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What do you expect from the 2011 CSR / Sustainability reporting season?

January 21, 20115:26 pm

2011 has only just started and I am already expecting some interesting companies to publish their CSR / Sustainability reports shortly. Novo Nordisk is one of them for example.

But the question for today’s blog post is what you expect from 2011 the upcoming CSR / Sustainability reporting season. Do you feel that we have an innovate year in front of us or will 2011 be a year of transition where finally integrated reporting will make a proper splash in our CSR / Sustainability reporting world for example?

Here is what I think (I guess you saw that one coming).

CSR / Sustainability Reporting in 2011 – My expectations

The continued rise of Integrated Reporting: GRI and Integrated Reporting will be as big a topic in 2011 as it was in 2010 since the GRI is now fully committed to push integrated reporting. What the result will be is another question but I believe that integrated reporting will be as huge as a topic in 2011.
Interactivity and Social Media: An increased interactivity with social media sites such a Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn will give CSR / Sustainability Reports a whole now look and feel about them. The danger here is that if a company decides to go down the social media integration route it needs to be innovative and forward thinking. A half-hearten approach will most likely not be successful.
Most will be online but print will stay as well: The vast majority of reports will be even more extensive online in terms of content. The printed report will not be as comprehensive. But a printed brochure or short report will still be something each organization needs to produce in my view.
Another year of records: I am not sure about the total numbers but I am certain that we will see another record breaking year in terms of the number of companies producing CSR / Sustainability reports.

These are four my expectations for 2011. What are yours?

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/5135576565

Can augmented technology enhance CSR / Sustainability reporting?

October 15, 201011:50 am

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We know that CSR / Sustainability reports are not the most interesting bedtime reading. Despite some great work by the individuals in the CSR / Sustainability departments a CSR / Sustainability report can not really be more then some pictures and text on a piece of paper at this point in time.

Todays post is about introducing you to the topic of augmented technology. Sounds very complex and techie but don’t worry it is really easy to understand. This is the general concept: By using augmented technology, in our case smart phones, we as readers will be able to have an enhanced view and perception of the content and pictures of this CSR / Sustainability report. If I have lost you here please bear with me and watch this video below.

Here is a video to provide you with a practical example of how this technology is being used already (please disregard the horrible facial hair of the presenter )

How can this technology could be used to enhance CSR / Sustainability Reports?
In many different ways is the answer. Here are some possibilities. First from a companies perspective and then from the stakeholder perspective.

Company Perspective
Let’s view this from a recycling/ waste company’s perspective: Here augmented technology (when you hold your smart phone (iPhone, etc.) in front of this picture) can be used to provide the reader with so much more context by using different layers in images. Imagine a derelict landscape which during the course of the years has been transformed into a wildlife sanctuary again. Here the company finally has the company to show past and present all in a sequence and not by having to explain everything in detail with lots of text which no one will read anyway.

Stakeholder Perspective
As a stakeholder, this technology enables us to find the interesting bits and pieces of information much easier. Imagine you are viewing a chart of selected environmental key indicators. Only the past 2 years are displayed in order for you to see the short term progress the company has made. But holding your smart phone in front of this chart you will be able to see 5 years worth of data if you interested in a longer term view of the data.

The picture on the right is showing some glaciers in the Alps. By holding your iPhone towards them, the distance to these glaciers from your location and their altitude is being displayed.

These are only two examples (as you know I like to keep it short) on how this technology could be used to enhance CSR / Sustainability Reports. But enough from me now.

What is your view?
What is your view on this technology? Have you come across it before and do you think this would be valuable to enhance CSR / Sustainability reports?

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10812666@N03/4271298758

Sustainability in 2010

January 4, 20105:39 pm

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Today is my first proper work day in 2010. So why not start the year with a post about what this year might have in store for us when we look at Sustainability and some of its topical areas. Here are my thoughts on a some topics.

Sustainability in general
2010 will be a transition year when we are speaking of major developments in the Sustainability field during 2010. The big Copenhagen conference is over, the economy is still in global crisis and companies will look to strengthen their bottom line rather than their Sustainability activities. I am not trying to be overly pessimistic here but realistic. We have had our chance in Copenhagen. A chance to pave the way for a more sustainable future …… and we blew it.

Climate Change
The beginning of the year will be about making sense of the Copenhagen Accord (horrible name by the way!) Climate change activists and NGO’s will look for a new direction. And so far I cannot see an indication where they will lead us. Let’s just hope most of them choose the collaboration route rather than activism. And yes the parties from Copenhagen are planning to meet in Mexico this year for the so called Cop16. But for now the momentum has been lost and needs to pick up again. How? That is what we need to figure out now.

CSR Reporting
A lot of company reports will further transition into purely online reporting with only some printed publications next to it in my opinion. This is a good trend which will most likely continue as most companies will discover that CSR Reports are much more useful online than in print.

Stakeholder Engagement
Many companies will have to tackle this uncomfortable topic again as stakeholder pressure in all areas of Sustainability will only increase during 2010 due to the dire global economic situation. Engaging your stakeholders is crucial for all organizations, large or small, in order to have the support for the actions and decisions this company will make.
There is also danger of emerging radical stakeholder activism in my opinion. Activism which is not based on collaboration but only seeks to undermine and damage the Sustainability efforts of the particular organization. This is the last thing companies and we as their stakeholders need.
I also expect companies in the energy and consumer products sector to be the most innovative companies with regards to stakeholder engagement in Sustainability. They have to actively seek stakeholder feedback to be able to sell more. If they don’t do this they are missing out on a big opportunity.

Sustainability Leadership by CEO’s
2010 will also be a crucial year to see whether an increasing number of CEO’s will move into a leadership role with regards to Sustainability. 2009 has seen the emergence of the CEO’s of Timberland, Interface and many others speaking out about their actions and what they would like to see other organizations do with regards to Sustainability. These CEO’s have shown that doing good and communicating can lead to better reputation and increased sales. But they have also shown us that business needs to communicate in an open and honest way. This is the recipe for success and nothing else.

These are some of the thoughts which came to mind when I looked at the year ahead. What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree?

Picture Credit: sillygwailo

A great CSR Reporting Blog

December 1, 20092:26 pm

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Todays post is the first post part of a new topic category here on my blog. The new category will be called “Recommended Websites”.

The reason for me introducing this new category is that there are a lot of interesting and not so interesting websites out there on Sustainability and CSR. And it is extremely time consuming to identify the good and useful ones.

I have spend a lot of time and effort over the past few years to try to find most interesting and useful websites which I would like to share them with you in this upcoming series. I will not only provide you with the link but also a direct quote from the author(s) where possible as well as their social networking details if they have them.

Elaine Cohen’s CSR Reporting Blog
The first blog I would like to recommend in the CSR Reporting blog by Elaine Cohen. This is the direct URL: http://csr-reporting.blogspot.com/

This is how Elaine, the author of the blog describes her blog:
“The CSR Reporting Blog is a window to the world of Sustainability Reporting and CSR best, and worst, practices. Over 3,000 sustainability reports are published each year, but many say that reporting is not useful or effective and that no one reads these reports. The CSR Reporting blog begs to differ, and presents insights on reporting as an essential tool for transparency, accountability and CSR performance management.

The Blog provides authoritative updates, analyses, critical commentary and sometimes a good laugh about Sustainability Reporting, guidance on the value of the reporting process, how to read, write and use reports, and how to read what is not written.”

Where to find Elaine Cohen on the web:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/elainecohen
Her business website: http://www.b-yond.biz/en/

Sustainability / CSR Reporting Update – May 2009

May 7, 20099:52 am

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We are at the height of the 2009 Sustainability / CSR Reporting season at the moment and I have seen some very interesting reports being published so far.

Todays post is about three of the most interesting I have come across in the past few weeks. I have also added a shortlist of other reports I would like to share with you.

My Top Three

Motorola
As you would expect from a consumer product driven company, this reporting website is visually very good and easy on the eye. There is more then enough content to get a good overview of their company specific issues such as Privacy, Environmental Impact of their products, supply chain management, socio-economic impact, etc.. All in all a very good reporting approach in my opinion.

British American Tobacco (BAT)
One of the important players in the Sustainability / CSR Reporting field in my opinion. They have been reporting at a very high quality level for many years now and in my opinion are still doing a great job at this. Don’t get me wrong; I do not agree with their product range (ie. Tobacco) but they are still one of the best in terms of stakeholder engagement and Sustainability /CSR Reporting. This report is definitely worth checking out. The fact that they explicitly state what they have and what they have not reported on throughout the website stands out in my opinion. Very ‘material’ as BAT would say.

Lafarge
This is an interesting report with a lot of detailed information. Maybe too much text and information for a web format at times. The only real downside in my opinion is the presentation. This could have been a bit more engaging at times. But I guess this is the trade off you have to take for granted when you want to provide so much information.

Here are some other Sustainability / CSR Reports that I came across over past few weeks but did not review in further detail:

Legal and General (Financial Services)
Segro (Real Estate)
Amorin Group (Global cork manufacturer)
Aviva (Insurance Group)
Deutsche Börse (German Stock Exchange)
Abbott (Pharmaceuticals)
BAE Systems (Defence Industry)
GlaxoSmithKline (Pharmaceuticals)

Have I missed any interesting reports? If so please either get in touch or just add your report via the commenting option.