Steve Zoernack: Triple Bottom Line

1. Steve Zoernack: Triple Bottom Line

2. Known as the “three pillars,” the triple bottom line
represents magnified expectations for the success
of businesses. Rather than merely determining a
company’s achievement by measuring profit, the
triple bottom line comprises social and ecological
values as well. With an increasing number of
organizations embracing the idea of corporate
social responsibility, investors enjoy the
opportunity to not only capitalize on profits but
also participate in efforts to better the environment
and the conditions of those people in developing
areas.

3. This movement turns investors into stakeholders
who remain as concerned about the beneficial
impacts the company makes on communities as
the traditional monetary return on investment
expected by shareholders. The opportunities for
positive influence in a triple bottom line company
include fair labor practices and humane working
conditions that extend to the community and
ultimately benefit education, culture, and other
areas. Unlike many traditional businesses, which
looked primarily for cheap labor sources to lower
their costs, a TBL company seeks out areas that
have a ready workforce but require assistance to
develop that raw potential.

4. In addition, TBL companies make a concerted
effort to foster sustainable practices that either
benefit the environment or at least do no harm to
it. This careful attention to a company's ecological
footprint involves curtailing the production of
waste, pesticides, and other pollutants and
replacing materials that are lost to the
environment in the manufacturing process, such
as lumber and soil. Companies measure the
profitability of such endeavors by the economic
value they generate after all of their actions.