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Why do managers see this as a priority? The KPMG International Survey of

Corporate Responsibility Reporting listed leading drivers of this movement

cited by executives. Figure 13-1 shows the results of the survey.

Several forces are fueling the movement for corporate sustainability manage-

ment. In the next few sections, we examine the most important ones.

Stakeholders exert pressure .............................................................

In the good old days, a CEO could go about his business while answering to

relatively few stakeholders — namely the board of directors, shareholders,

and customers. Now businesses have far more stakeholders, including cus-

tomers, regulators, NGOs, vendors, competitors, and employees.

Who exactly is driving sustainability efforts can vary by region across the

globe. One survey by the Economist Intelligent Unit (EIU) asked more than

1,200 executives around the world to name the stakeholders who were most

influential in their sustainability efforts. In Western Europe, the top stakeholder

was the customer (56 percent); in North America, it was the competitors

(45 percent); and in Asia-Pacific it was government regulators (51 percent).

According to a survey by AMR Research, 27 percent of companies have busi-

ness relationships dependent on their own environmental stance. But this

appears to be scratching the surface: 57 percent expect such relationships to

be dependent on their stance within the next two years. These stakeholders

increasingly demand environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

And they are more proactive about punishing those who fail to meet these

75

53

53

47

47

39

27

21

13

9

9

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Percentage of managers citing this reason

Economic considerations

Ethical considerations

Innovation and learning

Employee motivation

Risk reduction

Access to capital or increased shareholder value

Brand reputation

Market position/market share

Enhanced supplier relations

Cost savings

Improved relations with government authority

Why Sustainability Should Be A Priority

Series1

Data Source: KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting

Figure 13-1:
Why
sustain-
ability
should be
a priority
(Data
source:
KPMG).

Chapter 13: Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility 251