• Letter from the CEO
• Compliance News
• Getting It: Compliance Case Study
• Compass Q&A
• Cautionary Tales
• Success Stories

Who creates a sustainable enterprise? Given that we’re not all Ray Andersons, what qualities should organizations be looking for to help them down the road to sustainability? The Washington-state based Bainbridge Graduate Institute is devoted to promoting and examining just that. The only education institution of its kind, BGI’s raison d’etre is sustainable, socially responsible business – and trains its MBA candidates on developing businesses that support those goals.

As BGI board member Dominique Leveuf says on the school’s website, “The demand for managers who are trained in sustainable business practice is growing rapidly every year, as more and more companies realize the benefits, both financial and personal, of running ethical, values-based businesses.”

At a conference last year, SFU professor Carolyn Egri, an associate professor of management and organization studies, presented her findings on the qualities of successful leaders in the area of sustainability. She has discovered that in most cases, successful leaders in this arena have personal values that are ecocentric and open to change. Their personality characteristics include a need for achievement, affiliation, and power while also exhibiting a high degree of emotional maturity and self-confidence.

Is your organization building leaders who will focus on issues related to sustainability, environmental awareness and community impact? In this issue of Compass, we examine how leaders are being educated in the area of sustainability, and how organizations are supporting this move.

Best regards,

Carolyn

What are the indicators of sustainable production? A recent case study by the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production examined Guilford of Maine, a subsidiary of Interface Corporation. Using a tool called the Lowell Framework, this case study examines the seven fronts of sustainability and looks at the future of eco-sustainability in the carpet manufacturing industry.

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We invite you to submit questions on security, privacy and governance compliance to compass@integrityincorporated.com.

Dear Compass,

What are the seven fronts of eco-sustainability?

AG, Fonthill

Compass responds:

Dear AG,

The seven fronts were developed by Interface Corporation and have since been adopted by corporations, public sector organizations and others to provide metrics by which sustainability efforts can be undertaken. The seven fronts are:

• Eliminating waste, not just physical waste, but the whole concept of waste;
• Eliminating harmful emissions;
• Using only renewable energy;
• Adopting closed loop products and processes;
• Using resource-efficient transportation;
• Energizing people (all stakeholders) around the vision;
• Redesigning commerce so that a service is sold that allows the company to retain ownership of its products and to maximize resource productivity.

There is still a dearth of sustainable business programs at the executive education level …

… but that is changing. Bainbridge recently announced the launch of the Social Enterprise Business Plan Accelerator (and offers an MBA in sustainable business …) – and walks the talk by committing to 100% renewable energy and EPA participation.

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