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With the advent of big data, the Internet of Things, cognitive computing, and social media, it is becoming more difficult to argue that one could not have known or at least have considered more alternatives, particularly negative unintended consequences that happen in addition to the intended positive ones. Organizations too often make a decision that will produce a positive consequence and then focus on how to implement it, rarely stepping back to ask ''What else could happen?'' Any decision changes the system in which it exists. The longer the time required to implement a decision, the more systemic changes can alter the effects of the decision on the system. Decisions to implement Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability initiatives usually involve many different stakeholders and may involve systems in which organizations have little expertise or experience. A major negative unintended consequence, even for a CSR initiative, can damage the stakeholders' trust in the organization. This article proposes a 5-step process to answer the question ''What else could happen?'' in order to identify possible unintended negative consequences, thereby helping organizations support their commitment to people, planet, and profit.

There is an important shift in business focus in the United States that is empowering companies to not only declare their intent to be ethical firms which do good while making a profit, but also to submit proof of that commitment for annual review by outside evaluators. A new business model is providing structure for nonprofits that wish to grow, for for-profits that wish to be socially responsible, and for individuals who wish to invest in companies with a commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability. B Lab has taken the lead in providing the models necessary for this shift to a focus on the double bottom line: profit and social benefit. It has created the legal documents for state legislatures to use to pass a new corporate structure called the 'benefit corporation.' In the 3 years of its existence, legislatures in 19 states and the District of Columbia have ratified the new corporate structure. Likewise, B Lab offers a performance assessment program to become a Certified B Corporation, independent of legal corporate status, which also serves as an evaluation program for benefit corporations. Additionally, it has created a ratings agency and analytics platform, the Global Impact Investing Rating System (GIIRS), to help institutional investors evaluate the impact of companies' corporate social responsibility initiatives. This article discusses the requirements and benefits of the new models and addresses the issues that have been raised about them. It also identifies companies that are incorporating the benefit corporation structure and are becoming Certified B Corporations.

Scenario development is a time- and resource-intensive process, one that not all companies are positioned to undertake at any given point in time. As such, this article will propose an Abbreviated Scenario Thinking process that uses published scenarios from government and industry sources to allow companies to make strategic decisions based on the results. Scenarios are narratives that describe the possible futures in which one must compete 5, 10, or 20 years from now. They allow people to test possible actions by playing them out in three or four different ways. Scenarios are based on plausible consequences of events, environmental forces, and players as they occur in time, and create patterns of the future that can have substantively different effects on strategic decisions. Thus, scenarios are important to executives and managers in the 21st century as they develop competitive strategies. By employing Abbreviated Scenario Thinking, executives utilize published global scenarios to analyze the driving forces that affect their organizations, asking "What If?" as an entry point to scenario planning. This can produce benefits even before any formal scenarios are written.