Going green is like seat belts way back when – business guru

One of the foremost thinkers in the business world today sees the trend for going green as seat belts were to the automotive industry back when they were first introduced.

“I’m one of those people who believe that green technology now is now in the process of becoming like safety in the automotive industry. In the beginning, when safety was introduced with seat belts and everything, everybody was a little bit like, ‘oh safety, it’s so expensive…’ Today you can sell a car that is not safe. It’s possible and it’s illegal in many cases,” said Kjell Nordstrom, a lecturer at the Stockholm School of Economics and best selling author of a couple of business books – Karaoke Capitalism: Management for Mankind and Funky Business: Talent Makes Capital Dance. “Even the small cars are becoming safe. And some small manufacturers cannot sell cars in some countries as is – they are not safe enough.”

I had the rare opportunity to speak to Nordstron, a keynote speaker at a recent event organised by business intelligence software vendor, SAS, called The Premier Business Leadership Series, on the movement towards green practices in the world of business. In his opinion, what happened to seat belts will soon happen with going green.

“So in the automotive industry, safety, you have to have. Green is the same, the same thing is happening quickly. Most people are becoming aware of it, know it,” he said. “So what is happening, I think that this greening thing is going through the same process as safety. In the beginning, everybody was a little be reluctant, and said ‘maybe, maybe not.’ But what is happening is, the user, the consumer, the market is changing, and now it is taken for granted – it is necessary, to do the homework, and do the best you can, as a company. And those who don’t do that, will be punished by the market.”

More importantly, Nordstrom asserts that the shift towards going green will happen much faster than the adoption of seat belts.

“You can see that happening very, very, rapidly – and I must say remarkably rapidly,” he said. “Safety was a process of 10-15 years, I think this might be faster than that, we are talking about a timeframe of 10 years. And then you have to, as a company, be able to show, and be transparent, ‘we are doing everything we can, we are in every dimension, accountable.’ You need to show that you have done your homework. I think we are rapidly, rapidly, going to see a transformation.

“There will be differences between Asia, Europe, and between countries, in how rapid – the only thing we can be sure of is that it will be faster than what we have seen in, for example, safety in the automotive industry. That also began as a voluntary thing, then it became legislation, and then today, it is difficult sell a car that is not safe.”

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Tags: carbon accounting, carbon audit, Climate change, Corporate Social Responsbility, CSR, global warming, Green corporations, Green Tech, green technology, green telecom, sustainability, sustainable practices

Category: Climate change, Green corporations, Green ICT