Purpose
Bob Willard of the sustainable advantage claims there is a business case for sustainability. Willard states that there are five stages of a sustainable journey for businesses. These journeys begin with an unsustainable business model in the first three stages and moves to a sustainable business framework in the last two stages. The stages are as follows:
- Pre-compliance – These companies are cutting corners and are not engaged in any means of sustainability.
- Compliance – These companies are mandated by regulation but their actions are still unsustainable.
- Beyond compliance – companies realize that they can save money by being proactive and operationally eco-efficient.
- Integrated strategy – The company rebrands itself as a sustainable company and embeds these sustainability principles into its values.
- Purpose/passion – Driven by a passion and commitment to improve the well-being of the company, society and environment.
Willard speaks about the difference between stage 4 and 5 companies is this purpose, similar to Liz Tinlin’s In pursuit of brand purpose. These companies are truly sustainable. It is their mission to be sustainable and these companies were created for the purpose of being better to the environment. These companies haven’t adjusted to brand preferences of being environmentally friendly. They started that trend. Stage five companies don’t have to worry about greenwashing and they monitor their impact on the environment because it is in the nature of the company to do so.
This idea of purpose brings the ideas of sustainability marketing all together. All of the concepts we have learned about relate back to the purpose of being a sustainable company. I decided to go into sustainability because my purpose was to make a positive difference. Everything that we do leads back to purpose and it all starts with a purpose. What is yours?
Hi Kristen,
Thanks for making us aware of the stages of a sustainable business! In addition to this going perfectly with our course readings, something else that came to mind when we talked about this was Guy Kawasaki and his advice to entrepreneurs that their companies should strive to ‘make meaning’. He mentions that if they’re in it just to make money, it’s likely their business will fail. He also emphasized good businesses being built upon three different kinds of meaning:
Increasing quality of life
Righting a wrong
Preventing the end of something good
It appears to me that the majority of big companies and corporations now have ‘rebranded’ themselves as sustainable companies rather than displaying a passion for their cause. However, personally I feel the onus may not be completely on them because these companies were formed at a time when sustainability was not something in the spotlight. On the other hand, newer, smaller startups have started to embrace sustainability as their passion because they were ‘born’ in an age where sustainability is a consistently visible and key issue we face.
Hi Kristen,
I love talking about purpose because I also believe that was my reason for taking sustainability concentration. Since living in Canada I’ve embraced the outdoor culture here and I’m grateful for what nature has given me. With my background growing up in Vietnam I really want to make social impact to my home country. I agree with Sarah too, that it will be very challenging for companies that have existed for a very long time and now are attracted to pursue the sustainability path, and new and small start-ups pose that advantage since it’s about adaptability and scalability. Companies that are driven by a purpose to improve the well-being of the company, society and environment are so valuable to the economy and I give my full support to those.