CORPORATE SOCIAL

RESPONSIBILITY
ISSUES CONCERNING
SUSTAINABILITY
INTRODUCTION
● The starting point for every definition of sustainability comes from the
Brundtland Report (1987)
● “Development which meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

BRUNTLAND REPORT
● Sustainability and sustainable development- synonyms
● A sustainable company will exist by merely recognizing social and
environmental issues

● Concept of triple bottom line

● Concepts are positively misleading, unclear and give a false sense of
complacency

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

RE-DEFINING SUSTAINABILITY
● Re-examining meaning provided by Bruntland report
● Components of sustainability:

1. SOCIETAL INFLUENCE
2. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
3. ORGANIZATION CULTURE
4. FINANCE

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

MODEL OF CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY
CENTRAL CULTURAL AND
REASON SPIRITUAL
VALUES
FINANCE
ASPECT

SOCIAL
JUSTICE

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
RIGHTS CONSERVATION

EDUCATION POVERTY
ELIMINATION
ABOUT PEOPLE TREE
● Founded in 2001
● To address the
environmental devastation
and social inequalities in
fashion industry
● First brand to receive GOTS
● Founding member of WFTO
 ● TO PROTECT the environment and use
MISSION natural resources sustainably throughout
● TO SUPPLY customers with good quality
products, friendly and efficient service
● TO PROVIDE a supportive environment to all
stakeholders and promote dialogue and
understanding between them
● TO SUPPORT producer partners efforts
towards economic independence and to
challenge the power structures that
undermine their rights to a livelihood

People tree-Seventh Biennial Social Review 2011 - 2012

DISTRIBUTABLE SUSTAINABILITY
● Sustainability also depends on how the actions affect the stakeholders
● Affects should be acceptable to the stakeholders (in present & future)
● A stakeholder who is well treated both receives benefit from the company
and returns benefit to the company

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

DISTRIBUTABLE SUSTAINABILITY

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

DISTRIBUTABLE SUSTAINABILITY
● Balanced scorecard to evaluate for operation of sustainability in an
organisation
● Balance between these factors is a significant aspect of sustainability

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

 1. Customers
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT 2. Communities
3. Employees
4. Government
5. Interest groups

http://panmore.com/nike-inc-stakeholders-csr-analysis
 ● Identifies 5 challenges encountered by the
CHALLENGES AND Eileen Fisher design team in developing its
SOLUTIONS OF organic and fair trade cotton sweater program:
SUSTAINABLE APPAREL 1. Concerns with perceived value
PRODUCT 2. Process timing
DEVELOPMENT: A CASE 3. Quality standards
4. Supplier capacity
STUDY OF EILEEN 5. Price
FISHER
● Solutions included heightening creativity and
innovation, optimizing timing and resources,
interfacing hands-on “upstream”, managing
relationships responsibly and for the long term,
and making trade-offs based on cost and
values.
 ● Also identified 5 principles which guided the
CHALLENGES AND design team for sustainable design
SOLUTIONS OF
1. Prerequisite of a company mandate
SUSTAINABLE APPAREL 2. Match of core values
PRODUCT 3. Gathering and diffusion of information
DEVELOPMENT: A CASE 4. Cross-functional organization to support
sustainability initiatives
STUDY OF EILEEN 5. Significance of the supply chain arrangement.
FISHER
 ● Companies not only should focus on pollution
prevention but also on the product stewardship
category (includes a litany of practices that
CHALLENGES IN extend sustainability into areas such as product
SUSTAINABLE design and supply chain)
MANUFACTURING
● International standards such as ISO 14000, etc.
are important but are not an end in themselves

● Companies have to continuously re-invent

themselves in order to remain sustainable

● Considering all aspects of operations is

necessary in order to reap maximum benefits
from sustainability practices
CONCLUSION & LEARNINGS
● Sustainability concept requires re-thinking
● Prerequisites for sustainable development-Efficiency and equity
● Recyclability- environmental & corporate sustainability
● Sustainability often viewed as associated with environment only but it is
much more than that

Corporate social responsibility- Crowther & Aras, Chapter -4

THANK
YOU
Presented by: Anushka Girdhar

BFT-VI