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October 26, 2000
Book Review: The Natural Step for Business
A hallmark study brings the experiences of leading businesses with The Natural Step program for
sustainability management to a wider audience.
SocialFunds.com --
When The Natural Step was first introduced by Swedish cell-scientist Karl-Henrik Robert in 1989,
this comprehensive framework for sustainability management was met with skepticism by many business
leaders as a fringe environmental program. A decade later, The Natural Step has national
organizations in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, and has
become a major part of the international dialogue about sustainability.
The impact of The Natural Step on a selection of
corporations is the subject of "The Natural Step for Business: Wealth, Ecology, and the
Evolutionary Corporation," by Brian Nattrass and Mary Altomare. These lessons provide a valuable
platform for understanding the importance of integrating environmental considerations into
strategic business decisions and day-to-day operations.
"The Natural Step provides a
common language to talk about sustainability and facilitates the creation of shared goals that move
the company in a sustainable direction," write the authors. Natrass and Altomare are President and
Vice President, respectively, of Innovation Strategies, a Vancouver-based consulting firm utilizing
natural systems thinking, including The Natural Step.
The central thrust of "The Natural
Step for Business" is to document how four successful and dynamic companies, IKEA, Scandic Hotels,
Interface, and Collins Pine, are learning to integrate sustainability into their management
practices. These companies have not only shown marked improvement in their relationship with the
environment at all levels, but have reaped rewards in lowered costs, greater resource productivity,
lower environmental impact, and improved staff morale.
For example, IKEA, the Swedish
home furnishings giant with worldwide sales in excess of $7 billion, was one of the first companies
to adopt The Natural Step in 1990. Built on a reputation of simplicity and quality, IKEA was
shocked into environmental consciousness by public outcry over issues like formaldehyde gas
emissions and packaging waste.
IKEA has subsequently integrated The Natural Step training
into every level of their management, production, and sales to become what the authors call an
"evolutionary company." They have adapted their product range to incorporate environmental
considerations, such as non-toxic and renewable materials and recyclable products. They even
introduced a new range of "a.i.r." sofas and armchairs using one-sixth the resource of conventional
chairs.
The other examples provide a diversity of company sizes and products, from
Interface, the industrial carpet giant led by corporate responsibility advocate Ray Anderson, to
Collins Pine, a sustainable forest manager with $230 million in annual revenues. While this sample
certainly does not encompass all companies that have incorporated The Natural Step or other natural
systems management strategies, it provides a good range of experiences and benefits.
"We
can learn from these innovative people and companies to discern glimpses of the evolutionary path
forward," said the authors. "The Natural Step can act as a kind of corporate compass to assist
organizations in their voyages of discovery, the corporate odyssey which both Collins Pine and
Interface describe as their 'journey to sustainability.'"
Some of the introductory
material in "The Natural Step for Business," and the final section outlining the tools and
methodologies for implementing the program, is on the dry side. The book evolved from Nattrass'
dissertation research and at times reads like it.
For example, the authors sprinkle in
leaden phrases such as, "The increase in entropy resulting from energy and material transformations
is exported from the system in the form of low-grade heat energy."
Still, "The Natural
Step for Business" represents a valuable first look at how the insights of Karl-Henrik Robert have
been successfully integrated into companies to improve their performance and profitability. It
would be a valuable addition to the library of any corporate leader or social investor concerned
about how their companies will fit into a sustainable future.
"The Natural Step for
Business: Wealth, Ecology and the Evolutionary Company" by Brian Nattrass and Mary Altomare. New
Society Publishers, 1999.
©
SRI World Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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