This document provides biographical details about the author's career change from finance to social entrepreneurship and filmmaking. Some key points: - In 2004, the author decided to leave his successful career in finance and private equity at age 44 to pursue a different path focused on social and environmental impact. - His first project was a documentary film called "Spirals of Stone" about three men's fascination with Patagonia. This sparked conversations about human values. - Inspired by social entrepreneurs, he made a second documentary "Beacons, Signs of Change in Latin America" to spread awareness of individuals making efforts against poverty and inequality. - Through making the documentaries, he got

2. To Gabriel Griffa and Mateo
Goretti, for their confidence.
To Carlos Lamarca and Fernando
van Peborgh, for their friendship.

3. SUSTAINABILITY 2.0
Networking Enterprises and
Citizens to Face World Challenges

4. Visit our blog at: www.elviajedeodiseo.com/blog
This book is not the work of a single author, but the result of the
exhaustive and enthusiastic research, writing and editing carried out
by the entire Odiseo Team.
The Odiseo Team:
María Noel Álvarez
María Eugenia Baliño
Santiago Craig
Andresa Guareschi
Lívia Magalhães
Alejandra Procupet
Gabriela Ramos
Contributors:
Teresa Buscaglia
Luciana Malamud
Photographs:
Mária Antolini
Page 26: The Children At Risk Foundation/ CARF: www.carfweb.net
Page 30 and 133: Mark Achbar/ Big Picture Media Corporation
Page 111: Álvaro Ibáñez/ Microsiervos
Page 193: Mariana Vázquez Drafting and editing of the original Spanish-language text of
Sustainability 2.0 was completed in August 2007. This book is the
Cover Design: result of exhaustive research, but as in the case of all research, it can
Clara Lagos always be improved on and expanded.
It is our aim, then, for this work to circulate among citizens, business
Interior Design: people, academics, organizations, universities and activists, so that it can
Mateos-Davenport design
expand and grow through the collaboration of its readers.
English-Language Translator/Editor: Because Sustainability 2.0 can only exist where there is interaction with
Dan Newland: dan.newland@gmail.com others. You can participate, adding your knowledge to the Wiki version
of this book, by visiting www.sostenibilidaddospuntocero.com/wiki/
©2008, Ernesto van Peborgh, Buenos Aires, Argentina ISBN XXXXXXXXXX

5. A Personal Journey
into the Future
I feel like a privileged observer of the times. I think I’ve reached
this privileged vantage point thanks in large measure to some
decisions I made in recent years, which ended up letting me
see the world from a different perspective.
The year 2004 was a very special year for me. In fact, it was
probably the most important one of my life. By then, I had
invested 20 years in the finance business. My success rate
was clear: I was so regularly churning out a 35% return on
institutional investors’ money that this ratio was pretty much
the mantra of my professional identity. I started my career
in finance at Citibank. I left that job to step up to the post of
Financial Director on the founding team of the Exxel Group.
When I Ieft Exxel, it was to form a partnership and create
my own investment firm called Argentine Venture Partners
(AVP). Up to then, the full thrust of my work and commitment
was only focused on one thing: creating economic value, with
no real thought of the far-reaching social and environmental
impact of what I did.
But as I say, in 2004, guided only by what might be called my
intuition, I decided to leave the world of high finance behind
and change course. So much so that it was as if I were driving
7

6. down the highway, turned on my blinker, pulled over into the Glacier National Park to hoist the country’s flag, in honor
right lane, and got off at the next exit. I was a 44-year-old father of Francisco P. Moreno, the famed Argentine explorer and
of three, with vast experience in private equity, a talent that scientific expert, who had done the same thing 124 years before.
had flung open the doors of Harvard’s classrooms and of Wall Like Rocca, Sopeña and Fonrouge on their Patagonian journeys
Street’s posh offices to me. My career steeped me in financial before me, the whole adventure of making the same climb and
success. But I couldn’t help feeling a need to take a different filming the documentary broadened my horizons. I felt that
path, to get involved in something that could bring another the torch that those extraordinary men of such sound values
kind of value to my personal life and to society. had held so high was now in my hands, and it was my job to
keep its flame from waning.
First Wave: The Value Revolution When the film premiered at the Museum of Latin American Art
The first adventure on that heady new road —which, looking in Buenos Aires (MALBA), several business people expressed
back, bears little comparison to my past life— was the decision a desire to promote a dialog among parents and children on
to make a film. I wanted to tell the story of Agostino Rocca, issues emerging from Spirals. That made me stop and think:
José Luis Fonrouge and Germán Sopeña, a businessman, a If telling the story of these three men can spark a debate on
mountaineer and a journalist, whose common denominator human values, what would happen if we started telling the
was their fascination with Patagonia, that legendary and stories of other people who are changing the world?
largely unexplored territory that was soon to become my own By then, I had already heard about some social entrepreneurs
passion as well. and the initiatives they were heading up. I knew about
Spirals of Stone was the result, a film documentary about the work of people like Swiss philanthropist and former
an expedition undertaken by a group of family members industrialist Stephan Schmidheiny, founder of the WBCSD
and friends in homage to those three men. The trio died in (World Business Council for Sustainable Development) and
a plane crash in 2001, when they were flying to Argentina’s the AVINA Foundation, who, through such enterprises, was
8

7. providing support to social leaders and their organizations, children are learning Baroque music and are making their
who were working to improve life in their communities. own instruments, thanks to the work of Rubén Darío Suárez
It was then that I made the firm commitment to get to know Arana. And I was also able to discover admirable people like
and understand those who were spearheading humanity’s Rodrigo Baggio, a young man from Rio de Janeiro who, in
value revolution. But most of all, I wanted to know what 1995, founded CDI (Committee for the Democratization of
made them tick, what it was that inspired them to attempt Information Sciences), a group that has been responsible for
to stimulate this change. setting up 376 computing schools in Brazil, Colombia, Chile,
Motivated by the achievements of these people and by the Mexico, Uruguay and Japan, and that in Brazil alone has helped
work in this same field carried out by Bill Drayton, creator 600,000 young people breach the “digital gap”.
of the Ashoka organization and the figure that I took as I also met Bartolomé Silva, a Chilean social entrepreneur
my second reference point among social entrepreneurs, I who uses his World Circus (Circo del Mundo) as a platform for
directed my second documentary: Faros, señales de cambio en giving youngsters at risk a new chance. And Inés Sanguinetti,
América Latina (Beacons, Signs of Change in Latin America). who invites youngsters with no material resources to learn
My aim was to spread the word regarding the work of many to dance and express themselves, motivating them with the
individuals who are making a tireless effort in the struggle echoes of applause.
against poverty and inequality. Directing Beacons, which premiered at the close of the IDEA
Faros gave me a chance to tour Argentina’s most marginal business colloquium in 2005, also allowed me to understand that
neighborhoods and to get to know Fabián Ferraro, founder while what prevailed in business was competition, selfishness
of a civil association called Defensores del Chaco, which uses and lack of motivation, on the “other side of the tracks”, in
sandlot soccer as a method of social inclusion for some 1500 the world of the so-called “excluded” members of society,
children and adolescents at risk. The making of this film also there was beauty, motivation, cooperation and recognition of
took me to a jungle town in the Bolivian Amazon, where achievements, especially those reached collectively.
9

8. This led me to ask myself, then, which world I wanted to hoped for, I didn’t give up, because several major personalities
leave to my children, and to what extent it made sense to from the corporate world did indeed decide to accompany me
keep generating economic value without taking care of other, and acted as consultants, providing me with invaluable guidance
indispensable aspects of preserving life. Was it possible to in my search. I refer, among others, to Manuel Arango Arias,
change the world by transforming the values that motivated businessman and environmentalist, who is chairman and
Mankind’s actions? My recent experiences have taught me that founder of the Mexican Foundation for Environmental Education
it is, that there are many people out there who are working for and of the Xochitla Foundation; Reese Schonfeld, co-founder and
a new and better future. And little by little I began to want to first president of the CNN news chain; Julio Saguier, chairman of
join in this collective effort that is taking shape. the media holding company, La Nación S.A. and of the Diario La
Nación Foundation; businessman Ricardo Esteves, co-chairman
Second Wave: Sustainable Development of the Iberoamérica Forum; and researcher, former Harvard
Anxious to tell the stories of social entrepreneurs to an ever- professor and author of the bestseller, Underdevelopment Is a State
increasing number of people, I called on media owners to of Mind, Larry Harrison.
publish and broadcast the work of this silent movement that At the same time, another unstoppable wave began to carry
was growing at two or three times the rate that the private me on its crest like a surfer: awareness about sustainable
sector was — in what today we are calling the “the worldwide development. Taking this second exit from my old highway, I
associative revolution”. got to know companies like Natura Cosméticos and Patagonia,
This obliged me to quickly change my perspective. I suddenly went which were born with sustainability already in their DNA and
from the favela shantytowns of Brazil to the luxurious personal were measuring their bottom line in economic, social and
museum of Carlos Slim, owner of Telmex and Televisa in Mexico environmental terms. I had the opportunity to talk to Luiz
City and to the comfortable offices of Ricardo Salinas Pliego, owner Seabra and Guilherme Leal, Natura’s founders, and thus find,
of TV Azteca. Although I wasn’t met with the enthusiasm I had finally, the kind of people I had been looking for in the private
10

9. sector. And as my knowledge of sustainable business practices This conclusion arose, once again, from my own field of action:
began to grow, I stopped feeling like Don Quixote jousting My collaborators and I had spent considerable time trying to
with windmills and started coming to grips with the idea that figure out where and how to place Spirals of Stone and Beacons,
humanity was at the threshold of a change of cultural paradigm as well as other content that we had created on the Internet. This
that would make history. research led us to discover YouTube when it was just getting
started. And so it was that after a two-year search for a channel
Third Wave: Web 2.0 through which to inform and commit individuals, organizations
The tipping point came for me in 2006. That was the year when and businesses with regard to sustainable development,
something unusual that I had already begun to observe began I concluded that the natural platform for this was the Web.
to have an increasing impact on companies, people, citizens My initial enthusiasm with the Web 2.0 application was followed
and governments. It was only then that I came to the certainty by a period of exhaustive research on and experimentation
that this future for which I was willing to work was a lot closer with the tools it offered. Despite my admiration for the
than I had supposed. Perhaps it had even already arrived. fabulous disruptions it was causing, I had to admit that Web
At the beginning of that year, Grupo Gerdau and Jorge Paulo 2.0 wasn’t a revolution in itself, but a mere platform for a series
Lemann invited me to speak at a forum of 200 business people of revolutions in thinking. Web 2.0 is still in an early stage
on education via correspondence. “Participation” was the key and many of its applications remain confusing for the “digital
word that I pronounced that day during my presentation in immigrants” of my generation. Nevertheless, in another
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, in referring to the relentless advance of decade, the Net Gen —the generation of young people born
the new communications media and particularly of the Internet, into the digital age— will have taken the reins in the world’s
which, in its role as a participative, collaborative and creative enterprises and this wave will have enveloped us all.
application for communities, has revealed itself as the most Once again, I opted not to just sit by and watch these changes
effective catalyst in the transformation of the cultural paradigm. happen. I wouldn’t want to wake up tomorrow and see that
11

10. everything has changed and that I’ve missed out on being part line. If one member of a team drops out, the entire team is
of the transition. disqualified. The key is to put the interests of the group as a
whole over and above those of the individual contestants, and
Prolog Epilog that sometimes means having to sacrifice food or water to revive
“The only way to cross the desert is to keep walking.” This someone who has suffered dehydration, or having to cut back the
adage may sound a little trite, but I learned its meaning in the pace in order to let a team member recover. And it is as moving
most extreme of practices. In another of my “past lives”, I took to receive the solidarity of the rest of the team as it is to give it.
part in dozens of grueling races and marathons. The possibility of experiencing extreme perspectives —desert
I participated in my first Eco-Challenge in 2001. In eight days, and mountain, individual and group interests, corporate
we raced across 350 km of pristine and desolate lands in New empires and massive shantytowns— has permitted me to
Zealand. We climbed mountains and navigated raging rivers. incorporate what I have learned in these years and identify
When you walk 22 hours a day non-stop except to grab a few some values of my own from the new paradigm: confidence,
hours of sleep, you get in touch with the most intimate essence of responsibility, collaboration and transparency.
human nature. You don’t feel the cold or the physical fatigue, only The trust that social entrepreneurs and their organizations
the overwhelming need to eat, like some powerful animal reflex. place in their projects and in the community as architects of
In 2004, my passion for challenges took me to the Atacama a change in values. The responsibility of many consumers
Desert. In six days, we ran seven marathons in the most and citizens, who are ever more committed to their times
extreme environment on earth. Withstanding temperatures and to the planet. The collaboration applied by the Net Gen
of 40°C by day and –6°C by night, we crossed that salt desert in the Web when they collectively create new realities. The
through places where no human being had ever tread before. transparency revolution implemented by certain companies
These tests seek to underscore the virtues of teamwork. That’s that have pioneered in sustainability, even before society
why the prime rule is that everybody has to make it to the finish started to demand it.
12

11. This is, in a nutshell, the story of the personal journey I began i
tain my perspective, on one side I see the business world with
in 2004, the year that I learned to know the desert, the year my its economic power that draws strength from bottom-line
father died, and the year I began to have a new outlook on life. results and growth. And on the other, I see a silent move-
That year too, I had another son, an event that moved me to ment, but one that is growing at a dizzying rate, a movement
reassess the world I was building for him, and for my other that, incredibly enough, has remained beyond the radar of
three children, and their children. In response, I found an un- the media, governments and businesses alike. Its leaders are
precedented motivation spreading the word about sustainable entrepreneurs that are concerned about life and about us, the
development. In the Net Gen, there is hope. And in Web 2.0, members of the human species, the inhabitants of this single,
there is a space from which to start building enterprises, social global village. These are people who, with responsibility and
organizations and citizens’ groups, based on this motivation confidence as their powerful motivations, are attempting to
and on this hope. change the world and build a better future. In both of these
Over time, my vision began to capture the interest of journal- sectors, among companies and social entrepreneurs, there
ists and communicators, who, motivated by their own personal are young members of the Net Gen, with the multiple tools
journeys, expressed their almost natural empathy. And despite of Web 2.0, the natural platform from which to transmit the
their having been brought up in related but still diverse disci- sustainability paradigm.
plines —like psychology, history, philosophy and advertising— We are living in the best and in the worst of times.
they came together to form the inter-disciplinary team that is The road to a better future promises to be a long and winding
now known as Odiseo, a group that has promoted research to one. But it also promises to be full of surprising discoveries,
affirm my hypotheses and of which this book is a mere sketch. some of which we will try to share with you in the chapters you
As a result of the road undertaken, I feel today, as I stated are about to read.
at the beginning of this prolog, like a privileged observer of
these times. Standing atop the peak that permits me to main- Ernesto van Peborgh
13

12. ACTIVISM AL_GORE AMAZON AN_INCONVENIENT_TRUTH ANITA_RODDICK AUTHENTICITY BILL_DRAYTON
BIODIVERSITY CITIZENS CIVIL_SOCIETY CONSUMER CONSUMPTION DIVERSITY ECO-EFFICIENCY ECOLOGY
EDUCATION ENTERPRISE ETHICS ETHOS EXCLUSION FORESTATION GLOBAL_WARMING GRAMEEN_PHONE
GREENWASHING HUMAN_RIGHTS INCLUSION INTERFACE JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE LONG_TERM NETWORKS
NGO LUIZ_SEABRA MARKETS NATURA NEW_PARADIGM NIKE NO_LOGO ODED_GRAJEW PARTICIPATION PATAGONIA
PAUL_HAWKEN POVERTY RAY_ANDERSON RECYCLE RESOURCES RESPONSIBILITY RESPONSIBLE_CONSUMPTION
REUSE SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS STARBUCKS STEPHAN_SCHMIDHEINY SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE_
DEVELOPMENT TOYOTA TRANSPARENCY TRIPLE_BOTTOM_LINE VALUES VIRTUAL WAL-MART WATER WOMEN
YVON_CHOUINARD ACTIVISM AL_GORE AMAZON AN_INCONVENIENT_TRUTH ANITA_RODDICK AUTHENTICITY
BILL_DRAYTON BIODIVERSITY CITIZENS CIVIL_SOCIETY CONSUMER CONSUMPTION DIVERSITY ECO-EFFICIENCY
ECOLOGY EDUCATION ENTERPRISE ETHICS ETHOS EXCLUSION FORESTATION GLOBAL_WARMING GRAMEEN_PHONE
GREENWASHING HUMAN_RIGHTS INCLUSION INTERFACE JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE LONG_TERM NETWORKS
NGO LUIZ_SEABRA MARKETS NATURA NEW_PARADIGM NIKE NO_LOGO ODED_GRAJEW PARTICIPATION PATAGONIA
PAUL_HAWKEN POVERTY RAY_ANDERSON RECYCLE RESOURCES RESPONSIBILITY RESPONSIBLE_CONSUMPTION
REUSE SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS STARBUCKS STEPHAN_SCHMIDHEINY SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE_DEVELOPMENT
TOYOTA TRANSPARENCY TRIPLE_BOTTOM_LINE VALUES VIRTUAL WAL-MART WATER WOMEN YVON_CHOUINARD
ACTIVISM AL_GORE AMAZON AN_INCONVENIENT_TRUTH ANITA_RODDICK AUTHENTICITY BILL_DRAYTON
BIODIVERSITY CITIZENS CIVIL_SOCIETY CONSUMER CONSUMPTION DIVERSITY ECO-EFFICIENCY ECOLOGY
EDUCATION ENTERPRISE ETHICS ETHOS EXCLUSION FORESTATION GLOBAL_WARMING GRAMEEN_PHONE
GREENWASHING HUMAN_RIGHTS INCLUSION INTERFACE JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE LONG_TERM NET-
WORKS NGO LUIZ_SEABRA MARKETS NATURA NEW_PARADIGM NIKE NO_LOGO ODED_GRAJEW PARTICIPATION
PATAGONIA PAUL_HAWKEN POVERTY RAY_ANDERSON RECYCLE RESOURCES RESPONSIBILITY RESPONSIBLE_

13. Sustainable Development

15. A New Paradigm Chapter 1
At the end of 2006, the world premiere of An Inconvenient Meanwhile the number of civil action organizations was
Truth established the issue of worldwide climate change as a growing — and continues to grow at an ever-faster rate — due
reality —and not just as the obsession or paranoia of a few to the ineffectiveness of government in the face of issues that
scientists and activists— by showcasing the fight waged by call for urgent solutions: poverty, environmental protection,
former US Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Al defense of human rights and the preservation of democracy.
Gore against global warming.
It appears that the tipping point —the moment at which
That same year, Wal-Mart announced its commitment to something unique and unusual changes the habitual, according
sustainability. It began a plan by which, within a three- the definition by Malcolm Gladwell — is growing nearer all
year period, some of its lines would only offer products the time. And that Mankind is converging on a new paradigm.
manufactured employing sustainable practices. Today, 60,000 A veritable “ethos” or starting point. And with it will come the
companies are modifying their production processes in order sustainable development that urges us not to try to live beyond
to satisfy this chain-store giant that welcomes 100 million our means, not to burn down our houses in order to keep warm,
shoppers a week. not to saw off the branch that we’re sitting on. The proposal of
A survey run by The Synergos Institute in several countries this concept is, actually, pure common sense: the common sense
showed that 95% of all consumers believe that companies have that impels us to turn off the lights when we leave home and to
an unpaid debt with their workers and their communities. not leave the tap running while we brush our teeth.
17

16. Viability or Sustainability?
The terms “viability” and “sustainability” came to the fore in the began to be defined more fully and as we conceive of it today.
popular vernacular along with the new electronic information
media that became the driving force behind widespread Until the beginning of the 1990s, the notion of “sustainability”
awareness of growing worldwide problems including had basically been applied to the environmental field. But over
overpopulation, lack of water, famine and environmental the course of that decade, its use began to extend to social,
degradation. In the academic world, however, these terms had political and business issues. Little by little, such questions as
already been introduced in the book called The Limits of Growth inequality in the distribution of wealth and diversity in terms
(Meadows and others, 1972), published by The Club of Rome. of ethnicity, gender, nutrition, health, access to information
and security began to be incorporated into the debate.
There is no clear consensus regarding the meaning of “viability” Governments, business groups and a growing number of civil
or “sustainability”. Nevertheless, one of the first definitions organizations became the driving forces behind a series of
of sustainable development was provided by the Brundtland global conferences whose aim was to create a framework of
Report put out by the United Nations World Commission for governance, through which to come to grips with a new form
Environment and Development, which was originally called of development that would bear in mind the environmental,
Our Common Future (1987). Chapter 1 of that Report gives economic, social and institutional needs of both present and
the following definition: “Sustainable development seeks to meet future generations.
the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the
ability to meet those of the future”. The latest UN Earth Summit on Sustainable Development
was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2002, where
But it was not until the Rio Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, discussions surrounded strategies for promoting the principles
1992) that Mankind adopted a global perspective with regard to of sustainability and ensuring their adoption by nations
global issues and that the concept of “sustainable development” worldwide and in every region of the planet.
18

17. Conditions for Environmental Sustainability
1 No renewable resource should be 2 No non-renewablearesource
used at a faster rate than it can should be used at faster rate
3 Noapollutant shouldthatproduced
at rate faster than
be
at which
be generated. than that necessary to replace it can be recycled, neutralized or
it with a sustainably renewable absorbed by the environment.
resource.
19

18. The Three Waves of Sustainability
According to John Elkington
It was within the framework of the Cold War, 1961
the hippie movement and the May Revolt in
THE FIRST WAVE: France that the first ecological organizations, Amnesty International, the World
such as Greenpeace, emerged. It was also Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the
The Green Revolution during this period that the first environ- Organization for Economic
mentally aware companies –Patagonia and Cooperation and Development
Natura– came onto the market. (OECD) are founded.
1983 1984 1986
The Berlin Wall comes down and democratic
THE SECOND WAVE: systems take a foothold in Latin America. The UN creates the Bhopal Chernobyl
The Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill makes
Market Economy people start taking the ecological movement
World Environment Disaster Disaster
(USSR).
and Development (India).
Comes to the Forefront seriously. Marketing begins to adopt “green” Commission.
messages on a massive scale.
Globalization bursts onto the scene, and anti- 1999 2000
THE THIRD WAVE: globalization with it. The Internet grows at a
swift pace, bringing the birth of participative
Toward Responsible media, and ad agencies begin to study on-line Battle in Seattle First World Social Forum
(USA). (Porto Alegre, Brazil).
Globalization advertising. Companies like Shell and Nike Publication of No Logo, by
face complaints regarding their production Naomi Klein (who denounced
processes and must account for their actions Nike’s use of slave labor).
before society.
20

19. 1962 1971 1972 1973 1975
Publication of Rachel Greenpeace is born. Publication of The Limits of Growth Seveso Disaster (Italy). The UN declares
Carson’s Silent Spring. by The Club of Rome. Watergate Case (USA). International
The Stockholm Conference (first Women’s Day.
UN Environmental Summit).
1987 1988 1989 1992 1995 1997
The Montreal Protocol John Elkington Exxon Valdez Case First Worldwide UN Earth Shell Scandal (petroleum The Kyoto Protocol
is signed. launches his (following the Alaska Summit (Rio de Janeiro, spills in Nigeria). is signed.
The Brundtland Report Green Consumer oil spill). Brazil). The Ethos Institute (Brazil) NIKE Scandal.
is published. Guide. Fall of the Berlin Wall The World Business Council is created. The “Triple Bottom
(unification of for Sustainable Development Line” concept is
Germany). (WBCSD) is founded. published.
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
World Sustainable Third World Social Tsunami (Indian Hurricane Katrina (in the Muhummad Yunus Al Gore receives the
Development Summit Forum (Porto Ocean). states of Florida, Louisiana receives the Nobel Nobel Peace Prize
(Johannesburg, South Alegre, Brazil). and Mississippi and in the Peace Prize for the for his contribution
Africa). Bahamas). founding of the to halting global
Grameen Bank. warming.
21

20. “Sustainable development is a dynamic process which
enables all people to realize their potential and to
improve their quality of life in ways which
simultaneously protect and enhance the Earth’s
In Search of the life-support systems”.
Perfect Definition Forum for the Future - OAS
es on and
when the light bulb go
“Sustainability comes everything is
are all involved, that
you start to see that we ”.
The ideas of most people regarding the meaning of the word ur actions affect others
interconnected, that yo Paul Hawken
“sustainability” are simple and on target: “Sustainability refers
to human survival and the avoidance of ecological disaster.”
Be that as it may, the language of sustainability becomes clear-
“Sustainable development is a process of change in which the
er and more effective when we focus on what is unsustainable
exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the
instead of on the positive definition.
orientation of technological development, and institutional
Farmers and ecologists, for example, would surely be in agree-
change are all in harmony and enhance both current and
ment that soil erosion due to human activity is unsustainable,
even if they were to disagree about how to make soil use sus- future potential to meet human needs and aspirations”.
tainable. World Commission on Environment and Development – UN
Here are a few diverse, though not contradictory, defini-
tions regarding sustainable development and sustainability
in general:
“In essence sustainable development is about five key principles: quality
of life; fairness and equity; participation and partnership; care for our
environment and respect for ecological constraints”.
Forum for the Future’s Sustainable Wealth London Project
“Understanding is 50% of the solution. Every time we
are about to make a decision, we should think of the “It requires education
people around us and ask ourselves if that decision , more efficient use of
of democracy, as we resources, more open
is going to cause a problem for any of those people. If ll as society’s particip forms
It also requires econo ation in decision-mak
mic growth, focused ing.
that’s the case, change it or don’t do it”. opportunities”. on generating more
equal
Bill Drayton, Founder of Ashoka
Stephan Schmidhein
y
22

21. The New Paradigm
The many nuances of the definitions show that many concepts itself is at the center of everything and Man forms part of this,
are currently being articulated around sustainable development. as one of its intelligent manifestations.
Intellectuals that are pushing a new intercultural philosophy A change of cosmovision also implies a change of focus, in
based on an awareness of diversity and interdependency, order to face the problems that 21st century society is suffering.
theorists who are for a systemic focus on science, social This has emerged as an inescapable fact following the failure
leaders that promote the creation of subsistence communities of States —self-proclaimed as the source of all of the basic
and economies, ecological militants and business people necessities of their citizens— to provide solutions to such vital
with a long-term view oriented toward responsible resource questions as scarcity of resources, environmental pollution,
management, all rally today around this new paradigm, that health care, poverty and lack of quality of life, among many more.
is the incarnation of the need to integrate human beings into
their environment once more. And so the old Welfare State went out with the 20th century,
indeed leaving in its wake very serious conflicts in a variety
In the end, it is about producing a change in the cosmovision: of fields, which, in order to find a solution, require the joint
from the anthropocentric vision that Mankind began to build interaction of a broad spectrum of interests. As a result, the
in the Modern Era —centered exclusively on human and new sustainability paradigm has been enriched by a focus
individual interests and conceiving of the Earth as nothing that underscores the value of association, interaction and
more than a raw materials warehouse that is at Man’s disposal networking, above and beyond simple exchanges among
— to a biocentric cosmovision, which conceives of Nature as individuals, sectors or corporations, which function as closed
a combination of interdependent organisms and in which life special interest groups.
23

22. The Direction and Sense
of Change
Modern
There is no real consensus at present with regard to the
ANTHROPOCENTRISM
direction that the advance of change toward the new
Focus: Man
paradigm is taking. In his book, Blessed Unrest, ecologist
Earth: Raw Materials Warehouse
Paul Hawken analyzes this “largest movement on earth
Link:
(…) that has gone largely ignored by politicians and the
media” and that, according to him, is being organized, like
Nature, “from the bottom up”. Hawken says that “in every
IRRE SPONSI BLE C ONS UMPT I ON city, town and culture, it is emerging to be an extraordinary
and creative expression of people’s needs worldwide.”
For his part, John Elkington, author of Cannibals with
Forks, points out that the driving force behind sustainable
Post-Modern development is a qualitative transformation the affects both
supply and demand. Ray C. Anderson, Chairman and CEO
BIOCENTRISM of Interface, Inc., a pioneer in the trend toward sustainable
Focus: Life development, in that same vein goes on to say: “When the
Earth: Inter-dependent Organisms
marketplace, the people, show their appreciation for these
Link:
qualities and vote with their pocketbooks for early adopters,
the people will be leading. The ‘good guys’ will win in the
marketplace and the polling booth and the rest of the
SU STA I NA BI LI T Y politicians and business leaders will have to follow”.
Regardless of agreement or not about what drives the change
toward sustainability and the directions the movement is
24

23. taking, the majority of voices worldwide agree as to the urgent growth ad infinitum, which implies unlimited consumption
need to do something about Man’s relationship with Nature of resources and the absence of social equality. They believe,
and to the need be successful in this effort, bearing in mind however, in sustainability, and promote it, as anyone can see
the magnitude and seriousness of the risks involved. And in by consulting their communications channels on the Web:
spite of the multiple definitions, variations and meanings that Indymedia, Nodo 50 and Rebelión.org, among others.
simultaneously coexist, there can be no doubt that sustainability
has gained almost universal acceptance as a good thing. (Few
people indeed could find a defense for non-sustainability).
There are those, however, who disagree as to whether
development can be considered a possible road to sustainability.
Among these are members of the alterglobalist or anti-
globalization movements, a school of thought made up of
ecological groups, pro-native movements, leftist intellectuals
and union leaders throughout the world, who share their
rejection of capitalism, the neo-liberal model, multinational
companies and the IMF.
Gathered at the World Social Forum and congregating around
such renowned ideologues as Noam Chomsky, Leonardo
Boff, Jaime Petras and the newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique,
these groups deny the effectiveness of development in the
achievement of a more sustainable and fair world order, since
they consider that it is based on the presumption of economic
25

24. Dimensions and Issues
of Sustainable Development
Science, ecology, civil society, business...each group
or individual promoter of sustainable development
stimulates construction of the new paradigm from
the field of action in which it/he/she operates. This
gives rise to the different dimensions of sustainable
development, with each of these being characterized
by a variety of issues or areas of debate:
Environmental Social
Pollution Health and quality of life
Climate change Education
Natural disasters Equality
Biodiversity Human rights
Waste Equal access to opportunities
26

25. Economic Institutional
Science, technology and society Agents/institutions
Business and trade Governance and transparency
Energy Participation and democracy
Efficient resource use Globalization /alterglobalism
Sustainability indicators International cooperation
27

26. Agents of Change
Within the framework of the new paradigm, which cases in which NGOs have demonstrated their influence:
underscores the value of association and cooperation, the work • In 2000, Amnesty International reported the deaths of
of civil organizations —NGOs among them— has made a civilians and grave human rights violations committed by
considerable impact. Emerging from the urban middle class, guards in production areas managed by Talisman Energy Inc.
which burgeoned with the economic expansion of the 1960s, in Sudan. Following two years of protests, several pension
these began to operate in the 1980s and acquired a stellar role funds withdrew their participation in the oil company, which
in the 1990s, substituting for a State that was reduced to its was obliged to initiate its withdrawal from the country.
minimum expression and incapable of providing answers to • After five years of reports regarding child slave labor in the
problems relating to health, education, poverty, human rights, harvesting of cacao in the Ivory Coast —children as young as
environmental pollution, promotion of women’s development 10 were forced to work 12-hour shifts, were poorly fed and
and consumer rights, among other issues. were locked up at night— in 2005, Equal Exchange and other
In society, the action of many NGOs involves divulging NGOs managed to get Hershey, M&M, Nestlé and other major
information and generating awareness. In their role as a chocolate manufacturers involved in the issue. They ended up
forum for citizen interaction combined with lodging demands exercising responsible care practices and agreed to certify their
that governments and companies prevent, correct or mitigate products as being “child slave labor-free”.
unsustainable conducts, the actions of these organizations • The Canadian mining firm Meridian Gold in 2002 announced
transcend geographic and socio-economic boundaries. And plans for open-sky gold-mining operations in the Andes range
with the coming of the communications revolution —especially near Esquel, Chubut Province, Argentina. There were fears
the Internet— they have become so influential that it is often that the acid drainage from the thousands of tons of rock that
enough for an NGO to threaten involvement in an issue for would have to be moved and the use of thousands of liters of
government officials or business people to reconsider their cyanide to process the ore would have a pernicious effect on
planned actions. The following are details of a few well-known the ageless and pristine Alerces National Park. An NGO called
28

27. Movimiento de Vecinos Autoconvocados por el No a la Mina (Self- • Social Sector
s Hopkins
Convened Movement of Neighbors against the Mine), managed untries by the John
Studies carried out in 22 co r Project revealed that NGOs rep-
to get the issue into the domestic and international media and rofit Secto luded
Comparative Nonp -earning labor force in countries inc
to organize a referendum in which 80% of the population of the wage employment in
resent 5% d 1995,
at between 1990 an growth rate for the
expressed its rejection of the mining project. As a consequence in the study and th es faster than the
tim w work
of such widespread repudiation, the government of Chubut that sector grew 2.5 Civil society organizations apply ne
economy as a whole. with
style in accordance s
Province was forced to slap a prohibition on open-sky mineral d a management anges ha
methodologies an rowths of these ch
ore mining and on the use of cyanide in mining processes. e of the outg sector
their mission. On organized, private, non-profit l
been th e emergence of an s, worldwide, economic, socia
world-clas
that has become a
• The Power of the Intern and po litical force.
et
Just as printing beca • Networked Organizations
me at underlies the
Protestant ideas —pro a fundamental tool for the disseminatio d cooperation th
vo
Roman Catholic Churc king the greatest revolution suffered by
n of
The value of association an n rise to networks
of
h in its 2000 years of the nizations has give e
is today supporting existence— the Intern ac tion of these orga ns. These in turn network with on e,
take advantage of ins
the capacity of civil so
ciety to interconnect, et humanita rian institutio r in the bu ilding of an activ
tant access to a wide grow, plement each othe munity, that is recognized
financing and comm range of information another and com m
unities, and to create , g international co n’t wait
NGOs have given bir
th —also through the
collectively. self-administratin cle for information and that does at are of
as a source and vehi s th
that have paralyzed Internet— to campaig take up the issue
comp
thanks to the Web, the anies that were not operating correctly.
ns ditional media to
around for the tra ther, takes action.
volume of data regard And bers, but ra
porations is so huge ing the actions of co interest to its mem
that, according to an r- l distances
into ever more soph aly
isticated use of marke sts, it will soon develop omic and cultura
raphic, socio-econ raction within the sector
t intelligence. So it is that geog inte
vor of synergetic ty.
are spanned in fa ther the different sectors of socie
ge
and of bridging to
29

28. Civil Society versus Business
Within the first few pages of her book, No Logo: Taking Aim at
Brand Bullies, Canadian journalist Naomi Klein —a renowned
figure in the anti-globalization movement— states: “This
book is hinged on a simple hypothesis: that as more people
discover the brand-name secrets of the global logo web, their
outrage will fuel the next big political movement, a vast wave
of opposition squarely targeting transnational corporations,
particularly those with very high name-brand recognition.”
In recent years, the world has witnessed business scandals
and citizen boycotts that have swiftly taken shape through
the communications media. Their shockwaves have reached
the employees of the companies involved, who began to bring
pressure for changes toward more sustainable production
processes. In order to come to grips with these demands,
some firms decided to partially modify their processes, while
adopting corporate social responsibility policies, with the aim According to political scientist Rajni Kothari, “sustainable
of “cleaning up” their images and repositioning themselves on development demands, above all, an ethical change. It is not a
the market as “environmentally friendly” by adopting a “green” matter of a technological fix or a new way of making financial
outward appearance (greenwashing). But when these policies investments. It is a change oriented toward valuing Nature for
are not the result of the values that the company actually what it is and not simply as a source of resources and to fuel
maintains, their positive impact is nil. the motor of economic development”.
30

29. OLD PARADIGM NEW PARADIGM
ETHICAL CHANGE
DISPENSABILITY OF OTHERS RESPECT FOR DIVERSITY
Focus: Man / Sector Focus: Life / Cultures
Link: Exchange Link: Interaction
Instrument: Individual Project Instrument: Common Strategies
Objective: CONSUMPTION Objective: SUSTAINABILITY
OLD VALUES NEW VALUES
It is Professor Kothari’s belief that the ecological crisis that the world is suffering is due to the fact that we have considered
Nature’s diversity dispensable. And by transferring the lack of respect for Nature to Man, we had virtually declared a major portion
of the human race dispensable as well, generating one of the fiercest socio-economic crises in history. Thus, in order to halt this
crisis, we need an ethical change based on the premise that all life is indispensable.
31

30. 1 Companies start to notice that their customers and the
markets are checking out their commitment to economic,
social and environmental sustainability.
ture is transformed: It is
Little by little, corporate cul
2 no longer just a question
incorporating ethical issues
of making money, but also
and social values.
of
3 Feeling themselves suddenly in the
to assume the fact that even though
public eye, companies have
they try and control news
of their actions, these actions beco
me public knowledge anyway.
This is the reason why they start ope
rating transparently.
4 The companies become aware of the importance of designing
new techniques and processes that reduce the economic,
social and environmental impact of their products.
s among themselves,
5 Companies form strategic alliance
or between themselves and org
anizations from other
itionally considered
sectors, even some that were trad
enemies.
6 Gradually, the way of conceiving corp
frames changes and a need emerges
and to plan on a long-term basis.
orate time
to think more
7 The TBL (Triple Bottom Line) Agenda is
incorporated into the companies’ strategic
management (to control the economic, social
and environmental impact of processes and
products).

31. The Sustainable Company Chapter 2
These points summarize the Seven Revolutions that could lead and to process re-designing with a view to the long term.
companies to Sustainability as set forth by consultant John At the same time, and by the hand of the World Business
Elkington in his book, Cannibals with Forks (1997). In it, he also Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), new concepts
defined the concept that he coined as Triple Bottom Line (TBL), that were applicable to business sustainability began to take
pointed to as the differentiating attribute of companies that shape. These concepts stressed the need for companies to not
were categorically committed to sustainability: e.g., companies only seek eco-efficiency, but also to properly think about (or
whose management systems take into account the impact of re-think) their relationship with society and the environment,
their processes and products on the economy, society and the by incorporating practices encompassed within the concept of
environment. Subsequently, sustainable companies began to be corporate social responsibility (CSR).
defined as those that were capable of reformulating their strategies Defined by the WBCSD as“the decision of a company to contribute
by including three complementary parameters: economic growth, to sustainable development by working with its employees, their
creation of social value and environmental conservation. families and the local community, as well as with society as a whole,
So it was that in the last five years of the 20th century, this to improve the quality of life”, it placed the company in a key
new paradigm began to repeat itself throughout the productive position within the architecture of the new paradigm. Within
sector: Businesses began to talk for the first time ever about the neo-liberal model, which at the time was enjoying broad
incorporating such concepts as the creation of economic, social acceptance in much of the world, change toward sustainability
and environmental value for their “stakeholders” (workers, required the action of companies, considered, as they were, to
shareholders, customers, civil and government organizations) be the main driving force behind economic growth.
33

32. Business in the 21st Century
With the dawning of the new millennium, an ever-growing
number of business people joined the debate and began to re-
1. Market Pressure think the place that their companies were occupying and the
role they played in society and on Planet Earth. In this way, the
concept of what constituted a sustainable company continued to
2. New Values develop and be enriched, especially in ethical and social terms.
Inwardly, a new corporate culture emerged, one that recognized
3. Transparency the people that made up the company and the know-how that
they generated (e.g., its human capital) as its main asset, since
the competitiveness of the company depended on their capacity
4. Technology
for action and innovation. Outwardly, companies started to
recognize themselves as integral parts of the communities
5. Partnerships where they operated and, as such, as jointly responsible for
both the welfare and the problems of these societies, as well
6. Long-Term Vision as being participants in the definition of their values. Out of
this emerged the incorporation of the environmental variable
into corporate strategy, along with the creation of economic
7. TBL and social value — or in other words, the Triple Bottom Line
mentioned earlier.
Information technologies and the development of the Internet
The 7 Revolutíons toward Sustainability, facilitated both internal changes in companies and their
according to John Elkington communications with society. The Web provided a means
34

33. of boosting the impact on consumers of the change toward willing to change one of their habitual brand preferences if
sustainability. In many cases, consumers preferred to pay they were to read a negative comment about it on the Internet,
a little more for “clean” products, that is to say, ones that, adding that 41% of those surveyed had already done so . As
besides providing the manufacturers with a profit, were made power brokers, the new electronic media are currently growing
in accordance with standards that protected the environment by leaps and bounds. According to recent statements by
and created social value. geopolitical expert Ignacio Ramonet, Chairman and Editor of
In this way, brands associated with sustainability began to Le Monde Diplomatique, the Internet and bloggers are bent on
gain prestige, which in turn began to bolster the value of becoming the “fifth power”: the citizen’s counterweight against
these companies’ shares. Similarly, investor interest in these the dominion of major media groups over the news.
firms increased, since sustainability had become an almost Internet is also a channel for the campaigns of NGOs like
indispensable attribute in convincing those who sought to ATTAC, Clean Clothes Campaign, Free Burma, Friends of the
expand their capital by investing in a productive enterprise. Earth and No Sweat!, which exercise the kind of supervision
But it was on the Web too that, with equal swiftness, voices at which governments have shown themselves to still be
were raised up against the new paradigm, especially through inefficient. Through this and other media, they demand that
campaigns and protests organized by some earlier-mentioned the private sector be held accountable for the social, economic
NGOs, as well as through blogs which, now in their tenth and environmental impact of its activities.
year, number more than 70 million and encompass some 4.2 Many times the results of these campaigns are highly successful
million active bloggers. and achieve changes in the behavior of the productive sector.
Regarding the influence of growing consumer cyber-activism, Proof of this is the business organization called PETA (People
Zed Digital, a firm specializing in marketing on the Internet, for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), which managed to get
a few months back published a study in which it claimed that the world’s two leading soft-drink makers, PepsiCo and The
44.1% of all bloggers in Spain had shown themselves to be Coca Cola Company (TCCC), to sign a written commitment
35

34. not to use animals in the testing of their products. And then
there is the alliance between Coca Cola and WWF International
(World Wildlife Fund International), by which the company
pledged investment of 20 million dollars in a program aimed
at three freshwater conservation objectives: 1) reduction of the
amount of water used to make their beverages; 2) recycling
of the water used in their manufacturing processes, and 3)
replenishing of water in the communities and in Nature in the
vicinity of its bottling plants.
In a survey, 44.1% of Spain’s
bloggers said they were willing
to change their product preferences
based on negative comments
on the Internet.
36

35. Greenwashing or Real Change?
The term “greenwash” stems from the word “whitewash” (which means to gloss over or cover up
something) and is used pejoratively to describe certain marketing actions that some companies make
use of in seeking to somehow compensate for other actions that have “soiled” their brand image, due
to the negative impact of these actions on the environment.
A number of environmentalist organizations have concentrated their efforts on exposing and denouncing
“greenwashers”, to the point of actually creating rankings, such as America’s Ten Worst Greenwashers,
which, in 2002, was led by the makers of Kraft’s Post Selects cereals for promoting their product as
“natural” when they were, in fact, packaging “laboratory” cereals.
Actions like those of the companies included in this ranking are easily qualified as “greenwashing”.
Others are not so easy.
Wal-Mart, the world’s largest corporation, with revenues of 315 billion dollars and more than 11 billion in
profits for 2006, is frequently accused of non-sustainable conduct. In reaction to this, the chain recently
launched a line of organic clothing and, in the process, became the world’s largest buyer of organic
cotton. Simultaneously, Wal-Mart kicked off its Sustainability 360 plan, which projects annual
investments of 500 million dollars with the aim of achieving a level of sustainable products equal to
20% of all products offered by its stores in just three years’ time. Whether this is a real change of values
or another case of “greenwashing”, the fact that 100 million people a week are being invited to consume
responsible products, and more than 60,000 suppliers to manufacture them, makes the impact of do-
ing business in this way clearly predictable on a worldwide scale.

36. New Playing Rules
Within this context, characterized by a market with consumers sustainable development; and Petrobras, now rated on the Dow
that not only have voice and vote, but also their own Jones Sustainability Index, the most highly used parameter
communications media —which they use to demand that today in the classification of responsible companies, from an
companies change to more sustainable policies— the 100 economic, social and environmental standpoint.
New Global Challengers have flourished. This is a group of a Running counter to this, the “conversion” or “re-conversion”
hundred companies from developing countries, identified in a of companies “born and raised” according to the old paradigm
study by a Boston consulting group, which, besides providing is not always easy. The change implies much more than
jobs to more than 4.6 million people and generating profits of adopting a new set of values that substantially alter a company’s
more than 715 billion dollars a year, have managed to stand culture and its way of doing business. It starts with assuming
out as leaders of the sustainable business movement. Major the fact that the world has changed radically and that, as the
firms among them include: Cemex (Mexico), renowned for consulting group SustainAbility recently stated, there are new
its work with neglected markets and its firm commitment to playing rules that companies have to apply in order to achieve
the communities where its plants operate; Natura (Brazil), sustainability without losing their competitive edge in the new
a cosmetics company whose trademark is strongly linked to global scenarios.
38

37. 1. Plan for the unexpected.
Flexibility in the value chain, in technological platforms and in labor policies
constitutes the new efficiency factor.
2. Find the True South.
Don’t underestimate the importance of the emerging economies.
There are regions where development is raging today at a dizzying pace.
3. Don’t wait for “the Big Guys” to take the initiative.
Today even the most powerful companies are exposed to scandal and crisis.
What is decisive is the capacity to create sustainable value.
4. Contribute to strengthening the Earth’s immune system.
Bring intelligence and creativity to the search for solutions to
environmental and social crises.
5.Think in terms of opportunities and innovation.
Change the focus of environmental and social issues: Consider them
major opportunities instead of risks.
6. Surpass yourself day after day.
The challenges are huge and demand a radical change of attitude.
Leaders must go out in search of new allies, models and solutions.
7. Be political.
You have to get involved and take positions in conflicts.
The 7 Rules of the Sustainability Game, according to John Elkington

38. Sustainability Standards
Economic Indicators
The sustainable company is now a fact of life and it looks like
it is here to stay. But how do you go about rating a company’s
level of sustainability? Consultants and managers today apply
economic, social and environmental indicators that respond to
the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept. These are specific, usually
quantitative indices that evaluate the impact of each business
move, for the purpose of establishing its level of sustainability.
Although the list and number of the indicators are variable,
many are included in the majority of business platforms.
Usually, these companies will adopt a platform of indicators and
then gradually improve it in accordance with the circumstances Productivity Ratio.
they must deal with. A good example of this kind of flexibility is Wage and Benefit Level.
provided by the multinational, Hewlett-Packard (HP), which,
after being investigated in 2006 for secretly spying on its Product Value/Environmental
executives to try and discover whether any of them had leaked Impact Ratio (eco-efficiency).
information to the press, adopted privacy policies as one of the
ratios in its Annual Sustainability Report . Investment in Research,
Development and Innovation.
Total taxes or contributions to
the Public Administration.
40

39. Social Indicators Environmental Indicators
Safety and Hygiene in the Workplace. Use of Renewable Energy Resources.
No Gender, Ethnic or Age Discrimination. Use of Recyclable Materials.
Level of Training among Human Capital. No Water, Air or Soil Pollution.
Satisfaction and Turnover Ratio. Auditing of Processes Applied by
Impact on Social Development in the Local Suppliers and Transporters.
Community. Respect for Biodiversity.
Capacity to Influence Stakeholders in the Obedience of Environmental Laws.
Adoption of Like Values.
41

40. Sustainability Report and Business Associations
Social Balance Sheet Based on Values
The sustainability report is a tool through which companies The communications revolution and new technologies,
disclose and measure the economic, social and environmental coupled with constant public complaints being voiced by
impact of processes implemented over the course of a citizens and NGOs alike, alerted companies to the urgent
particular year or other period of time. Promoted by the GRI need to get organized and to form associations, in order to
(Global Reporting Initiative), it reports profits, investment and face a variety of problems of the new millennium.
other information on the company’s economic and financial Below are examples of three successful efforts to create
situation. Its aim is to detail the brand value or soundness business associations based on sustainability values.
of the company, by explaining the level of risk minimization
achieved thanks to social, political or legal actions, and it may
include —although this is not a priority— aspects linked to
social responsibility.
The social balance sheet, on the other hand, is a goodwill
communication tool that focuses more on social issues
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development
and contains data which are certified by only a handful of (WBCSD) is a coalition of 180 international companies
organizations in the entire world. that are united in their commitment to sustainable
development, based on the three pillars of economic
growth, ecological balance and social progress. Founded
at the Rio de Janeiro worldwide Earth Summit in 1992,
today its members represent 35 countries and 20 strategic
areas of business. The mission of the WBCSD is to
provide business leadership as a catalyst for change
toward sustainable development.
42

41. Business Case Studies
The Ethos Institute of Companies and Social Appendices 1, 2 and 3 of this book include case studies of com-
Responsibility is a Non-Government Organization panies that have begun the change toward sustainability, with
created in Brazil in 1998, whose mission is to mobilize, detailed information about each of them.
sensitize and help companies manage their businesses
in a more socially responsible way, with the ultimate Appendix 1: Pioneer companies
Starbucks
goal being to contribute to the building of a more The Whole Foods Market
sustainable and just society. The Institute’s more than Patagonia
1,000 members have combined annual billings equal Natura
to 33% of the Brazilian GDP and they provide about Ben & Jerry’s
one million jobs.
Appendix 2: Companies that Changed
Toyota
General Electric
DuPont
Home Depot
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) is an Interface
Nike
international not for profit business organization with Wal-Mart
headquarters in San Francisco and offices in Europe
and China. It offers consulting services to 250 partner Appendix 3: Sustainable companies
companies and to another 1,000 businesses around Nau
the world. Its mission is to contribute to the creation Grameen Telecom
Guayakí
of a fairer and more sustainable world, by working American Apparel
together with companies to promote more responsible Seventh Generation
practices, as well as innovation and cooperation. Sambazon
43

43. The Ones that Made History Chapter 3
Benchmarks, Inspirers and Pioneers
ELKINGTON, The Father
among his classmates to donate to the World Wildlife Fund
(WWF). And in 1978 he had already joined two colleagues
“As we move into the third millennium, we are embarking —one of them Max Nicholson, co-founder of the WWF — in
on a global cultural revolution. Business, much more than creating a firm called Environmental Data Services.
governments or NGOs, will be in the driving seat.”
John Elkington Dubbed by BusinessWeek magazine as “the dean of CSR (Cor-
porate Social Responsibility)” for three decades, John Elking-
The “Father of Sustainable Development”: such is the role ton is the author and co-author of 40 papers and 17 books
that the specialized media attribute to John Elkington, the that have sold millions of copies around the world. Most
British sociologist and social psychologist born in 1949, who noteworthy among them, due to their status as “required
co-founded the first independent consulting firm devoted to reading”, are The Green Consumer Guide (1988) and Canni-
sustainability. Its name: SustainAbility. bals with Forks (1997).
This firm —which Elkington himself presided over from 1995 The Green Consumer Guide is a catalog of sustainable
to 2005— has offices in London, Zurich, Washington D.C. and products that includes information for consumers regarding
San Francisco, and counts such big names as Ford, Microsoft, the manufacturers and stores that offer them. In this book,
Nike, Shell and Unilever (as well as other major multinationals Elkington states that: “Every day, whether we are shopping for
worldwide) among its clients. simple necessities or for luxury items, for fish fingers or fur
But Elkington’s link to sustainability dates back to his childhood. coats, we are making choices that affect the environmental
He was only 11 years old when he collected contributions quality of the world we live in.”
45

44. It was in Cannibals with Forks that the author introduced the issues, imaginative, innovative and entrepreneurial, that’s
revolutionary concept of the Triple Bottom Line (TBL). This what we’ve got to ignite —or re-ignite where we’ve lost it.”
refers to minimum levels of conduct surrounding three key John Elkington published his latest book, The Power of
concerns —profitability, planet and people— and to the pos- Unreasonable People: How Entrepreneurs Create Markets and
sibility of introducing sustainable capitalism. Elkington says Change the World, in 2008, this time with co-author Pamela
that “in a world where the natural order of things is for corpo- Hartigan.
rations to devour competing corporations...one emerging form
of ‘cannibalism with a fork’ —sustainable capitalism— would
certainly constitute real progress.” He further explains that the
fork represents the TBL of sustainability and its three prongs,
economic prosperity, environmental quality and social justice.
Despite the fact that he orients his arguments more toward
the environmental issue than toward economic and social con-
cerns, the author makes it clear that uniting these three dimen-
sions in a political agenda constitutes the main challenge to
business in the 21st century.
On his website at www.johnelkington.com, he states that we
are at the beginning of a new era, in which entrepreneurs are at
the head of sustainable development and that this makes them
true agents of social transformation. He adds: “So I think, not
just young people, but the youthful way of thinking about these
46

45. SCHMIDHEINY, The Visionary — some of them mortal.
This was toward the end of the 1970s. Schmidheiny was sure
“Today there are 2.8 billion people —nearly half of Mankind— that his father and predecessor at the head of the Group had
that live on less than 2 dollars a day. been unaware of the noxious effects of asbestos when he
It is these people that we must include in a true and radical decided to make use of it in the manufacturing of fiber-cement.
development process.” Far from hiding his head in the sand, however, Schmidheiny
Stephan Schmidheiny ordered an investigation to establish whether or not the claims
were valid and once it was established that they indeed were,
The creation of social value is one of the goals most hard- he accepted responsibility in the damage suits against the
sought by Stephan Schmidheiny, the Swiss philanthropist and company and pushed the firm to develop new technology that
former industrialist who is as well known for his commitment did not make use of asbestos in its processes.
to sustainable development as for his business successes. Meanwhile, his success as a businessman was on the rise. The
Born in St. Gallen in 1947, he holds a law degree and is a young Schmidheiny showed avid interest in environmental
member of a veritable industrial dynasty in the construction issues and attended conferences on the subject. First he went
materials industry. to Stockholm, where he audited a major conference as an
Shortly after assuming management of his family’s holding unregistered participant. But at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992,
company, he had to face a conflict directly involving Eternit, the he established himself as a natural leader by convening other
manufacturer of fiber-cement blocks enriched with asbestos, business people who actively participated in the event for the
and one of the most important companies in the Group. The first time in history: Within the framework of the Summit,
conflict stemmed from claims by former employees of the he founded the World Business Council for Sustainable
company’s plants to the effect that after inhaling the asbestos Development (WBCSD), which produced a groundbreaking
fibers, they had developed a wide variety of respiratory illnesses report called Changing Course, in which the term eco-efficiency
47

46. was mentioned for the first time as an essential element in the Furthermore, he figures that his role, like that of other
successful development of companies in a world limited by business people, is decisive in the development process that
dwindling resources. Mankind requires, and explains: “When I entered the business
Since then, through the management of his businesses, world, my intention was to create economic wealth. But at the
Schmidheiny has gradually evolved into what he himself has same time, I managed to create value for society, especially
defined as a “committed stakeholder”, while developing new for those who were neediest, and to safeguard the options of
forms of philanthropy. It was with this philosophy in mind future generations in the best way possible. I don’t see these
that he established the AVINA Foundation in 1994. The objectives as incompatible or exclusive.”
organization originally provided support to Latin American
social entrepreneurs so that they could move forward with their
sustainable development-related projects. Currently, AVINA is
devoted to creating networks and alliances among social and
business leaders. It was based on these same premises that
he created the VIVA Trust in 2003, an organization to which
he donated all of his shares in his business conglomerate,
GrupoNueva, with the aim of guaranteeing economic support
to AVINA and other foundations committed to sustainable
development in Latin America.
Schmidheiny defines sustainable development as “not living
beyond our means; not burning down our house to keep warm
or sawing off the limb we’re sitting on; living on the interest
and not on the capital”.
48

47. DRAYTON, The Prophet
for the Advancement of Colored People), an organization for
“This is the most radical structural change I’ve ever seen. the defense of minority rights in the United States.
Once millions of people enjoy the freedom to generate a change At Harvard University, where he graduated in 1970, he founded
every time they see a problem, who is going to stop them? If a the Ashoka Table, a forum for dialog between students and
person is frustrated, there will be hundreds of others looking at that leaders in government and industry. While studying Law
problem in that community and looking for a solution. One of at Yale, he created the Yale Legislative Services, an initiative
them is going to find it”. to allow university students to collaborate with American
Bill Drayton lawmakers in developing legislation. By the time he graduated,
he had managed to involve a third of the students at Yale Law
Bill Drayton is credited with coining the term “social in this project. Drayton worked for ten years as a consultant
entrepreneur” to describe individuals who combine the for McKinsey and Company. Under the Jimmy Carter
pragmatic methods of the business entrepreneur with the Administration (1977-1981) he was Assistant Administrator for
goals of the social reformer. Whether he is the author of the the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He also worked
term or not, no one can question the major role in the field of for a short time on the White House staff.
sustainability of the founder and chairman of Ashoka, a not It was in 1980 that he launched Ashoka, an organization that
for profit association devoted to providing financial support to he started up with initial capital of 50,000 dollars and that now
entrepreneurs around the world. finances thousands of social entrepreneurs worldwide. In 2007,
Born in New York in 1943, Drayton was already heading up a the organization had funds of over 30 million dollars, having
series of social initiatives in his youth. While attending secondary financed more than 1,600 enterprises in 60 countries. “Within
school, he founded the Asia Society and turned it into one of five years,” says this true fanatic of the transforming power
the most powerful student associations ever known. At about of entrepreneurs on the road to the sustainability paradigm,
that same time, he joined the NAACP (National Association “more than 50 percent of the Ashoka Fellows changed national
49

48. policy in their respective countries. And nearly 90 percent saw RODDICK, The Provocateur
independent organizations copying their innovations.”
“For me, campaigning and good business
Bill Drayton maintains a frugal lifestyle and, for many years, he is also about putting forward solutions, not just opposing destructive
carried out his work for Ashoka ad honorem. Besides chairing practices or human rights abuses.”
Ashoka, Drayton is also currently active on the Board of Get Anita Roddick
America Working!, a not for profit organization whose aim
is to create new jobs by generating structural changes in US She once said her favorite quote was the one by Dorothy Sayers:
economic policy. He also cooperates with Youth Venture , “Time and trouble will tame an advanced young woman, but
an association that seeks to create entrepreneurial awareness an advanced old woman is uncontrollable by any earthly force.”
among youth, while imbuing young people with confidence in Be that as it may, at age almost 65, Anita Roddick was still
their capacity to lead social change. defining herself as “the new girl on the block”.
Born in Littlehampton, England, the founder of The Body Shop
first studied to be a teacher and then decided to see the world,
before she met Scotsman Gordon Roddick, who in 1970 was to
become her husband and the father of her daughters.
In 1976, Gordon began a journey across the Americas on
horseback, and in order to keep the wolf from the door, Anita
decided to open a little cosmetics boutique. “I had no training
or experience,” she once said, “and my only business acumen
was Gordon’s advice to take sales of 300 pounds a week.” But it
wasn’t just economic need that fostered the emergence of The
50

49. Body Shop: “It upset me to find out that a large part of the price Amazonian natives gathered in the rain forest. Although the
of cosmetics went into packaging that was as sophisticated as subsequent trade relations turned out not to be as simple as
it was unnecessary. I was also upset by false advertising that she had expected, they have lasted until the present day and
promised miracle remedies and had pictures of 16-year-old have led to the development of medications based on jungle
girls promoting anti-aging products for women in their 50s ”. plant species.
Anita’s personal experiences served as an inspiration for The Body Shop similarly promoted campaigns in favor of fair
company values that became brand assets and included the trade with the Third World, like the one developed with the
rejection of animal testing, the use of natural ingredients, Chepang indigenous people of India for its Ayurvedic line, or
recycling of containers and protection of the environment. Six in Nicaragua with that country’s sesame seed oil producers.
months after opening her first shop, she opened a second one.
And when Gordon got back from his travels, he also joined Striking out at costly marketing strategies, Anita Roddick
the firm and promoted its worldwide expansion. By 1984, the maintained that “our growth has always depended on our
company had branches throughout Europe and was being reputation and word of mouth, not mass advertising.”
quoted on the Stock Exchange, turning the Roddicks into According to analysts, this way of thinking had a real impact,
multi-millionaires. since achieving what she did through reputation alone would
The couple used their success to promote sustainable devel- have required investment of 96 million dollars a year using
opment and initiated a campaign whose slogan was: “what’s traditional marketing strategies.
good for the community and the world, is good for business.” In 2000, Anita published her autobiography entitled Business
Within this framework, The Body Shop developed its Green as Unusual, and in 2001, a collection of essays called Take
Pharmacy project in cooperation with native communities in it Personally, in which she analyzed the myths regarding
the Amazon. Believing that it was necessary to help these tribes globalization and the role of the World Trade Organization
preserve their culture, Anita began to market the seeds that the (WTO). That same year, she launched her personal website
51

50. ANDERSON, The Revolutionary
at www.anitaroddick.com. Later she created her own
communications company, Anita Roddick Publications, which “Global warming is coming like a runaway freight train.
in 2003 published its first two titles: Brave Hearts, Rebel Spirits: Time is against us, given Humankind’s tendency to deny and
A Spiritual Activist’s Handbook and A Revolution in Kindness. cling to the opiate of the status quo. Biodiversity is plummeting.
In March 2006, L’Oreal bought The Body Shop for 652.3 Our human footprint is growing and the planet’s carrying capacity
million pounds sterling, a fact that stirred a certain amount is shrinking, consumed by our unsustainable appetite for stuff.”
of controversy, since the acquiring firm had been accused Ray C. Anderson
of animal testing for its products. Anita Roddick died in
September of 2007, just two years after retiring from business It wasn’t until he was 60 years old that Ray C. Anderson began to
and donating her fortune to “just causes”. see the world in a different light. The West Point, Georgia-born
industrial engineer, founder and Chairman of Interface Inc., a
leading carpet manufacturer headquartered in Atlanta, places
the exact moment of that change in August of 1994. It was as he
was preparing a speech regarding his vision on the environment
for a group of business people from around the world. For
some time, his clients had already been questioning him about
what his firm was doing for the planet and the only thing the
founder could think to say was: “We comply with the law.”
As he was putting together his presentation, however,
he suddenly realized that he didn’t really have any vision
regarding the environment. And then a book appeared on his
desk that was to radically change his way of doing business:
52

51. Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, a work that Anderson
himself has referred to as an “epiphany” and “a spear in my
chest that remains to this day”, and the catalyst that brought
him to the decision to devote his life to sustainability.
With this goal in mind, the businessman held a meeting with
the directors and executives of his company and announced
the firm’s new mission: to turn Interface into the world’s first
sustainable industrial company. The change implied a constant
effort to reduce the impact of the carpet-maker’s activities
on the environment. It also meant being willing not to take
anything out of the earth that couldn’t be renewed. This was a
true challenge for an industry that depended almost entirely on
petroleum for its livelihood.
The first step was to start research and development work in
order to find new production methods. The second was to
introduce ways of generating “green energy” such as solar
panels and wind and biomass energy. The third was to try
different types of recycled materials and experiment with new
raw materials for the firm’s products. The final step was to
reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions.
53

52. In 1999, Anderson published his book entitled Mid-Course GRAJEW, The Benchmark
Correction. Toward a Sustainable Enterprise: The Interface
Model. The book recounts the process from his discovery “We are all consumers and, as such, our wishes to support those
of sustainability to his declaration of activism for the products or services that come from companies working with
cause, and explains his company’s framework for doing the criteria of social responsibility can be made heard. Since the
business. In its pages, the businessman dares to confess: “I immediate goal of corporations is profit, we must ensure that the
am a plunderer of the earth and a thief today, a legal thief. companies with the highest profits are those that take into account
The perverse tax laws, by failing to correct the errant market the future of the new generations.”
and force it to internalize those externalities such as the costs Oded Grajew
of global warming and pollution, are my accomplices in
crime. I am part of the endemic process that is going on at a One of Oded Grajew’s most recent victories was having got
frighteningly accelerating rate worldwide to rob our children the steelmakers of the states of Maranhao and Pará to sign a
and their children, and theirs, and theirs, of their futures”. commitment to abolish slave labor in their production chain.
No mean achievement for the world, or for this electronics
Anderson’s philosophy and actions have turned Interface into engineer born in Tel-Aviv, who later became a naturalized
one of the companies that is most highly recognized for its Brazilian citizen, a man who began his business career as a
commitment to the business movement toward sustainability toy manufacturer and who didn’t rest until he had become a
and its founder is considered one of the world’s leading “green benchmark figure in the world of corporate responsibility.
businessmen”. Grajew says that from the very outset of his career, he was always
Today, Anderson travels the world spreading the Interface ex- concerned about what was happening to the Earth. In 1987, he
ample far and wide and promoting the benefits of sustainabil- founded Pensamento Nacional das Bases Empresariais (National
ity. In 2006 alone, he gave more than 115 conferences. Thought for Business Bases), an organization initiated with
54

53. the aim of changing the mindset of Brazilian business people.
In 1990, he created the Abrinq Foundation (originally linked
to the Brazilian Association of Abrinq Toy Manufacturers), an
NGO that works with UNICEF to improve the living conditions
of children in Latin America. The institution has 2,500 member
companies and its main fight is for the elimination of child
exploitation. But Grajew’s reputation as a referential figure in
the field of corporate social responsibility came with the creation
in 1998 of the Ethos Institute, a not for profit association whose
purpose is to promote an awareness of social responsibility
in the private sector. This organization, which Oded Grajew
has presided over since its founding, today has more than 887
corporate members —small, medium-size and large companies
from all economic sectors and regions of the country— whose
joint revenues total more than 110 billion dollars (about 30%
of Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product) and which jointly employ
more than 1.5 million workers. Additionally, the Ethos Institute
is a founding member of EMPRESA, a network of organizations
throughout the Americas that seek to promote CSR .
In 2000, after several failed attempts to get the topic of CSR onto
the agenda of the World Economic Fund that each year brings to-
gether the world’s most prominent business people and bankers
55

54. CHOUINARD, The Explorer
for a meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Grajew decided to organize
the World Social Forum (WSF). With the support of such re- “In many companies, the tail (finance) wags the dog (corporate
nowned social proponents as Francisco Whitaker (a member of decisions). We strive to balance the funding of environmental
Brazil’s Conference of Bishops) and Bernard Cassen (Editor-in- activities with the desire to continue in business for the next
Chief of Le Monde Diplomatique), the WSF burst onto the scene hundred years.”
in January 2001 with its first meeting in Porto Alegre. Since Yvon Chouinard
then, it has established itself as a meeting of worldwide impor-
tance and is held each year in a different city, with thousands of An enthusiastic mountain-climber, outstanding surfer,
individuals and social organizations taking part. fisherman and kayaker: that’s how Yvon Chouinard, who
The “people power” concept is the basis for Grajew’s strategy became a businessman as the sort of natural outcome of these
to attain change among business people: “If you take adequate fond interests, defines himself. Born in Maine, USA, in 1938,
measures, you are really going to benefit, but if you don’t, you Yvon was already considered one of the best climbers in the
could end up in serious trouble”. Here, two basic principles Americas by the time he was in his early twenties.
come into play: the desire to do the right thing and fear of the It was in 1957 that he decided to manufacture his own line
company’s developing a bad name among consumers. of climbing equipment, as a means of financing his trips and
Toward the end of 2006, Oded Grajew acted as an advisor to saving money. The first product that he launched on the market
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio ‘Lula’ da Silva, becoming a was steel climbing stakes. The success of his sales led him to
driving force behind a series of social programs —like the so- found his own firm called Chouinard Equipment for Alpinists
called “Zero Hunger” Plan— while promoting dialog between (CEA). At the end of the 1960s, together with his climbing and
the government and business. He is currently at the head of business partner, Tom Frost, he redesigned the basic tools
the Ethos Institute, developing a powerful campaign to elimi- (crampons and ice axes) for climbing sheer ice.
nate slave labor in companies throughout Latin America.CH- However, in 1970 Chouinard discovered that the stakes his
56

55. company was making were causing significant damage to the going up the stairs two steps at a time. We needed to be sur-
crevasses of Yosemite. In order to prevent this, he introduced tools rounded by friends who could dress whatever way they wanted,
made of aluminum and created a style of mountaineering called even barefoot. We needed to have flex time to surf the waves
“clean climbing”, a concept that revolutionized rock climbing. A when they were good, or ski the powder after a big snowstorm,
year later, he married Malinda Pennoyer, an art student at the or stay home and take care of a sick child”.
University of Fresno, and in 1972 , he founded Patagonia Inc.,
a company devoted to the designing and manufacturing of
outdoor clothing and accessories and considered to be a pioneer
in socially responsible policies, defense of the environment and
the creation of a sustainable enterprise model.
In 2005, Chouinard wrote a book entitled Let My People Go
Surfing, a sort of autobiography in which, besides recounting
his personal life, he also told the story of Patagonia, the com-
pany’s philosophy and founding principles, and formulated an
insightful reflection regarding the future of the Earth and the
current system for doing business. In the pages of this book,
Chouinard also explains that one of the fundamental concepts
with which he wished to imbue his company was that work
and pleasure go together: “There was one thing that I did not
want to change,” he writes. “Work had to be enjoyable on a
daily basis. We all had to come to work on the balls of our feet,
57

56. Particularly noteworthy among Patagonia Inc.’s values is prod- SEABRA, The Philosopher
uct quality, which in the firm’s view means durability, mini-
mal use of natural resources —including materials, energy “We are convinced that the spirit of the times, what is looming
and transport— multi-functionality, non-obsolescence and the large on the horizon, are companies with that more human,
kind of beauty that comes from a thing’s being fully adapted to more integrated side and that more holistic way of seeing their
its purpose, since bowing to fashion trends does not fit into the relations and functions in society. Such companies will shine and
company’s set of values. be admired and, at the same time —let’s not forget this— will be
A prime concept in the company is transparency in dealing giving their shareholders greater earnings.”
with its employees and in its position within its business Luiz Seabra
community, comprising its personnel, the members of society
where the firm operates, its suppliers and its clients. So in order When he was 16 years old, Antonio Luiz Da Cunha Seabra
to mitigate any of the negative effects the company’s activities stumbled onto an idea that turned into a revelation: “Man is
might have on the environment, its shareholders donate 1% of part of everything and everything is part of Man.” From the
the firm’s gross revenues or 10% of its profits —whichever is very first time that he heard this principle, first expressed by
the larger sum— to ecological activism. the ancient neo-Platonic philosopher Plotinus, that notion of
“being part of everything” never left him.
In Let My People Go Surfing, Chouinard is extremely critical of Luiz Seabra is the founder of Natura, the largest cosmetics-
business, the US government system and consumer society and maker in Brazil. Having earned a degree in Economic
concludes that: “Now, more than ever, we need to encourage Sciences, he got his first job in cosmetics back in the 1960s,
civil democracy by speaking out, joining up, volunteering or when he worked as the administrator of a small laboratory in
supporting these groups financially, so as to still have a voice Sao Paulo. He spent three years learning the secrets of the
in democracy”. trade and, in 1969, decided to start his own company, Natura,
58

57. which first opened as a tiny shop with an initial investment
of 9,000 dollars. The store offered beauty advice and product
recommendations, a fact that quickly contributed to the creation
of direct and personalized relations with the clientele. Based on
this experience, Seabra decided in 1974 to adopt a direct sales Being at peace with our bodies and with our time changes our
system, and this became one of the keys to his success. hearts and our consciences”.
It is Seabra’s view that, in the future, the key to success for any
En 1991, Natura started structuring its marketing campaign business will be its capacity to generate an image of credibility on
around the concept of transparency. Its slogan was “Truth the market and among consumers. Convinced as he is that the
in Cosmetics”. When the firm launched its campaign for its world is going through a major change in which sustainability
Chronos anti-aging cream in 1992, it didn’t make use of models, is a concept that is gaining greater acceptance every day among
but brought in real clients over the age of 30. Guillermo Leal, business people, the creator of Natura maintains: “It is such a
President of Natura, said at the time: “We have a commitment fragmented world that economic benefits are dissociated from
to our clients and we’re not going to lie by telling them that if fundamental values. But we do not agree with that separation.
they buy our products they’ll look like Claudia Schiffer”. We are living in a new era that is just dawning, in which the
Seabra explains that Natura’s mission is to get people to human being is, to an ever greater degree, what makes sense of
feel better about themselves and, by extension, to make the things. Although we coexist with technology, which frequently
world a better place to live. “For Natura Cosmeticos,” he says, bewilders us, we are discovering that the human factor is
“sustainable development comes as second nature. It’s just what gives life. The human factor is the only thing that can
like a person thinking of their skin. Cosmetics enable people transform the planet into a better place. This type of vision is
to become more intimate with their own bodies. And once not the exclusive privilege of Natura. It is, in all reality, our way
that’s happened, people no longer have any desire to make war. of seeing the world”.
59

58. AMAZON BLOGS CELL_PHONES CITIZEN_JOURNALISM CLUETRAIN COLLABORATION COLLECTIVE_
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY CONVERSATION CREATIVITY DEL.ICIO.US DIALOG DIGG DIGITAL
DYNAMISM E-COMMERCE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT FACEBOOK FLASHMOBS FLICKR FOLKSONOMY
FREE_SOFTWARE GOOGLE HYPERLINKS IDENTITY IM LANGUAGE LINUX MEDIA MYSPACE DIGITAL_NATIVES
NET_GEN NETWORKS ORKUT P2P PARTICIPATION PERSONALIZATION PROSUMERS RESOURCES RSS SETH_
GODIN SOCIETY SOCIAL_NETWORKS STAKEHOLDERS TAG TECHNOLOGY TIM_O’REILLY TOOLS TRANSPARENCY
US USER USER_GENERATED_CONTENT VIDEOS VIRAL_MARKETING VIRTUAL WEB_2.0 WIKI WIKIPEDIA WIRED
YOUTUBE AMAZON BLOGS CELL_PHONES CITIZEN_JOURNALISM CLUETRAIN COLLABORATION COLLECTIVE_
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY CONVERSATION CREATIVITY DEL.ICIO.US DIALOG DIGG DIGITAL
DYNAMISM E-COMMERCE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT FACEBOOK FLASHMOBS FLICKR FOLKSONOMY
FREE_SOFTWARE GOOGLE HYPERLINKS IDENTITY IM LANGUAGE LINUX MEDIA MYSPACE DIGITAL_NATIVES
NET_GEN NETWORKS ORKUT P2P PARTICIPATION PERSONALIZATION PROSUMERS RESOURCES RSS SETH_
GODIN SOCIETY SOCIAL_NETWORKS STAKEHOLDERS TAG TECHNOLOGY TIM_O’REILLY TOOLS TRANSPARENCY
US USER USER_GENERATED_CONTENT VIDEOS VIRAL_MARKETING VIRTUAL WEB_2.0 WIKI WIKIPEDIA WIRED
YOUTUBE AMAZON BLOGS CELL_PHONES CITIZEN_JOURNALISM CLUETRAIN COLLABORATION COLLECTIVE_
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY CONVERSATION CREATIVITY DEL.ICIO.US DIALOG DIGG DIGITAL
DYNAMISM E-COMMERCE ENTERPRISE ENTERTAINMENT FACEBOOK FLASHMOBS FLICKR FOLKSONOMY
FREE_SOFTWARE GOOGLE HYPERLINKS IDENTITY IM LANGUAGE LINUX MEDIA MYSPACE DIGITAL_NATIVES
NET_GEN NETWORKS ORKUT P2P PARTICIPATION PERSONALIZATION PROSUMERS RESOURCES RSS SETH_GODIN
SOCIETY SOCIAL_NETWORKS STAKEHOLDERS TAG TECHNOLOGY TIM_O’REILLY TOOLS TRANSPARENCY US USER
USER_GENERATED_CONTENT VIDEOS VIRAL_MARKETING VIRTUAL WEB_2.0 WIKI WIKIPEDIA WIRED YOUTUBE
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY CONVERSATION CREATIVITY DEL.ICIO.US DIALOG DIGG DIGITAL

59. The Participative Media and Web 2.0

61. The Conversation Age Chapter 4
Digg is a news site that appeared in 2004 with the promise or comments containing the code and will deal with whatever
to provide its users with complete editorial control over its the consequences might be.” Sites like Digg reveal the existence
content. In 2007, its community demonstrated the strength of a new generation of participative individuals that take pos-
with which it had adopted that power. Somebody uploaded an session of information rather than passively receiving it. They
article that revealed the code for copying protected DVDs. seize it, share it, recommend it and cooperate in the creation of
contents. This is a new generation of individuals that make the
Since the publishing of this content failed to respect the tools of Web 2.0 their own.
anti-piracy laws of several countries, Digg’s managers de-
cided to remove it from the site. But the site’s users quickly This and other signals indicate that global society is in the early
began to upload the code again and vote on it, until the con- stages of what might be referred to as a communications me-
troversial information was contained in multiple entries on dia revolution that is as important as the one that Gutenberg’s
the main page. The news spread like wildfire through the printing press fostered in 1448: the birth of the participative
blogosphere, reaching YouTube and such major print me- media.
dia as the New York Times and El País. Finally, Digg’s Execu-
tive Director, Kevin Rose, surrendered and wrote: “You’ve The era of the mass media, established in the 20th century,
made it clear. You’d rather see Digg go down fighting than is in the throes of a terminal crisis. Well-known and dazzling
bow down to a bigger company. technological advances are producing crucial changes in
the way in which people connect with information and
We hear you, and effective immediately we won’t delete stories communications.
63

62. Web 2.0: A Series
of Disruptions
When Doc Searls, Rick Levine, Chris Locke and David If the authors of The Cluetrain Manifesto were somewhat ahead
Weinberger published their 95 theses in a book called The of their time, history swiftly proved them right. At the end
Cluetrain Manifesto, back in 1999, there was no need for them of the ‘90s there were thousands of portals on the Internet
to nail it on the door of Wittenberg Cathedral as Martin Luther that employed the same mechanisms as traditional media:
had done with his 95 when he initiated a sweeping cultural unidirectional messages for mass audiences. That is, until
reform in 1517. the dot com bubble burst in 2001, marking a turning point in
the history of the Web. Many concluded that the scope of the
Immersed in the Web 1.0 paradigm —big static sites that Internet had been overestimated. The fact is that thousands
were attempting to capture mass audiences— this Manifesto of portals disappeared and all that survived were the sites,
identified the trends that would lead to a participative Web and software and proposals that conformed to what analyst Tim
told how these changes would affect the markets, consumers and O’Reilly, in 2004, would refer to as the Web 2.0.
companies. “Markets are conversations,” stated these authors, Web 2.0 implies understanding the Web as a dynamic platform
considered to be veritable gurus in the cyber-information field. that is constantly changing and evolving. It allows people to
use applications that are in a network, not on their computer
They said that the motivation for ever-increasing numbers of desktops. It also permits them to connect from different
people to adopt the Internet on a massive scale was the need support mechanisms, such as cell phones, and not just from
to get together with one another. First, then, they needed to their PCs. It promotes intuitive relations between individuals
converse, and the tools that made this possible didn’t take long and information and the appearance of content created by
to arrive on the scene and to be perfected. users and social networks.
64

63. Be that as it may, Web 2.0 is not a revolution in itself, but a • Facebook, a network of university students and other social
platform for a series of disruptions. networks brought together people in communities surrounding
common interests.
• Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia written by its users, • Blogs, born as a simple publishing medium, also gave birth
surpassed Encyclopaedia Britannica in quantity and quality to conversations without filters.
of articles and gave substance to the concept of collective • YouTube, a site on which to upload and share videos, achieved
intelligence. a larger audience than the CNN news network.
Web 1.0 Web 2.0
Static Publication Syndication of Contents
Mass Messages Personalized Content
Passive and Isolated Audience Participative and Interconnected Users
News Sites Blogs and Civil Journalism
Unidirectional Message Conversations
Centralized Networks Distributed Networks
PC Supported Multiple Supports
65

64. A Manifesto for a New Day
12 of the 95 Theses in the Renowned Cluetrain Manifesto
1. Markets are
conversations. 4. There are no secrets.
ows
The networked market kn
about
more than companies do
their own products.
good
2. The Internet is en
abling And whether the news is
conversations amon ne.
g human beings or bad, they tell everyo
that were simply not
possible in the
era of mass media.
5. In just a few more years,
the current homogenized “voice”
of business—the sound of mission
ersations are statements and brochures—will see
3. These networked conv as contrived and artificial as the lan
m
forms of
enabling powerful new of the 18th century French court.
guage
knowledge
social organization and
exchange to emerge.
6. Companies need to lighten
up and take themselves less
seriously. They need to get a
sense of humor.

65. r does
se of humo
7. G etting a sen e jokes on
the 10. We are immune
utting som
not mean p ather, it req
uires to advertising.
corporate web site. R
le humility, Just forget it.
big values, a litt uine
, and a gen
s traight talk w.
point of vie 8. To speak with a hu
man
voice, companies m
ust
share the concerns of
their communities.
make
11. Don’t worry, you can still
not
money. That is, as long as it’s
.
9. There are two conversations the only thing on your mind
going on. One inside the
company. One with the market.
12. We are waking up and linking
to each other. We are watching.
But we are not waiting.

66. What is important about these changes is not what is tangible has made it possible to share information in another way. This
– the Web 2.0 architecture – but the role of this technology as was how sites like Flickr and del.icio.us were born. Based on
the facilitator in generating a series of cultural changes. “folksonomy” instead of taxonomy (the art of classification),
they additionally permit “social bookmarking” – a personalized
At the end of 2006, for its traditional Person of the
system of flagging content that can be shared among users.
Year Award, TIME Magazine chose The Internet User.
In other words, “us”.
The blog, for example, is a publication tool that permits daily
updates, syndication, readers’ comments and links to other WE MEDIA
sites. The result of these different forms of interaction is the COMMUNITY
Tags
BUSINESS 2.0
so-called “blogosphere”, currently made up of 70 million blogs NETGEN
(and counting) that generate a constant on-line conversation WEB 2.0
regarding a wide variety of topics. FOLKSONOMY
BLOGOSPHERE
Another technological innovation that has had an enormous MESSAGE
impact is RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which allows readers COMMUNICATION
PARTICIPATION
to subscribe to pages and notifies them when these pages CHAT
change. But that’s not all. Thanks to a system of permalinks, COOPERATION
each entrance to a blog has its own permanent link, a detail INTERNET
PLANET
that becomes fundamental in making “conversation” between CARE
blogs possible. Web 2.0 is not merely more dynamic. It’s alive! RESOURCES
SUSTAINABLE
The introduction of a content classification method based on RELATIONS
tags or key words chosen by the user is another innovation that AFFINITIES
68

67. Onward toward Web 3.0 The Architecture of Conversation
(BusinessWeek, April 2007)
Message
Regarding the Web 2.0 trends, specialists and detractors alike
agree that the groundwork for Web 3.0 has already been laid.
The accent in this transition would be away from the “Me Experience
Media” (blogs and personal pages) toward a true conversation,
a deep-reaching We Media.
In ancient times, a rich oral culture developed. In those days, Conversation
men gathered and talked. Experience made sense when shared
with others.
The use of new technologies and the cultural changes that
Communities
they are generating make the word “communication” start
Relations
to respond more and more to the etymology of its Latin root,
communicare, which means “to share and to make common”.
At some point between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era,
the word communication began to be used more in the sense
of “transmitting” than “sharing”. This meaning began gaining
ground until, in the 20th century, newspapers, radio and
television generalized this definition. People grew accustomed
to passively receiving messages. An example of this passivity is
Affinities
the image of an entire family sitting in front of the television
set. Just the opposite of what Web 2.0 proposes.
69

68. The Evolution of Traditional Media
to Participative Media
Advances in information technology have accompanied our 1971 Mobile Telephony
changing habits. The mobile telephone was invented in 1971, but 1976 Apple Computer
most homes still only had one telephone. In the 1980s, 1980 CNN
CNN began to air news 24 hours a day and MTV invented a new 1981 MTV
language for adolescents. The PC arrived on the scene 1982 IBM PC
and the fantasy of having a computer in every home started 1992 Linux
to become a reality.
1994 Yahoo
1995 Amazon.com
In 1994, Yahoo became the icon of Internet access for
Hotmail.com
millions of people. There began the era of e-mail, e-commerce
Craiglist
and the chat. Major companies replicated the experiences
Wikis
of the mass communications media on the Web, creating static
1996 ICQ
sites for large, passive audiences.
1998 Google
Start session 1999 The Cluetrain Manifesto
2003 Ohmy News
Del.icio.us
The Cluetrain Manifesto was published in 1999. Nike +
When the dot com bubble burst in 2001, it marked the advance 2004 Vblog: Rocket Boom
of user-generated content and participative media. Firefox
A new era had begun: the era of Web 2.0. 2005 Flickr (bombs over
London)
YouTube
Skype

69. Napster: first P2P software
BlackBerry
2000 Microsoft employees begin blogging
2001 iPod
Wikipedia
2002 Blogger
Lastfm
RSS
2006 Google buys YouTube
News Corp buys MySpace
Second Life
Evolution of Dove: viral marketing
Virtual Campaign for Chevy Tahoe
2007 Digg Users Revolt
Facebook opens its Platform
Twitter

71. The Network Generation Chapter 5
Erica is 16, an only child, who lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil. most intimate friends, she constantly exchanges cell phone
She has a Mac in her room, a broadband connection and text messages. Julián is 17 and lives with his parents and three
an iPod that’s well stocked with music. Like her teen-aged brothers in a working class neighborhood in Buenos Aires
friends, Erica never knew the world without Internet. For Province, Argentina. As soon as he finished high school, he
her, information obtained from the mass media has a value began working as a messenger in a telecommunications firm.
equivalent to amateur or alternative media. She listens to a Since his passion is music, with his first pay, he went into
song by Britney Spears followed by one by a British Indie Mercado Libre (an e-commerce site) and bought himself an
group without any prejudice whatsoever. She puts in very few mp3 player so he can listen to his favorite groups while he
hours in front of the TV set, but never misses an episode of travels from place to place. On the weekends, he rehearses
Lost, her favorite television series. She also watches Japanese with a rock band, in which he is a percussionist. He and his
Anime, which she downloads using BitTorrent (a technology buddies in the band opened a space in MySpace in which to
for sharing files). Much of the music on her iPod she bought upload some of their songs and another one in Fotolog, where
through iTunes, but her friends also copied it. She only listens they post pictures of their shows and announce the dates of
to the radio when she’s riding in the car with her parents and their upcoming gigs.
she never reads print newspapers. Every afternoon, before returning home from work, he spends
Erica spends the greatest part of her free time connected, an hour at a cyber-café, where he can chat, visit his friends’
chatting with her friends. Many of them can be found in personal pages, post comments, watch funny videos on You
Orkut, a social network where she has posted her profile and Tube and read the day’s news. On the train ride home, he
where her acquaintances leave her their comments. With her exchanges text messages with his girlfriend on his cell phone.
73

72. Getting to Know the Net Gen
Erica and Julián belong to the Net Gen, a generation of sending e-mail and why too they find the morning newspaper
networked individuals who learn, think, buy, believe and —the one actually printed on paper— an anachronism.
relate in ways that are different from those of their parents. A study carried out in the United States in 2006 revealed that
While the previous generation grew up reading newspapers, adolescents there spend 72 hours a week using electronic
listening to radio and watching television, they sit in front of media – including the Internet, cell phones and videogames.
their computers, interacting and participating. The same study shows that 68% make use of social networks
With the tools that Web 2.0 has placed at their disposal, they in order to connect with their friends.
create and give shape to new worlds. These tools are not neutral,
however. Thanks to them, the youth of this generation have A Change of Habits
unprecedented power over the communications media at their
fingertips. What remains to be seen is whether they will use this TV Internet
power to defend their right to exchange a code that facilitates
intellectual piracy —as in the case of Digg— or if they will make Media Controlled Provides Greater
the media their own in order to improve the society they live in. by the Adult World Control to Youth
According to the definition set down by Don Tapscott, who
provided the first detailed report on them in his book, Growing Passive Observers Interactive
up Digital, the young people of the Net Gen were born between and Participative Users
1977 and 1996 and have entered or are about to enter the job
market. They are fast and can handle several tasks at a time: Mass Sales Messages Google AdSense
for example, watching TV, downloading music on the Internet
and doing their homework. They live in real time. That’s why Technology Implies Hierarchy Technology Gets
they chat or send each other IMs (instant messages) instead of Distributed: Free Software
74

73. “These millions of children are combining demographic on-line role-playing —as in World of Warcraft — is a favorite
muscle and digital mastery to become pastime with the Net Gen. Here, participation generates an
a force for social transformation”. internal system, among players, of reputation and parallel
Don Tapscott communities. Contrary to what happened with videogames
(like Pac-Man) in the generation before, the participants do not
Immersed in a logic of sharing and interaction, the Net Gen become isolated, but must establish relationships with other
youth eliminate any mediators that might stand between them individuals.
and the information. In fact, they were the first ones to adopt These traits have led to talk of a coming generation of so-
and contribute to the creation of Wikipedia, the world’s largest called Co-Prosumers —consumers and producers rolled into
encyclopedia, and also to adopt P2P (peer to peer) software, that one— since the Net Gen tries to personalize everything. When
permits the exchange of files between computers via the Net. they don’t like something, they change it. And this may mean
These young people’s unexpected use of the Internet forced anything from an open software code to the stamp on a t-shirt
ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to modify their structures: that can be purchased on an e-commerce site. In point of fact,
The youngsters wanted to upload as fast as they downloaded. the Web is already hosting sites that invite users to send in their
own t-shirt designs and those most voted for are produced and
They were, in other words, as interested in publishing content sold through the same platform.
on the Web as they were in downloading it. A well-documented
example of this creativity is found in Second Life, a virtual Meanwhile, they are also experimenting with new ways of
world created totally by its users, in which 65% of its 3.6 million taking real action in the world. Take, for example, the flashmob:
inhabitants are between the ages of 18 and 35. A flashmob is a group of people that agree by digital means to
Virtual worlds express the playful nature of the Net Gen. For meet in a certain public place and do something apparently
this generation, almost everything must be entertaining. Mass innocent, like having a pillow fight.
75

74. 76

75. A Neo-Renaissance?
Theorists use many names to define the same thing: The Y with their families, their friends, their neighbors, their
Generation (the one after the X Generation), Millennials, MyPod university classmates.
Generation (a reference to MySpace and iPod), and the earlier Facebook, the network created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg,
mentioned Generation C (Gen C ), defined by the American a 23-year-old entrepreneur, to link up Harvard students, is an
Press Association’s Media Center as “creating, producing example of the strength of on-line communities. By February of
and participating in news in a connected, informed society.” 2007, this community had 25 million members (it is no longer
just for university students) and was expanding its business
The Net Gen seeks to express itself through photos, texts, model.
videos and music. And it has its own motivations for this. The
media and technological firms, meanwhile, are giving these
young people the tools they need, pushing the democratization Control
of creativity. The BBC, for example, gives free on-line courses Content
on how to film documentaries. Apple’s IMovie was one of the
C
Connected
first easy-to-use film-editing software tools. The latest advance
Collaborative
is Jumpcut, a simple software tool that uses the Web as its
platform and enables users to create videos with photos and Community
upload them from other sites, like Flickr or Facebook. Communication
Creativity
But the term Gen C also has other meanings. Tomi T. Ahonen Credibility
and Alan Moore, co-authors of the book Communities Dominate Consensus
Brands, define the motivation for forming communities as Celebrity
being another key Net Gen trait. They want to be connected:
77

76. Shared Secrets
On the Internet, the Net Gen shares everything with strangers certain information that older people consider private. And their
—their performance in school, professional progress, political opinions about and experiences in the companies where they
opinions, their desires, the items they consume and their fears. work form part of that information.
They also publish their personal photos and tell the stories of their The pre-Internet world was full of secrets. Information was highly
lives in blogs and photologs— a fact that tends to scare adults. valued because it was scarce. As Chris Anderson – publisher of
It’s that the members of this new generation value their personal Wired and author of The Long Tail – suggests, the secret appears
identity over their personal privacy. During the greater part of to be dead. The proliferation of cell phones with cameras, e-mails
the history of Mankind, privacy was a “luxury” to which only the that can be easily forwarded and digital documents that are ready
elite of society had access. People lived in villages, where it was and waiting to be copied, are a sign that any attempt to keep a
difficult to keep secrets, since, generally speaking, everybody secret is going to fail.
knew everybody else. In the 20th century, the concentration of It’s not worth trying.The digital natives appreciate authenticity.
populations in major urban areas provided the possibility of Accustomed as they are to finding hoaxes on the Internet, they
greater intimacy – and anonymity. Thanks to our level of comfort have quickly learned to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
and technology, we can now spend weeks on end in our houses They have a nose for detecting spam or hidden sales messages
with no need even to relate to our neighbors. Despite this fact, the and they firmly reject them. Many viral marketing campaigns
need of human beings to interact with others has remained part have failed for this very reason. Another key trait is the knowledge
of the very make-up of people. The community spirit, the desire that the youth of this generation have regarding topics about
to be recognized by others, prevails, whether a person lives in a which their parents are completely ignorant.
city of 10 million people or in a small rural community. From According to Tapscott, in Finland, 5,000 students signed up
this point of view, it comes as no surprise that, with the adoption to teach their teachers how to use computers. This is just one
of Web 2.0 tools, human beings have “come out” once more. The example of the bottom-up logic that the Network Generation is
Net Gen values transparency. It believes that it is okay to share ready and willing to apply in other areas, like the job world.
78

77. Other Ways of Being a Net Gener
10 Truths Inside Google
According to human resource researchers, these young people
who have grown up “opening windows” (in MS Windows or 1. Focus on the user. The rest will
Linux) don’t want to be closed up in office cubicles. They are come on its own.
curious, have high self-esteem, are enterprising and aren’t
2. Do one thing really well.
afraid to press for change in the business cultures where they
work. Their entry into the work force is producing a corporate 3. Fast is better than slow.
change that Harvard business professor, Andrew McAfee,
recently defined as Business 2.0. 4. Network democracy works.
Google, the eighth most admired company in the United States,
according to Forbes magazine, has already reacted to these 5. You don’t need to be at your desk
demands. It has 13,000 employees, most of them under the age in order to receive or give an answer.
of 23, whom it permits to decide on their own work schedule
6. You can make money without
and workplace (home or office), and whom it allows to spend causing harm.
20% of their work day doing something that really excites
them. Google Earth and Orkut were results of this initiative. 7. There’s more information out there.
The Mozilla Foundation, creator of Firefox, the browser devel-
oped on the basis of free software that snatched 15% of the 8. The need for information goes
market from Microsoft, drew its inspiration from Net Gen mo- beyond all limits.
tivations and put a new form of production into practice. Some
9. You can be serious without
30% of the people that work for the foundation are not employ- wearing a suit.
ees but contributors who don’t receive a single cent for their
contributions. As with the entire community that takes part 10. Good simply isn’t good enough.
79

78. in the free software movement, their motivation isn’t money College and University Presidents Climate Commitment, an
but the possibility of learning, being in contact with people of agreement aimed at eliminating pollutant gas emissions from the
other cultures and creating a more useful software for others. country’s educational institutions. At about the same time, MTV
Paul Saffo, the sociological guru who tracks the impact of launched a space called MTV Switch, containing information
technology on society, says,“(…)In a society that shows every- on climate change oriented toward young people between the
thing in public, what becomes most valuable is the secret.” ages of 15 and 25. The site proposes small changes in consumer
This demonstrates that there is no consensus on what we can habits, with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint of each
expect from the Net Gen. individual on the earth.
According to the BBC, 2 billion people in the world today are In 2006, Chilean students made use of text messages, MSN
under the age of 18. Within that vast group, there are adolescents and other Internet tools to muster their peers in a strike. Once
that use their blogs to provide strategies to help others hide their they had paralyzed activities in every school in the country, they
anorexia or bulimia, or to swap stories about their experiences managed to get the government of President Michelle Bachelet
with drugs. And many suffer from a more silent addiction: They to initiate changes in the country’s education policy.
are addicted to being connected. Said María Jesús Sanhueza, one of the Chilean student leaders,
Be that as it may, most of them share genuine concern about “Our strike call is historic because it isn’t born of a political
the future of Mankind and the environment, and there is a party. It was born on the Internet and it is democratic, because
growing awareness among them regarding global warming. there are cyber-cafés everywhere. The weapon is the Net and in
Proof of these trends is that in June 2007, leaders from 284 col- there, the good ol’ boy politicians don’t get what’s happening.
leges and universities in the United States launched the American They just use it to look at naked chicks.”
80

79. A Few Conclusions
The Net Gen…
• Wants freedom of choice
• Interacts
• Is open
• Is participative
• Likes to personalize
• Creates
• Joins together in communities
• Seeks entertainment in many
of its activities
• Values speed and seeks innovation
• Teaches its elders to use new
technology, in a bottom-up logic.

81. Networked People: Chapter 6
Making a Community
Make Sense
How many friends does a person have? How many professional six people. However, in the 21st century, the tools of Web 2.0
contacts does one attain in a lifetime? Do we live in a small allow these degrees of separation to be narrowed still further.
world? How does one generate a circle of friends? In order For example, if a user publishes his/her profile in LinkedIn,
to try and respond to some of these questions, American a social network for professionals on the Internet, he/she can
psychologist Stanley Milgram carried out a unique experiment link up immediately with a Harvard professor, send a message
in 1967: He selected a target addressee at random and then and have an answer in a matter of hours. Presuming that each
chose different people in different states who didn’t know individual knows —considering workmates, family members,
this person and who had to try to get a letter to that random and MSN and e-mail contacts— about a hundred people, it is
addressee. The instructions were that they had to send the enough for one member of the circle to link up with another
letter in question to a person that they knew and considered one in order for the chain to project to infinity. One of the
that this person might have a greater possibility of knowing first people to realize the potential of virtual communities was
the target addressee. The person receiving the letter must communications mogul Rupert Murdoch, who, in July 2005,
do the same thing, and so on until the letter reached its final acquired MySpace for 580 million dollars. This most highly
target destination. To the surprise of many, the letters reached used of all portals by adolescents to make friends, listen to
the target after circulating through an average chain of only music, upload photos and videos and organize social outings
five or six people. This permitted Milgram to maintain what was the outgrowth of a new business model that Murdoch
was to become known as the “Theory of the Six Degrees of was smart enough to see in time. By 2007, MySpace had 180
Separation,” which, simply stated, holds that every one of the million registered users with 230,000 signing up daily. Their
earth’s inhabitants is connected by a distance of no more than motivation: getting together with others on the Internet.
83

82. The Power of the Networks
In May 2007, Forbes magazine published a special issue on “The mass public. Friendster was one of the pioneers on the US
Power of the Networks”. But what were they referring to? What market, although, within a very short time, MySpace would
are the much talked-about social networks within the Internet? knock it out of the ranking.
In its report on adolescents and social networking sites, Pew
Internet & Life Project defined them as any “online place
where a user can create a profile and build a personal network
that connects him or her to other users”. Nevertheless, the
scope of the “networking” or “social networking” concept is,
indeed, much broader. For decades, this phenomenon has
been under study in the fields of social science, economy and
biology, in an attempt to elucidate how news is disseminated,
how an epidemic spreads or how a certain product becomes a
fashion trend.
One of the pioneering experiments in the development of
virtual communities was The Well. It emerged in the 1980s
among the first users of the major network that is the Internet.
Although, in time, its platform varied, it remained a closed
community in which outstanding thinkers participated, and
it will go down in history as the first attempt to generate a
conversation of relevance using the tools of the Web .
2002
But it wasn’t until 2002 that sites began to appear that promoted
the possibility of creating “an on line circle of friends” for the
84

83. From the Real to the Virtual
Some virtual communities do nothing more than replicate on get to know one of these innovative public figures.
the Web situations that have been taking place for decades in “The new architecture of social networks is redefining the world we
the real world. An example of this trend is HomeExchange, a live in,” writes Spain’s David de Ugarte in his book El poder de
site with a community of 16,000 people around the world who las redes (The Power of the Networks).
are willing to exchange houses with each other. According to a study on participation on the Internet carried out
The idea emerged from a network of school teachers in Europe, by the Forrester consulting fi rm, 51% of adolescents between
who, back in the 1950s, lent their houses to each other so as to the ages of 12 and 17 participate in virtual social networks. The
have free lodging whenever they took trips across the continent. percentage rises to 70% among young people between the ages
Ed Kushins took this idea and created a site on the Internet of 18 and 21 (coinciding with college entry age). It maintains a
with the same name as the original network. The community 57% level in people between the ages of 22 and 26.
multiplied and today has members in 110 countries, although For the Net Gen, these social networks are the most natural
the philosophy remains the same now as then: trust and respect of places to hold conversations and communicate with their
for one another. peers. MIs (instant chat messages) and messages left on their
There is a place on the Internet where you can talk to Al Gore personal pages, which they check daily, have displaced e-mail,
about global warming, with Jane Goodall about biodiversity which today, for them, is a tool used almost exclusively to
and with Chris Anderson, the publisher of Wired, about new communicate with the adult world.
business models. That place is called TED, an organization
that was founded in 1984 with the aim of annually bringing Nevertheless, the number of adults participating in these
together people who have created technological, scientifi c networks has also grown in recent years: According to
or philosophical innovations. The arrival on the scene of the previously mentioned Forrester study, the so-called
Web 2.0 tools has allowed TED to go global. It is no longer Generation X (whose ages range between 37 and 40) have a
necessary to travel to California to take in a conference or 29% participation.
85

84. MySpace, The Community Everyone Is Talking About
Personal profiles, networks of friends, photos, videos, music...all of this has been offered to MySpace users since 2003.
One of the most interesting traits of this portal is that it allows musical groups to upload their songs on the Web free
of charge. Thanks to this practice, a number of bands have managed to get noticed and find success.
The down side? The company owns the rights for everything it publishes, even after the user removes the material and
quits the site. The British group, Arctic Monkeys, for example, almost lost the rights to its tunes, precisely because it
had been launched to stardom from MySpace.
Craigslist: Simple, Useful and with a Life of its Own
This simple idea, of austere design, is one of the reasons for the ostensible decline in print newspaper classified ad-
vertising. Created in 1995 by Craig Newmark, Craigslist was born with the mission of providing the San Francisco
community with a free space in which to advertise, and it has more than amply accomplished that mission: Today, you
use the list to offer or find anything from the service of a plumber to a roommate.
As for Craig Newmark, he has been invited to lecture on his business model in universities all over the world. What is
most surprising about Craigslist is that, despite the fact that the site has 5 million regular users and racks up around
a billion page-hits per week, Newmark doesn’t advertise. “The community isn’t interested,” he says. Revenues come
from paid job offerings and certain paying real estate advertisers. The rest is all completely free of charge.
86

85. Working Communities
and Talking Communities
Atina Chile is a virtual community that promotes citizen action. Consumers also have communities of their own, where they
According to its creator, Chilean politician Fernando Flores, monitor the ethical behavior of companies, as in the case of
virtual communities can be classified as “talking communities” Do the Right Thing, or where they provide comments on
and “working communities”. the traits and features of certain products or services. Trip
Advisor, for example, is a community of travelers that share
In the first group, users enter to talk and make contacts (like
advice and globetrotting experiences. Created in 2000, some 5
in MySpace), while in the second group, besides holding
million opinions can now be found on the site regarding cities,
conversations, users aspire to generate changes in the real world.
hotels, restaurants and excursions.
Atina Chile is an example of a “working community”. Its
members form a network of 38,000 citizens committed to the
environment, education and the transparency of democratic
processes. They have given workshops to teach students in
Chilean schools how to use Wikipedia, carried out actions
aimed at promoting the use of bicycles and promoted digital
literacy programs in certain areas of the country. What they
actually promote, in the end, is a new form of politics: politics 2.0.
But it is not only the ways of policy-making that change with
the advancement of these community tools. Wikipedia, for
example, is perhaps the best known “working community”
in the world. By means of member interaction, the “Wiki”
community pursues a clear objective: the creation of a complete,
pluralistic, free-access encyclopedia.
87

86. The Potential of Social Networks
According to a study carried out by Communispace, analyzing The analysts also point out that the most successful social net-
the participation of 26,539 people in 66 on-line communities, works are those that reinforce previously existing communities
86% of the individuals who enroll in communities of 300 to – for example, those that make up a company and its com-
500 members make comments, start conversations, swap ideas munity of stakeholders. According to Tom Evslin, it’s not a
and photos, and take part in other activities as well. matter of “groups forming a network” but of “groups making
According to the analysts, the high rate of participation in use of the network tool”.
groups of this size tends to show that small communities
achieve a higher level of social commitment among their
members, which goes to show that size (number of users)
isn’t always what matters when it comes to evaluating on-line
communities. This same report indicates that communities
that are brand-sponsored generate greater commitment
among their members: Brand-sponsored sites manage to get
71% of the people that visit them to register, while those that
aren’t under a trademark only manage to attain a 55% sign-up
success rate.
These observations coincide with those that John Fisher made
in a 2007 We Media conference, regarding his discovery that
the trend was toward leaving mass sites like MySpace, in order
to join others in generating communities built around specific
interests. What appears to be taking priority is transparency
and privacy and the balance between these two values.
88

87. Centralized Network Decentralized Network Distributive Network
Graph conceived by Paul Baran to demonstrate the possibilities of a computer network. In all three cases, the same number
of nodes exist, but the difference is how they are linked up. David de Ugarte takes up this diagram once more in showing the
cultural changes that modifications in network architecture produce.

88. The Future of the Communities
The constant appearance on the market of innovative tools site, inserting applications from third-party companies. This
makes it possible to predict that, in the near future, there will be signifies much more than simple personalization: It implies
a new architecture that will constitute a definitive incentive to accepting, for example, elimination by users of Marketplace
participate in on-line communities. And virtual environments (Facebook’s internal purchase/sale service) so as to replace it
like Second Life also make it possible to imagine a near future with an Amazon application.
in which virtual conversation and interaction will be greatly
enriched experiences. Facebook’s opening is marking a trend that analysts say will
become dominant: the transition from a Web 2.0 exchange
At the beginning of 2007, Facebook – a site similar to MySpace, and interaction mode to a Web 3.0 characterized by shared
which, as mentioned earlier on, was founded as a gathering construction and creation.
place for North American students – decided to open up its
community’s platform. Although, by all appearances, the move could be economically
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced: “Right now, damaging to the company, Facebook is betting, to the contrary,
social networks are closed platforms, and, today, we’re going that this change will generate 150 million dollars in profits for
to end that.” What did this change imply? the firm in the first year alone.
All of the cases presented here only go to show that giving
Founded in 2004, by 2007 Facebook was registering more up the “I” to give way to “Us” and leaving aside rigidity tend
than 25 million active users, with a growth rate of 3% a week. to generate a new shared identity and a new business model
Taking this latest step was tantamount to deciding to no longer in which the flow of information and interaction multiply
be a simple virtual community, but rather, to transform itself and the opportunities, at times, spring from the most
into a platform of the platform that allows users to modify the unexpected places.
90

89. What’s Happening? Who’s Participating? (US users only) Source: Forrester Research
Youngsters Younger Older
Adolescents Young Adults Generation Y Generation X Boomers Boomers Seniors
12 to 17 18 to 21 22 to 26 27 to 40 41 to 50 51 to 61 62+
Creators: Are publishing
web pages and blogs,
and uploading videos on
sites like YouTube.
Critics: Are writing
commentary in blogs,
classifying content
and writing summaries.
Compilers: Are using
Really Simple Syndication
(RSS), tagging information
and organizing content.
Participants: Are using
social networking sites.
Viewers: Are reading blogs,
watching videos and listening
to podcasts.
Inactive Users: Are connected
but do not form part of the
social media.
91

91. From Traditional Advertising Chapter 7
to Conversation
At the 2007 Cannes Festival, Evolution, the viral video created methods. “We are immune to advertising. Just forget it,” says
by the Ogilvy Toronto ad agency for Dove, received one of the one of the proclamations of The Cluetrain Manifesto.
world’s most coveted advertising prizes. The 90-second, low-
budget short shows all of the tricks used in advertising to turn Seth Godin, the renowned author of such books as All Marketers
a normal girl into the perfect face of a cosmetics commercial. It Are Liars (2005), maintains that we are living in a world where
is estimated that 4 million people have seen the ad at YouTube advertising is undergoing a transition from “interruption
and other Internet sites where videos are shared. marketing” to “two-way marketing”, in which the end goal of
brand communication is no longer to “convince” the customer,
The new habits of interaction with communications media that but to build relationships.
arrived with Web 2.0 had an immediate impact on advertising.
It appears that those who have already adopted tools that That’s why marketing is seeking a way to hold a conversation
permit them to participate, express themselves and share with an interlocutor who is no longer seen as a customer, but as
knowledge are ever less vulnerable to traditional marketing a stakeholder, and it is important to learn to listen to him/her.
93

92. The First to Arrive on the Scene:
Good Moves and Mistakes
The experience of Microsoft in exploring these new forms It wasn’t long before Mike Torres, who is in charge of the soft-
of corporate communication is one of the most complete ware for MSN Spaces, a Microsoft development, began to use
examples of how a trademark that was hated by the world search engines to monitor the blogosphere, so as to rapidly de-
computing community was able to start building relations. tect any negative commentary and answer it. “A lot of times
When Microsoft employee Joshua Allen started publishing when you do that, there’s a ‘Sorry - I didn’t know you were lis-
his personal blog in 2000, Bill Gates’ company’s image was tening’ reply”, Torres said. “What happens is that if they know
at its lowest ebb, accused as the company was of wiping out you‘re in the conversation, people get respectful. They may still
all competition and generating computer industry monopolies. criticize you, but they don’t lie”.
“We were afraid to get put there and just talk with people (...)”
He just started posting because “I wanted to say that I am a Thanks to these new communications channels, Microsoft
Microsoft person and you can talk with me”, Allen told Shel managed to:
Israel and Robert Scoble, authors of Naked Conversations, the • Humanize the company, since people began to get to know it
book that tells how blogs are changing how companies talk to through its employees.
their customers . Allen was the first of Microsoft’s employees • Create an impact on the morale of its contributors.
to publish a blog. Currently, 1,500 of the company’s employees • Attract new talent.
are doing so. • Place the accent on its identity in its relationships.
These trends were underscored when the company created
Channel 9, the first corporate video blog, in which employees Transparency and authenticity form part of the new rules
tell their audience —from their cubicles— who they are, talk of Web 2.0. The Vichy brand of cosmetics was one of the
about their families and about the subjects that most excite trademarks that put their foot in it because they failed to
them. understand the code of ethics of the new media. An advertising
94

93. I’m a great lover
He’s a MARKETING
agency recommended that they create a blog with an invented great lover
character playing its writer: namely, Claire, a pretty girl with
the looks of a model, who took part in the firm’s latest anti-
age product. Within a matter of hours, the blogosphere had
reacted negatively to the attempted deception. The company
was forced to make a public apology and pull the blog.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
But they managed to reverse the situation. Vichy later launched
I’m a great lover
a new blog called Journal de ma peau (Diary of My Skin) with
I’m a great lover
the aim of listening to the company’s clients, a space in which I’m a great lover
real company employees and renowned women blog writers
contracted to contribute with complete editorial freedom, write
all of the entries. The French press has praised the initiative,
and so have the company’s clients.
I understand
that you’re a great ADVERTISING
lover
These sketches show some of the differences between
the advertising tools developed in the 20th century and
current trends.
BRANDING
95

94. Interruption Marketing Two-Way Marketing
One-Way Message Two-Way Message
Passive Client Interactive Client
Top-down Direction Horizontal and Circular Direction

95. The Direction
Advertising is Taking
These early attempts bear witness to the efforts being made and • Peer to Peer (P2P): Those who spread the words are the
the need to get the attention of the Net Gen. Because while it is consumers themselves, who transmit the message to their
true that most young people still watch television, their habits friends and acquaintances.
have changed and certain sales methods are now obsolete. • Entertainment and Relevance: In most cases, the message
is not a direct sales pitch, but rather, a topic of conversation
A report drafted in 2007 by Ipsos France among European or a source of amusement linked to a brand identity. In other
youth suggests that while they continued to receive information cases, the relevance of the product in itself incites consumers
about many products via traditional advertising media, they to recommend it, making them, simultaneously, consumers
tended to put more trust in the recommendations of their and marketers.
peers and admitted that their decisions were influenced by
“word of mouth”. According to a study carried out by the McKinsey consulting
group, shared opinion regarding a product, brand or service
“Word of mouth”, P2P and “viral marketing” are some of the accounts for two-thirds of all economic activity in the United
names given to these non-traditional forms of advertising, all States. And this is reaffirmed if we take into account a study
of them experiences that tend to be supported by some sort carried out in the last half of 2006 by Create with Context
of on line platform and that comply with at least one of the and Yahoo, which revealed that 40% of all consumers in the
following requirements: United States regularly publicize brands and products that
• Virulence: The message is disseminated among different they purchase without receiving any kind of payment in return.
people in the manner of a virus, so that it is not necessary to And which is the medium that is most often used to spread
“trap” the consumer’s interest with a commercial spot on a TV both positive and negative opinions about these products?
program. Why, the Internet, of course.
97

96. Successful Campaigns
The previously mentioned viral campaign by Dove was right Blake Ross, who today is only 20 years old, was still in high
on target, because it showed knowledge of how to take advan- school when he created the blog that, in 2005, was generating
tage of the tools of Web 2.0. The video was easily uploadable 200,000 downloads a day. The case of Firefox is living proof
to YouTube, publishable in a blog or forwardable to friends. that “word of mouth” works best among those who really ap-
In other words, it was easy to share, something that is of key preciate a product.
importance to the Net Gen. But additionally, the trademark
created a parallel site (www.campaignforrealbeauty.ca) that
included a variety of channels for participation, where users
could fill out short surveys, personalize cards to send to ac-
quaintances and gain access to other videos and resources.
Another major factor was the relevance of the message: its
discussion of the meaning of real beauty was coherent with
Dove’s traditional campaigns. The brand thus generated a top-
ic of conversation that allowed people to take possession of the
message. For its part, Firefox, the Internet browser created un-
der the premises of free software, was launched in 2004 from
the blog called www.spreadfirefox.com and in just 99 days,
it was downloaded by 25 million people. Its users were such
fans that they raised 250,000 dollars to pay for the brand’s first
traditional ad, a double-page spread in the Sunday edition of
the New York Times, listing the names of all of the program-
mers who had contributed free of charge to its development.
98

97. Learning to Speak a New Language: Some Definitions
Word of mouth (WOM): Wikipedia defines this as recommending a product, service or show in
a person to person and informal way. Current communications tools like e-mail, chat, blogs,
virtual communities and forums tend to imbue this old form of recommendation with new and
vigorous potential. Advertising professionals are analyzing how best to control and measure the
impact of WOM within the context of Web 2.0.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P): This is a reference to a computer network set up among peers, with no clients
and no fixed servers. Rather, it is made up of a series of network nodes . In 1999, Napster, the
first software to share music files between computers, made use of this model.
Beyond the development of similar types of software, P2P is, in the end, a philosophy, adopted
mainly by the Net Gen. In modern marketing language, P2P is about the attitude of the new con-
sumer, who is willing to share his/her opinion regarding the products they use with their peers,
and to be influenced by purchasing.

98. The Do’s and Don’ts These are some general recommendations by WOMMA , an
association of advertising professionals who are seeking to
of Word of Mouth Marketing establish standards for new forms of communication.
D
DO! Don’t!
ith tools like “tell a friend”, forums, 1. Invest resources in keeping brand campaign
back. strategies secret.
to talk about, like Dove did: publish a 2. Pay somebody for word of mouth recommendations
message that can be shared, commented on and that generates without admitting it publicly.
conversation.
3. Create false identities to promote a product, the way
3. Form communities and connect people. Create product user Vichy did in its first experience in the blogosphere.
groups and fan clubs. Support the groups that form around
products and services. 4. Publish comments solely as a means of manipulating
the relevance of a product or blog.
4. Work with influential communities. Identify opinion-formers
and provide them with information about brand actions. Blog- 5. Carry out acts of vandalism to promote products/services.
writers are more sought-after all the time in this role.
6. Send out SPAM.
5. Follow conversations in the virtual and real worlds between
product followers, detractors and neutral parties. Listen and
respond.
6. Take up transparent conversations. Create blogs and other Seth Godin resumes the new playing rules like this:
tools to exchange information and openly take part in other “The biggest mistake marketers make when they see the
blogs and conversations. power of the consumer network is that they try to con-
trol it, own it or manipulate it. This always fails because
7. Co-create. Include consumers in marketing and creative
actions. Let them see what’s going on in the company or with a the network doesn’t care about you and can’t be bought.
product, so that they have access to first-hand information. The smartest marketers aim to inspire, not to control.”
100

99. The Future of Corporate Sites
Peer to Peer conversations
and Word of Mouth
Social Networks Tags
Rating sites Consumer-made
Videos
Podcasts Blogs
User forums
Another thesis of The Cluetrain Manifesto that took no time at all in manifesting itself is the one that predicted that the language
of 20th century business would seem as contrived and artificial as the language of the 18th century French court. Within this
new scenario, the static corporate sites created in the ‘90s have entered an identity and functionality crisis. Confronted with a
Web 2.0 in which spontaneous opinions regarding products multiply, brand sites offering pro-corporate content have become
progressively less than credible.
All indications are that the future of corporate sites will be a mutation toward becoming a source of information and
contents created not only by the company but by its stakeholders, which will include both positive and negative comments
regarding the firm’s products.
101

101. Collective Intelligence Chapter 8
In its July 2007 edition, National Geographic Magazine According to James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom
published a cover story on “the intelligence of swarms” . On of Crowds, any human group that patterns itself on the
observing the activities of ant colonies, beehives and schools intelligence of the ants will grow ever more effective.
of fish, the biologists involved concluded that there is a type of
intelligence that is the product of the collective activity of large Conditions for this happening include the following:
groups. It is the intelligence that explains why an ant alone is • A diverse multitude. In this way, each individual contributes
less than smart, whereas an ant colony is capable of finding different pieces of information.
the shortest route to its source of food, of assigning roles and • It must be decentralized: Nobody must be in charge.
of defending their territory. This concept, which biologists call • There must be some means of gathering opinions in order
“collective intelligence”, refers to a certain self-regulated social to be able to arrive at a collective verdict.
structure capable of demonstrating intelligent behavior of its • Individuals must be independent, in order for them to
own that renders it more efficient than its members are as properly evaluate information.
individuals.
103

102. The Power of Cooperation
The activists in Seattle in 1998 and the mobs in Paris in 2006 most reliable ones in first place. Thanks to this system, Google
used cell phones to quickly let each other know where the police is today considered the market leader in browsers.
were. Like a school of fish in the ocean, they could scatter in
the face of danger and regroup a few hours later. Although the Wikipedia – which, as mentioned earlier, is a free, on-line
difference between animals and human beings is that human encyclopedia, written and edited by volunteers – is another
activists make the decision to act of their own free will. example of collective intelligence turned into action. Hundreds
of thousands of people in different places around the world
But what has this got to do with Web 2.0, the Net Gen and contribute to its creation in one of the greatest collections of
on-line communities? In 2005, Web 2.0 guru Tim O’Reilly human knowledge ever achieved.
observed that: “The central principle behind the success of the
giants born in the Web 1.0 era who have survived to lead the For its part, Linux, the computer operative system that represents
Web 2.0 era appears to be this, that they have embraced the Microsoft Windows’ only competition, was created under free
power of the web to harness collective intelligence”. software standards: that is to say, using an open code voluntarily
improved by thousands of programmers and users.
A paradigmatic example of this is Google. Its search engines
order results in accordance with the number of links between Thomas C. Malone, of the Center for Collective Intelligence at
pages. The system understands the links as user votes and in MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), explains that,
that way ranks not only the most popular pages but also the as discovered in the case of swarms, collective intelligence is
104

103. nothing new. But the new information technologies that link The July 2007
computers all over the world are permitting an unprecedented edition of National
deepening of this phenomenon. Geographic
compared certain
Mark Klein, of that same Center, is team leader for a project human activities
aimed at taking advantage of the intelligence of hundreds of with those
people worldwide in order to find solutions for global warming. of swarms.
Although, as MIT’s Malone points out, collective intelligence
isn’t some magic process, nor can it be applied in all fields.
The hypothesis that seduces enthusiasts is that large groups of
people are more intelligent than a reduced elite. That remains
to be seen. In principle, however, collective intelligence appears
to function with a high degree of effectiveness in predictive
models: It’s like in the horse races, where it is presumed
that large groups of people, providing their best estimate for
a probable outcome, will generate, on average, more exact
responses than those offered by individuals.
105

104. Wikis: From Tool to Action
Ward Cunningham will go down in history as the creator of e-mails saying things like: “Oh my God, they write, you’ve got a
the software that permits collective intelligence to be turned major security flaw!”.
into action: the wiki. He borrowed the word from the Hawaiian Since its creation, Wikipedia has become a vast collection
language and it means “fast” and also “What I know is…” of human knowledge, while generating widespread debate
In 1995, Cunningham created the first version of this simple among teachers, academics and journalists alike. But above
software code, which made it possible to generate a web page all, it is the most complete manifestation of what interaction
that could be modified by the members of a working team. What among people can accomplish when bolstered by the Internet
Cunningham couldn’t predict was that the tool that he dreamed and some simple tools.
up for collaboration among members of small groups would be
used on an open and mass worldwide scale. Wikipedia receives more hits than Hotmail, The New York
Back in 2000, Jimmy Wales, a former financial operator, was Times and The Wall Street Journal put together, despite the
trying to create the first free encyclopedia on the Internet. fact that it has only one full-time employee, backed by 285,866
Together, he and Larry Sanger created Nupedia , and called contributors who have provided material more than ten times
on a group of academics to voluntarily write articles for it. each. A study carried out by the scientific journal, Nature, in
But after two years, the specialists had only come up with 24 2005, revealed that Wikipedia had 4 errors to every three found
entries. So at the end of 2001, when he first heard about wikis, in the traditional Encyclopaedia Britannica. Well, true, but the
Wales made the bold decision to create Wikipedia. One month difference is that the Wikipedia errors have long since been
later, the virtual encyclopedia already contained a thousand corrected, while Britannica’s had to wait a few years until the
articles. By 2005, it had 500,000 entries, and in 2007, it had next issue came out. The key to the success of this collective
nearly 5 million in 14 languages. initiative responds to a phenomenon of these times: a new
In an interview with Time Magazine, Wales confessed to being incentives logic, what writer Lev Grosman defined in an article
tickled by warnings from well-intentioned people who send him for Time Magazine as “intellectual altruism”.
106

105. Free Software: Innovation
beyond Closed Doors
Tools that release the full potential of collective intelligence
stimulate the generation of new forms of organization.
Companies, academic institutions and research groups can
evolve, if they wish to, toward a 2.0-type organization, where
innovation is from the gates outward and not limited to the
elite that creates it.
The free software movement demonstrates the scope of this
trend. Linux, the free operative system created in 1992 by
Linus Torvalds, when he was only 21 years old, progressively
improved with the help of thousands of amateur and
professional programmers. Currently, it is being used by
literally millions of people and businesses.
This is just one example of a movement that inspires and unites
a global community of individuals who are willing to donate
their time to learning and creating better software resources.
SourceForge.net is a site that coordinates free software
work. Around mid-2007, there were 15,000 such projects in
production. It was also under this model that Mozilla Firefox
and Apache were born – software codes that became everyday
tools for individual users on the Internet.
107

106. Organizing the Chaos
“Tagging” is a labeling process used to classify on-line
content . A “tag” is a key word assigned by the user to any
given item (photo, article, video, a blog posting, etc.), which
permits each user to classify things according to their meaning
for that individual.
Each item tends to be associated with several tags at the same
time. For example, a song sung by Brazil’s Adriana Calcanhotto
on YouTube might be simultaneously tagged as “love”, “mpb”
and “tenderness”. An Internet posting about tagging might be
tagged with words like “web 2.0”, “tags” and “collective intel-
ligence” because these might be the best terms to describe the
content, depending on the criterion applied by the author.
If taxonomy is the science of classification, folksonomy is clas-
The prime use of tagging is personal in nature: It serves as sification in the 2.0 era, resulting from the interaction and in-
a means of finding content once more within the erratic pro- telligence of the masses.
cess of surfing the Web. But David Weinberger, a Harvard re- Thomas Vander Wal, founder of the Information Architecture
searcher and author of the book, Everything Is Miscellaneous: Institute, coined this new word in 2004. The term is defi ned
The Power of the New Digital Disorder, points out that tags also by the following traits:
have a social dimension to them. The tags that one chooses on a) Folksonomy is free classification, as chosen by the user.
sites like Flickr and del.icio.us, also facilitate better organiza- b) Its aim is to be able to find information at a later time.
tion of information for other users. This is a process of social c) It is developed within a free environment, which permits
classification of information that is known as “folksonomy”. mutual sharing and construction of new categories.
108

107. An image of the most popular tags on Flickr. The 2.0 sites incorporate a tag “cloud”,
which consists of placing the tags most employed by users side by side
in alphabetical order and placing the most popular ones of all in larger print.
109

108. The Future of Collective
Intelligence
Scientists from a wide variety of disciplines are currently activity could do for research into new drugs, cures for disease,
studying just how to orient collective intelligence toward the or alternative energy sources and atmospheric disaster control.
solution of Mankind’s major problems. And there are many “Could the collective intelligence of the life sciences community
too, who are thinking about and predicting the evolution of be harnessed to enable a more coordinated and comprehensive
the Web. Surowiecki and the swarm intelligence theorists, attack on the intractable diseases that have so far stymied the
for example, imagine its potential as a form of knowledge industry?” asked Don Tapscott, author of Wikinomics.
aggregation. But collective intelligence may also be thought For Tapscott, research carried out within the scope of the
of in terms of something that goes beyond the simple sum of so-called Human Genome Project (HGP) represented a
cooperative contributions. “before and after” regarding the topic . In the mid-90s, when
The aim of Web 2.0, which is considered a step in the evolution laboratories everywhere were caught up in the feverish race
of the Internet, is to establish conversations. Fed by this dialog, to patent DNA gene sequences, one group of pharmaceutical
collective intelligence is oriented toward generating a new companies made the historic decision to open itself up to
consensus and a new way of managing human knowledge. cooperation. Today, thanks to this fact, there is a major open
In the words of French biologist Joel de Rosnay: “Interaction, databank containing gene sequences decoded by hundreds of
at first glance, isn’t interesting in itself. What is interesting teams of scientists.
is the use of interaction for collective creation, what I call But this was not always the case. In the mid-80s, public and
‘intercreativity’. In it, one is no longer connected to the Internet, private organizations alike were privatizing human gene
but rather, connected through the Internet: It is the brains that sequences hand over fist, so that just a few short years later,
are behind it and it is this mutual creativity that can – or not – 20% of the human genome was private property, including the
be expressed”. genes related to hepatitis C and diabetes. In 1995, the Merck
If we think about what Linux did for the software industry, it Gene Index, an alliance among private companies, government
is only natural to ask ourselves what open and collaborative agents and civil organizations, announced the creation of the
110

109. first public databank. Very soon, other pharmaceutical firms, to volunteer at school, or mow the church lawn, or help in a
like Big Pharma, did the same. As Tapscott points out, beyond political campaign”.
philanthropic motives, the companies finally figured out that From this standpoint, collective intelligence, which caters to
the business lay in selling the drugs, not the raw materials – these needs and seeks responses through responsible actions,
e.g., the DNA sequences. constitutes a daily challenge.
Be that as it may, scientists still warn that: “Crowds tend to be
wise only if individual members act responsibly and make their
own decisions. A group won’t be smart if its members imitate
one another, slavishly follow fads, or wait for someone to tell
them what to do. When a group is being intelligent, whether
it’s made up of ants or attorneys, it relies on its members to do
their own part. For those of us who sometimes wonder if it’s
really worth recycling that extra bottle to lighten our impact on
the planet, the bottom line is that our actions matter, even if we
don’t see how,” as Peter Miller wrote in National Geographic.
The world is a complex place. Bees, Linux programmers and
Wikipedia editors appear to at least provide us with a guide
after which to model our actions. As biologist Thomas Seeley
points out: “A honeybee never sees the big picture any more
than you or I do. None of us knows what society as a whole
needs, but we look around and say, oh, they need someone
111

111. We, The Media Chapter 9
Argentine blogger Julián Gallo once compared the challenges Phenomena like the drop in newspaper sales and the arrival
currently facing the communications media with the one stat- of DVR technologies that allow people to watch TV without
ed by former Coca-Cola Director Roberto Goizueta, when he having to sit through the commercial breaks are just one
asked: “What’s our market share of the [customer’s] stomach? part of the story. This chapter identifies the new languages,
Not Coca-Cola’s share of the U.S. cola market or the world contents and habits that are catching audience attention to
soft-drink market, but of all the fluids everyone in the world an ever greater degree. It also tells about actions taken by the
drinks on a given day.” traditional media to ward off the crises that these advancements
are causing them.
Seen from this standpoint, PepsiCo wasn’t the only competi-
tion. The competition was tea, juice, beer, even water.Continu-
ing along this same line of logic, the traditional media consider
their competition to be rival newspapers, radios or TV chan-
nels, without taking into account what Gallo calls “the audi-
ence’s stomach”. In other words, what percentage of the time
people have available in which to be entertained and informed
do they devote to the traditional media, and how much to the
new constellation of languages, topics, information communi-
ties and creative formats found on the Internet?
113

112. Citizen Journalists
In 2003, Ohmy News was the first example of something new That same year, the British newspaper, The Guardian, called on
that is gaining strength: citizen journalism. Since that year, its readers to send in photos taken with their cell phones of UK
this daily news medium founded in South Korea by retired election scenes. The Blair Watch Project compiled amateurs’
traditional-media newsman Oh Yeon Ho has been receiving 2 images of the then-Prime Minister and of the polls, which were
million hits per day. It is the most influential news site in that then published in an account that the newspaper opened with
country, even though it doesn’t have an editorial department, Flickr.
editors, war correspondents or prestigious columnists – just
33,000 citizen reporters that contribute their articles to it. Shortly afterward, CNN inaugurated its CNN Exchange section
The daily has also inaugurated a rating system for the most for the nascent citizen journalism. “Send us your story. Share
highly read stories on its front page, thus leaving it to the your ideas. Make your mark,” the news network proposes.
readers to edit and decide the importance of each news item. People of all ages are also producing their own news through
Furthermore, in something akin to leaving a tip in a bar or blogs or sites like Crónicas Móviles , where videos recorded
café, Ohmy News readers are provided with a way to leave with cell phones register the day’s events in the cities where
small donations when they particularly like something that they live – from protest marches by environmental activists to
they’ve read, and this device has actually led to an article’s historic snow storms.
culling as much as 30,000 dollars in a single day. But this on-
line newspaper isn’t an isolated case. Although not everyone is willing to become a citizen journalist,
what is happening is a veritable new school of aesthetics for these
In 2005, the testimonial value of photos taken of the terrorist times. The democratization of publishing tools is modifying
attack on the London Underground by ordinary people using the way in which stories get told, the way we are informed and
their cell phone cameras clearly outdistanced that of the the way we are entertained. And it is only just now that some
images taken by professional news photographers. of the signs of this are appearing on the horizon.
114

113. 115

114. From Passive Reader to
Interactive User
In referring to their publics, newspapers and magazines have York Times now has My Times, a section in which readers do
always used the term “readers”. But this term has become their own editing of the prestigious daily and can choose to see
somewhat hazy in the Web 2.0 era, when many readers are only the sections that interest them, or to give priority to their
becoming the subjects of radical changes in habit. favorite columnists. This is a move by the paper to respond
Perhaps the most interesting innovation is the use of RSS’s – to active readers who prefer to personalize their daily news
like Bloglines and Newsvine – that offer a way to give some reading.
kind of order to the chaotic information on the Web. What In April 2007, Wired magazine came out with its first
makes RSS technology important? Within the dynamic Web personalized cover: It invited its readers to publish their photos
context, RSS’s let users know when a page has been updated in the publication’s website,Wired.com, and the first 5,000 to
and thus allow them to get their information sources into do so were sent a copy of the magazine with their picture and
order in accordance with their own criteria. Within this new their location on Google Maps on its cover.
information model, it is the “reader” who ranks the news by
order of importance, be it in a major newspaper or in a friend’s The traditional model for the media was top down and inside
blog. out. Based on that logic, CNN transmits worldwide news 24
As Paul Saffo, Director of the California-based Institute for hours a day from its headquarters in Atlanta.
the Future, points out: “People no longer passively ‘consume’
media (and thus advertising, [their] main revenue source)”. Nowadays, that model is complemented by a parallel one,
generated by a variety of transmitters, creators and editors. The
It is because of this that traditional media have had to adapt boundary line between audiences and communicators is, then,
to these trends. For instance, in its on-line edition, The New becoming fuzzy.
116

115. Blogger® We’re all writers
Digg® We’re all editors
Flickr® We’re all photographers
YouTube® We’re all film-makers
User-Created Ads
In 2006, the Chevy Tahoe ad campaign tossed the marketing rule book out the window. The company decided to cede control
over advertising for the pickup truck brand by allowing 30,000 people to do their own home-grown Tahoe ads.
Not all of the resulting commercial spots detailed the most positive features of the product and some people even
published videos linking trucks to global warming or citing sex myths regarding people who buy big cars. But Chevy kept all
of the ad spots on line, even the negative ones, and the campaign was a real success: In the first four weeks alone, the site
specially created for this purpose received 630,000 hits and had a major impact on the traditional communications media.
117

116. The Magic Words:
User-Generated Content
Since the appearance of citizen journalism and other new
forms of expression, analysts have been predicting the coming
Evolution of User- of User-Generated Content. According to the 2006 Report
emerging from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 35%
Generated Content
of all users in the United States had created on-line content.
This included everything from writing a blog, publishing
a home video on the Internet, voting for content, creating
They Lead a tag or recommending a product, to actually designing
They Moderate Influential People
Influyentes services in this field.
They Collaborate The pathway leading to the creation of Internet contents may
They Create/Produce be described in four levels:
They Write Publishers/Editors
Editores 1. CONSUMERS. Read and look at contents, then they vote on
They Share them, rank them and tag them.
2. PARTICIPANTS. Set up social networks with friends and
colleagues, actively follow information and subscribe to content.
They Weave Work-Related and
3. EDITORS. Write, film or take photos and later publish these
Social Networks Participants ticipantes
They Interact materials in different spaces on the Web.
4. INFLUENTIAL FIGURES. After taking part in all of these
activities, they become content moderators or leaders. A blogger
They Comment/Vote with a large number of readers is an example of this type of person.
They Tag Consumers es In 2005, Al Gore and Joel Hyatt created Current Tv , a cable
They Read/View television channel that encourages its viewers to contribute

117. Say Cheeeeeese!
their videos. When this channel first aired – a few months Until a few years ago, photography was a hobby for some
before YouTube – the media industry had no idea that common and a profession for others. Normal everyday people limited
folks might have the talent to create entertaining videos, or that their shutterbug activities to taking snapshots of happy family
they might have the gumption to do so. But today, that channel moments: birthdays, vacations, weddings and births. With the
is a real success, as is its on-line community. arrival on the scene of digital cameras, taking pictures became,
In 2006, the Google Internet giant acquired YouTube for for some, an almost daily practice.
1.65 billion dollars. This is a site whose only economic value Flickr, one of the most popular sites today, got that way thanks
is millions of ‘home-grown’ videos, published on the Net by to a gallery of 5.5 million photos, of which 80% were made
ordinary, everyday people. This event clearly marked the rise public on the decision of site users.
to a pedestal of User-Generated Content. But YouTube is just Additionally, Flickr incorporated the earlier mentioned tagging
one of the places on the Internet where people watch videos system that allows users to find photos on a variety of subjects,
(video on demand). According to the May 2007 Video Meatriz taken by others using simple means. Contributors can also
Report put out by comScore, 75 % of all US Internet users be located on a map, a fact that allows people who were on
for a given month saw an average of 158 minutes of on-line vacation in the same place to share post card-type images.
videos, lasting an average of 90 seconds each. The big question
is, what did those videos show. The answer came when media
mega-corporations asked that their videos be removed from
YouTube. It was only then that it became clear that out of the
6,725 most popular videos on the site, only 621 (9%) were
made up of professional content protected by copyrights. In
other words, the share of professional content in YouTube is
negligible in comparison with the site’s free, amateur content.
119

118. Why Participate?
Toward a New Incentive Logic
In 1943, psychologist Abraham Maslow ranked human moti- them more deeply with the places where they live.
vations in the form that was to become known as Maslow’s • Sense-making and understanding. This involves the Web as
Pyramid. At the base he placed basic needs like food, shelter, a forum for discussion and making sense of the world among
health and safety, and at the very tip of the figure, self-esteem peers.
and self-actualization. It was his theory that human beings de- • To inform and be informed.
velop new motivations upon satisfying their basic needs. • To create.
In her book, Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies • To entertain and be entertained. There are many types of
for Successful Online Communities (Peachpit Press, 2000), Amy entertainment in Web 2.0. Paul Saffo concludes, in the article
Jo Kim used Maslow’s Pyramid to identify the objectives and we quoted earlier, that: “In the end, much of what passes for
needs behind participation on the Internet. communications actually has a high entertainment component.
The most powerful hybrid of communications and entertain-
According to Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis, authors of We ment is ‘particitainment’: entertaining communications that
Media (2003), the motivations behind audience participation connect us with some larger purpose or enterprise.”
are the following: And finally, there is Juan Freire, biologist and author of Nómada
• To gain status or build a reputation within a given community. Blogs , who talks about “the long tail of talent”, placed in
This motivation is directly linked to Web 2.0. evidence by the Pew Internet & American Life Project Report
• To create connections with others who have similar interests, published in 2006: 54% of all bloggers surveyed had never
online and off. To build relations and strengthen others published anything before, yet a total of 12 million Americans
that already exist in the physical world, forming part of a (8% of all Internet users) maintain blogs. Of all those surveyed,
phenomenon that sociologists define as “glocalization”: the 52% said that their motivation was “to creatively express
ability of the Internet to expand users’ social worlds by putting themselves.” All indications are that within the new incentives
them in touch with people in far-off places, but also connecting logic, creativity has been democratized.
120

119. Line Needs Off Line (Maslow) On Line
System Access. Capacity to
Physiological and Basic Food, Clothing, Health maintain identity while partici-
Human Needs pating in on-line communities.
Protection against crime, Protection against hackers and
Security personal attacks. The ability
war, attack. The need to live to maintain diverse levels of
in a just society. privacy.
The need to act within an
Social environment with clear rules.
Giving and receiving love.
Belonging to a community and
The need to belong to a group. its subgroups.
Self-esteem Contributing to the community
Respect for oneself. The need
to achieve the respect of others and being recognized for these
contributions.
and to contribute to society.
Self-actualization Personal development. The
need to be outstanding in the Occupying a role in the com-
activities that one takes part in. munity, developing new abilities
and finding new opportunities.
121

120. A poster illustrating the digital world marketed today
by eboy (www.hello.eboy.com/eboy/shop).

121. Toward the We Media
The We Media is:
Trend research tends to show advancement toward a new media
language – a language that is fresher, more spontaneous, less
• Cooperation
filtered.
• Collective Intelligence
But all of this is just the tip of the iceberg in a process of
change that promises to make history: the transition from
• Participation
mass media born in the 20th century to the We Media of the
new millennium. This is a new scenario in which the tools
• Personalization
have been democratized and each person can make his or her
voice heard, participating in conversations on a one-to-one
• A New Incentives Logic
basis with a newspaper editor, the CEO of a major company or
a political opinion-leader.
• New Emerging Business Models
Every day, new 2.0 applications are turning up that provide
• The Ability to Swap Roles
people with opportunities to express and empower themselves
as citizens and consumers.
• Spontaneity and Creativity
And so the power of the media is becoming a tool for
democratization.
• New Formats
• Conversations
• Community
123

122. ACTIVISM BILL_DRAYTON COLLECTIVE_INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER CONSUMPTION CYBER-ACTIVISM DIALOG
ECOLOGY ENTERPRISE_2.0 FAIR_TRADE GOOGLE HYPER-HUMANISM JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE_MANAGEMENT NET_GEN NETWORKS PARTICIPATION PAUL_HAWKEN RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBLE_CONSUMPTION SOCIAL_NETWORKS SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE_
DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY TIPPING_POINT TOOLS TRANSPARENCY VALUES VIRTUAL WEB_2.0 ACTIVISM
BILL_DRAYTON COLLECTIVE_INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER CONSUMPTION CYBER-ACTIVISM DIALOG ECOLOGY
ENTERPRISE_2.0 FAIR_TRADE GOOGLE HYPER-HUMANISM JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE
_MANAGEMENT NET_GEN NETWORKS PARTICIPATION PAUL_HAWKEN RESPONSIBILITY RESPONSIBLE
_CONSUMPTION SOCIAL_NETWORKS SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE_
DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY TIPPING_POINT TOOLS TRANSPARENCY VALUES VIRTUAL WEB_2.0
ACTIVISM BILL_DRAYTON COLLECTIVE_INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER CONSUMPTION CYBER-ACTIVISM DIALOG
ECOLOGY ENTERPRISE_ 2.0 FAIR_TRADE GOOGLE HYPER-HUMANISM JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE
KNOWLEDGE_MANAGEMENT NET_GEN NETWORKS PARTICIPATION PAUL_HAWKEN RESPONSIBILITY
RESPONSIBLE_CONSUMPTION SOCIAL_NETWORKS SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE_
DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGY TIPPING_POINT TOOLS TRANSPARENCY VALUES VIRTUAL WEB_2.0 ACTIVISM
BILL_DRAYTON COLLECTIVE_INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER CONSUMPTION CYBER-ACTIVISM DIALOG ECOLOGY
ENTERPRISE_2.0 FAIR_TRADE GOOGLE HYPER-HUMANISM JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE_
MANAGEMENT NET_GEN NETWORKS PARTICIPATION PAUL_HAWKEN RESPONSIBILITY RESPONSIBLE_
CONSUMPTION SOCIAL_NETWORKS SOCIETY STAKEHOLDERS SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABLE_DEVELOPMENT
TECHNOLOGY TIPPING_POINT TOOLS TRANSPARENCY VALUES VIRTUAL WEB_2.0 ACTIVISM BILL_DRAYTON
COLLECTIVE_INTELLIGENCE CONSUMER CONSUMPTION CYBER-ACTIVISM DIALOG ECOLOGY TRANSPARENCY
ENTERPRISE_2.0 FAIR_TRADE GOOGLE HYPER-HUMANISM JOHN_ELKINGTON KNOWLEDGE KNOWL

123. The Value Revolution

125. Consumer Power Chapter 10
In his book, Blessed Unrest, writer and environmental advocate It is within this movement – which, although it may appear
Paul Hawken explains how what he calls “the largest movement ambitious, has already been influential in bringing down
in history” came into being. This is how the author refers to governments, businesses and social leaders – that the consumer
the emergence of organizations that defend the rights of living organizations are enrolled, working to ensure that purchasing
beings – human, animal and vegetable – and, subsequently, decisions are backed up by an ethical and responsible attitude.
the environment. And he attributes very particular traits to And it is here too that we find the producers’ associations that
that movement, which he derives from comparing social and are advocating fair trade.
biological behaviors. In both cases – as well as in the cases of all the rest of the
Hawken theorizes that this movement is similar to “a organizations that Hawken analyzes – the impact of their
collection of small pieces, loosely joined, [that] forms, gathers, campaigns and their institutional growth are closely and
and dissipates quickly”. It is joined by ideas, not by ideologies, fundamentally allied with the participative communications
and it commits citizens to seeking solutions for certain needs. media, and very especially with Web 2.0, the tools of which
It expresses the collective need to democratize public policies have provided access to a source of power that multiplies by the
by changing the direction of decision-making, which, up to the day and extends far beyond geographic, sectorial and cultural
present day, is imposed “from the top down”. boundaries.
127

126. Toward Responsible
Consumption
Egged on by an economic and social system that places the true revolution of consumers who have become an unstoppable
material at the top of the value scale, for several decades now, force for change to be reckoned with has come with the advance
a certain sector of humanity has devoted its energy to non-stop of the Internet.
consuming. The figures, in this sense, speak for themselves: The aim of responsible consumer organizations is to promote
in the 20th century, the world’s 20 richest countries consumed critical awareness in society with regard to not only the system,
more natural resources than Mankind had utilized in all the but also to the social and economic impact of the products they
rest of its history. And by 2002, 15% of the world’s population acquire. With this purpose in mind, they promote a reduction
was responsible for 56% of all of the world’s consumption. in consumption levels and changes in habits, mainly connected
At the same time, and practically parallel to the spread of the with how people buy and with the level of importance that
consumerist model, a social movement was taking shape society gives to material goods. They urge their peers to question
that was built on opposite values and that promoted a kind of themselves prior to each and every purchasing decision, to ask
consumption based on a commitment to social development themselves under what social and environmental conditions
and environmental care: namely, ethical or responsible the things they are buying have been manufactured. They urge
consumerism. The origins of this movement date back to 1962 people to justify their choices on the basis of two main criteria:
and the publication of a book called Silent Spring, written by the history of the product and the conduct – ethical, social and
North American biologist Rachel Carson, who, herself, was to environmental – of the company that makes it.
die of cancer due to industrial pollution, and who was the first Therefore, the responsible consumer is one that chooses what he/
to question the notion of corporate domination and authority. she buys not only on the basis of personal taste and convenience,
It was Carson who first said that many of the companies that but also with a view to the common good. So it is that responsible
claimed to “create value” were, instead, creating “products that consumption implies a change in the general scale of values and
destroy values”. Be that as it may, all indications are that the in the priorities imposed by a dominant model.
128

127. When it Comes to Buying
In the view of Greenpeace, responsible consumers
are ones who:
• Regulate their consumption on the basis of
human values.
• Make aware purchasing decisions, asking themselves
where the products they acquire come from and where
they will end up.
• Know about self-gratification but also about self-limitation.
• Seek not only to satisfy their own needs, but also to show solidarity toward producers.
• Try for their consumption to contribute to preserving natural resources
so that future generations can also enjoy them.
• Are aware that buying is a political act with a human significance .
The concept of responsible consumption encompasses three dimensions:
ethics, because each purchasing decision is based on values; ecology, be-
cause the final decision must be in line with the three R’s (reduce, reuse and
recycle), and solidarity, because it also implies evaluating the labor condi-
tions under which the product was manufactured, as well as the impact of
making it on society.

128. On-Line Ethical
Consumer Communities
Day by day, the number of consumer organizations operating organisation.org/ethical-company-organisation.htm
on the Web is growing at a truly surprising rate. The same Operating out of its headquarters in the United Kingdom, this
is true of the numerous sites and blogs offering information organization provides information on hundreds of companies
on sustainable products and companies from every region and brands to help consumers choose wisely the products
on earth. Through their websites, responsible consumer they buy and know where to acquire them. Each product or
communities provide detailed information on companies and company is evaluated on the basis of 15 ethical indicators
products, and promote a variety of educational, informative surrounding the social and environmental conditions under
and participative campaigns aimed at getting consumers, which the products are manufactured.
business people and government officials alike to pledge their • Consumo Responsable - www.consumoresponsable.com/
responsibility to the consumer movement. portada.htm
The chief mission of this Spanish organization is to create
Among the best known of these organizations are the critical awareness regarding the neo-liberal consumption
following: system and to raise the level of consumer and governmental
• Co-op America - www.coopamerica.org interest in the promotion and practice of more ethical, fair and
Founded in the United States in 1982, the aim of this not for solidarity-conscious consumerism.
profit association is to mobilize consumers and economic agents There are also a number of websites devoted entirely to
in pursuit of a more socially and environmentally fair society. recommending sustainable products and to making known the
By 2007, the organization had more than 65,000 individual places where this type of items can be acquired, such as: www.
members and 2,500 associated companies. Consumers can find responsibleconsumer.net and www.newamericandream.org,
information on the sustainability performances of hundreds of two initiatives born of the blockbuster Green Consumer Guide,
companies worldwide on the association’s website. published by John Elkington in 1988, which today has a space
• Ethical Company Organisation (ECO) - www.ethical-company- of its own on the Internet: www.greenconsumerguide.com.
130

129. Clean Clothes...Clean Businesses!
On July 17, 2007, after several years of effort, Spain’s Campaña Ropa
Limpia (Clean Clothes Campaign - CCC) managed to get the sha-
reholders of Inditex – an industrial group that is a worldwide lea-
der in the manufacturing and distribution of clothing and owner of
brand names like Zara and Massimo Dutti – to approve a new code
of conduct that includes such fair trade principles as guaranteeing
workers a proper wage.
The Clean Clothes Campaign was an outgrowth of a demonstration
organized in front of major department stores in The Netherlands
in 1989, to denounce worker exploitation in sweatshops in the Philippine Islands, where this same trademark was ma-
nufacturing its clothing. The protest initiative sparked broad-ranging repercussions worldwide and gathered strength
until it became an international crusade dubbed the Clean Clothes Campaign. Today the CCC exists in 11 countries
across Europe through coalitions of NGOs and labor unions that work independently in each country to improve
labor conditions in the textile industry. They focus on gathering signatures for petitions, organizing demonstrations
and generating communications media campaigns, as a means of mobilizing consumers and getting them to use
their power to demand that companies employ fair trade practices.
131

130. The Fair Trade Movement
The origin of fair trade dates back to the 1950s, when a group not alone, since hundreds of free trade-oriented organizations
of importers and certain retailers in the Northern Hemisphere exist today. Among the best known are: the International
decided to create a non-profit association with small producers Federation for Alternative Trade (IFAT) , the Network of
in the South to help them fight against low prices and European Worldshops (NEWS) , and the European Fair Trade
middlemen that hindered their access to world markets. Association (EFTA) .
The free trade movement operates fundamentally on
The fair trade concept grew in popularity at the end of the three fronts: commercialization (the organization of trade
1990s and new organizations began to emerge throughout cooperatives and trade networks among producer countries in
Europe and the United States. The Fairtrade Labeling the developing world), dissemination and pressure (the drafting
Organizations International (FLO) was born in 1997, as a of legislative initiatives and public awareness campaigns), and
vehicle for consolidating and arranging these initiatives in a responsible consumption (educating consumers about how
more workable order, while redefining Free Trade Guarantee products marketed are manufactured).
standards.
In 2002, the FLO launched its International Fairtrade
Since then, this movement’s aim has been to achieve greater Certification Mark, with the aim of generating more widespread
equity in international trade through dialog, transparency consensus and so as to stimulate the adhesion of business
and respect, guaranteeing equitable relations between major people everywhere to fair trade practices. So far, a score of
developed markets and low-income producers. But the FLO is organizations have adopted the seal.
132

131. The Fair Trade Seal
The Fair Trade Seal guarantees that producers have received reasonable com-
pensation and that workers have received fair pay; that working conditions
have not violated human rights or labor laws; that producers do no employ
forced or child labor; that there is labor union freedom and that there is no
discrimination; that community investments (education, health, housing) are
made, and that producers have been selected and treated with care, so as to
achieve high quality results.
Fair trade certification is currently applied to a broad spectrum of products
including coffee, rice, tea, fresh and dried fruits, vegetables, cacao, cotton,
honey, sugar, wine, herbs and spices, among others.
133

132. The New Consumer
Over the course of the 1990s, in line with the growth of the
participative media and the responsible consumer and free
trade movements, a new type of customer began to emerge, the
most distinctive trait of whom was an awareness of the impact
of his/her actions on the environment and society.
A minority within the world population began to gather at
the front doors of companies and say, “Enough! Down with
pollution, down with destruction, down with slave labor, child
exploitation, pauper’s wages, unfair rules and productive
models that are non-sustainable in the long term.”
Satellites, camcorders, blogs, Web 2.0 and cell phones all
served to facilitate communications among these different
groups and to the chagrined surprise of companies, different
forms of interaction came into play and consumers grabbed
control like never before, organizing themselves into a variety
of movements.
134

133. Participation and Complaint Sites
• www.www.dotherightthing.com
Ryan Mickle and Rod Ebrahimi founded this site in 2006, as a forum for the publication of news and user com-
ments regarding a variety of brands and companies. Taking these comments into account, the site sorts firms
into a ranking that includes five social performance ratings: 1- Great Company, 2- Good Company, 3- Not so
Good, 4- Less than Good Company, and 5- Worst Company.
• www.climatecounts.org
This is a not for profit organization that seeks to bring consumers and companies together in the struggle
against climate change. It was founded by Stonyfield Farm Inc., a leading organic yoghurt-maker, in cooperation
with Clean Air-Cool Planet, a not for profit association that carries out research on and promotes solutions for
global warming. By the end of 2007, the Climate Counts site was providing users with profiles of 56 companies
worldwide and information on their actions with regard to the changing climate.
• www.knowmore.org/default.php
This is a not for profit association created by Bernard Dolan and Sage Francis, whose mission is to make a critical
and impartial examination of all aspects of companies on the market. Their goal is to create the world’s largest
free, reliable and independent database, carrying information to allow consumers to gain a deeper knowledge of
the history, values and actions of every company and, on the basis of this knowledge, to make more aware and
positive decisions as to the purchases they make. The site has a wiki format and all content is provided by users.
Points given in rating the companies, however, are only granted by site moderators, although these ratings can
be refuted by Web-surfers.
135

134. Green Marketing
Getting the attention of this brand new and growing market development. In other words, in order for the consumer to be
segment, known to many as the “green consumer”, is one of able to believe in the company’s good intentions, the company
the main challenges facing the communications departments itself must first believe in its own good intentions.
of concerned companies today. In searching and developing A report called “A Greenprint for Companies”, made public in
the resources and tools to attract this coveted group, business 2007 by Enterprise IG, a communications agency that forms
has generated, little by little, a new type of marketing: “green part of the WPP Group, proposes four key requirements that all
marketing”. companies must comply with if they want their sustainability
Whenever green marketing is mentioned, people tend to policies and their business dealings to meet with success:
associate it only with ecology. But in point of fact, this concept 1. Ensure that “sustainable” policies and action plans are at the
also includes other aspects related to companies’ production heart of the company’s business. Those who move soonest will
conditions, their social impact in the communities where they gain the greatest competitive advantage.
operate and their values. 2. Find compelling ways to promote these aspects of the way
One of the main problems that green marketing must confront the company operates as a business. This should become an
is consumer skepticism. Not infrequently – and sometimes with increasingly important part of the company’s marketing and
just cause – consumers tend to be suspicious of the intentions promotional strategy.
of and announcements made by companies, seeing their 3. Be rigorous about ensuring that what the company claims is
strategies as having the ulterior motive of “greenwashing” true. No greenwash! Those who aren’t will be found out, and it
their images. will be worse for their business than if they had done nothing
Specialists say that if a company wants to avoid being accused at all.
of greenwashing and wishes to make its green marketing truly 4. Know that sustainability is about finding solutions that
effective, it is of vital importance that every area of the firm are both environmentally and economically sound and also
adopt a philosophy and an active attitude in favor of sustainable about the rediscovery of the social contribution businesses can
136

135. make . These requirements could be summarized as meaning
that companies should be coherent, ethical and transparent.
Because they are not only facing consumers who are now
immune to traditional advertising, but also consumers who are
well informed and ever more discerning and responsible.
What is unquestionable is the fact that, whether based on
conviction or on simple business strategy, more companies
every day are deciding to implement this new type of marketing.
Campaigns like General Electric’s Ecomagination , Philips’s
Green Logo , and General Motors’s Live green, go yellow , are
just a few examples of this trend.
In 2006, Judy Hu, worldwide Executive Director of Advertising
and Branding at General Electric told Brandweek Magazine:
“Green is green, as in the color of money (…) It is about a
business opportunity, and we believe we can increase our
revenue behind these Ecomagination products and services”.
According to the Ethical Consumers Report 2006, responsible consumer sales generated greater earnings in the
UK in 2005 than cigarette and alcohol sales did. The study also shows that over the last six years, Britain’s green
industry has tripled and continues to grow at a rate of over 10% a year.
137

137. Welcome to Chapter 11
Enterprise 2.0
In the North American spring of 2006, Harvard Business collaboration and simplifies the exchange of information
School Professor Andrew McAfee published an article called among those working in a given company and with networks
Enterprise 2.0: The Dawn of Emergent Collaboration in the Sloan formed by suppliers, clients and other stakeholders.
Management Review . In it, he defined the “Enterprise 2.0 ”
paradigm that would soon pass from the academic world As McAfee points out, these Web 2.0 tools are producing a
to public knowledge, being quickly disseminated in the radical change within corporations, since they tend to channel
blogosphere. collective intelligence and have an impact on innovation,
productivity and flexibility in doing business.
According to McAfee’s definition, Enterprise 2.0 is the
implementation of the attributes and characteristics of Web The main objective of a 2.0 business is to generate spa-
2.0 in business. It represents a new way of working within ces in which people can realize their personal projects on
corporations, by which new technologies and business a collective basis: a distributive network that encourages
practices permit workers to surpass the limits imposed by the new relations without being bound by centralized decision-
communications tools offered by the earlier model. Within this making and in which those on the periphery are just as im-
new paradigm, there lies an enormous competitive edge for portant as those in the middle.
companies that make use of social software, which facilitates
139

138. S.L.A.T.E.S.
McAfee supplements and, at the same time, explains his definition by means of the acronym SLATES,
which describes the functionalities that define an enterprise within the context of Web 2.0:
Search
People seek and find what they need for their job activity by searching the contents of corporate
Intranets. Finding what you are looking for is a key feature of this new kind of enterprise.
Links
The way to search is from one resource to another – from one link to another.
Authoring
Everyone can produce and generate traffic surrounding these contents, as long as what they come
up with is useful to others.
Tag
The experience of those using the information systems is enriched through tagging. It is not
machines, but users, who tag the contents in accordance with their own criteria.
Extensions
The recommendation system is a road to advancement in searching. If one member of a community
finds value in a content and this content, in turn, recommends the reading or searching of another,
it is probable that users will also be interested in the latter, since networks are one of the ways in
which knowledge is organized.
Signals
RSS technologies send signals to indicate that the contents that are of interest to the user have been
modified.
140

139. Communications:
Old and New Technologies
Despite the fact that any user can create and generate new contents communicated to be generated on a shared basis
contents, e-mail and MSN don’t permit the information that (collective creations) within the same working environment.
circulates to be seen by all members of the team. By nature, Web 2.0, meanwhile, proposes a new meaning for community,
these applications, which McAfee calls “channels”, do not in which everything is known and shared immediately,
permit information management nor do they guarantee transparently and effectively.
universal access.
Intranets and Extranets, for their part, are internal Enterprise 2.0, then, emerges as a response to the rigidity
communications spaces, with providers, clients and other of current collaboration platforms. Be that as it may, not
stakeholders , and are generally administrated by a small everything is about technology. What is important is to use
group that decides which information to publish and to whom technological tools to generate an internal, receptive and
to divulge it. McAfee calls these spaces “platforms”. participative culture within the company, one that permits
The channels and platforms do not allow all of the members free and voluntary development of collective intelligence. The
of the team to gain access to the information (accessibility). trick, in other words, is to turn working environments into
Nor do they make it possible for the information to circulate comfortable and efficient places that provide for the circulation
transparently (visibility). Similarly, they do not permit the of ideas and proper knowledge management.
COMMUNICATIONS 1.0 COMMUNICATIONS 2.0
Channels and Platforms Accessibility, Visibility, Collective Creation
e-Mail, MSN Social Software, Twitter
De-Centralized Networks Distributive Networks
141

140. From Enterprise 1.0
to Enterprise 2.0
Despite its coinciding with both current times and times but also a change of course in the way communications and
to come, Enterprise 2.0 is still far from consolidating itself business are done. In the words of Marshall McLuhan, one of
as the dominant paradigm for corporate communications the world’s greatest communications theorists: “The medium,
technology management. It still has to deal with a 1.0 culture or process, of our time… is reshaping and restructuring patterns
that precedes it and that remains entrenched in its rigid style of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal
and its stultifying bureaucracy. life...Everything is changing: you, your family, your education,
The differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 – explained in your neighborhood, your job, your government, your relation
earlier chapters – do not only represent technological changes, to ‘the others’. And they’re changing dramatically”.
Enterprise 1.0 Enterprise 2.0
Vertical Hierarchies Horizontal Organization
Bureaucracy Agility
Scant Flexibility High Flexibility
Protection of Knowledge Transparency
Technologies managed by User-Managed Technologies
technical departments:
Users have no control
Executive Level Down Operative Level Up
Structured Information Systems Emergent Information Systems
Centralized Distributive
142

141. Evolving from Web 2.0
to Enterprise 2.0
Transferring the concepts of Web 2.0 to business implies becomes nothing more than the means to do it.
proposing the enterprise as a platform and assuming “Markets are conversations,” says the first thesis of The
collaboration as an end in itself and as a necessary condition Cluetrain Manifesto, and in its tenth thesis, it adds: “As a
for such a business to operate. The aim, then, must be result, markets are getting smarter, more informed, more
promoting rendezvous points and establishing networks in organized. Participation in a networked market changes people
which the top priority is cooperation and sharing, as well as fundamentally”.
agile information management based on the interaction of Enterprise 2.0 promises, then, to be a flexible venue, a
independent individuals. collaborative platform that is both transparent and simple. It
Within this new format of enterprises built to satisfy the will be a meeting place in which relations can be established
need for interaction among people, those who begrudge from the bottom up.
information, contacts, data, etc., are considered “poorer”
than others, while those who best display their “know-how”
are the most attractive members of the net. This is because
in Enterprise 2.0 value is linked to quality and quantity of
connections among members, above and beyond any relations
that the organization itself has.
So it is that, within the context of the globalized world, those
who enter the ranks of Enterprise 2.0 must be capable of
handling the tools that allow them to expand their contacts.
Although at first glance this may appear complicated,
the equation is really quite simple: If the members of an
organization feel the need to communicate, the technology
143

142. How to be a 2.0 Enterprise
There are certain changes that are indispensable when it comes to thinking and acting
under the tenets of this new paradigm and advancing toward the 2.0 model.
• Effective Mass Participation Models: Openness
In a multi-connected world, there is no longer any sense in “safeguarding and hiding” knowledge.
You have to open up to the community, become transparent and visible to everyone, while adopting
the language of sharing, in order to become part of a worldwide network full of potential partners and
consumers.
• Friendly and Simple Technology: Simplicity
Communications technologies and social software act as triggers in the generation of ideas and
interaction. That is why it is important for their use to be accessible and for them not to require any great
level of expertise or preparation. Furthermore, the tools and how they function should be the same for
all levels of hierarchy, so as to promote a participative model that is horizontal and less bureaucratic.
• A Dignified Framework for Relations among Members: Bonds
In order to build an enterprise based on shared knowledge and dialog, power must no longer be
uni-directional and relations among its members must be free-flowing. That is because Enterprise 2.0
signifies, above all, taking an ethical stance and its potential depends on people as individuals.
• Valuing Knowledge and Participation: Dynamism
Job promotion models based only on seniority or on other rigid formalities must be considered
obsolete. Explicit recognition must be reserved for those who demonstrate their motivation for learning
and participation. Everyone in the organization must be provided with the chance to present proposals
and be furnished with the material opportunities to bring those that prove positive to fruition.
To this end, technology must function solely as a facilitating medium.
144

143. Technology for All
IBM donated enormous quantities of software codes and set up
teams to collaborate in the development of the Apache server and
the Linux operating system, both of which are free, open-source
tools. Not having to develop its own operating system allowed
the company to chalk up savings of a billion dollars a year.
Sun Microsystems in 2006 announced the disclosure of the
codes for its famous Java platform. Director of Technology Tim
Bray explained the move in the book, Wikinomics, saying: “Just
as it’s true that a rising tide lifts all boats, we genuinely believe
that radical sharing is a win-win for everyone. Expanding mar-
kets create new opportunities”.
Mozilla Corp is a firm that puts Enterprise 2.0 principles into
practice: For every paid staff member, it has hundreds of unpaid
contributors connected via the Internet, whose only incentive is
to be able to include the experience in their resumes. The cor-
poration’s Chairman, Mitchell Baker, revealed in his blog that
somewhere between 30% and 40% of Firefox 2 was created by
people who were not on the firm’s staff . In this same blog, the
company posts ads seeking new contributors, and the page has
a section in which the company shares information about corpo-
rate management with the community as a whole.
145

144. Transparency and
the Dell Hell
Don Tapscott investigates changes introduced through the 3- Sharing
computing revolution. As of 2007, he had published 11 books, 4- Acting Globally
investigated 200 companies and interviewed 9,000 people A clear example along these lines is the computer company
around the world, with the aim of understanding and then Dell, which, thanks to a decision to open up and change
explaining the workings of this new form of economy – which to the 2.0 model, managed to literally walk out of hell.
he dubs “Wikinomics”– and the Enterprise 2.0 phenomenon. Jeff Jarvis, the number 70 blogger in terms of popularity out
Tapscott’s theories point to a relentless movement toward of 70 million blogs that are out there on the Web, had a series
transparency, as a result of growing demand from those with of problems with a Dell computer back in 2005, and since the
an interest in business and in swift technological change, company’s technical service division failed to provide him with
particularly as deployed via the Internet, aimed at making it the solutions he needed, he published a posting in his blog
easier for organizations to disclose information and harder for under the title “Dell Hell”, in which he told the story of his
them to keep secrets. frustrating experience with the firm. Following publication
Tapscott says that greater transparency will generate greater of this posting from hell, Dell’s sales suffered a noticeable
corporate accountability and, thus, better corporate behavior. reduction, and the company naturally rushed to solve Jarvis’s
Therefore, he suggests, rather than resisting this trend, problem, swapping his defective computer for a brand new
companies should be adopting transparency and re-thinking one in record time. But the wake-up call that the “Dell Hell”
their values. Tapscott metaphorically says it all when he quips: fiasco signified for the company made Dell, from that point
“If you’re going to be naked, you’d better be buff.” on, start to pay strict attention to the social and participative
The author sums up what Wikinomics is all about in four media, actively monitoring blogs, contacting clients when they
points: reported problems of any kind, and taking into account both
1- Being Open. the positive and negative opinions of bloggers and participants
2- Peering in on-line forums.
146

145. As a result of this experience, Dell also launched IdeaStorm,
a site to which users can send their ideas regarding how to
improve the company’s products and services and vote for the
best ideas presented. The firm’s Chairman, Michael Dell, is the
creator of this space, the aim of which is to cooperate with Dell
clients by giving them a voice in the direction the company will
take in the future. By opening up, Dell not only managed to
walk out of hell, but also to change its image, by starting to
develop a line of products that responds directly to concrete
consumer demands.
147

147. Google: 2.0 + Sustainability
Google currently tops Fortune Magazine’s list of the Accountability, transparency, a good working environment
best companies to work for in the United States . The and proper wages, among other considerations, are just
distinction is the result not only of staff pay levels, but also some of the traits shared by Enterprise 2.0 and the firms that
of additional benefits offered to employees and the great operate under Triple Bottom Line (TBL) logic, which seeks to
working environment generated by its flexible structure. create environmental, social and economic value. Therefore,
Google’s organization demonstrates the essential traits Enterprise 2.0 must necessarily take the road of sustainability
of Enterprise 2.0, and as such, a growing commitment to and sustainable enterprises must orient their operations
environmental care. toward the 2.0 model.
In June 2007, Google Inc. presented its “strategy for helping
build a clean energy future ”. The plan foresees elimination
of all carbon dioxide emissions from the company in 2008,
increased energy savings and promotion of innovative
environmental measures.
Google is also promoting a series of projects linked to
sustainable development, such as the creation of electrical
hybrid automobiles, the purchasing of bicycles for its workers,
the granting of a 5,000-dollar bonus for any employee who
buys a alternative-energy car and the use of bio-diesel buses
to transport the more than 1,500 people who daily go to
work at the firm’s offices in Mountain View, California.
149

148. Enterprise 2.0, Net Gen
and Collective Intelligence
• In 2006, some 120,000 people worldwide joined a project
called Boeing World Design Team , an Internet forum that
encouraged participation during the company’s development
of its new Boeing 787 aircraft. The activities included
conversations with the Boeing design team and extensive
discussions regarding the preferences of the participants with
regard to air travel and passenger planes. In the words of the
company, “a group of flyers and aviation enthusiasts from
across the world eager to share in the excitement of creating the
passenger-friendly airplane of the future”. Those who built the
technical excellence of the 787 know no national boundaries.
• While Pepsi and Coca-Cola are still keeping their soft drink formulas under
lock and key, other companies decided to make theirs public. The wikiHow.com
site, for instance, makes available a recipe for OpenCola , an open-source
beverage that invites users to modify its ingredients in order to create a new
and better product.
150

149. More and more, companies are opening up their innovation departments to a worldwide community, which actively
responds. More specifically, they are opening up to a digital generation accustomed to dialog and collaboration, people
who are willing to form part of a virtual talent network.
• The LEGO firm, with its LEGO Factory , allows children
and adults alike to design models (downloading free,
easy-to-use software) and participate in competitions for a
variety of prizes. Last year, the prize was 5% of the rights on
each model sold through the site.
• Novartis is a pharmaceuticals firm that applies Wiki economy principles exactly
as defined by Tapscott. After investing millions of dollars researching the cause
of type 2 genetic diabetes, the company published all of its knowledge on the
subject on the Internet. In making this decision, Novartis hopes that the worldwide
scientific community will cooperate in accelerating the research process through
participative investigation.
151

151. When the World Chapter 12
Began to Understand
In 1992, a group of scientific professionals known as the Union is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global
of Concerned Scientists (UCS) published a manifesto calling home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated”, they
attention to the state of the planet Earth. More than 1,700 of the said, in terms that were as grave as they were pressing.
finest minds from around the world — including 104 Nobel
Prize-winners — signed the document. Its text warned: “If This warning by the scientists wasn’t heeded. And it wasn’t
not checked, many of our current practices put at serious risk the first.
the future that we wish for human society and the plant and As mentioned in earlier chapters of this book, already two decades
animal kingdoms, and may so alter the living world that it will before the scientists’ manifesto, the report called The Limits of
be unable to sustain life in the manner that we know”. Growth (Meadows and others, 1972) had warned of the earth’s
incapacity to respond to the predicted pace of consumption. In
The manifesto urged governments, businesses and the world 1987, the Brundtland Report , put out by the United Nations
population to initiate a radical and urgent change in how the World Commission for Environment and Development,
earth’s resources were managed, saying that this was the only advocated some form of sustainable development.
alternative if the damage already in evidence was to be reverted.
“A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it Once again, Mankind failed to heed the call.
153

152. Crisis in the Third Millennium
The same year that the scientists issued their warning, certain
business people weighed in on the sustainability issue at the
Earth Summit (Rio de Janeiro, 1992). Almost simultaneously,
the communications revolution was giving birth to the
participative media and to citizens’ organizations possessed by
the “blessed unrest” of defending the rights of all living things.
Little by little, and driven by the relentless communicative
power of the Internet, humanity began to react, no longer to the
early wake-up calls, but to the inexorable turn of events.
Be that as it may, the Third Millennium had to arrive before
awareness of the global emergency would acquire universal
dimensions.
The Internet explosion, globalization and anti-globalization,
the Social Forum and the advance of NGOs, the Indian Ocean
tsunami, hurricane Katrina on the southern coast of the United
States, droughts and flooding, the ever-expanding statistical
gap between developing and emerging nations, any and all
of these causes that came to the fore between the end of 2006
and the beginning of 2007 were sufficient reason for Mankind
to finally take stock of the global disaster facing the planet.
One straw too many finally broke the camel’s back.
And the world was suddenly tinted green.
154

153. Critical Condemnation
in 35 mm Film
An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary film analyzing the issues (directed by Edward Zwick and released in 2006) — films
surrounding global warming, premiered in October 2006. In this that took on such pressing issues as inequality, persecution
film, former US Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize-winner of human rights activists and the horror of child abuse.
Al Gore examines the scientific evidence regarding climate All of these movies received noteworthy prizes – including
change and arrives at the conclusion that “if the vast majority several Oscars – as well as the applause of the mass public.
of the world’s scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert
a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet into a
tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods,
droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we
have ever experienced.”
The film had a great impact worldwide and bolstered the
credibility of accusations from a variety of quarters that had
fed other documentaries like The Corporation, a creation of
Canadian directors Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbot that came
out in 2003 and analyzed the pathological behavior of major
business groups, and Bowling for Columbine (2002), a searing
critique of the US arms culture, by American film director
Michael Moore.
Fictional feature films also rode the crest of this new wave. In a
few short years, such premieres included The Constant Gardener
(Fernando Meirelles, 2005), Babel (a 2006 picture by Mexican
film director Alejandro González Iñárritu) and Blood Diamond
155

154. We’re All Environmentalists
In the face of governments’ failure to respond to the demands of Hannah is, furthermore, a staunch activist, who has carried the
citizens and NGOs regarding the issues surrounding the climate pros and cons of the bio-diesel debate to more than 10 million
change emergency, unlimited resource consumption and people worldwide, and generates weekly film shorts providing
situations of extreme poverty, several international celebrities information or protests on environmental issues through her
decided to head up campaigns to save the planet. own video blog, “Daryl Hannah Love Life ”.
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is one of the most active stars in the Paltrow and her husband, Chris Martin, who is the leader of the
struggle to preserve the environment. He has been running musical group, Coldplay, are also noted fair trade activists.
his own foundation since 1998, is a member of the Board of Unfurling slogans like “Stop CO2” and encouraged by the
Global Green USA and has been the producer and author of a actions of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger —who managed
number of ecological shorts and documentaries, such as Water to push through a law providing that California must reduce
Planet and The 11th Hour. The actor has also opened an Internet its greenhouse gas emissions by 25% before 2020— a number
forum where visitors are invited to propose advice on caring for of celebrities are now backing the green cause. Among them
the planet, under the motto “we can all be environmentalists”. are Julia Roberts, Susan Sarandon, George Clooney, Penelope
Cruz, Forest Whitaker, Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst, who
Cameron Díaz and Gwyneth Paltrow, for their part, lend their demonstrate their support by traveling in eco-hybrid cars.
lovely faces to the Act Green organization. They also participat-
ed in the institutional video put out by the Environmental Media There are those, too, who participate in campaigns like Oxfam,
Association (EMA) , an organization that, since 1989, has been an organization that lends its cooperation to more than 500
mobilizing the entertainment industry in an effort to promote development programs, is active in emergencies, promotes fair
environmental education. The list of award-winning stars who trade and fosters social mobilization. Its member list includes
have lent their fame to the cause includes Pierce Brosnan, Daryl such stars as Gael García Bernal, U2’s Bono, Antonio Banderas
Hannah, Alanis Morissette, Edward Norton and John Travolta. and Scarlett Johansson.
156

155. One of the true high points of this sort of activism was Live
Earth , a concert held in 2007 to spark worldwide awareness
regarding the dangers of global warming. The event, broadcast
live to more than 2 billion viewers around the world, took place
on seven continents and brought together more than a hundred
musicians. It was simultaneously telecast from such cities as
Johannesburg, London, Sydney and Shanghai, and included
performances by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Maná, Black Eyed
Peas, Snoop Dogg, Lenny Kravitz, Bon Jovi, Shakira, Roger Media that “Scan” and Replicate
Waters and Madonna, among many others. Before and after
the different performances — emceed by Alec Baldwin, Kevin The traditional communications media couldn’t help
Bacon and other committed show business personalities — a but echo this veritable “green revolution” that burst
campaign called SOS, Save Our Lives, was developed, including onto the public scene between the end of 2006 and the
short documentary films and public interest announcements beginning of 2007.
on radio and TV. In April 2007, The New York Times Magazine published
an 11-page article entitled “The Power of Green”, in which
Thomas L. Friedman analyzed the geopolitical changes
that new sustainable values were producing worldwide.
Just a month later, Vanity Fair Magazine carried its
second annual Green Issue7, the cover of which was
specially illustrated with a photo of actor Leonardo
DiCaprio posing on a frigid landscape in Iceland.
157

156. The Advance of a Cultural
Change
As the UCS and a number of different reports have long since • The predominance of being over appearing to be, which
warned, substantial environmental damage is currently being facilitates choice.
done that will have an inevitable effect on present life forms. In • Authentic respect for oneself and transparency toward
the words of US evolutionary biologist Elisabet Sahtouris: “… those who surround one.
We not only pollute and destroy our vital ecosystems, including • An open attitude, as evidenced in relationships that facilitate
the air we breathe and the water we drink, but we also let 25,000 community participation and a sense of belonging.
children die of hunger and easily preventable disease every single • Creativity and innovation as predominant traits, both on
day (that is, 175,000 a week; over 9 million every year) without the job and off.
even considering this important information!”. • Access to new technologies, which contribute speed and
Both the damages caused by climate change and dwindling effectiveness, within the framework of a bottom-up logic.
resources, and those resulting from the unfair distribution
of wealth that hinders a dignified lifestyle for many, are the Enterprise 2.0, which has culled many of its values from the
consequences of Man’s actions. Therefore, in order to put Net Gen and channels them into the corporate environment,
a stop to these damages, a new global paradigm is required. provides new responses to the rigidity of old collaborative
While such a paradigm involves, especially, human productive platforms and applies technological tools to generate a receptive
activities, it clearly goes beyond these, since it further implies and participative internal culture in the company.
modification of behavioral patterns that include everything
from consumption to leisure activities. Nevertheless, its most outstanding contribution to new values
The Net Gen is making an essential contribution to the values has focused mainly on the circulation of ideas and knowledge
demanded by this new paradigm, since among the members management, as these relate to the principle of collaboration
of this generation, there is already a consensus regarding the and the sharing and generating of collective intelligence on a
following premises: worldwide scale.
158

157. Old paradigm values New paradigm values
Present Future
Human Being Life
Irresponsible Production and Consumption Environmental, Economic and Social Accountability
Exchange Interaction
Corporativism Association
Welfare State Welfare Society
Economic Growth Sustainable Human Development
Exclusion Equality
Appearances Authenticity
Secrets Transparency
Individualism Participation
Competition Collaboration
Old Technologies Web 2.0
Top-Down Logic Bottom-Up Logic
Individual Knowledge Collective Intelligence
Local Scope Global Scope
159

159. Epilog: The 2.0 Era Is Born
How do you put together a jigsaw puzzle when you don’t know when he goes on to suggest that, as a first step toward this,
what the final design will look like? By seeking and finding the “vivid images of sustainable futures must be painted”. Eve-
pieces that form the outer edges first. ryone needs to work together to create the final draft of our
In this book, we’ve established an outer framework, laying out common future.
some pieces without knowing what the final image will look This is a vision in progress. And all indications are that,
like, but having an idea that the figure that starts to take shape, within the next half-decade, the world is going to be a radically
following three years of research, is that of inexorable change. different place. The trends we have described in this book are
These outer borders indicate that the sustainability tipping the troubled waters that will generate the waves of substantial
point has arrived, that everything that was considered of vital change to come.
importance 15 years ago has now, additionally, become urgent. The first of these waves is the worldwide associative revolution
And thus, the jigsaw pieces that are accumulating within “the largest movement in history”: the rise of millions
the framework and that remain mixed up and seemingly of organized citizens, who, based on new development
disconnected, all have, nonetheless, a common denominator: technologies and new communications media, work and
their urgency. cooperate among themselves to find solutions to the most
There is no longer any time or resources available to humanity urgent problems facing them.
to allow it to keep on indulging in irresponsible conduct with The second wave is the one that companies like Natura,
regard to the planet and, indeed, to its own species. But just Patagonia, Wal Mart and Home Depot are riding, companies
as in the case of a real jigsaw puzzle, the global transforma- that have sealed a new kind of social pact with their customers,
tion requires organization and planning. So says Thomas N. founded on the values of sustainable development. And this is
Gladwin when he states that “large-scale organizational trans- a commitment that must not be underestimated, since once
formation toward sustainability is a long-term and multi-level expressed, it places the company, its products, its strategy and
challenge, entailing a range of reinforcing roles and tasks” and its profitability under the critical eye of investors, competitors
161

160. and consumers alike, who will all question and analyze every shape, a new global awareness aimed at placing the inter-
move they make, thus clearing the way for a whole new ests of life and the species above those of the individual.
production and consumer logic. Along with these waves, these driving forces behind new prac-
Playing a decisive role in strengthening these waves on whose tices and values, a new capitalism is being born: conscious
crest ride citizens and consumers —the protagonists of that capitalism.
“vivid image” of a sustainable future suggested by Gladwin— In the midst of this urgency, amid these troubled waters,
are the tools of Web 2.0, which allow any person anywhere humanity is finally understanding. And as Bill Drayton says,
to film, photograph or write about a business or a public “Every time we are about to make a decision, we should think
institution and publish that information on the Web. of the people around us and ask ourselves if that decision is
Blogs, social networks and free publication platforms like going to cause a problem for any of those people. If that’s the
YouTube are transparent and collaborative and are the ones case, change it or don’t do it”.
used by consumers and citizens alike to regulate the action The building of this new world is already underway. The
of companies and governments. It is here where information new generation of youngsters, the Net Gen, has entered the
circulates regarding forms of production and the social and scene. This is a generation that was born immersed in a digital
environmental impact of the products on which purchasing world, accustomed to taking action on reality, changing it to
decisions are later made. And here too is where information respond to their own tastes and interests. It is a generation
is disseminated about government action, and on the basis of that not only imagines a new model, but also knows how to
which votes will later be cast. bring it into practice. What will happen in, say, ten years, when
The value revolution is up and running and the vehi- these youngsters are in decisive positions in enterprises and
cle for its advancement and its fundamental tool is Web civil society organizations, reorganizing them under their
2.0. Out of the signals issuing from enterprises and com- new logic? What will happen when, rising from their role as
mon citizens via the net, a new cosmovision is taking consumers, they exert power over the markets?
162

161. The questions multiply like the signals that point to a him around the fire: “In every life, there is a terrible fight, a
transformation toward Sustainability 2.0. Adapting no longer fight between two wolves. One is all evil, fear, rage, envy, greed,
signifies a mere corporate decision: Now, what it means to arrogance, self-pity, resentment and deceit. The other is all good,
companies is their possibility for surviving in the future. happiness, serenity, humility, trust, generosity, truth, gentleness
Change, then, is no longer an option. It is a need. and compassion.”
And change implies redefining corporate culture and After a long silence, one of the children asked: “But Grandpa,
readapting productive processes, bearing in mind their social which of the wolves will win?”
and environmental impact, while taking into account, too, their The Cherokee elder looked at the child and said: “Whichever one
economic results and the values imposed by the Net Gen. you feed”.
In order to achieve change, organizations must retool for
operation in the world of Web 2.0, since this is the scenario
in which enterprises can interact with their consumers and
stakeholders alike, in an honest, open and transparent way.
Such are the pieces of the puzzle that, driven by the coming of
the new media, are beginning to occupy the space inside the
framework laid out on the table.
This is a time of change for humanity.
It is a time for decisions.
And as always, destiny is in our hands.
The native peoples of North America told a story that couldn’t
be better to summarize the magnitude of this new challenge:
A Cherokee elder told his grandchildren who were gathered with
163

163. Business Case Studies
Appendix 1
Pioneer Companies
When they first emerged, sustainable business practices
were led by a handful of pioneer companies. They acted
in the face of the social and environmental emergency
and driven by the new role of consumers. Generally
speaking, these companies were —and still are in many
cases— managed by “visionaries” or individuals who
were “ahead of their time”. These were business people
who were aware of what was happening before anybody
else saw the signs of change. And even at the risk of
being considered eccentric, they turned deaf ears on
criticism and forged ahead to realize their vision.

164. Starbucks
A nice working environment and good long-term profitability Based on these principles, Starbucks promotes numerous
are the values emphasized by Starbucks Coffee Company, the actions and a variety of different programs related to sustainable
largest chain of coffee shops in the world , with 7,521 self- development.
owned stores and 5,647 franchises in 39 countries, 140,000 But its pioneering role is embodied in its mission to ensure
employees and annual billings in2006 of nearly 7.77 billion dollars. that those who grow and harvest the coffee it serves do their
work under conditions of dignity and respect for labor laws.
Founded in Seattle, Washington, in 1971, Starbucks is a For this purpose, Starbucks has formulated what it calls the
pioneer enterprise in the social responsibility practices that it C.A.F.E. (Coffee and Farmer Equity) Practices, a series of
has applied from the very start, in a rigorous set of commercial standards that involves coffee growing and processing
policy principles based on six main standards: and compliance with which guarantees a sustainable supply
1. Provide a great work environment and treat each other with of the highest quality coffee.
respect and dignity. The C.A.F.E. Practices are directly related to Triple Bottom
2. Embrace diversity as an essential component in the way we Line policies, since, among other rules, they include the
do business. following obligations:
3. Apply the highest standards of excellence to the purchasing,
roasting and fresh delivery of our coffee.
4. Develop enthusiastically satisfied customers all of the time.
5. Contribute positively to our communities and our
environment.
6.Recognize that profitability is essential
to our future success.

165. • To promote economic responsibility (by paying fair prices to
farmers and suppliers).
• To assume social responsibility (by ensuring safe, fair and
human working conditions and by complying with proper
wage and workday guidelines).
• To protect the environment (by controlling waste, protecting
quality, conserving water, making efficient use of energy,
preserving biodiversity and reducing agrochemical substances).
In order to obtain C.A.F.E. Certification, suppliers must submit
to an independent audit to evaluate to what extent they comply
with the requirements.
In 2006, more than 50% of all of the coffee the Starbucks
chain purchased (about 70,000 tons of it) came from C.A.F.E.
-certified suppliers.
The company’s goal is to get a greater number of suppliers each
year to comply with these good practice standards, which has
led the firm to carry out a variety of promotional and training
activities in the different coffee-growing regions of the world.
167

166. 168

167. The Whole Foods
Market
“A virtuous circle entwining the food chain, human beings and panels to generate renewable energy . The company’s stores
Mother Earth”: That’s how The Whole Foods Market defines promote the use of cleaning products with reduced toxicity
its business policy. The company is the largest chain of natural levels and returnable containers, and the firm has a reduced-
and organic food shops in the United States. Founded in 1980 waste program consisting of giving customers five cents for
as a little natural products store in Austin, Texas, by 2007, it every plastic bag they return. The firm also donates 5% of its
had grown into a chain of 196 stores distributed throughout earnings to philanthropic causes and provides backing to a
the United States and Britain. Considered one of the world’s variety of environmentalist organizations.
fastest-growing self-service stores, its earnings are expected to
rise to 10 billion dollars by 2010. The Whole Foods Market’s vision embodies a change of values
that is totally aligned with the tenets of sustainable enterprise,
Company spokespeople say that the three concepts that define since its products are oriented toward customers who value
the firm’s policy —food chain, humanity and planet— creativity, diversity and freedom of choice and it works with
are linked in a close and delicate symbiosis that makes them responsible suppliers that make use of processes and materials
interdependent. It is for this reason that, from the outset, the that do not undermine the broad spectrum of the individual
company has applied a careful selection process for all of the and planetary eco-system.
products it sells, maintaining a strong commitment to sustain-
able farming and small organic food producers. The self-service chain has also shown itself to be in the vanguard
in terms of communications. It has six blogs on the Web, one
Currently, 100% of The Whole Foods Market’s energy needs of which —The CEO’s Blog — is published and managed by
are covered via the purchasing of wind power credits, and five John Mackey, company CEO, who personally responds to ques-
of its stores in California and New Jersey make use of solar tions and comments from customers and the general public.
169

168. Patagonia
Patagonia Inc. was founded in Ventura, California, in 1972. that made use of non-renewable raw materials with organic
Since then, it has garnered worldwide recognition for its cotton: Since 1996, this is the only type of cloth used in its
corporate care policies in defense of the environment and for clothing line. But it was also the first to use a type of polyester
the creation of a sustainable business model. made from recycled soft drink bottles in its clothing produc-
tion process.
Devoted to the design and production of outdoor clothing and
outfitting (mountaineering, camping, skiing, snowboarding, The company is a co-founder of an alliance called 1% For the
surfing, fishing and trekking gear), the firm markets products Planet12, whose members donate 1% of their sales to environ-
through free-standing shops and on-line catalogs. Its 2006 mentalist groups worldwide. Since 1985, when this initiative
sales amounted to nearly 270 million dollars. began, Patagonia has given away more than 25 million dollars
to ecological organizations.
Patagonia’s mission statement is: “Make the best product,
cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and Furthermore, as part of its own environmental campaign, the
implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” Through company gives one dollar more per day to any employee that
its foundation, the company has demonstrated conduct that uses an alternative means of transport to get to work.
is clearly aligned with this mission and has thus never been All waste products like glass, plastic and paper generated by
the target of accusations or campaigns by consumers or civil the company are recycled for reuse. The firm’s restrooms have
society organizations. a low-consumption water system, its lighting is 100% wind-
powered, and all electrical appliances are consumption-efficient.
Patagonia was the first retail textile company to replace cloth Additionally, for the past several years Patagonia has been
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169. taking part in a campaign to protect marine fauna and to halt
pollution of ocean waters.
The company’s labor policy promotes the development of a
pleasant working environment. Patagonia offers its employees
extra benefits, such as eight weeks of paid maternity and
paternity leave, complete medical insurance coverage, and
two-month exchange programs, with pay, for those who wish to
work in non-profit environmentalist organizations. In addition,
the company’s corporate headquarters organizes monthly
management and staff forums in order to provide a venue in
which to air opinions, proposals and demands regarding the
firm’s operations. Thanks to these attributes, in 2006, Patagonia
was ranked 15th among top employers, by the Great Place to
Work Institute of the United States.
Patagonia disseminates information about its operations and
actions through its website at www.patagonia.com and through
its advertising campaigns. It also has its own blog , where
company employees and customers can leave their comments
and upload items of interest.
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170. Natura
By the dawn of the third millennium, the Natura cosmetics personal hygiene and perfumes, with a catalog of more than
firm of Brazil was already taking shape as an emerging new 600 products, a list of 5,000 collaborators and a veritable army
paradigm model for business. As of its creation in 1969, the of 617,000 consultants distributed throughout Brazil, Argentina,
company sought to create value, not only for its shareholders, Chile, Peru, Mexico and France.
but also for its consultants — more than 500,000 of them According to the firm’s last published annual report, it had
throughout the country — while protecting the environment. earnings in 2006 of over 8.3 billion dollars, up 19.9% over 2005
figures.
In 1974, its owners adopted a direct sales format, creating a Like most cosmetics firms, Natura has been called into question
team of consultants in charge of putting together their own by a variety of organizations for making use of animal testing
client portfolios and reselling the company’s products to them. for its products. As a result, as of 1997, company management
Natura’s sales strategy proved highly successful and, as of 1994, decided to reduce the use of this type of testing and since 2000,
permitted it to expand to other countries. In 2000, the company the firm has been investing three million dollars a year to study
made hefty investments in infrastructure and training, which alternative methods.
allowed them to build Espacio Natura, a major center for
cosmetics production, logistics, research and development. Since its creation, Natura has been highly committed to
These investments also permitted the firm to launch its Ekos sustainable development, embodying a corporate accountability
line, consisting of products including active ingredients from model in line with environmental care and social responsibility.
Brazil’s bio-diversity and obtained by sustainable means. Natura says that its business management style is founded on
two basic pillars:
Today Natura leads the field in Latin America in cosmetics, 1. Ethical and transparent relationships with its stakeholders
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171. (collaborators, suppliers, communities, consultants, consumers,
governments, shareholders and society).
2.Business goals that are compatible with sustainable
development.
Natura has such a long history of sustainable practices that it
has long since become a model for many young companies.
In the 1980s, it was the first Brazilian cosmetics company to
promote the use of product refills, making use of containers
that were more environmentally friendly. Since 1995, it
has been running a program in association with the Abrinq
Foundation called “Creer Para Ver” (Believe It to See It), the
aim of which is to finance programs that contribute to improv-
ing public school education.
In 2006, the company managed to lower its water consumption
by 7% and its power consumption by 1% per unit sold. In 2008,
it plans to eliminate the greenhouse gas emissions generated by Life is a
its installations, so as to render the firm “carbon neutral”. Natura chain of
publicizes its actions through its website at www.natura.net and relationships.
through advertising campaigns in the major mass media.
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172. Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s is the famed ice cream maker that was the en- dollars a year for the development of minority businesses
terprise of two friends that shared a certain sort of hippie and another 5 million dollars annually to be distributed in
mystique: namely, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfi eld. The employee bonuses.
company that they founded with a 12,000-dollar investment
in a converted service station in Burlington, Vermont, in Be that as it may, once the company had been acquired by
1978, today has more than 580 franchise stores worldwide. Unilever, it began to be questioned by many consumers for
selling out the ideals it had preached as of its origin.
In April 2000, the German-origin multinational giant Unilever The fact is that by mid-2007, the only really concrete criticism
— with interests in food, beverages, beauty and personal hy- the company had received in this sense was for layoffs among
giene products and annual sales of 46 billion euros — bought its workers.
Ben & Jerry’s and turned it into one of the group’s subsidiaries.
According to the last financial report that Ben & Jerry’s pub- In 1998, Ben & Jerry’s drafted a mission statement built on
lished, corresponding to the year Unilever bought it, its an- three premises:
nual profits were already in excess of 237 million dollars. 1. Product Mission: To make, distribute and sell the finest
quality all natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with
Starting in 1985, Cohen and Greenfield donated 7.5% of a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome,
their yearly pre-tax profits to the Ben & Jerry Foundation, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that
for distribution among worthy philanthropic causes. One respect the Earth and the Environment.
of the pre-conditions for sale of the firm to Unilever was 2. Social Mission: To operate the company in a way that
that the multinational would continue to donate the same actively recognizes the central role that business plays in
percentage of profits to charitable causes, plus 5 million society by initiating innovative ways to improve the quality
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173. of life locally, nationally and internationally.
3. Economic Mission: To operate the Company on a sustainable
financial basis of profitable growth, increasing value for its
stakeholders and expanding opportunities for development
and career growth for its employees.
Ben & Jerry’s also formulated an environmental care
commitment, implementing four programs encompassing
the use of paper and packaging made of recyclable materials,
energy savings, application of sustainable farming principles,
and waste reduction and recycling.
The company additionally participated in the HIER initiative
for Climate-Neutral Products, developed by a consortium
of 38 Dutch NGOs, and including the WWF, Greenpeace,
Friends of the Earth and the International Red Cross.
Ben & Jerry’s history, mission and product information and
company news are communicated to the public through the
firm’s website at www.benjerry.com.
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175. Appendix 2
Companies that Changed
In these first years of the new millennium, many companies
have produced genuine transformations in their ways of
doing business. They have understood that, within the
framework of the new paradigm, reorientation of their
mission, direction and commitment is a priority, in keeping
with the demands of a human race that urgently wants and
needs to be sustainable. These firms —at times due to
decisions by their CEOs, shareholders or management, at
others, as a result of reports or demands that have forced
action to be taken— have ended up assuming the fact that
in a global world and in the era of participative media, the
consumer has the last word and it is no use trying to ignore it.

176. Toyota
A company that has made and continues to make major changes mixes with the air to produce electric current to drive an electric
is Toyota Motors, one of the three largest car manufacturers motor.
in the world, according to the Fortune Global 500 ranking for In 2005, the Prius was named Car of the Year in Europe by a
2006 , and the eighth largest company on the face of the earth. jury of expert journalists from 22 countries. According to the
publication Consumer Reports, it was also the “green” car most
First founded in 1933, the Japanese firm started making the often chosen in the United States in 2006, and the one preferred
first mass produced hybrid automobile in 1997: the Toyota by such environmentally committed celebrities as Leonardo
Prius, which features a mixed electric and gasoline-powered DiCaprio.
system that is computer operated. When the driver is stopped
at a traffic signal or is stuck in heavy traffic, the gasoline motor The hybrid line’s success really shows in Toyota’s finances: In
shuts down automatically to save fuel and reduce pollution. April 2007, the company reported an 11.7% increase in sales,
driven by record figures for hybrid vehicle sales . In May 2007
When the car needs to move, the electric motor kicks in and the firm sold more than 24,000 Prius model units, a 185%
the gasoline engine only starts up when the driver requires increase on the same month in 2006, placing the company at
greater acceleration. the top of the automotive industry ranking.
Currently, Toyota is working on developing fuel cell automo- Toyota also provides economic support to NGOs, schools and
biles. Fuel cells are a series of membranes in which hydrogen universities, for the development of community programs.
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177. 179

178. General Electric
General Electric (GE) is gleaning major benefits from its documentary showing the consequences of secret experiments
investments in sustainability. The company recently reported and toxic nuclear waste-handling carried out by the company
a 12 billion-dollar profit on sales of new products with a high for 21 years in Hanford, Washington. The picture featured in-
component of ecological value and efficiency, launched in May terviews with former GE employees and townspeople and dis-
2005 as part of its Ecomagination program, which promotes the cussed the birth defects and health problems that people in
development of alternative energy and more environmentally the area had suffered. The impact of the movie —which won
friendly technologies. an Oscar in 1992 for Best Short Documentary Film— under-
scored government-linked corruption and fraud scandals that
But in the case of this multinational, with industrial plants in questioned GE’s participation in arms production and its de-
over a hundred countries and 316,000 employees worldwide, signs for nuclear plants in different areas of the world.
the change toward cleaner production processes was born to Finally, in 2001, the US Environmental Protection Agency
a large extent of lawsuits and complaints regarding environ- (EPA), sanctioned GE for dumping PCB —a highly toxic
mental pollution that were undermining GE’s reputation and organic compound —ordering the company to provide
its finances. several areas in the Hudson River Basin with drinking
water . And as of 2007, GE has been forced to pay out nearly
In 1991, GE came under fire with the release in the United 500 million dollars in compensation to users and former
States of film-maker Debra Chasnoff’s “Deadly Deception: employees who suffered the effects of pollution derived from
General Electric, Nuclear Weapons and Our Environment”, a the asbestos used to insulate turbines built by the firm.
180

179. It was in response to these issues that GE was obliged to adapt
to the new rules implied by sustainability, in order to ensure
its own survival. And so it was that, in 2004, the company
launched Ecomagination, a program by which GE made four
major commitments for the years to come:
1- To increase the amount it invests in research and
development programs to find reduced pollution technologies
to 1.5 billion dollars (from 900 million in 2006).
2- To increase sustainable product sales, with a view to their
reaching 20 billion dollars in 2010.
3- To achieve a 1% reduction in total worldwide greenhouse
gas emissions by 2012 and to reduce their intensity by 30%
as of 2008.
4- To attain 30% improvement in energy efficiency by the
end of 2012.
In order to keep the public informed of its progress in complying
with the commitments it has assumed, GE maintains a
website devoted entirely to its sustainability program .
181

180. DuPont
This is another highly publicized case of a company that faced only paid the fine, but also put up 6.25 million dollars more to
major legal action for polluting the environment. DuPont is a finance environmental projects.
US-based multinational that is recognized for its development
of such materials as nylon, neoprene, Teflon, Lycra, Vespel, In recent decades, DuPont has demonstrated an intense
Kevlar and cellophane, among others. It has operations in more commitment to environmental sustainability, by developing
than 70 countries, 60,000 employees worldwide and earnings bio-materials as alternatives to petroleum by-products and by
of 27.4 billion dollars in 2006 . economically supporting more sustainable production options,
like polymers manufactured on the basis of corn starch, a project
In 2005, a group of consulting scientists for the US Environ- that is already providing the company with good results .
mental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that one of the
chemicals used in Teflon, perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA or C8) Each year, DuPont earmarks about 500 million dollars for
was a cancer-causing agent. When residents in an area sur- environmental projects, and has set certain goals, among
rounding a DuPont production plant heard the results of the which are the following:
scientific testing and found out that their water supply had been • To reach zero-level for injuries, occupational illnesses
polluted with PFOA dumped by the company, they decided to and environmental accidents.
bring suit against the firm . The company denied that there • To achieve zero-level for waste and pollution
was any direct connection between Teflon and cancer, and to emissions.
demonstrate their point, they carried out a study among their • To constantly improve production processes and
employees. The results of the study failed to provide conclusive practices.
evidence that PFOA was a carcinogen. But the court decided • To accept accountability and provide a response
to fine DuPont 10.25 million dollars anyway, for having kept through the commitment of company leaders and
its PFOA specifications secret for 20 years. The company not employees alike.
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181. Home Depot
Home Depot, the largest sales chain for construction materials environmentalist organizations —which consider the criteria
and home improvement items in the United States, was one that the company applies entirely too broad— these
of the first companies to heed the claims of environmentalists products have expanded the list of 2,500 environmentally
that demonstrated in front of their places of business, and friendly products that the company was already offering in
called on its suppliers —especially of furniture and other items its 2,100 commercial outlets in the United States, Canada,
made of wood— to employ sustainability models in their use of Mexico and China.
raw materials and production processes. Within the framework of its social insertion campaign, the
firm has also created The Home Depot Foundation, an
In 2006, Home Depot took this strategy a step further, sending organization through which it carries out actions aimed at
a note to its suppliers of 176,000 products, inviting them to helping create a community that is more committed to caring
incorporate their articles into the chain store’s Eco Options for the earth.
campaign, the aim of which was to green-sticker all products Despite its apparently excellent reputation, until very recently
on sale in its stores that presented one or more of the following this wasn’t enough to keep Home Depot from being the
traits: sustainable in terms of woodland management, energy object of accusations and lawsuits by former employees
efficient, passes clean air standards, efficient in terms of water charging racial and gender discrimination against minorities
conservation. and women. In this case, the demand for change toward
sustainability came from the shareholders, who, alarmed by
In response to the Home Depot proposal, more than 60,000 such accusations, in 2006 called on Home Depot to provide
products —in addition to the obvious ones, like organic detailed information identifying employees by gender,
gardening products or energy-saving light bulbs— swiftly ethnicity and job descriptions, so as to be able to rectify any
developed sustainable profiles. Although debated by certain discrimination detected.
183

182. Interface
Interface Inc. is one of the main carpet-making chains in the The deadline was finally set for 2020. Nevertheless, the
world, with daily production reaching 450,000 kg of carpeting benefits of the change, initiated in 1995, have gained strength
and synthetic materials and 2006 sales of nearly 1.08 billion throughout the company ever since. In statements to the media,
dollars. Founded in 1973 in LaGrange, Georgia, USA, and Anderson has said that, at present, Interface has advanced by
currently headquartered in Atlanta, the firm has more than 7,300 about 45% from where they were to where they want to be.
employees, at 26 factories and offices, in nearly 100 countries.
Founder and Chairman Ray C. Anderson has said in interviews In the company’s 2006 Sustainability Report , management
that when he founded the company back in the ‘70s, he wasn’t says that in the last ten years, the firm managed to reduce waste
worried about the environment, but limited his action to by 70%, energy consumption by 45% and water use in its fac-
complying with standards imposed by the government in order tories and offices by 80%. In that same period, it increased its
to keep out of trouble. It was only in 1994, as a consequence of renewable energy use by 16% and increased from 0.5% to 20%
complaints by environmental organizations, that he decided to its use of recyclable, biodegradable materials in the composi-
seriously look into the impact his company was having on the tion of its products. Sales, for their part, have gone up by 49%.
environment and ordered his engineers to do a study.
The alarm that the results of the study set off in him and his In 2006 , Interface kicked off its Mission Zero campaign,
reading of Paul Hawken’s bestseller, The Ecology of Commerce, which foresees elimination by 2020 of any negative impact of
were the two factors that most influenced his decision to make the company on the environment. With a view to this goal, the
radical changes in how he did business. He challenged his company is promoting action on seven fronts:
collaborators to set a time frame in which to turn Interface into 1-The total elimination of waste in all areas of business.
a “restored company”. 2- Benign emissions to replace toxic substances from products,
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183. vehicles and installations.
3- Renewable energy for the operation of 100% of the company’s
factories and installations.
4- Closed circuit processes that make use of recovered and
biodegradable materials.
5- Efficient transport of personnel and products so as to prevent
waste and toxic emissions.
6- Generation of awareness in the shareholders and creation of
a culture aimed at improving the quality of life of employees,
their community and their surroundings.
7- Redesigning of the company’s way of doing business and
adoption of a new business model that promotes sustainable
development values.
Interface publishes news of its actions on its website at www.
interfacesustainability.com. Its sustainability programs have
saved the company over 336 million dollars since 1995. Its
strategy has become so successful that, in 2006, the firm
created a consulting division to market its methods among
other companies.
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184. Nike
Nike is a multinational firm dealing in clothing, footwear and Nike into the eye of the storm with publication of her book
sporting goods. It is the most important company of its kind in entitled No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies, in which she
the world. Founded in the United States in 1968, it currently analyzed the impact of major corporations on world society.
controls 50% of the sports shoe market in that country. Based And in 2004, the Canadian film documentary The Corporation,
in Beaverton, Oregon, the firm employs more than 26,000 co-directed by Jennifer Abbott, Mark Achbar and Joel Bakan,
people and is present in at least 16 countries. In 2006, Nike actually showed internal Nike documents revealing the
reported record billings of over 14.95 billion dollars. cost/benefit ratio of a piece of clothing manufactured in the
Dominican Republic. Bottom line: an item that sold to the
In the 1990s, the Nike trademark began to be linked to labor public for 60 dollars only provided the worker that made it with
exploitation. In 1993, the firm was severely criticized for the use eight cents in pay.
of child labor in some of the factories that it owns or has under
contract in various countries in Asia and Latin America. The A number of NGOs (Global Exchange and Nologo.org among
accusations became much harsher and wider-spread in 1997 them) have also lodged successive and repeated complaints
with the release of the critical film, The Big One, by director against NIKE, and even today, some, like Oxfam Australia ,
Michael Moore, in which Nike figured as one of the major continue to act as watchdogs on the sports clothing industry to
US-based multinationals that were using slave labor to make make sure that it respects labor rights.
their products. The huge repercussions that the film wrought
caused Nike CEO Phil Knight to announce in 1998 that, as of The damage caused by all of this was not merely to Nike’s
that moment, the company was banning the contracting of image. When the scandal about the conditions under which
anyone under 18 years of age. its products were made first broke in 1993, Nike’s shares
Three years later, Canadian writer Naomi Klein again shoved tumbled by more than 50 % . And the firm obviously felt
186

185. the impact, since it decided to take action and since 2000, it
has implemented a series of social responsibility programs.
Thanks to these, it has managed to start sparking a recovery
in its share price.
At present, Nike has a program in place called Innovate for a
Better World, which pursues the following basic goals:
1- To improve conditions in contracted factories: Nike inspects
these shops periodically and, based on the results, decides
whether or not to renew its contracts. Furthermore, for the
first time ever, it has published the tools employed to audit
contractors on a website at www.nikeresponsibility.com.
2- To design a better world: The company has undertaken
actions aimed at eliminating PVC and the use of volatile
chemicals. Additionally, it has begun to make use of organic
cotton and of rubber with a lower level of toxic components.
The goal is for all of its products to contain at least 5% organic
cotton by 2010 — an amount that would represent 25% of the
entire world production of organic cotton.
3- To be climate neutral: The firm announced that by 2011, all
of the factories it owns will be climate neutral.
4- To free human potential through sports.
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186. Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the world’s largest retail corporation. After displaying products of this sort in its stores for years, in
It has 6,500 commercial establishments, nearly 2 million 2005, the company made a corporate-wide decision to accept
employees and in 2006, its total sales came to more than 315.42 the challenge of also incorporating them into items under its
billion dollars, producing earnings of over 11.23 billion dollars. own brand name. As a trial experience, it placed 190,000 yoga
outfits made using organic cotton on sale in its stores. Every
For years, the company has come under fire worldwide one of the outfits was sold within ten weeks. Bearing in mind
for its labor policies. On the Internet, there are numerous the positive response of its customers, the retailer decided to
webpages and blogs like www.wakeupwalmart.com and www. extend the test to bath linen, bedclothes and baby clothes. As
waltmartwatch.com, where employees and ex-employees of the a result, today Wal-Mart is the world’s largest buyer of organic
chain alike take the retailer to task, usually for non-compliance cotton and is developing plans to encourage its customers to
with labor laws, low pay and lack of proper medical insurance. demand more environmentally friendly products.
Wal-Mart is also accused of unfair competition, due to the fact
that its low prices and business policies have spelled the closure In February 2006, under the leadership of CEO Lee Scott, Wal-
of small and medium-size stores in many locations where it has Mart launched its Sustainability 360 plan. This plan includes
set up shop. This was the subject of a film documentary called an annual investment of approximately 500 million dollars on
Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price , released in November innovation and technology, with the aim being to achieve the
2005. But running counter to this reputation, the company has following objectives:
also garnered recognition for its efforts to reduce energy use, • To reduce the greenhouse gas emissions at the company’s
to lower pollution and to promote the use of renewable raw establishments worldwide by 20%, within a period of no
materials. more than seven years.
Wal-Mart has also been a pioneer in marketing organic products. • To design and open more efficient stores that emit a 30%
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187. lower level of greenhouse gases within a period of no more
than four years.
• To reduce by 25% the company’s solid waste substances
within the next three years.
• To improve Wal-Mart brand product packaging within the
next two years.
• To increase the number of environmentally friendly
products in the stock of the entire chain by 20% within a
three-year period.
According to monitoring carried out by the Nielsen consulting
agency (BuzzMetrics Sustainability Monitor ), Wal-Mart is
the most highly mentioned company in blog commentaries
where the word “sustainability” appears. This only goes to
show that even a company as large and highly questioned
as Wal-Mart can go a long way toward turning around its
strategy and demonstrating more responsible behavior
without renouncing its money-earning goals. Through these
actions, Wal-Mart is educating millions of consumers and
suppliers, while generating a substantial change throughout
its entire value chain.
189

189. Appendix 3
Sustainable Companies
1- Long-term vision Depending on which of the different international consulting
2- Respect for the diversity of Man and Nature groups you ask — SustainAbility, Acre-Resources or ABC —
3- Eco-efficiency in processes and products the defining principles of sustainability number over 50. But
4- Transparency in management the ten that head this appendix are repeated on almost every
5- Participation in social construction list, since, given their importance and scope, they summarize
6- Cooperation with other business and civil organizations the essence of the Triple Bottom Line.
7- Participation in multi-plural, multi-cultural, Since the end of the 20th century and the beginning of
multi-sectorial networks the 21st, the world has witnessed the emergence of a new
8- Respect for human and labor rights generation of companies, conceived and founded in perfect
9- Education and learning for workers and the community harmony with the principles of sustainable enterprise.
10- Inclusion, equity and equality in access They provide the best examples to explain what it means to
to opportunities produce within the framework of the new paradigm.

190. Nau
Long-term vision, respect for the diversity of Man and Nature,
and participation in social construction are key values in the
organizational culture of Nau , an apparel firm founded in
2005 by a small group of upper-level executives from Patagonia
and Nike that decided to quit their jobs and develop a project
of their own.
Trained at companies that played a major role in changing the
industry, it was only natural for these partners to line up with
the values of the new paradigm. From the outset, they made
clear their belief that it was as important for companies to take
responsibility for producing positive social and environmental
changes as it was for them to turn a profit.
In keeping with this philosophy, in producing the clothing alleviating environmental problems.
that Nau makes, they use only renewable natural fibers and Company CEO, Chris Van Dyke, goes much further in
synthetics derived from recycled plastic. And the company explaining the firm’s mission, saying that Nau challenges
focuses its strongest marketing strategy on Internet sales, not the very nature of capitalism and “represents a new form
only as a means of cutting costs as compared with traditional of activism: entrepreneurial activism”. In backing up this
sales methods, but also because it implies major savings in the statement, he says that it is tied to a belief shared by all of the
consumption of energy and non-renewable resources. The founding partners of Nau: “We believed every single operational
company additionally donates 5% of its profits — estimated element in our business was an opportunity to turn traditional
at 11 million dollars for 2007 — to non-profit organizations business notions inside out, integrating environmental, social,
engaged in programs supporting humanitarian causes or and economic factors”.
192

191. Grameen Telecom
Respect for human and labor rights, cooperation with other Since the program began, community telephones have been
business and civil organizations, defense of inclusion and installed in 40,000 villages, allowing some 50 million peasant
equity and participation in networks are the central points that farmers to be in communication with other parts of the country
best define the project of Iqbal Quadir, a young businessman and the world. The phones are used, among other things, to
who grew up in rural Bangladesh. exchange health information and product prices.
Convinced that “connectivity is productivity”, Iqbal proved “The program is not only socially beneficial, but has also turned
himself early on to be anxious to assume the new challenges that out to be profitable, and has produced increased economic
the sustainability paradigm represented for the entrepreneurs activity in Bangladesh, stimulating trade and creating new
of his generation. In 1997, eagerness to demonstrate leadership sources of income,” says Quadir. He adds that: “The economic
drove him to seek a solution for the telecommunications impact is also important for the person who manages the
problem in his country, where citizens were relegated to the telephone service. Rural operators are usually women, who,
waiting list for more than ten years before they could obtain thanks to their work, can contribute about another 25% to the
a telephone, for which they had to pay 450 dollars, one of the income of their homes.”
highest costs in the world.
Combining the latest in wireless digital technology with the
experience of the Grameen Bank in granting micro-loans to
impoverished people, Quadir created Grameen Telecom and
launched a program called Village Phone, with the aim of
providing increased access to telecommunications for low-
income populations in non-urban areas, via mobile telephone
terminals managed by rural operators — preferably women.
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192. Guayakí
The distinguishing value traits at Guayakí include eco-
efficiency, management transparency, and education and
learning for workers and the community. This company,
founded by Argentine Alex Pryor and Californian David Karr,
grows and processes organic yerba mate (a green tea that is a
traditional beverage in several Southern Cone countries) and
manufactures by-products.
The project dates back to their college days at Cal Poly (California
Polytechnic State University), when mate-drinker Alex imbued
his friend David and other schoolmates with an acquired taste
for this green herbal tea (traditionally drunk from a mate gourd
through a metal strainer straw called a bombilla), where Alex
had gone to get his degree in nutrition sciences.
On observing the degree of acceptance that the drink — as
popular in his country as it was exotic elsewhere — Alex took
a long look at three equally significant facts: the growing value
being assigned to the beneficial natural properties of this green
herbal tea, criticism about the destruction of the rainforests
that are the tea’s natural habitat, and repudiation for the harsh
conditions in which the inhabitants of the rainforest areas live.
Based on these observations, Pryor and his friend David Karr
began to plan the start-up for an organic yerba mate-producing
194

193. Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay — home to the Aché Guayakí
(Gwy-uh-KEE) people and a place where the yerba mate grows.
The company, which was finally launched in 1996, takes
its name from this native people. In the beginning, the two
partners worked from dawn to dusk every day, centralizing
their operations in a trailer that Alex set up on the site of the
first organic plantation. Over time, they were joined by friends
and family members, giving birth to a joint enterprise involving
new partners and collaborators.
By 2007, Guayakí was marketing yerba in teabags and as a
packaged drink, as well as selling the traditional mate gourds,
bombillas and other accessories.
All of the yerba used in their products is produced in a very
special way: grown in the shade of the trees of the native forest,
without carrying out any unnecessary land clearing, just as
these plants were traditionally cultivated by native tribes.
company. The idea would be for a company that cultivated the Their workers belong to the Aché Guayakí nation of Paraguay.
crop on plantations where the jungle was not cleared, using Besides offering this indigenous people good jobs with decent
no chemicals and, at the same time, promoting sustainable pay, the company has signed an agreement with Margarita,
forestry use and the welfare of native communities living in chief of the Aché tribe, and they are now working together on
the production area. This area would be located in the sub- a reforestation project aimed at giving the community back a
tropical forests found in the contiguous border areas between sustainable forest habitat.
195

194. American Apparel
American Apparel operates out of Los Angeles, where its to slave labor. And it looks like they like us...” Currently,
industrial plant cuts and sews all of the natural cotton clothing American Apparel has more than 130 stores worldwide, with
that the firm makes. From the outset, the firm decided that it nearly 4,500 employees in the United States alone. In 2005,
would distance itself entirely from the “sweatshop” mentality company earnings came to over 250 million dollars.
of the trade. So it is that, contrary to the trend in much of the
textile industry in the United States, in which textile firms In its webpage, Charney states: “We’re not going to exploit
contract shops in foreign countries where they can get the the poor or make things here or there because it’s cheaper.
cheapest possible labor, this company decided to offer its We’re going to make sure the business model is sustainable.”
workers good working conditions, much better than average This is why the company has taken action to eliminate labor
pay, medical benefits, paid lunches and vacation, free English exploitation, while committing to environmental care, by
classes and travel expenses. developing sustainable products and practices.
Against all predictions by the traditional industry, American
Apparel’s strategy has provided excellent results: Today it is One of the company’s main initiatives is its line of clothing
considered one of the ten fastest-growing companies in the US made of organic cotton, which is available in all of its stores.
textile industry. Between 2000 and 2004, its sales increased by The firm indicates that its long-term plan is to gradually
900%, in contrast with the 40% and 76% growth registered by continue to integrate organic cotton into its production line
its closest competitors (The Gap and H&M respectively). until every American Apparel product contains a certain
Dov Charney, founder and, since 1997, CEO, explains the percentage of this fiber.
trademark’s success as a response to market preference: “The Other areas on which the company is focusing its actions
goal is to make clothing people like without having to resort include: waste reduction, efficient water and power use,
196

195. utilization of renewable energy and research into more
sustainable materials for the firm’s products and services.
Under the leadership of the company’s flamboyant CEO Dov
Charney, American Apparel develops its ad campaigns around
a young and provocative aesthetic with a high level of social
content. Another hallmark of the firm’s promotional strategy is
advertisements that make use of ordinary people off the street
instead of professional agency models. Many of its ads are
made using company employees. Even Charney himself has
appeared in several of them.
American Apparel has been criticized in conservative sectors
for frequently using images in its campaigns that show
people in underwear or semi-nude in poses or situations
with sexual overtones.
American Apparel makes use of its website at www.ameri-
canapparelorganics.com to disseminate its environmental
care actions and to detail the company’s general philosophy
and campaigns.
197

196. Seventh Generation
Seventh Generation is a leader in the manufacturing of Everything that Seventh Generation manufactures is made
sustainable home cleaning products. Based in Burlington, using non-toxic and environmentally innocuous materials.
Vermont, its activities include the design and formulation of Far from undermining its earnings, the company’s use of
its own products, as well as supplier supervision, transport, non-polluting raw materials is responsible for its exponential
marketing and consumer education. growth: From 2001 to 2005, its profitability increased by more
than 140%, while its share price value rose 300%. With a staff
The name of the company is derived from a message put out of just over 50 employees, the company’s 2005 sales came to
by members of the Gayaneshakgowa Tribe during a meeting 100 million dollars.
of the Confederation of Six Iroquois Nations, a meeting of
Native Americans in the United States, that stated: “In each of Seventh Generation was conceived as a sustainable enterprise
our daily deliberations, we should consider the impact of our from start to finish. It is strongly committed to community and
decisions on the next seven generations.” environmental responsibility and is oriented toward producing
a positive change in society.
With this vision in mind, the company has created 100%
recycled paper towels, napkins and hankies; biodegradable, The company’s mission statement says: “We create household
non-toxic and phosphate-free detergents and cleaners; garbage and personal care products that are effective and safe for the
bags made of 65% to 100% recycled plastic; chlorine-free air, the surfaces, the fabrics, the pets, and the people within
diapers and 100% organic cotton tampons. your living home”.
198

197. The last corporate responsibility report put out by the company
(2005) indicated that Seventh Generation had attained major
improvements both in its products and in its packaging
systems.
The company communicates its actions to the public via its
website at www.seventhgeneration.com and through its blog,
where consumers can publish their comments on the firm, its
products and the actions it carries out. They can also interact
with CEO Jeffrey Hollender, who periodically writes articles
and provides opinions on the site. Hollender is, additionally,
the author of Naturally Clean, where he explains the advantages
of non-toxic versus traditional cleaning and the finer points of
the products that his company makes.
199

198. Sambazon
Based in California (USA) Sambazon Inc. is a company whose The firm was created under a sustainable business model that
main activity is the harvesting and processing of the açai fruit, promotes, among other values, fair pay for small Brazilian
a drupe that grows on a specific type of palm that is native farmers who harvest the açai fruit. Some 1,500 low-income
to Brazil’s Amazonian region. This berry-like drupe is rich families, living in Brazil’s Pantanales del Varzea region in
in anti-oxidants, essential fatty acids, amino acids, fiber and the Amazon Basin, live almost exclusively on the açai trade.
vitamin E. It is used to make a mild pulp used in beverages, ice The indigenous people are currently organized into four
creams, supplements and other products. cooperatives that sell the açai drupes that they harvest to
Sambazon at a price in accordance with their market value in
Brothers Ryan and Jeremy Black founded the company in the United States.
2001, after they discovered the fruit on one of their surfing
excursions to Brazil in 1999.
When the Black brothers founded Sambazon, the açai fruit
was unknown in the United States. Today, ten companies
are marketing it in different forms: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and
Anheuser-Busch are just some of the major trademarks that
have incorporated açai into their beverage flavors, while Procter
& Gamble is marketing a line of shampoos and conditioners
that contain the fruit.
By 2007 Sambazon had 100 employees and over 700
establishments that were marketing its 26 products. The
company reported 2006 sales of 12 million dollars.
200

199. Additionally, the company works jointly with the NGO,
FASE-PA , which provides technical aid to the cooperatives
and controls operations between them and Sambazon, so as
to guarantee fair purchasing prices. In its açai production,
Sambazon promotes sustainable agro-forestry use, which
replaces logging and provides an economic alternative with
good income levels and opportunities for advancement to
local farmers.
Sambazon communicates its actions through ad campaigns
and through its website at www.sambazon.com. It also has its
own blog, where “a healthier planet and healthier people” is the
issue that tops the list of the company’s p y
priority interests.
201

200. Table of Contents
A Personal Journey into the Future 7
Sustainable Development
Chapter 1: A New Paradigm 17
Chapter 2: The Sustainable Company 33
Chapter 3: The Ones that Made History: 45
Benchmarks, Inspirers and Pioneers
The Participative Media and Web 2.0
Chapter 4: The Conversation Age 63
Chapter 5: The Network Generation 73
Chapter 6: Networked People: Making a Community Make Sense 83
Chapter 7: From Traditional Advertising to Conversation 93
Chapter 8: Collective Intelligence 103
Chapter 9: We, The Media 113
The Value Revolution
Chapter 10: Consumer Power 127
Chapter 11: Welcome to Enterprise 2.0 139
Chapter 12: When the World Began to Understand 153
Epilog: The 2.0 Era Is Born 161
Business Case Studies
Appendix 1: Pioneer Companies 165
Appendix 2: Companies that Changed 177
Appendix 3: Sustainable Companies 191
Footnotes 205
Bibliography 213
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215

204. Acknowledgements
Ernesto van Peborgh and the Odiseo Team wish to thank
Greenpeace Argentina (www.greenpeace.org.ar), Casa de
Oshawa (organic food store, Ciudad de la Paz 421, Buenos
Aires, Argentina), Fábrica de Bananas (an independent
design store, www.fabricadebananas.com.ar ) and the 1940
Restaurant (Dorrego 1940, Buenos Aires, Argentina), for
their cooperation in providing locations for photo shoots.

205. At the end of 2006, the world premiere of Al Gore’s motion picture, An Inconvenient
Truth, established the issue of global warming as a world reality — and not just as
the obsession of a few scientists and activists. Recent unprecedented hurricanes,
flooding and other catastrophes have confirmed the picture’s premises.
That same year, the Wal-Mart chain announced its commitment to sustainability,
eliciting a vow from its 60,000 suppliers to adjust their production processes and
conduct.
These changes were preceded and accompanied by the dizzying growth of civil
organizations around the world that are working to find solutions to the most urgent
problems surrounding poverty, the environment and the defense of life in all of its
forms.
It appears that Mankind is beginning to get the message and getting the message
is the first step toward giving up irresponsible behavior toward the planet and toward
the human race itself.
Be that as it may, understanding the problem needs to give way to action, not merely
with regard to the global emergency, but also to the advancement of a generation
that is not simply awaiting change, but is attempting to produce it from a position of
pure pragmatism: the Net Gen, youth born into the digital age, youngsters who believe
in participation, cooperation and transparency as the starting points for change toward
a new cultural paradigm.
In this book, Ernesto van Peborgh explains how the Net Gen, with Web 2.0 as its
natural communications tool, and social organizations, as agents of a fledgling
"worldwide associative revolution", are flowing and bolstering one another around
sustainable development values, in order to remold the behavior of companies and of
society as a whole. He demonstrates how Sustainability 2.0 is emerging from this
three-way convergence and providing an historically unique opportunity — perhaps
the last one — to build a feasible future for humanity.