Question

What are the key drivers in the Age of Responsibility, according to Wayne Visser? In other words, what is causing companies to take sustainability more seriously, and what are some of the reasons or evidence for this shift in the market? What are some of the consequences for companies that ignore sustainability as a driver?

Answer 1

Basically,Wayne Visser discusses how the old model of Corporate Social Responsibility( CSR) dealing with philanthropy or PR is getting replaced to a more stakeholder driven model. The key drivers driving the age of responsibility according to Wayne are:

1. Creativity - Innovative ideas to serve unfulfiled demand

2. Scalability - Tata Nano is a perfect example of how a low cost car is to be sold on a massive scale

3. Responsiveness - Increased initiatives by the companies to recycle plastics/waste( technology by LOOP in this context)

4. Glocality - Its about implementing optimal solutions locally( pertaining to local market)

5. Circularity - One example can be launch of fibres made from plastics waste. This ensures usage of after waste in something usefull

the main reason which is causing the companies to take sustainability more seriously is limited resources. One Example is that there is a limit to how much you can dump plastic waste into oceans. Thus, companies have to find solutions to usage of plastics. The above 5 factors help them in making the decision making.

Companies which ignore sustainability will be left out. That is because of changing consumer preferences. Suppose Nike manufactures shoes from recycled material. This increases the attractiveness of Nike towards consumers since the majority of population is also concerned about non sustainability.