Sustaining Sustainability

From a collection of data to a real interactive medium: In the last couple of years, the rise of Web 2.0 technology has gained significance, even in companies’ sustainability reporting.

It’s all about green. Every three months since 2006, Greenpeace has produced a study of electronics companies, ranking them according to their “greenness.” It focuses on companies’ internal guidelines and processes for dealing with toxic chemicals and e-waste. Currently at the top of the ranking: Samsung and Toshiba. Greenpeace raises the bar with every new survey, defining de facto standards for the industry.

“SAP, too, needs to take this environmental knowledge into account when developing its solutions for climate protection,” says James Farrar, vice president of Corporate Citizenship at SAP. Clear, legal standards do not always exist – such as what constitutes an acceptable level of CO_ reduction. This gray area, as SAP experts have dubbed the situation, “is a place we’ll be stuck in for a while.”

Many electronics manufacturers try to follow the Greenpeace criteria. Greenpeace has written in its German blog: “Manufacturers have stepped up and considerably improved their environmental standards.” Other industries need to set their own standards. To bring interest groups on board, Farrar recommends collecting as much data as possible, which companies can then use to define their own targets. The best way to set up dynamic discourse with interest groups is with Web 2.0 applications, such as blogs and forums, where “companies can reach groups with whom they never – or at least rarely – communicate,” says Farrar.

Credibility creates confidence

This discourse is critical to the credibility and quality of information that companies feed us. Farrar says this applies, beyond climate change, to all matters of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Since “stakeholders want a trustworthy contact who is always available,” the AccountAbility institute has created the AA1000 standard, which defines parameters for the involvement of interested parties. It is supported worldwide by companies, organizations, and public bodies.

In terms of sustainability and community responsibility, “companies are accountable not only to their classic stakeholders, such as financial analysts and shareholders,” Farrar explains. Employees, citizens, the government, and members of charitable organizations should also have a say. On its blog, Greenpeace, for example, commented on the results of its latest survey of the electronics industry.

Openness helps business

Free discourse in Web 2.0 can generate real business advantages. Research shows that content coming not directly from companies, but posted on blogs or forums by other lobby groups, is more likely to be trusted and to influence purchase decisions. In countries such as China and Russia, these social media are on the increase. Readers trust blogs substantially more than the traditional press, which, in their experience, can be manipulated.

The environment, human rights, working conditions, corruption – what companies say about these community issues is an increasingly important factor for investors, alongside business success. “To achieve long-term success, companies need to accept more responsibility for the environment and their community, and to record and explain their actions transparently,” says Prof. Stefan Schaltegger, head of the international Center for Sustainability Management (CSM) at Leuphana University, Lüneberg, Germany. Web 2.0 applications are particularly suitable because they are based on this simple principle of transparency.

SAP has begun its first pilot projects embracing Web 2.0. Farrar and other SAP experts are discussing CSR issues on a platform for business process experts and on an Internet site about the work of the United Nations World Food Program. According to an inquiry by the Institute for Environmental Communication and CSM into electronic sustainability of German DAX 30 companies, Web 2.0 is “a relevant phenomenon of public communication and media use, rather than a mere side issue.” The Greenpeace campaign shows how influential Web 2.0 can be when used to its full potential.

Solutions and Standards

SAP Solutions for Governance, Risk, and Compliance

SAP’s governance, risk, and compliance port-folio helps companies establish a strategy that develops integrated risk management and automates authorizations and controls across heterogeneous IT environments. The portfolio also supports compliance with new trade and security requirements.

AA1000 Standard

The AA1000 standard, run by AccountAbility, is backed worldwide by companies, organizations, and public authorities. It aims to strengthen the credibility and quality of sustainability reporting and to improve the underlying processes, systems, and competencies. AA1000 modules aim especially to involve stakeholders in the company’s internal sustainability process. The standard stresses that, above all, the management system must be arranged so that stakeholders’ questions can be received, considered, and dealt with easily and efficiently. It focuses on processes rather than providing targets for companies to achieve. AA1000 helps implement management modules, assessments, and certification.

Platform for business process experts
www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/bpx

Information about the World Food Program
www.sapfeedingknowledge.com

Christina Schnoklake, SAP AG