‘Genuine, not just generous’:

developing a tangible green culture

‘Genuine, not just generous’: developing
a tangible green culture
Challenge
Economic, social and regulatory
pressures are driving businesses of all
sizes to focus on reducing their carbon
emissions and increasing
environmental sustainability. The
recent IBM Global CEO Study has
highlighted that the enterprise of the
future needs to become ‘genuine, not
just generous’ – viewing sustainability
as more than a mere compliance issue
or philanthropic gesture. For most
businesses, this will require a
complete cultural transformation to
realign values and behaviours.
IBM proposal
IBM can help businesses define and
implement more sustainable working
practices to achieve green objectives.
Through a combination of consultancy
and IT-enabled workplace
transformation, IBM can help empower
businesses to turn leading practices
into corporate culture.
2
Business opportunity
Implementing environmentally
sustainable working practices not only
helps to meet regulatory pressures – it
also enables employees to work more
flexibly, while reducing expenditure on
corporate travel, energy and office
space. Most important of all, through
engagement with the growing body of
ethical global consumers,
environmental sustainability can
provide a platform for growth and new
business opportunities.
About this paper
This paper will explore some of the
lessons IBM has learned in helping
businesses of all sizes transform
their workplace and implement more
sustainable working practices.
Universal drivers
Environmental sustainability is
becoming a key issue in business.
From 2010, most UK businesses
will be obliged to comply with new
regulations on carbon emissions –
just one part of a raft of regulatory
measures aimed at putting pressure
on businesses to take green issues
seriously.
Equally, social pressures are
increasing. At present, proactive
companies with a clear green
agenda are enjoying favourable
media attention. In the near future, as
sustainability becomes the norm, the
balance may tip in the other direction –
companies that lag behind are likely to
receive negative publicity. Employees
are also becoming more aware of
these issues, and many professionals
are beginning to express a preference
for working for environmentally aware
companies.
A third factor is cost. With energy
prices rising, and the era of cheap
transportation seemingly at an end,
going green is making more and more
financial sense. Businesses operating
more frugally with regard to heating,
lighting, electricity and travel are
increasingly able to cut expenditure
at the same time as improving their
environmental profile.
Ultimately, the critical issue is
sustainable growth. How can
organisations rise to the challenges set
by an increasingly sophisticated and
vocal global class of ethical consumers,
and provide them with the sustainable
new products and services they
demand?
Feeling the pressure
Many companies are feeling the force
of these three factors – regulation,
social pressures and rising costs – and
are eager to put sustainable growth
practices in place. The IBM Global
CEO Study – an annual survey of more
than 1,000 CEOs and public sector
leaders worldwide – reports that
companies are increasingly seeking to
become ‘genuine, not just generous’
in their approach to corporate social
responsibility (CSR) and green issues.
Increasingly, CEOs are coming to
realize that CSR should be more
than just an outlet for occasional
philanthropic gestures, and that a bare-
minimum approach to compliance is not
enough: instead, sustainability should
be an integral part of daily business
practice. As a result, 25% of companies
are planning to increase investment
in this area, focusing on developing
green products and making CSR a more
holistic aspect of company processes.
However, without expert guidance,
defining and implementing sustainable
growth practices can be a major
challenge – involving significant
changes in corporate culture that may
meet with resistance from managers,
employees, and external partners.
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Identifying the scope for change
Many of the most important
contributions to the sustainability
of a company are made by
encouraging individual employees
to take responsibility for their own
environmental impact. However,
before making sweeping changes to
working practices, companies need
to consider the individuals’ roles and
their personality types.
Individuals’ roles
It is important to assess the roles and
responsibilities of employees and
assess the ways in which different
groups can realistically contribute.
For example:Sales teams and senior
managers who regularly travel
on business can make extensive
contributions – for example, by
using rail transport instead of
flying, by choosing a more fuel-
efficient company car, and by using
videoconferencing technology to
avoid the need to travel at all.
• Office-based staff may be able
to control lighting, heating and
air conditioning in their working
environment, can limit the number
of documents they print, and
can ensure that computers are
switched off when not in use.
• Field workers can contribute in
similar ways while they are in the
office, but their need to travel
(and often transport equipment)
to off-site locations can make it
difficult for them to meet the same
sustainability targets as office-
based workers.
Personality types
Equally, it can be important to assess
the personality types of individuals
within the organisation, to gain an
understanding of the best ways to
motivate staff to change their working
practices. Broadly, research identifies
three main types:
• The egoist type is only concerned
with the environment in so far as it
affects his or her own life.
• The social altruist type is concerned
with the environment for its effects
on human society in general.
• The biospheric type is concerned
with the intrinsic value of the
environment.
Different tactics will need to be
employed in each case.
From theory to practice
Once a company has developed an
understanding of the people who
work for it and their potential influence
on environmental sustainability, new
working practices that will contribute
to the achievement of green objectives
should be defined.
IBM Social Science Researchers
have created a methodology and a
set of tools to assist with the definition
process. These can help to avoid
unintended consequences when
attempting to embed the newly
defined practices into the business
culture – and therefore increase
the chances of acceptance by
employees.
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Developing a tangible green culture
Drawing on insights from a wide
range of successful cultural change
programmes within IBM and
client organisations – as well as
lessons learnt from less successful
programmes – the research team
proposed a practical set of simple
interventions:
• Define the key business practices
• Agree what they really mean, using
‘Right vs. Right’
• Create a business practices
charter
• Use story-based interventions to
make the business practices come
alive
Defining key practices
Following discussion about the
sustainability targets of the business
and the relative abilities of different
groups of employees to influence
those targets, a set of sustainable
working practices can be defined in
the form of rules or guidelines. To take
an example, a company might decide
the following: “Whenever possible,
meetings between people working
at different locations should be
conducted via videoconference.”
‘Right vs. Right’
‘Right vs. Right’ is a simple way of
surfacing different perspectives on
what an initial definition of a business
practice means to different people
in different circumstances. ‘Right vs.
Right’ recognises the truth that context
is king, and that there are very few
instances where simple statements
of ‘what to do when…’ can apply
universally.
Take the example we mentioned
above: “Whenever possible, meetings
between people working at different
locations should be conducted via
videoconference.” Some employees
will regard this as a rule that applies
to all meetings; others might argue
that exceptions sometimes need
to be made. For instance, in some
organisational cultures, a refusal to
attend face-to-face meetings could be
considered career-limiting – especially
if the invitation comes from a more
senior member of staff!
By working through these conflicts,
‘Right vs. Right’ enables a more
precise definition of how sustainable
working practices apply in different
circumstances, enabling the whole
business to achieve consensus.
Business practices charter
Defining a viable set of business
practices should be a marriage of
top-down and bottom-up discovery.
It may not be possible to gain full
consensus, but understanding
different perspectives and contextual
complexities can help create a set of
guidelines or a business practices
charter to formalise a mandated set of
new working practices.
Story-based interventions
With the charter in place, leaders
within the business should help
to make the new practices ‘come
alive’ by setting an example to other
employees, giving examples of how
the practices can be enacted and
explaining the real effect they have on
sustainability targets.
Managing cultural transformation
Once the new working practices
have been defined, the process
of managing the transformation of
business culture can begin. This
process is about socialising new
ways of working through a wide range
of traditional change management
techniques, as well as employing
proven leading practices to encourage
behavioural change, such as
storytelling and appreciative inquiry.
There are no ‘right’ ways to achieve
this; the key is to match the
interventions with the existing culture
in an acceptable and resonant way.
5
Some useful heuristics are:
• Setting a good example
• Getting employees involved
• Providing relevant incentives and
mandates
Setting a good example
IBM research has shown the vital
importance of visible role models in
achieving cultural change. Leadership
from senior members of the company
– especially at board level – can help
to demonstrate that sustainability is
becoming a key part of the corporate
identity, and sets an example for other
employees. Remember the need to
be ‘genuine, not just generous’ – since
dubious green claims will tend to lead
to accusations of greenwashing.
For example, IBM helped one
company’s board members calculate
their carbon footprint and publish the
information on the corporate intranet
on a weekly basis – showing the rest
of the company that its new working
practices were making a genuine
contribution to sustainability without
any negative impact on business
efficiency.
Getting employees involved
Even with positive role models to
follow, employees will not necessarily
engage with sustainability policies
on their own. Raising awareness is
important, but simple poster and email
campaigns tend to be ineffective, or
achieve only temporary results.
There is clear evidence that cultural
change requires real engagement,
reinforced through multiple channels.
One approach is to involve employees
by enabling them to contribute and
shape environmental policies. IBM
Jam™ events, where all 380,000 IBM
employees are invited to participate in
a 24- or 48-hour online collaborative
innovation session, have proven
to be an excellent way to discuss
issues, discover solutions, and – most
importantly – give employees a real
sense of engagement with corporate
objectives.
Other leading practices that can be
effective in combination are:
• Appreciative inquiry
• Storytelling
• Message maps
• Hot teams
• Social networking systems
• Pledge systems
• Personal carbon budgets
• Leadership role-modelling
• Nudges - default, feedback etc.
Incentives and mandates
With board-level support and
an engaged workforce, the
transformation to sustainable
working practices becomes a viable
proposition – but it can still be a long
march.
To keep commitment levels high
during the transition period, many
companies choose to implement
incentive schemes to encourage
sustainable behaviour in the
workplace. Others take the opposite
line, choosing to impose sustainability
mandates such as carbon budgets
or allowances. Often, these two
policies are combined to create a
‘carrot and stick’ approach. Finding
the right balance between carrot and
stick depends in part on the original
assessment of employee personalities
– with egoist, social altruist and
biospheric types responding in a
variety of ways to different stimuli.

Natural England drives its ambitious carbon reduction programme with help
from IBM
Keen to take a lead in reducing its carbon footprint by an ambitious 50% in just three years, Natural England partnered
with IBM to help keep up the pace and momentum. Working with a representative group of stakeholders from Natural
England, IBM developed a comprehensive vision, change roadmap and detailed delivery plan.

In order to win hearts and minds and motivate required changes in behaviour, IBM has helped devise, and is supporting
the implementation of, a tailored staff communication and engagement programme, based on leading practices. This
includes plans for technology-based interactions which will enable everyone at Natural England to contribute and
develop their ideas on carbon reduction.

Staff engagement is critical, and has been encouraged through techniques such as storytelling and appreciative
inquiry, as well as commitment from senior role models. Paul Hinds, Head of Sustainability at Natural England explains:
“I have openly declared that I will use public transport for all my business travel. By explaining to others what drives me
to take that action, how I achieve it and how it has no negative impact on my ability to do my job, I expect to encourage
people to join me.”

Natural England now has a clear way forward and is on target to reduce its carbon footprint by 20% in the first year.

6
Conclusion
If the enterprise of the future needs
to be ‘genuine, not just generous’ in
order to grow sustainably, as argued
by the IBM Global CEO Study, then the
need for a tangible green culture will
become an ever-increasing business
imperative.
Transformation to a more
environmentally sustainable business
model cannot be achieved overnight
– it requires buy-in from individuals
at all levels of the organisation. Yet
with careful consideration of green
policies, genuine commitment from
key influencers, and the right strategy
to encourage the whole business to
participate, significant improvements
can be made.
As one of the leading proponents of
IT and business research, IBM can
offer a broad range of services to help
businesses start their transition to a
more sustainable tomorrow.
For more information, please
contact green@uk.com, or visit
www.ibm.com/uk/gogreen.
IBM Values Jam
In 2003, IBM ran a Jam event to help the corporation reassess its corporate
values and discover what it means to be an IBMer.
The Jam ran for 48 hours, during which time more than 100,000 employees
contributed to the definition of three key values: dedication to every client’s
success, innovation that matters, and trust and personal responsibility in all
relationships.
The event was held entirely online, leveraging Web 2.0 technologies such
as forums and wikis to encourage debate on a number of predefined key
topics.
Each discussion was facilitated by a key sponsor from the company’s senior
management – providing positive role models to encourage participation.
Real-time analysis and mining tools were used to highlight emerging trends
in the discussion, and distill actionable results.
The Values Jam helped IBM to redefine its corporate identity from the bottom
up – enabling employees to take part in the process, instead of imposing
ideas on them from above.
This has made it easier to achieve consensus for changing working
practices to embody the new values. By conducting the event online
and avoiding the need for physical meetings, the Jam demonstrated a
sustainable method of helping to change IBM’s culture.
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