end of the activity, each group will share some of their ideas.
Take a minute to read the case together and then spend a couple of minutes thinking up ideas individually before discussing them as a group. The focus should be on generating ideas which might be worth researching to see if they could be useful options. At the end of the activity, each group will share some of their ideas.
Conceptually, I want you think of sustainable business systems in two different ways. The first one is the more obvious physical parts that will interact in the system. An example would be all of the parts necessary for a recycling program. This would include the bins for collection, the areas for staging, and the trucks which would be used to pick the material up. We could include the broader ecosystem which would include the material sorting facility, the recycling plant, and the various machines and vehicles that are involved with the full circle of the recycling loop.
This is basically the engineering problem side of things. Itโs like designing an engine. If you leave out a key part, like spark plugs, or a fuel line the system wonโt work from the start.
To get to a point where you have a working physical system, we have to start by designing one which we think might work. We test that model and collect data to help determine what is or isnโt working. We tweak the system and continue to test to see if the changes we make improve the system. The goal is to work to rapidly evolve the system to one that works well enough to implement in a business environment. But when we get to that point, the job isnโt done. We should continually look for opportunities to improve the systemโs performance.
The other side of the system design coin is the harder bit to get at, which is getting the firmโs culture to adapt to these changes. A perfectly designed physical system tends to be useless if you canโt get the people to use it. For this, itโs important to gain a better understanding of how the business as it currently is. What difficulties exist? Could those somehow be removed or mitigated by the new system? Also,
Take a minute to read the case together and then spend a couple of minutes thinking up ideas individually before discussing them as a group. The focus should be on generating ideas which might be worth researching to see if they could be useful options. At the end of the activity, each group will share some of their ideas.
Take a minute to read the case together and then spend a couple of minutes thinking up ideas individually before discussing them as a group. The focus should be on generating ideas which might be worth researching to see if they could be useful options. At the end of the activity, each group will share some of their ideas.
Weโre here to talk about business transformation. You probably expected discussions of strategy, operations, finance, accounting, and others. You probably didnโt expect to discuss sustainability. Right? That save the planet stuff costs money, right? In my experience, it depends on how you do it.