Responsibility

Towards sustainability
as a dynamic.

June 2008, Jurg van Vliet

Future Studies
Research request:

“Define responsibility, describe Corporate Social

Responsibility as manifestation of this definition and relate
to this to sustainability (thinking.)”
Index:
Definition of responsibility
Responsibility’s call to action
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• A definition of sustainability
• Corporate development
Definition of responsibility

Responsible to whom? Held responsible!

Responsibility is a relationship between 2 entities that are capable of consciously acting,

persons, companies, etc. This relationship can be initiated without consent of both
parties, this is holding someone responsible. You can have this responsibility
relationship with yourself. This can be called weak responsibility.
A responsibility relation with the environment is non-existent and therefore meaningless.
But caring for the environment can be part of your responsibility, as a thing
necessary to fulfill your obligation. I can even hold you responsible for that.
Responsibility’s call to action

Point of enlightenment

Peer/social pressure

Conscience threshold

ME - obliged to - WE

Resonsibility leads to action when the pressure to oblige is maximized. Obliged to the ‘full
we’ means required by law or habituated by culture.
Corporate Social Responsibility

Subscript
A corporation is not required to be enlightened and/or have a conscience

Corporate Social Responsibility is a movement. And a movement that has gotten a very
powerful boost by the UN PRI. Investors realize that addressing environmental, social
and governance issues is a necessary ingredient to ‘good ‘business. Not altruistic but
preserving, survival.
Corporate social responsibility behaves exactly like ‘normal’ responsibility. Only a
corporation is not required to be enlightened or have a consciousness. And they are
constantly being held responsible by the consumer, to produce something they want.
A definition of sustainability

The key is no leakage Subscript

Defining sustainability is only interesting if the definition helps us understand the

dynamics (morality disclaimer.)
“Sustainability, the never ending story” and “The road to sustainability” express best
what a sustainability process is. Sustainable is a process that can continue for ever
(or very very very long.) Because a perpetuum mobile does not exist a sustainable
process will not be possible. But the more sustainable the process the longer the
system will be present.
Corporate development

Creativity

Peer/social pressure

Capability to redefine

Employees - obliged to - Society

A corporation’s development in a sustainable context is influenced by: creativity to

innovate, capability to redefine, susceptible to peer/social pressure and regulation.
Sources:
Oxford Dictionary
UN PRI, PRI in Person
• Santiago