Going Greener
06 December 2007 by Chris Wheatley
My journey into CSR started in November 2006 when i was sitting in a lecture on business ethics whilst on my MBA course. At first i thought it was all a bit of extreme nonsense - maybe because the lecturer was that really academic type (apparently he doesn't even have a TV at home). Something must have stirred my consciousness as soon afterwards i found myself at Blockbuster renting Al Gores acclaimed film - an inconvenient truth - thought it was fairly decent - however when i heard he spends a small fortune on air con for his 40 room mansion..fairly inconvenient for you Mr Gore.
Soon after i read a great article on the Harvard Business Review by Michael Porter of strategy fame - basically he proposed a framework for implementing CSR in any size of organisation and making it an integral part of organisational strategy rather then as a modular bolt on.
I then put together a board paper outlining the rationale of why we should do it and what we should do - there was widespread support but lots of cynical remarks about my 4x4....i basically based it around 3 areas we could have impact - being a good local citizen and donating to charity - which we do lots anyway from Micrah and Premex, mitigating harmful activities - using recycled paper etc - which we did to a little extent and finally incorporate into a broader organisational "-e-service strategy". That had resonance with everyone and we were under starters orders.
The next key task was to get each business unit to itemise their main "harmful" activities so we could start to build a real strategy - both to get things sorted now and to ensure that strategically we were evolving our business in a responsible way. This was made instantly easier by the whole scale buy in of the senior board and having Dan (marketing manager) and Richard (procurement guru) completely on board with both the intent and the requirement.
Great news - we have installed video conferring facilities so we can have meetings site to site without travelling across the m62.
4x4 has to go. Now this thing is getting some momentum it just does not seem right i am driving a big machine. 2008 and i will be a more sound organisation.
Chris Wheatley
