Doing the Right Things in Business --Making the Business Case - Making the Financial Case - Also Incorporating the Moral Case?

It's an age-old topic of discussion: Where in American business do the issues of morality, ethical behaviors, and "fair and equitable" fit in? Andrew Winston, author of the best-selling "Green to Gold," explores the topic ("morality") in an essay on Sustainable Brands' "New Metrics" web platform.

Morality:  moralizing; degree of conforming to moral principles. So -- in exploring the subject of morality in business, Andrew Winston thinks managers should crank the "moral" arguments into making-the-business case-for-corporate-sustainability discussions. Making-the-financial-case ("investors want to know...") is occurring more frequently now with many more mainstream investors focused on the firm's ESG performance and the sustainability journey of especially large-cap enterprises.

"This is the right thing to do..." may be the persuasive argument in making the business case to decision-makers. The moral positions of companies and their leaders are facing greater scrutiny now, says Winston.  Will companies defend LGBT rights -- or protect immigrant employees?  Will they publicly argue for greater attention and action on climate change issues?  (It's the right thing to do, many of you, dear readers, will agree.)

In our Top Story, author Andrew Winston sets out four "buckets" of arguments as to how the initiatives companies pursue create value -- and three "mainstream" arguments (have some element of making-the-business-case, such as "short-term financial wins”).  The fourth argument -- improve the shared commons --  and is it time to broaden how we talk about sustainability and bring in a moral dimension.

The traditional business case is still critical - but broadening the arguments in making the sustainability business case has Winston wondering if a combined logic or "good for business" and "good for the soul" will work. He welcomes your thoughts after reading the essay.

Governance & Accountability Institute, Inc. is now in the 10th year of operations.  When we founded G&A back in 2007, we adopted the tagline:  Helping our clients do the right things for the right reasons.  That's guided us to 2017 and benefitted many of our corporate clients and our partners-in-progress. 

This is just a sample of some of the articles from this weeks SustainabilityHQ Highlights.  You can view the full Highlights by using the following links.Sustainability | ESG, Highlights for the Week of February 17, 2017