Is our understanding of responsibility too narrow?
Michael D'heur
Sustainable Business Architect | Trusted Advisor | Author of "Sustainable Value Chain Management" (100k+ Downloads) | Cost | Carbon | Circularity
The terms corporate social responsibility and corporate responsibility have been around for some time now. Companies have taken various levels of depth and effort to ensure that they take care of employees, environment and society while conducting business.
But why should the responsibility for how a product is made, what ingredients it has and the environmental and societal impact it has caused, solely be left to the company producing it? Why is the entire discussion so focused on the producer and not on the person/organization buying the product?
I believe that Corporate Responsibility should be Customer Responsibility as well.
Every time a customer (a term that I prefer over consumer and that works well in a business to business context) buys a product or service, he/she has a responsibility for how it is made!
To educate customers about their responsibility and what story is behind each product, there should be value chain transparency and customer education (which actually should start in school!)
What do you think?
LIKE, SHARE, COMMENT:
Please give the article a like, if you think customers should make more educated decisions when buying a product/service.
Do follow shared.value.chain to understand how to move towards sustainable value creation and to get your company to build the capabilities that characterize a sustainable business: Competitive, Innovative, Trusted, Versatile, Cost Efficient, Transparent, Collaborative and Creating Triple Value
----------------------------------------
By Michael D'heur
Founder & Managing Director of shared.value.chain, Author of Sustainable Value Chain Management
Head of Retail and Impact Investment at Sustainable Finance Observatory
8 年I think it is, indeed, still important to enlarge the knowledge about the need of Sustainable Development. The so often claimed "sustainable lifestyle" is necessarily linked to sustainable consumption, thus the purchase of products which have internalized social and environmental externalities like the violation of human rights and environmental degradations (from the beginning of the supply chain to the end product). However, even conscious people, like from my current master program called "Sustainable Science and Policy" which I am attending for a semester abroad, don′t necessarily buy these sustainable products. Why? Well on the one hand there are no sustainable alternatives for e.g. computers or tablets and on the other hand the alternatives for e.g. clothes or smartphones are not visible enough, exist insufficiently, and sometimes are not affordable. Hence, the mission of business, from producers to retailers, should be to enlarge the sustainable product range. Otherwise, even conscious costumers won′t be able to push the market forward. As Michael D'heur has mentioned in other articles before, the Fairphone is a milestone in doing so.
Wir geben Ihren Tr?umen ein Zuhause
9 年Completely agree with you Micheal. The power customers have is widely underestimated. Education is urgently needed and should definitely begin at school. Value chain transparency for products and services probably requires even more regulations for companies, because in most cases they show us only part of the value chain. A better idea than regulations could be a sustainable value chain calculation of each product. If disposal costs for nuclear waste for generations to come would be calculated properly into the price for electricity per kWh nuclear energy could never be competitive!
Inspiring Passion & Success, Advisory Boards, Consulting, CEO, 4X Start-up Founder/Leader, Board Director, Strategy, Innovation, Change Management, Sustainability, Author "Xponential Growth".
9 年Creating awareness through Inclusion in the high school educational curriculum will benefit the whole society.
Senior Consultant, CentraRSE
9 年Definetely agree with you Michael! and one of the many answer to your question "Why is the entire discussion so focused on the producer and not on the person buying the product?" is, that it's always easier to point the finger at someone else, than reflecting one's own behavior. Fortunately (and hopefully this will be reflected in future school curricula), the need for (early) education has been recognized and acknowledge by the SDGS - Goal 4.7: "By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles", and of course - Goal 12: Sustainable consumption and production patterns