If you follow the monthly, weekly, daily, and sometimes hourly news feeds on sustainability like I do, you will likely have noticed the recent influx of information on integrated reporting.  From my review of several leading reports and news articles, I have summarized key findings below:

What is Integrated Reporting?
Integrated reporting (IR) is a way of reporting that results from a deeper process of assessing business strategy and performance in the context of its relationship with many aspects of business -- namely, but not exclusively: Social,...

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It’s a common catchphrase in today’s world: Think Globally, Act Locally. I get the general gist of the mantra -- Consider the issues of the world, and do what you can in your own local sphere of influence. This is OK for the individual but just doesn’t cut it for business.

Most large businesses (and many mid-size and small ones, too) have value chain reach that spans states, regions, countries, and continents. Businesses can’t afford to think globally and just act locally.

Businesses need to think locally and act globally.
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Just ten years ago, sustainability reporting was essentially non-existent. A few leading companies had web pages that addressed their sustainability initiatives; even fewer issued official sustainability reports. Times have changed.

Sustainability reporting is no longer just for the leaders but for the majority of companies. Research by Ernst & Young shows that more than two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500 companies publish some form of sustainability or corporate responsibility report.  The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) states there are currently 9,981 GRI...

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In my August and October posts, I referenced water metaphorically to discuss sustainability retreats and sustainability strategy. This month, the focus is on water itself, specifically water scarcity.

The United States is facing increased water scarcity. Our nation’s water, once thought to be plentiful and ever-flowing, is quickly becoming a liability for meeting economic and human needs. Several regions of the country have already experienced water scarcity, while other regions are preparing for a water-scarce future. Water scarcity occurs in two situations - first,...

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From Products to Services - the Future Approach for Business

Do Sweat the Small Stuff
As any avid backcountry backpacker can tell you, things can change quickly.  A storm may roll in.  A wild animal may appear.  An ankle could accidentally give on an unseen root. For most backpackers, these radical changes have been accounted for, ruminated on, and planned for ahead of time.  If a storm rolls in, the backpacker knows of the nearest shelter or is prepared to built a makeshift lean-to.  If a rattlesnake appears on the trail, the backpacker...

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I recently returned to my business school alma mater’s (Vanderbilt) library to do some old-fashioned, i.e. non-Googling, research.  I delved into some dense databases in search of the answer to the question -- how many Chief Sustainability Officers (CSO) are there in the US?

I thought there would be a lot, given the great increase in sustainability initiatives and the deluge of sustainability messaging I have witnessed in the past eleven years of working in this area of business.  But there isn’t. I found only 37.  And of these 37, only 12 hold the...

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“It’s all about water here, isn’t it?”, my wife says, in a moment of realization.  “Swimming in the lake, the sauna, wash buckets to and from the lake, well water”.

Indeed it is all about water in Finland, where we retreat to every summer.  Her family’s lake house is off the grid -- the water grid that is.  So life, which is a cycle of water (and energy), slows.  Without a tap, toilet, or shower, water re-emerges to its primary role in life.

We look forward each year to the “reset button”...

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When I was a kid growing up in Clemson, SC, I was obsessed with basketball.  I loved Magic Johnson and his Showtime Lakers teams with Kareem, James Worthy, and Byron Scott.  I played hoops for hours on end in my driveway and on my Nerf hoop in the family room.  I dreamed of many things -- making the last second shot in a pivotal game, starting as the shooting guard on a college team, and, most of all, dunking!

I wanted to be able to lift off, fly through the air, slam the ball through the hoop, and hang on the rim.  It was the ultimate goal for...

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