Walking The Talk With 3BL
Numerous managers and corporate executives the world over are asking themselves a deceptively easy question – exactly what is the Triple Bottom Line? Whilst clearly a buzzword phrase encountering heightened popularity in contemporary corporate greening efforts, the Triple Bottom Line is, at heart, a corporate philosophy aimed at harnessing the international trends of environmental consciousness and placing them to work in a proactive and lucrative way.
Initially put forward back in 1994 by one John Elkington, the principal founder SustainAbility, a British consulting firm, Triple Bottom Line, or 3BL, calls on companies to set aside the traditional single bottom line – earnings – and adopt a far more complete and sophisticated method to performing business in the international market. Business practices that embrace poorly-implemented or non-existent environmental policy, states Elkington, are inherently unsustainable in environmentally-conscious first world nations.
Examples abound. The continuing practice of whaling by the Chinese fishing business has led to many tariffs and protests that have all but annihilated Chinese seafood exports. The existence of what were dubbed “sweat shops” utilized by Nike to produce their line of high end athletic attire led to a firestorm of poor press in the late 90’s. And also the erosion of the Amazonian rain forest continues to be a thorn in the side of environmental activists for a generation, leading to demonstrations which have, on more than one instance, concluded with activists chaining themselves to trees in front of bulldozers.
History lessons aside, we still need to answer the initial question. What’s the Triple Bottom Line? It is merely the adoption and procedural integration of company policy aimed at profitability in 3 separate and distinct categories:
The first bottom line is Profits, as always. The purpose of any company, in the end, is to create positive value, and expecting companies to sacrifice earnings in the pursuit of nebulous environmental objectives is foolhardy.
The second bottom line is People. 3BL philosophy states that effecting positive growth in market within which a company operates is like a type of promoting – it generates great faith in the company, leading to elevated assistance from an increasingly educated international customer base, consequently much more sales, and more profits.
The 3rd bottom line is Planet, or environmental awareness. By pursuing energy efficiency and renewability, companies can cut down on expenditures individually, increasing profitability. Moreover, as these efforts are duplicated by competing companies, energy costs come down across the market, leading to much more profitability.
Since the bottom lines of both People and Planet assist the general bottom line of Profits, the 3BL builds on itself, generates a cascade impact that can improve general earnings significantly. If you’re nonetheless asking yourself ‘What is the Triple Bottom Line?’, download our Corporate Sustainability Guide now for more information regarding how to take advantage of this revolutionary corporate philosophy.
Nelson Bomberger is a corporate sustainability expert and contributor to CompaniesGoingGreen.net. He often shares his insights on topics like Triple Bottom Line via the web.
