Causecast

by MELISSA JUN ROWLEY, Contributing Writer

As economic hardship and concern for the environment increasingly penetrate the global marketplace, the criteria for measuring the success of a business is evolving past the end goal of simply selling a product or service. The desired outcome of profitability is transcending further into the multi-dimensional model known as the triple bottom line, which targets positive societal, ecological, and financial results. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) no longer revolves around risk mitigation; it lives for social innovation. This growing trend is being perpetuated and documented by social media.

On Monday, executives, communications specialists, and digital strategists from around the world gathered at the Justmeans Social Media for Sustainability conference in San Francisco to discuss the future of corporate social responsibility and the importance of transparency and developing and nurturing relationships with consumers, employees, and stakeholders through the power of Web 2.0.

For Laura Adams, Digital Advocacy Manager for Sustainable Business & Innovation at Nike, promoting transparency and instigating corporate activism using online tools is a vital morale booster.

“At the end of the day, it’s the people who drive Nike day in and day out who are going to get us to achieve our sustainability goals,” said Adams.

The force of social media has changed the way investors and employees, the fiber of any corporation, interact with their businesses. For this reason, Nike recently launched an internal social media network called the WE Portal, which serves as a platform for employees to discuss and engage with causes of interest to them and to brainstorm about how the company can be more sustainable.

“We’re not trying to dictate to them [employees] what they should be doing,” declared Adams. “We just want to give them a platform to elevate the work that they’re doing and amplify the impact that they’re creating.”

Like Nike, technology giant Intel is using social media to communicate its social consciousness internally and externally. Michael Jacobson, Intel’s Director of Corporate Responsibility, says his department has experienced an evolution.

Jacobson says, "At first Intel was really focused on reducing its own environmental footprint, but now we look at the whole industry.”

“We use social media as a way to tell our story,” said Jacobson.

While businesses are undoubtedly making positive strides in becoming more sustainable, entrepreneur Jeffrey Hollender, the Executive Chairperson of Seventh Generation, says corporate America still has a long way to go.

“There are no sustainable businesses right now,” said Hollender. “There are some that are less bad than they were before, but there are none that are actually sustainable, and there is a tremendous urgency for businesses to pick up the pace, not just in telling their story, but in taking the kind of action they need to take to lessen the adverse effect they’re having on the world.”

Eytan Elterman contributed to this story.

Photo by faungg, flickr.