Integration of Corporate Governance, CSR, and Sustainability

Nowadays, we hear these three terms in almost all business events and conferences. Integration between these concepts could be the key success factor of a company or in a broader image a society. It is a fact that in the past, it was enough for a company to be financially viable in order to continue its business. The story has become completely different now at least in economically developed nations. There are lots of different licenses companies need to obtain and different standards they are required to comply with in order to keep their company going.

I believe that whilst these three concepts are talking about different aspects of business, they aim similar objective, which is having business as a parts of life. we need to accept that we cannot live without business and the current system of global business will kill us soon or late. Therefore, integration between these terms helps the society achieve its goals easier.

Last year I had the chance to meet Thomas Clarke, Professor of Management and Director of the Key University Research Centre for Corporate Governance at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Actually I have a cousin who is a PhD candidate in the school of IT in UTS. Through him I was introduced to this research centre. Thomas is also friend of Professor John Glynn, our dean of Sydney Business School.

Thomas has published several books and dozens of journal articles in the area of international corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. Formerly he was Chair of the Academic Board at UTS, and a member of the University Council. In the United Kingdom he was DBM Professor of Corporate Governance at Leeds Business School, and Professor of Management at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai, a joint venture of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and Shanghai Jia Tong University.

His current research is about what he calls ‘Inevitable Integration of Corporate Governance, CSR, and Sustainability’. According to him the balance between economy, society, and ecology should be one of the most important objectives of the states. Before reading his articles, I believed that CSR is a fancy term, which is usually used as a marketing tool for companies. For example, a company grants $100,000 as research fund for further research in a particular environmental issue and then, spends millions of dollars on a marketing campaign showing its responsibility to the environmental issues.

After reading his articles, I was realised that having the proper corporate governance system is the only way companies can insure stakeholders about their accountability. Therefore, corporate governance should be taken into account seriously as it underpins the proper operation of businesses. In fact, without benefiting from a sound system of governance achieving sustainability and CSR goals are almost impossible.

I look forward to hearing your views.