I recently attended a marketing event where the panel of speakers was made up of various executives from the mining industry. In addition to their mining operations, most of these companies had retail establishments. Since the manufacturing part of the business has a significant impact on the environment, I asked them what they were doing in terms of green marketing. They responded on how they are contributing to the fight against AIDS in South Africa. Although I applaud this effort, they did not answer my question. Were they avoiding answering my question or were they confusing corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability?

To see if there is a difference between the two terms, we first have to define what sustainability or sustainable development is. The “Daly Rules” of sustainability are defined, as renewable resources such as fish, soil and groundwater should not be used faster than the rate at which they can be regenerated. Non-renewable resources such as coal, oil and gas should not be used faster than renewable substitutes to get put in place and pollution and waste should not be emitted faster than natural systems can absorb, recycle. or make them harmless.

Thomas Dyllick and Kai Hockerts in Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability defines Corporate Sustainability as “meeting the needs of a company’s direct and indirect stakeholders (such as shareholders, employees, customers, lobbyists, communities, etc.) without compromising its ability to meet the needs of future stakeholders as well. “. The Australian government defines corporate sustainability a little closer to the “Daly rules”. They believe that corporate sustainability “encompasses strategies and practices that aim to meet the needs of stakeholders today, while seeking to protect, support and enhance the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.”

Corporate Social Responsibility according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development defines corporate social responsibility as “the continuous commitment of companies to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families, as well as the community and society in general. ” On Capitalism and Freedom Milton Friedman defines corporate social responsibility as. “There is one and only social responsibility of companies, to use their resources and participate in activities designed to increase their profits as long as they stay within the rules of the game, that is, they engage in open and free competition without deception or fraud” . None of the definitions of corporate social responsibility is key to sustainable development, which is the ability to renew natural resources at a rate equivalent to their capacity for regeneration.

Looking at the definitions above, there is a difference between corporate responsibility and corporate sustainability. Corporate responsibility focuses more on the non-financial social activities to which a company contributes, while corporate sustainability focuses on both the impact of environmental factors on a company and the company’s impact on the environment. This was a point that Michael E. Porter and Forrest L. Reinhart made in their article A strategic approach to climate, “Companies that persist in treating climate change solely as an issue of corporate social responsibility, rather than a business problem, will risk the greatest consequences.” Porter and Reinhart believe that companies should look both “inside out”, which they define as a company’s impact on climate, and “outside in” at how climate regulatory change can affect the business environment in which the company competes. (October 2007 Harvard Business Review).

If we take a look at the mining companies I talked about at the beginning of this article, there are several ways that a company can act from a corporate sustainability perspective. First, mining companies would have to take a look at their own mining operations. Their impact on mining the land, the fuel they use to power mining equipment, and how they will restore the land once they have depleted the resources of the mines. From a retail store perspective, you should consider product packaging, transportation of goods and services, and store operations. These are just a few of the considerations that this particular business should take into account in its corporate sustainability efforts. As you can see, the company’s corporate sustainability efforts are very different from its corporate responsibility efforts to combat AIDS in an area where they currently mine. Both efforts are important but each impacts the economic and strategic position of companies differently.

Going forward, with the enactment of stronger legislation on the impact of companies on the environment, it is strategically imperative that companies understand the difference between corporate responsibility and corporate sustainability.