The document discusses opportunities for business models to move beyond business as usual by addressing shortcomings such as externalizing costs, lack of accountability, and prioritizing growth over sustainability. It outlines how increased transparency, rising stakeholder expectations, and social media are driving changes. New business models are emerging that internalize external costs, realign responsibility and accountability, and achieve growth through quality rather than quantity. This represents a shift from treating sustainability and CSR as separate programs to overhauling business systems and developing enterprises with aligned economic and environmental purposes.

1. The Opportunities
Beyond Business as Usual
Richard Brubaker
July 2012

2. Business As Usual Defined
1. Growth is the goal
2. Economic and Business Model are heaving
subsidized
3. Externalities of models are someone else’s problem
4. Responsibility and Accountability are mutually
independent

3. The Tangible Byproducts

4. Byproducts With Lasting Impact

5. Catalysts
For Change

6. Increased Tangibility of Issues

7. Rise of New Stakeholders
Industry Rating
Assoc Agency
Competitor Investors Government
Suppliers Customers
Firm
General Distributors
Public
Staff Management
Founders
NGO Media
Community

8. Speed of Social Media
Traditional Mediums Are Being Replaced by:
Positive messaging
That could be managed

9. Rising Cost of Externalities
In economics, an externality, or transaction spillover, is a cost
or benefit that is not transmitted through prices[1] and is
incurred by a party who was not involved as either a buyer or
seller of the goods or services causing the cost or benefit.[2]
The cost of an externality is a negative externality, or external
cost, while the benefit of an externality is a positive
externality, or external benefit.
- Wikipedia

10. Fundamental Questions
1. What is Severity of the Problem
2. When do we/ they need to act
3. Who should/ will lead
4. How much will it cost “us”

11. New Models
of Business

12. Shifting of Business as Usual
illegal Bad B.A.U. CSR Sustainability
Bad/ illegal New B.A.U Sustainable
Practice Leaders

13. Program Based Recalibration

14. System Based Overhauls
Moving Past traditional definitions and appearances of
“CSR” and “Sustainability”
Changing Business Model
 Paying full price of operations
 Rebalancing risk / reward equation
 Improving labor conditions and standards
 Addressing issues of governance and exploitation
Changing Product Portfolios
 Focus on quality and safety vs. price and speed
 Moving away from environmentally damaging processes
 Working to improve industry standards
Developing Communities
 Internally and Externally
 Creating core values that align with values of employees
 Moving away from value system that places citizens before
consumers

15. Enterprises with Purpose

16. The Perfect Model

17. The Future Of Business
• Growth is the achieved through quality
• Economic and Business Model are full cost
• Externalities of models are the firm’s problem
• Responsibility and Accountability are aligned

18. “In the end, environmental, social and economic sustainability cannot be
separated. A sustainable planet must include a sustainable human
civilization – resilient human systems that respect the complicated
relationships among poverty, human rights, economic
development, environmental health, and human success”
- Institute for the Future, 2008
Richard Brubaker
rich@collectiveresponsibility.org
@ChinaCSR