Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. Chapter 1 focuses on sustainability as a concept, gives models and definitions, and discusses its relationship to capitalism and its evolution. Capitalism needs to be reworked to include sustainability and stakeholders. Sustainability models take into consideration economic, environmental, and social aspects. The economic dimension focuses on products, services, and profit; the environmental looks at how economic and social activities can leave the planet with resources; the social works to see that all members of society share wealth and enjoy a high-quality life. These models suggest that, while profit is important for the economy, it should not be the only objective. Sometimes capitalism can cause more problems, but it should be designed in a way to solve societal problems.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. Chapter 2 discusses sustainability reporting and its relationship with sustainability performance. If a company does not report its performance, stakeholders will face obstacles in their decision making, and the company itself misses an opportunity to learn about its own performance. Sustainability performance and reporting change in response to sustainability disasters. The Bhopal gas leak and the Exxon Valdez oil spill are described as well as how they motivated change in performance and reporting. Many sustainability reporting guidelines have been created over the years, some of which cover all organizations while others focus on a specific sustainability aspect. The GRI offers the most broad-based set of sustainability reporting standards used for stand-alone reports.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. This chapter looks at how organizations begin their sustainability journeys and the importance of engaging stakeholders throughout that journey. Sustainable companies link policies to performance, both of which are consistent with the needs and desires of stakeholders. Participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives can connect policy to stakeholders' needs and desires, while sustainability reporting can connect performance to them. Policies need to consider how the values of stakeholders differ regarding short-term versus long-term thinking, self-interest versus community interest, and value placed on humans versus other life forms. Many universal policies give businesses good direction for their sustainability journeys, but most of these policies and the principles they suggest need to be customized to the individual organization and its stakeholder needs.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. Chapter 4 explores the role of management systems in linking policy with performance. Governance is needed at all organizational levels in order to fulfill sustainability objectives. These levels include strategic (long-term), tactical (one year), and operational (day to day). Management systems have both formal and informal components. Formal components include organizational structure, responsibilities, and procedures, while informal components include values, trust, and leadership. Commitment and capability must also happen at all organizational levels of management systems. To develop commitment, organizations need to communicate what is important, delegate responsibility for what is important, and reward what is important.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. This chapter discusses the role of indicators in sustainability reporting. Multiple similarities between sustainability reporting and financial accounting and reporting are given. For example, similar to financial accounting, narrative qualitative discussion helps to enhance disclosure of sustainability performance and to interpret quantitative indicators. Engagement between policy and stakeholders can help identify important topics for reporting performance. The idea of SMART indicators is described. Topics that are material can fall into three different categories: economic, environmental, and social. In order to develop a comprehensive performance measurement system, companies should use a mix of input, output, outcome, and impact indicators. Input and output represent efficiency; outcome and impact represent effectiveness.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. Chapter 6 explores what qualities in a sustainability report make it credible in the eyes of stakeholders. These qualities include stakeholder engagement or inclusiveness to determine which topics are most important to them and which topics have the greatest impact on the company. When there seems to be a gap between promises and delivery and when that gap is not explained, credibility is questioned. Financial reporting and sustainability reporting are compared by looking at similar characteristics that make them credible and useful. Many of the characteristics are interdependent. Reporting results from year-to-year, against targets, and against benchmarks supports comparability, which in turn allows for assessment of performance against similar organizations.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. Chapter 7 discusses the role of assurances in sustainability performance and the reporting of sustainability performance. Assurances can come from an internal or external review or audit. Internal assurances are carried out by the organization's own employees and ensure that personnel are committed and capable at all organizational levels. External assurances are performed by people who are not employed by the organization and can be limited (negative) or reasonable (positive). Teams for both internal and external assurances need members from various areas of expertise. Internal assurances tend to be proactive, while external assurances tend to be reactive. However, because providers typically give feedback on ways to improve, assurance of any kind improves performance and provides credibility.

Businesses and economic systems are changing in response to global challenges, shareholder interests, and stakeholder interests. This book offers a guide for organizations to benefit from sustainable approaches. A historical overview of the concept of sustainability is given, specifically focusing on how sustainability applies to performance and reporting. In order to implement sustainability in a business, policies need to be developed that align with stakeholder expectations. When organizations are actively participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives, it is easier to align policies with societal trends. When policies are developed, management systems are vital in making sure the policies are congruent with actual performance. Performance reports should be based on well-recognized standards; regular reporting will help stakeholders evaluate an organization's performance and find out if performance is consistent with their expectations. Assets to developing stakeholder trust in performance and reporting include internal and external assurances. Potential actions for improvement are also discussed. This chapter offers a review of key points in the model for organizational sustainability and explores how to improve performance and reporting in the future. Steps an organization would take on its sustainability journey are described along with considerations for accomplishing each step and an example of implementing each step. When it comes to reporting, companies typically prepare a stand-alone sustainability report or an integrated report, but some put forth specialized, customized requests instead of using the company's sustainability report for needed information. Large proactive multinational companies may also try to predict what information stakeholders will ask for and then put that information on their website.

TwinHills was a proposed community development project by a private land developer in Calgary, Canada. The developer's utopian vision was to create a community that met a "five bottom line" model of economic, social, environmental, technological, and spiritual components. This vision was not necessarily shared by the agencies involved in the development approval process, including those in city council. The landowner identified social return on investment (SROI) as a possible tool to use to demonstrate the value of the community and expedite approvals. Two students took on the task of researching SROI and recommending specific applications for the TwinHills project. However, they encountered problems that complicated the decision process. What recommendations should the students make regarding the use of SROI for this project? They would have to use skills including cost-benefit and stakeholder analysis, while absorbing and applying the new concept of SROI to suggest the most appropriate course of action.

In 2009, Enbridge announced the Neutral Footprint program to enhance its social licence to operate, increase its corporate responsibility, and in turn improve its corporate reputation through good performance. The program also gave Enbridge an opportunity to provide information about its financial and non-financial performance. By the end of 2012, Enbridge had suffered from unfavourable publicity due to oil spills. It also encountered a great deal of opposition against its proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project. The company's situation was further complicated by the retirement of its chief executive officer who had started the Neutral Footprint program. Enbridge's new chief executive officer and president needed to be convinced of the benefits of the Neutral Footprint program, most of which were difficult to quantify. Would the project be cancelled, continue as is it was, or become even more engrained in Enbridge's culture?

Brand equity is one of a firm's most important assets. Unfortunately, such intangible assets have received little attention from the financial and accounting communities. This view may now be changing. The focus of the research is on valuating the effect of advertising on brand equity, not only for external reporting but also for internal management and control. Pros and cons of various brand valuation models are examined. Brand asset measurements should address the success of the firm in creating a product, providing marketing support, retaining customers, building brand value, and reducing return volatility. The authors use a calculation called "advertising turnover" to describe the relationship between advertising expenditures and brand value. It indicates how efficiently the firm converts advertising dollars into brand value, and is similar to methods used in financial analysis for determining the productivity of capital assets or receivables. Plotting this calculation over time can distinguish between high-efficiency brand enhancers, low-efficiency brand enhancers, unknown brand future, and brand deterioration. Brand ROI can be broken down into "brand turnover" and "return on sales." Kellogg's brand performance is used as an example of applying the model to evaluate the ability of advertising and market share to enhance brand value.