Sustainability: Businesses say it’s personal

university-of-waikato

Wed May 30 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Sustainability: Businesses say it’s personal

Wednesday, 30 May 2007, 9:50 am
Press Release: University of Waikato

MEDIA RELEASE

29 May 2007

A new survey shows businesses are keeping up with the surge of interest in sustainability, and have increased their sustainable practices by 10% over the past three years.

The survey by Waikato Management School and the Sustainable Business Network shows that businesses have adopted more sustainable practices, not because they feel pressured to do so but increasingly because business managers personally see it as the ‘right thing to do’.

“The message we’re getting back from business about sustainability is that it’s personal,” says the report’s co-author Dr Eva Collins.

“Businesses are telling us that there’s been a fundamental change in the workplace. Flexible work practices, laptops, PDAs and mobile phones mean that for many people nowadays work is no longer separate from the way we live our daily lives. And if we’re concerned about sustainability at home then we’re much more likely to bring that concern to work.”

Dr Collins cowrote the report Sustainability Practices of New Zealand Businesses in 2006 with Waikato Management School colleagues Prof Stewart Lawrence and Prof Juliet Roper. They will be speaking about their research in the first of the University of Waikato’s Fieldays Lecture Series this Thursday.

Based on responses from 519 businesses, the report follows up an initial 2003 benchmarking survey, the first of its kind in New Zealand, which looked at the adoption of sustainable practices in business. The researchers also conducted interviews and focus groups with businesses for a more in-depth view.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Social sustainability practices, such as giving to charity, family friendly policies and job training, remain the biggest element of sustainability take-up by businesses, although they haven’t grown as fast as environmental practices, such as recycling and energy saving initiatives.

“Around three-quarters of firms reported social sustainability practices, and overall these practices have increased by 7-8% compared to 2003,” says Collins. “In contrast, the growth in environmental sustainable practices was 10%.” [see table overleaf for breakdown of survey’s findings]

Reputation and brand are still the key driver, with 57% of companies reporting this had influenced them to become more sustainable compared to 46% in 2003.

The researchers found that cost, management time and knowledge/skills remained the biggest barriers for business adopting sustainable practices.

“The first steps towards sustainability are often simple," says Rachel Brown, CEO of the Sustainable Business Network (SBN), which collaborated on the research. "Each business will have different needs and challenges, but there is help available. Networks such as the SBN are an excellent way of finding out what the leaders in the field are doing. Through talking with each other, our members can find both support and inspiration to take these first steps.”

Contact: Dr Eva Collins, Waikato Management School, (07) 838 4466 x 4083 evacolln@waikato.ac.nz
Rachel Brown, CEO, Sustainable Business Network, (09) 826 0394 rachel@sustainable.org.nz
www.sustainable.org.nz

Sustainability Practices of New Zealand Businesses in 2006

Findings at a glance:

Environmental
Practices 2003 2006
Recycling 56% 70%
Policy 27% 36%
Report 10% 11%
Impacts 50% 63%
Marketing 17% 28%
Targets - Training 14% 18%
Targets – Waste 25% 37%
Targets – Energy 22% 33%
Voluntary 18% 27%
Group/network 24% 39%
Suppliers 10% 17%
Management
Systems 24% 29%
None 15% 17%

Social practices 2003 2006
Job Training 75% 75%
Tertiary Education 48% 50%
Local Community
Projects 58% 64%
Charity 67% 75%
Diversity 43% 44%
Family-Friendly
Policies 57% 64%
Provides flexi-time 50% 57%
Stress Management 33% 34%
None 2% 2%

Dr Eva Collins and Prof Juliet Roper will report on the survey’s findings as part of the 2007 University of Waikato’s Fieldays Lecture Series. Their presentation, “Sustainability Practices of New Zealand Businesses in 2006”, will be held on 31 May at 7.30pm at the WEL Energy Trust Academy of Performing Arts, Gate 1, Knighton Road, Hamilton.

The full report can be found at www.management.ac.nz/sustainabilityreport

Ends

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from University of Waikato on InfoPages.