Entries by Bob Willard

White Paper: “7 Bold Strokes to Save Our World”

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Here are the opening paragraphs of my first white paper, “7 Bold Strokes To Save Our World.”

“We are at a pivotal point in the course of human civilization. We need to acknowledge that the system that got us into this global quagmire is not fit for our future. Let’s capitalize on this rare opportunity to truly transform global systems.

“It’s easy to criticize the status quo. There have been glaringly obvious national and global failures to mitigate our current crises effectively, let alone prepare for them. But it’s time to challenge ourselves to propose what we would do if we were in charge of the world. If we had a magic wand, what are the actions that we would immediately take to transform our world to a more resilient, just, inclusive and safe socioeconomic system?”

A 16-page paper is too long to be a blog and too short to be a book, so I decided to make it a “white paper.” According to Wikipedia, a white paper “is an authoritative report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision.” That summarizes my intent perfectly. Read More

3 Versions of Performance Dashboards for 21st Century Companies

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Suppose a company decides to use a 21st century business model, as shown above and described in my last blog. Then, suppose someone asks, "How's it going?" To answer the question comprehensively, wouldn't it be nice to invite the questioner into a control room where the business model is the centerpiece, surrounded by company performance indicators? The company's direct and indirect impacts on key stakeholders ‒ employees, the environment, society-at-large, communities and customers ‒  would be quantified and connected to where and how those impacts occur in the company's business model. The resulting dashboard would provide a decision-ready overview of company financial and non-financial performance.

To illustrate this suggestion, a generic version of the dashboard template is shown above. Now, let's take a look at how the dashboard might look if non-financial performance were assessed using three different sustainability frameworks: the Future-Fit Business Benchmark (FFBB), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Integrated Reporting <IR> Capitals. Read More

6 Design Criteria for 21st Century Business Models

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A company's business model is its blueprint for what it does, how it does it and how it generates enough income to be at least a going concern. Traditional 20th century business models imply that a corporation is an island, independent of societal of environmental boundaries and myopically focused on maximizing shareholders wealth. It's time for an upgrade to a model that is fit-for-purpose in today’s volatile and risky economy. As encouraged by the Business Roundtable, a 21st century business model explicitly acknowledges the company's surrounding environment and its purposeful stewardship of the wellbeing of other stakeholders. Building on other guidance on what a business model should contain, here are the 6 design criteria for 21st century business models. Read More

New Stakeholder-centric Purpose Drives 21st Century Capitalism

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For the last 50 years, Milton Friedman's three-word corporate purpose mantra has been imprinted into the mindsets of  business school graduates: "maximize shareholder wealth." The maxim worked well ... for the 1%. In August 2019, the Business Roundtable acknowledged that 20th century shareholder-primacy capitalism has failed the rest of us and declared that the new / improved 21st century corporate purpose is to "maximize stakeholder wellbeing." Stakeholder-primacy capitalism is not a revelation for the founders of the B Corp movement who have shown that operating for the benefit of all stakeholders is more rewarding in today’s tumultuous economy. The new stakeholder-centric purpose drives 21st century capitalism – and changes everything.
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3 Reasons To Upgrade To ES2B Business Models

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Most business models are out of date. They lack a systems perspective. Today’s business models omit the surrounding environment and society-at-large. They suggest no accountability for long-term impacts on the nests by company operations, by use of company products and by the ultimate disposition of its products. Classical business models treat impacts on the environment and society-at-large as externalities that are beyond the purview of company accountability. Doing business on today’s crowded, depleted planet requires more complete business models that are fit-for-purpose in the 21st century. There are 3 reasons to upgrade to ES2B business models that better reflect systemic environment-and-society-to-business dynamics.

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7 Ways Companies Can Contribute to the SDGs

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a.k.a. the Global Goals, are increasingly embraced by companies as a useful reporting framework for their sustainability efforts. That’s a good thing. However, many companies focus on how they directly contribute to only three to five SDGs that are deemed to be most relevant to their business models and ignore the rest. They seriously undervalue their investments in social and environmental wellbeing. It’s time that they gave a more comprehensive and transparent account of the seven ways that they directly or indirectly create natural, human and social capital, as framed by the SDGs. Read More

5 Reasons Why “Mother Nature” is a Key Stakeholder

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For years, companies have treated the environment as an externality. The environment is not on their radar screens of stakeholders to whom they need to pay attention. Stakeholders are defined as “anybody who can affect, or is affected by, an organisation, strategy or project.” The environment is not a body / person. Maybe calling it “Mother Nature” would personify it enough for it to qualify as an “anybody.” There are five reasons why it’s time to treat Mother Nature as a key stakeholder. Read More

The Business Case for Sustainability, Redux … Seven times

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Question: “What’s the business case for sustainability?”
Answer: “Compelling! Doing the right thing for the environment and society enables a company to capture new opportunities and avoid new risks.”

Next Question: “Okay, but what’s the business case for sustainability?”
Answer: “…?!?! …”

I was reminded of this frustrating dialogue when I read Andrew Winston’s recent blog, “Explaining the Business Case for Sustainability Again … and Again … and Again.” Andrew is a guru on the business case for sustainability. His book, Green to Gold, is a classic.  In his blog, he recalls five different Groundhog Day-like discussions he’s had on the business case for sustainability. I smiled when I read them. It was a trip down memory lane. Read More