For almost a year, I have been planning an event with the Columbia Business School Alumni Club called Making Green from Green: Corporate Environmental Sustainability Programs. Well that event is finally happening tonight, and I just can’t wait. I really can’t wait to hear what Professor Heal from Columbia Business School and the three panelists: Jeff Hollender of Seventh Generation, Dr Beth Sauerhaft of PepsiCo, and Steve Boston of CA, Inc. have to say. Obviously a lot of other people feel the same way because the event sold out with over 200 registrations earlier this week. Why so much interest around this topic?
In my case, being a business school graduate, entrepreneur, and a passionate (but only recently well informed) environmentalist, I’ve questioned whether corporations would ever care about anything other than maximizing profits for shareholders. I was particularly harsh in my rant about how companies would only start to act responsibly after consumers stopped accepting toxic and environmentally damaging products. While consumer driven demand will be a huge driver, another big consideration is that corporations are starting to realize that they have financial incentive to be “good corporate citizens.”
I’m not just talking about things like saving money from energy conservation, smart waste management, lower emissions, etc. This low hanging fruit will certainly help get companies on board. But what is happening is a shift in the corporate mindset too. Companies like Stonyfield Farms, Seventh Generation, Patagonia, and Burt’s Bees have always shown that profitability and responsibility can go hand in hand. But the more traditional corporations are also getting a clue that a truly sustainable and profitable future must come from big picture, long term, systems thinking. The days of making a quick buck at the expense of quality, safety and sustainability are starting to be a thing of the past. I’m not saying that the greed driven myopic corporate executives are going away altogether – oh no – look at the oil companies – the “um, let’s deny climate change science and make as much money as possible while we live on this endangered and dying planet we call earth – to hell with our children and their children and the stupid polar bears” kind of person. They’ll always be around unfortunately. But what I am seeing is that they are not so popular anymore!
When I was in business school in the 80s, it was all about making money, at whatever expense. There were no programs in “Social Entrepreneurship” and “Clean Tech” and “Green Marketing.” Now Green MBA programs are extremely popular. People like Adam Werbach, Gary Hirshberg and Jeffrey Hollender are shaking up the business world and showing that business and social responsibility are far from incompatible – they must exist hand in hand if companies want to succeed and survive. I’m looking forward to hearing more about it tonight.
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