Contemporary Business 14th Edition by Louis Boone, David Kurtz

تمرين 17

Deloitte Educates Itself-and Others-on Sustainability For many years, Deloitte has been one of the Big Four accounting and auditing firms. Recently the company decided not only to make its own internal operations greener but also to offer its clients training in green practices. It does seem logical for a firm that specializes in financial reporting to enter the realm of nonfinancial reporting as the business world changes course on green practices. Whereas firms once considered "going green" good public relations but financially unre-warding, many now see the importance of sustainability in an increasingly energy-limited environment. Kathryn Pavlovsky, a co-leader of Deloitte's Enterprise Sustainability Group, says, "Nonfinancial reporting is evolving from voluntary communications to mandatory compliance, and the environmental regulatory and financial reporting worlds are converging." Activism by shareholders and changing consumer attitudes and behavior have also been heavily influential, as has the recent recession. Technological advances are making green practices increasingly feasible and affordable. Deloitte's corporate responsibility policy declares that their U.S. firms will "advocate the sustainable use of natural resources and the environment." The company began its internal greening campaign by conducting a survey of its employees. Called "How green is your foot-print?" the survey measured "greenness" on an individual basis, then made suggestions on how each employee could improve his or her per-formance. A second survey, "How green is your other footprint?" helps employees measure sustainability in their homes.Deloitte also established a Green Leadership Council to maintain contact between the various company regions and management. The GLC educates employees about important green issues and promotes a unified message to all the company's offices. Deloitte employees now conduct virtual meetings and conferences whenever possible; when not, company travel offers green car-rental and hotel options. Deloitte has also adopted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards in building new offices and retrofitting existing ones. The company has focused on purchasing supplies that have a minimal impact on the environment, and worked with its suppliers for greater sustainability.Deloitte's Center for Sustainability Performance (CSP) in Waltham, Massachusetts, is geared toward advising businesses on how to reduce their environmental impact and remain profitable. Among the areas covered are planning and strategy, revenue generation, tax incentives, and competitive branding. The CSP also explores sustainability opportunities for employees, offices, IT infrastructure, and communities. Among the center's activities are on-site training for client firms; research and development in sustainability measurement and reporting, publication of reports on these topics for corporate sustainability managers, and consulting and sales support.One of the center's recent workshops for clients was "Sustainability Measurement and Reporting: Tools, Methods, and Metrics." The course was designed to help clients become acquainted with the current methods for measuring and reporting their own sustainability, as well as giving them a preview of new developments in these areas. According to Mark W. McElroy, the CSP's director, the course covered "tools, methods and metrics across all dimensions of corporate social responsibility and sustainability performance, including carbon, water, solid waste, social impacts, triple bottom line and non-financial measurement and reporting in general, both from an enter-prise and product life cycle perspective." In further developing its internal greening efforts, Deloitte recently introduced its Green Sync tool, which is intended to promote employee and stakeholder involvement. Thomas Dekar, the vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, says of Green Sync, "Because people are the most important asset of any organization, companies can benefit through increased recognition as an employer of choice-one that recruits and retains the best, most diverse talent, and has a collaborative culture that engages employees in achieving sustainability."
-How would you go about answering the question, "How big is your carbon footprint?" What did you find that you could do to make your home and/or your workplace greener?