Popularly known as 3BL, the Triple Bottom Line approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) simply states that an organization should not only be concerned about its financial gains but also about its environmental and social performances by engaging in sustainable environmental practices and by conducting business in a way that is beneficial to the community in which the business resides respectively. In other words, corporate responsibility should not be to only shareholders, but to stakeholders. Who are these stakeholders? Stakeholders refer to anyone who is affected by the performances of an organization.
Without mincing words, the only way to make the world a better place for those who are here right now and those who are yet to come is to begin to do today what we ought to do tomorrow. For the world to be in continuum, we need people to occupy it, we need to ensure that the planet is green, that fears of global warming are put at bay, that our society is crime-free, that beggars on the street have a home, that war as a resolve for conflict is jettisoned, andmany more. If this is the case, then we can’t afford not to care about the people who will inhabit the earth today and in the future, neither can we afford not to care about the planet. Hence, engaging in sustainable environmental practices is not a choice; it is a must-do.
Organizations are not abstract entities, they are made up of people. Even in the instance where an organization’s corporate objective is to use technology as a means of automating organizational processes, people are still needed to put those technological processes in place. Because people are at the very core of every organization, it is thus impossible to implement the 3BL approach without people.
For this very reason, I am taking the 3BL to the doorstep of everyone who is reading this piece right now. How much do we care about the planet? Do we have the right attitude towards the environment we live in?
In an increasingly globalized world, where a single decision made by the CEO of Microsoft corporation can change the way things are done and where a single action in the nooks of Beijing can have a push-pull effect in far-away Lima, it is imperative to engage in activities that is most beneficial to all or in Jeremy Bentham’s word “the greatest good for the greatest number”. Because we all as entities make up an entire organization, just as organizations are part of a society, then it is important that the change we want to see on earth begins with us. Therefore each one of us can begin to apply the 3BL approach to the way we see and do things. We can begin with simple steps that will cost us so little. I recently participated in a charity walk for the Society for the Blind’s White Cane’s Day, for me, it was a fulfilling experience. Is there a home for the destitute down the lane where you live?
I am privileged to work for an organization that is passionate about giving something back to the society, but what happens to me if I don’t have the right heart? Surely, I will move on to some other places at some point, or even be the CEO of my own organization, what then happens to ensuring that the world is a better place?
In my thinking, I realized that the truth about success is ensuring that others succeed. In the words of JRD Tata, “To be a leader, you have to lead human beings with affection.” When you see success from this perspective, you are bound to be a hero in your own little way.
Recap: In this edition of IN.FORM.ED, I examined very briefly the concept of 3BL, and attempted to distill how organizations cannot achieve this without the cooperation of individuals, finally I explained that personal commitment to 3BL is the way to go and we all can make a difference by seeing the world from this perspective.
Without mincing words, the only way to make the world a better place for those who are here right now and those who are yet to come is to begin to do today what we ought to do tomorrow. For the world to be in continuum, we need people to occupy it, we need to ensure that the planet is green, that fears of global warming are put at bay, that our society is crime-free, that beggars on the street have a home, that war as a resolve for conflict is jettisoned, andmany more. If this is the case, then we can’t afford not to care about the people who will inhabit the earth today and in the future, neither can we afford not to care about the planet. Hence, engaging in sustainable environmental practices is not a choice; it is a must-do.
Organizations are not abstract entities, they are made up of people. Even in the instance where an organization’s corporate objective is to use technology as a means of automating organizational processes, people are still needed to put those technological processes in place. Because people are at the very core of every organization, it is thus impossible to implement the 3BL approach without people.
For this very reason, I am taking the 3BL to the doorstep of everyone who is reading this piece right now. How much do we care about the planet? Do we have the right attitude towards the environment we live in?
In an increasingly globalized world, where a single decision made by the CEO of Microsoft corporation can change the way things are done and where a single action in the nooks of Beijing can have a push-pull effect in far-away Lima, it is imperative to engage in activities that is most beneficial to all or in Jeremy Bentham’s word “the greatest good for the greatest number”. Because we all as entities make up an entire organization, just as organizations are part of a society, then it is important that the change we want to see on earth begins with us. Therefore each one of us can begin to apply the 3BL approach to the way we see and do things. We can begin with simple steps that will cost us so little. I recently participated in a charity walk for the Society for the Blind’s White Cane’s Day, for me, it was a fulfilling experience. Is there a home for the destitute down the lane where you live?
I am privileged to work for an organization that is passionate about giving something back to the society, but what happens to me if I don’t have the right heart? Surely, I will move on to some other places at some point, or even be the CEO of my own organization, what then happens to ensuring that the world is a better place?
In my thinking, I realized that the truth about success is ensuring that others succeed. In the words of JRD Tata, “To be a leader, you have to lead human beings with affection.” When you see success from this perspective, you are bound to be a hero in your own little way.
Recap: In this edition of IN.FORM.ED, I examined very briefly the concept of 3BL, and attempted to distill how organizations cannot achieve this without the cooperation of individuals, finally I explained that personal commitment to 3BL is the way to go and we all can make a difference by seeing the world from this perspective.
