Strategic Diagnosis: Many companies are experimenting with or monitoring a growing number of international environmental disclosure and performance standards. A proportion of these corporations issue public Sustainability Reports or Social and Ethical Accounting Auditing and Reporting Processes on their operations. (ISEA and EthicScan put the total number of Social or Ethics Audits at 55 internationally). But, as confirmed by experts in New York, Geneva, Boston and London, there are few companies or organizations who are championing the basic, underlying corporate research and disclosure that would not only justify both the foregoing leadership/investments but also increase the number of companies committed to delivering on either sustainability-based environmental management systems (EMS) or their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) promise, accountability and transparency. Put another way, few companies appear willing to forego self-congratulatory self-reporting in favour of candour and disclosure of the economic costs and benefits of Sustainability.

Potential Initiative: Could your company, business or industry association lead in a fundamental way? Would you be an original pioneer in quantifying and making a business case for sustainability? Could you develop an integrated leadership strategy to set yourself up as not only a willing exponent and sponsor but also a Beta Test for sustainability and the New Economy? In the process, your company could demonstrate a willingness to share research results on its internal practices, a readiness to challenge other organizations to help make the public case for sustainability, and a commitment to encourage or champion accountability, sustainability and CSR.

Stakeholder Reaction: Employees and consumers globally have demonstrated, through the Millenniun Poll, a definite bias to favour companies who act in socially-responsible ways. For various reasons, a company publically declaring its willingness to lead should receive high marks from environmental advocacy groups, CSR proponents, social justice advocates, and values-based investors. A CARL diagnosis would appear "right reasoned","values-based" and "walking the talk" to such stakeholders.

Companies who conduct sustainability, ethics or "special engagement" audits are finding the task difficult. There are a growing number of standards (see The Corporate Ethics Monitor, August 2000). Not surprisingly, stakeholders are skeptical about the veracity or credibility of conclusions, when companies assess themselves. The existing methodologies are experimental, vary from region to region, and no convergence exists on technical protocols. Existing public reports are based on assumptions about CSR without rigorous, systemic underpinning data about the financial case for sustainability at the corporate scale.