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Dear colleagues,

The Research Network for Business Sustainability, in partnership with the Richard Ivey School of Business, recently held a dialogue forum on valuing business sustainability. The speakers and participants – 30 managers, 20 academics, and 15 government and NGO leaders – offered insights on sustainability valuation from various perspectives. These insights are summarized in a report available at www.sustainabilityresearch.org/Docs/ValuingForumReport.pdf. Highlights include:

·         Thirty-five years of research shows that there is a small, positive relationship between superior corporate social performance and corporate financial performance; more importantly, there is no financial penalty.

·         Mainstream investors are starting to incorporate environmental, social, and governance parameters into their investment decision-making processes.

·         Various tools are available to help managers put dollar values to sustainability activities. For example, financial valuation analyses such as discounted cash flow, economic value-added, and rules of thumb, can help translate social activities in dollar values.

·         Too often, managers ask 'how much' and 'how far to go' on sustainability. This traps them in the old trade-off paradigm. Instead, they should ask 'why,' which will encourage them to understand how sustainability activities can generate value for the firm and better position the firm to harvest that value through innovation.

·         While most consumers express support of corporate sustainability initiatives, their behavior in the marketplace often does not support this view. Managers can influence customer behaviour more effectively by adjusting the context in which they sell, rather than promoting a product's social attributes.

Thanks to Dr. Robert Anderson and the Paul Hill School of Business for publishing the report, and Industry Canada and Environment Canada for financially supporting the forum.

Sincerely,

Tom Ewart, Managing Director
Research Network for Business Sustainability
www.SustainabilityResearch.org
Bridging Research in Business Sustainability with Practice
 
Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario
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