In analyzing dozens of partnerships, some successful — and some less so — we’ve identified the following series of fundamental lessons.
1. KNOW YOUR OWN SITUATION WELL BEFORE PICKING AN APPROPRIATE PARTNER
Be clear on your environmental issues when you sit down with others. AUDIO analysis is a good place to start. Then educate yourself on your business’s key problems, and learn which groups specialize in the issues you face.
2. KNOW WITH WHOM YOU’RE DEALING
All partners, especially NGOs, are not created equal. Sustainability expert John Elkington has developed a playful, but useful, typology of NGOs. He breaks them into sharks, orcas, sea lions, and dolphins. Sharks are always on the attack, smelling blood and weakness from miles away. Orcas use fear and bullying. Sea lions play it safe and stay close to issues they know well. Dolphins are intelligent, creative, and can help fend off sharks. The point is that some NGOs are easier to work with than others. Avoid the sharks.
3. BE PATIENT
If we could share only one lesson, this would be it. Trust builds over time. It can take years to make the case internally for reaching out. As Chiquita’s Dave McLaughlin says, “We aren’t making Tang here. It isn’t just ‘add water and stir.’” Nurture long-term relationships.
4. LEARN EACH OTHER’S CULTURE AND VALUES
IKEA spent six months with World Wildlife Fund just discussing values before launching a partnership. The differences between for-profit and not-for-profit organizations can be large, but different values and cultures are not insurmountable. Still, it takes effort to learn to talk the other guy’s language.
5. SET WORKABLE GOALS
Partnership goals need to be carefully developed and specified. They must achieve Environmental progress that satisfies all the partners but also be relevant to and supportive of core business objectives. Set modest short-term goals and exceed them. And never overpromise publicly.
6. ESTABLISH CHAMPIONS
Each partner needs a clear operational leader for the project and relationship. Backing from the highest level is also vital. IKEA reports regularly to the CEO on its World Wildlife Fund partnership. You also need critical line managers to climb art board. McDonald’s work on its supply chain took off only when the supply chain managers, not just the corporate responsibility people, stepped into the process.
7. THINK BIG, BUT START SMALL
The commitment to green the supply chain is a worthy goal, but it can’t be done overnight. Pilot programs provide a way to test assumptions, establish trust, and build base for bigger and broader future partnership initiatives.
8. COORDINATE COMMUNICATIONS
Great partnerships can turn sour very quickly when one side prematurely declares victory. NGOs see greenwashing and companies hear gloating. You can’t assume that the way you would talk about an issue is how the other side would. In the same spirit, don’t announce environmental breakthroughs until you have credible evidence of progress.
Copyright © 2009 Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston
Author Bio
Daniel C. Esty, co-author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage (Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 978-0-470-39374-1), is the Hillhouse Professor at Yale University and Director of the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (www.yale.edu/CBEY). Author and editor of nine books and dozens of articles, Dan is one of the world’s leading corporate environmental strategy experts with twenty years of experience working with companies of all sizes and across many industries worldwide. He served as senior official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1990s and is presently Chairman of Esty Environmental Partners (www.EstyEP.com).
Andrew S. Winston, co-author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage (Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 978-0-470-39374-1), advises some of the world’s leading companies on how to profit from environmental thinking. He is also a highly respected and dynamic speaker, exploring the Business benefits of going green with audiences around the world. Andrew’s earlier career included corporate strategy at Boston Consulting Group and management positions in marketing and business development at Time Warner and MTV. See www.andrewwinston.com for more information.
Daniel C. Esty And Andrew S. Winston
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/eight-lessons-learned-on-partnering-738709.html
IS IT TRUE THAT ONLY A TRUE GOLFER WILL UNDERSTAND?
ONLY A TRUE GOLFER WILL UNDERSTAND…..
Don’t buy a putter until you’ve had a chance to throw it.
Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.
When your shot has to carry over a water hazard, you can either hit one more club or two more balls.
If you’re afraid a full shot might reach the green while the foursome ahead of you is still putting out, you have two options; a) you can immediately shank a lay-up or, b) You can wait until the green is clear and top a ball halfway there.
The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing.
No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse.
The inevitable result of any golf lesson is the instant elimination of the one critical unconscious motion that allowed you to compensate for all of your many other errors.
Everyone replaces his divot after a perfect approach shot.
A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents’ luck.
It is surprisingly easier to hole a 50ft putt than a 10ft one….
Nonchalant putts count the same as chalant putts.
It’s not a ‘gimme’ if you’re still 5 metres away.
You can hit a two acre fairway 10% of the time and a two inch branch 90% of the time.
If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.
Since bad shots come in groups of three, a fourth bad shot is actually the beginning of the next group of three.
When you look up, causing an awful shot, you will always look down again at exactly the moment when you ought to start watching the ball if you ever want to see it again.
Every time a golfer makes a birdie, he must subsequently make two triple bogeys to restore the fundamental equilibrium of the universe.
If you want to hit a 7 iron as far as Tiger Woods does, simply try to lay up just short of a water hazard.
To calculate the speed of a player’s downswing, multiply the speed of his back-swing by his handicap; ie. back-swing 20 mph, handicap 15, downswing = 300 mph.
There are two things you can learn by stopping your back-swing at the top and checking the position of your hands: how many hands you have, and which one is wearing the glove.
Hazards attract; fairways repel.
A ball you can see in the rough from 50 yards away is not yours.
If there is a ball on the fringe and a ball in the bunker, your ball is the one in the bunker. If both balls are in the bunker, yours is in the footprint or embedded in the side wall.
It’s easier to get up at 6am. to play golf than at 10am to mow the lawn.
Golf is the perfect thing to do on Sunday because you always end up having to pray a lot.
A good golf partner is one who is always slightly worse than you are–that’s why I get so many calls to play with friends.
If there’s a storm rolling in, you’ll be having the game of your life.
Golf balls are like eggs. They’re white. They’re sold by the dozen. And you need to buy fresh ones each week.
It’s amazing how a golfer who never helps out around the house will replace his divots, repair his ball marks, and rake his sand traps.
If your opponent has trouble remembering whether he shot a six or a seven, he probably shot an eight (or worse).
It takes longer to be a good golfer than it does to become a brain surgeon
On the other hand, you don’t get to ride around on a cart, drink beer, eat hot dogs if you are performing brain surgery!!!!
A good drive and 2nd shot on the 18th green has stopped many a golfer from giving up the game.
Thanks, enjoyed that.
Peace.
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Correct/ Exactly/ u r absolutely right
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Phew. I’m glad I don’t play golf
hahaha
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Cute
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golf teacher
Outstanding!!
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Well, I understood a few of these. I think they are universal laws:
Never try to keep more than 300 separate thoughts in your mind during your swing.
- or sex
The less skilled the player, the more likely he is to share his ideas about the golf swing.
- or anything else
No matter how bad you are playing, it is always possible to play worse. – that’s no lie!
A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponents’ luck.
– just like the game of life – it’s always an intelligence test where one is destined to come up short, and one’s opponent always seems to have an endless supply of luck!
If you really want to get better at golf, go back and take it up at a much earlier age.
- that goes for just about every skill you want to acquire once you’re old enough to decide what you really like doing
It’s easier to get up at 6am. to play golf [or do ANYTHING ELSE] than at 10am to mow the lawn.
- unless you’re my neighbor who can’t wait to mow his lawn @ 7 am every morning after I’ve been up late
If there’s a storm rolling in, you’ll be having the game of your life.
- Storms like these make life worthwhile
Thanks Greybeard!
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Not a golfer
Nice work, champion.
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He’s back and better than ever.
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whoa…you have just described my whole golfing career!!
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Very funny!
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Golf and sex are two things you can enjoy without being any good at- Jimmy DeMaret
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