While most Canadians would agree with the need for rainforest protection in principle, it becomes a much larger challenge to ask individuals to identify their own individual and corporate responsibility in helping to protect these vital forests.

In today’s market-driven economy, a corporate decision to go old growth free is rarely entirely based on altruistic reasons. While the incentive of "doing the right thing" is a distinct motivating factor, progressive companies are increasingly recognizing the economic value of practicing business in more socially responsible ways.

Take a look at the Top Eight reasons to go Ancient Forest Friendly

Cutting edge research consistently reveals the degree to which today’s increasingly informed consumer is demanding more from their companies than just meeting the bottom line. Corporate social responsibility is strongly linked to increased profitability, worker and customer loyalty and financial performance. It is now an integral part of doing business in today’s competitive market.

Profitability

• In 52 studies looking at a relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance,
  • 33 of the studies found a positive relationship between social responsibility and financial performance;
  • 5 studies found a negative relationship between social responsibility and financial performance;
  • 14 found no relationship. (Roman, Hayibor and Agle, 1999)
• Between 1950 and 1990 companies with an ethical reputation grew 11.3% compared to the Dow Jones Index growth of 6.3% (Labich, K., April 20, 1993: The new crisis in business ethics, Fortune, 167-176.)
• "Nearly all empirical studies to date have concluded that firms which are perceived as having met social-responsibility criteria have either outperformed or performed as well as other firms which are not (necessarily) socially-responsible." (Pava and Krausz, 1996)
• Comparing corporate social responsibility (CSP), organizational size, financial performance and environmental performance (1987-1992) "…there is a significant positive correlation between CSP and profitability for all six years of the study." (Stanwick and Stanwick, 1998)

Cost Effectiveness

• Procter and Gamble saved $300 million through their waste reduction initiatives between 1994-2000 (Rondinelli and Berry, 2000)
• Johnson & Johnson innovations in waste reduction have saved roughly $560,000 annually (Rondinelli and Berry, 2000)
• 3M has eliminated 1.5 billion lbs of air/land and water pollution. Cost savings of $790 million (Business Week, ‘When Green Begets Green’, Nov. 10, 1997)
• Interface Flooring Systems saved over $90 million USD from 1995 to 1999 as a result of its in-house, zero-waste initiative (http://www.nrc.ca/dfe/ehome/overview/benefits/benefitsl)

Share Performance

• A 1999 study of 24 pharmaceutical companies showed that "stocks of drug makers with "eco-friendly" policies outperformed other companies by 15%". Markets Initiative signatory, Bristol-Meyers Squibb ranked no.1. The New York financial advisory firm went on to say that:
• "We're convinced that there's a positive correlation between environmental performance and stock-price performance. We're saying that statistically companies that pay attention to such things will do better. The smartest companies are anticipating this trend by putting in place policies and systems to reduce the risk". (Innovest Group, 1999)
• Between 1995 and 1997, "… the share prices of 17 of the high-performing ethically oriented companies were tracked against the TSE 300. As a group, they outperformed the TSE 300 by 8.6 per cent". SVC analysis identified an elite class from this group that outperformed the TSE 300 by 33.5 per cent. (Sarah Kelly, 1998)
• The Domini 400 Social Index and the Citizens Index, are benchmarked to the Standard and Poors 500 Composite Index (S&P 500) … both outperformed the S&P 500 in 1999. The numbers - Domini: 24.49% Citizens Index: 29.58%, S&P 500: 21.01 percent - during the same time period, suggesting that the ethically oriented companies gained 5% to 10% on their rivals (http://www.socialinvest.org/areas/news/1999-Q4performance.htm)

Market Share and Customer Loyalty

• 86% of consumers are more likely to buy products positively associated with social environmental issues (Simon Zadek, 1997).
• 70% of consumers say they would not buy from a company if they didn’t think that they were socially responsible - even if there was a price advantage (Walker Research, 1998).
• A 1996 survey by Business in the Community, suggested that "86% of consumers were more likely to buy products positively associated with a social environmental issue."( Simon Zadek, 1997)
• 45% of British Columbians are more likely to buy products from Canadian companies which have adopted policies to phase-out their use of old growth and endangered forests (34.4% stated that it made no difference or they didn’t know) (Viewpoints, 2000)
• 43% of Canadians feel that companies have an obligation to set higher ethical standards/build a better society (Millennium Poll, 1999)
• Globally, 7 in 10 citizens say companies should be held completely responsible for insuring no harm to the environment (78% in Canada) (Millennium Poll, 1999)

Productivity, Efficiency and Innovation

• "Bauer and Aiman-Smith (1996) found that firms with a pro-environmental stance were viewed as more attractive employers than firms without such a stance." (Turban and Greening, 1996)
• "… environmental strategies can enhance financial performance and share price by:
  1. reducing operating costs and working capital, thereby improving margins and return on invested capital;
  2. increasing revenue by improving market share or pricing power through product differentiation and customer loyalty, as well as reducing time to market;
  3. providing insight for innovation and market redefinition." (Linda Descano, 1999)
• From the book "Built to Last", looking at 18 ‘visionary’ U.S. companies who invested heavily in employee training, knowledge transfer and alignment of values — those companies outperformed the stock-market by an average of 15 times. (Maria Sillanpaa, 1998)

Risk Mitigation

• An analysis of 27 studies covering 2,000 incidents of social irresponsible or illegal behaviour. Across the studies, stock prices decreased significantly in response to socially irresponsible or illegal acts. (Frooman, J., Socially irresponsible and illegal behavior in shareholder wealth. Business & Society, 36(3): 221-249)
• Denny's restaurant paid $54 million in federal class action suits due to 4300 complaints of discrimination against minority customers.(Pava and Krausz, 1997)
• Johns-Manville was forced to file for bankruptcy after thousands of injuries or deaths related to asbestos. Company executives knew for decades of dangers of asbestos but did little or nothing about it. (Mark Schwartz, the Centre for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility)

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