Marketing and Profiting
From An Ethics Edge
Presented by
David Nitkin
President, EthicScan Canada
Calgary
June 5, 2015
Questions
1. What do we mean by upmanship?
2. Is it moral or ethical to market an ethics
edge?
3. What does superior or responsible CSR
performance look like?
4. How can we embed and enhance ethical
choices, decisions and outcomes?
The Meaning of Upmanship (1)
1. Do one better
2. The art or practice of outdoing or keeping
one jump ahead of a friend or competitor
3. Continuous improvement
4. Aim your decisions higher on the minimize
harm, do no harm, do good triangle
The Meaning of Upmanship (2)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Striving to do better
Realizing more stakeholder expectations
Building upon experience of others
Addressing social needs
Transformative nature of “we are wrong”
Decisions higher up the goals hierarchy
HIERARCHY OF GOALS
DO GOOD
DO NO HARM
MINIMIZE HARM
Thesis
• Canadian business people have not realized
their potential as an agent of change
– Community investment
– Role model employment equity
– Redefine socially acceptable forms of “trustbased” economic globalization
– Intellectual capital
– Lack responsible Canadian governance model
The Ethicality of Marketing Ethics
Yes – its right to market
an ethics edge
No it’s not
Values
Everyone does it
Not all organizations are ethical
or equal
Morality
(Public reaction)
You will be rewarded by the
public
You can be harshly judged by
the public or certain
stakeholders
Share price
30-60% of valuation is
reputation: Apple, Coca Cola
Share prices typically increase
with layoffs
Sustainability
footprint
Measure and market an ethics
edge
Scientific knowledge-based
certainty is questioned
Quantifying
Superior CSR Performance (1)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Return on investment
Shared values
Stakeholder engagement
A respected employer of choice
Corporate reputation
Cultivation of “gold collar” workers
Quantifying
Superior CSR Performance (2)
• There are some who find answers in a
particular framework (GC, Future Fit, GRI)
• Others look for support and standards without
assessment or benchmarking
• CSR standards change over time (society,
science, politics, footprint, expectations)
• One size cannot fit all circumstances
Assessing and Quantifying
Superior Performance (1)
Green
Blue
Grey
Brown
Organizational
Ethic
Sustainable
Empowerment
Profitable short Short term
and long term
Partnering
Engagement
Community
investment
Philanthropy
Isolation;
charity of
owner
Standard
setting
Eco-conscious
Results based
management
Management
Dominant
family or
shareholder
Management
style
Outside in
Top down and
bottom up
Inside in
isolation
Top down
hierarchical
Assessing and Quantifying
Superior Performance (2)
Green
Blue
Grey
Brown
Performance
approach
GRI G4
Global compact Accounting
standard
Audit standard
Ethics regimen
Whistle blower
protection
Ombudsman
Harassment
policies
Code of ethics
Progressive
practices
Sabbatical
Same sex
benefits
Emergency
family days
Compassionate
leave
Audit
Internal and
external
Disclose
executive
compensation
GAAP
Internal audit
Higher Thinking To Up
Your Performance
• Don’t strive to keep all stakeholders happy
• Sharing values isn’t the same as shared values
• Transparency, honesty and accountability can find
expression in all organizations
• Be wary of one size (reporting standard,
performance metric) fitting all companies
• Do the right thing even if it’s for the wrong
reasons
Conclusion
• Clarify and realize the full potential of your
corporate responsibility competency
• Upmanship is acceptable in all circumstances
or rainbow colours
• Upmanship is its own reward