Home » Corporate Sustainability Is Itself Unsustainable

I love my iPad...or at least I love it whenever my two-year old lets me use it.  He's what Marc Prensky calls a "digital native".  For him, the world has always included tablet computers, on-demand television, and the Internet.  

In much the same way that he lives and breathes technology like it’s a part of him, we're seeing the rise of a generation of "sustainability natives".  While there are many of us who are no doubt corporate responsibility pioneers and early adopters, we're taking what were once considered "externalities" and internalizing them.  In contrast, for the sustainability natives, corporate responsibility is part of them.  Always has been, always will be.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that, unless we take some specific steps, we as employers and business partners, suppliers and customers, are bound to disappoint them.  The field and profession of Corporate Responsibility is not set up for long term success.  

As part of its mission to empower individuals at all levels to improve corporate citizenship, the CROA has been conducting a multi-layered research and development program for the Corporate Responsibility (CR)# profession.  The latest findings from that research point out some disturbing structural flaws that, if left unaddressed, will prevent CR from becoming a mature field and lead to a serious generational conflict in the workplace.

To read more, visit http://www.forbes.com/sites/csr/2012/03/29/corporate-sustainability-is-itself-unsustainable/.