Values form an integral part of shaping a corporate culture for sustainability. Professor Harry Triandis, a cross-cultural psychologist, has shown that four values are judged to be important across all countries and cultures, and are therefore universal, world-wide. These values include:
- Mental and physical health – in no culture is it desirable that people are sick
- Subjective well-being – happiness is a core desire of cultures
- Longevity – no culture values life being cut short
- Preservation of the natural environment – no culture wishes to see the destruction of its natural environment
Unlike societies, corporations do not always value these four criteria, and this can lead to a disconnect because when we forget to observe one of these universal values, we tend to head towards delinquency. Perhaps this explains why corporations often have a detrimental impact on the world, and are subject to much criticism from stakeholders.
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To bring home this point, we will watch part of the movie The Corporation in class. A copy of this movie (DVD) is available for rent from the business library. I encourage you to watch the rest. |
For companies that do adopt and integrate these values into their business through sustainability strategy, can benefit enormously from a corporate culture perspective.
- First, sustainability is a cross-functional strategy, and as such results in better integration of all functions within the corporation (for example, marketing may have to work closely with production management).
- Second, sustainability strategies require companies to engage in dialogue with internal and external stakeholders, thereby promoting deeper engagement.
- Third, honest disclosure, measuring, and mitigation strategies are a necessary component, increasing the level of transparency of firms.
- Fourth, sustainability requires a holistic and system-based approach, often relying on partnerships along the supply chain and with peers. As such, it promotes collaborative skill development of corporations.
- Fifth, organizations become more resilient when they undertake sustainability practices because they learn to respond to risks and adapt their strategies on a continual-improvement basis.
- Finally, sustainability encourages long-term strategic thinking because actions by companies have implications well beyond the next quarter. This helps to reduce corporate myopia, and also means companies can attract more long-term, stable investors.
Watch this video for a deeper insight into how corporate sustainability in big brand companies may assist in saving biodiversity
Supplementary Resources
Bertels, Papania, and Papania (2010) “Embedding sustainability in organizational culture”