Students spot sustainable trends

A group of Massey University postgraduate students are learning first-hand about the sustainable business practices of New Zealand’s most innovative companies as they shortlist entries for the Sustainable 60 awards.

The students, along with senior lecturer Dr Gabriel Eweje from the School of Management at Albany, recently gave up two weekends to judge who would get shortlisted for the competition’s final.

Smita Paul, who is studying for a PhD in knowledge management and sustainable development, has been a preliminary judge since the competition launched in 2009 and says the process has given her some invaluable insights.

“It’s great to see what’s really happening out there in the area of business sustainability,” she says. “Being in academia, you have to take these abstract ideas and apply them in the real world, so it’s great to see real case studies that show what sustainability managers can achieve out in the workplace.”

Ms Paul says one of the trends she has noticed over the three years that Sustainable 60 has been run is the increasing number of small and medium-sized companies adopting sustainable business practices.

“There used to be a lot of large firms with parent companies overseas that already had sustainable business strategies in place. They just implemented those strategies in New Zealand,” she says. “In the past couple of years we have had these small SMEs, started in New Zealand. They are very innovative and their core business driver is based on sustainability.

“I think being smaller, they interact with their communities a lot more. They aren’t really copying anyone – they see a gap in the market, and they understand their community very well and want to be part of that community.”

Dr Eweje says companies of all sizes are focusing more on responsibility and engaging more closely with their stakeholders, communities, and customers.

“There are many diverse forms of sustainability now, it’s not just about climate change or environmental concerns,” he says. “Companies are looking for ways of improving their social responsibility and having a presence in their local communities. Companies who give staff time off to do volunteer work for charities are a good example of this.”

While consumer demand for, and understanding of, responsible corporate behaviour is increasing, difficult economic times can put pressure on companies to dilute their sustainability strategies, Dr Eweje says. He stresses the importance of certification and documented evidence to show a continuing strategy is in place.

“My research shows that there are two types of companies – we have the leaders, and we have the followers. The leaders are companies that will continue to invest in sustainability during the recession because they see it as part of their strategy and something that will make them more competitive,” he says.

“However, the followers are just following the leaders, with no direction. These companies probably won’t invest during a recession or, if they do invest, it will be minimal. The followers can often engage in green washing – they pretend. They talk, but do very little. If you talk to them, they’ll refer you to what they did a few years ago. The leaders can show what they did last year, or yesterday.”

Both Dr Eweje and Ms Paul agree that companies that invest in their brand with quality sustainability strategies deserve to be recognised. Having reviewed the initial pool of entrants to the Sustainable 60 awards, the duo are keen to see which company the judging panel ultimately chooses as this year’s winner.

Dr Martina Battisti, from Massey’s SME Research Centre, is part of the judging team that will decide the winners and this year, for the first time, a Top 10 will be announced at the awards event on November 28.