Sustainability seems to be everywhere: from fish to farming and everything in between. But what does it mean to be a 'sustainable' business ?
A few years ago I watched an interview with the famous golfer Greg Norman, whose nickname is The Great White Shark, where he discussed his career on the golf course. Towards the end of the interview the discussion moved onto his success as a businessman, his estimated net worth of $300 Million. He started talking about a 12 and even a 200-year horizon for his business, or approximately 10 generations. Greg put forward the case that it was about creating a solid business that would support customers, employees and suppliers which would outlive his and their children’s children: a form of sustainability. So what makes a business sustainable and last for more than 200 years ?
Looking about for things that have been around for over 200 years there are many examples outside of business: stately homes, castles and estates. Then there are the ancient trees that have weathered many storms for hundreds of years but are facing their greatest storm from pollution and global warming! However in the world of business there are a few companies that are still going after 200 years of economic turbulence, wars, and major social change. Some produce my favourite products: Shepard Neames, brewer since 1698, with their wonderful beer: Spitfire and Bishops Finger, and Mornflakes, oats and cereals since 1675, that get me started every morning. Are there any common threads from these examples?
A clue to sustainability started to take shape in my mind during a discussion with a teacher about initiative overload. In particular how many government sponsored initiatives lack any sustainability, and when the money dried up they faded out. During our discussion he said that to be sustainable it needs to affect the core activities which in eduction is reading, writing and arithmetic - or the ‘3Rs’. If it didn’t then it quickly disappeared and the next initiative rolled in.
Drawing a few threads together from business and eduction some rough conclusions can be drawn. First, businesses longevity depends on a core product e.g. food and drink - something that everybody needs regularly and is an integral part of life. Packaging may change, marketing channels redirected but the core product will have been the basically the same for hundreds of years. Secondly, businesses that are still going after 200 years appear to be run by families, which suggests that the core values of the business, and the deep understanding of customers, markets and competition, are more easily passed onto subsequent generations. Finally, every business uses some form of technology and as far as I can establish a sustainable business understands the importance of using just enough to improve its performance. Just a few conclusions but I am sure that many more can be drawn from analysing 200+ year old businesses.
I hope that Greg Norman’s business is still around in 200 years so that my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren can play golf !