{"id":3920,"date":"2018-06-06T19:31:11","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T23:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bhr\/?p=3920"},"modified":"2022-05-27T14:07:59","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T18:07:59","slug":"sustainability-in-hospitality-how-legality-and-authenticity-impact-the-rationale-for-integrating-sustainable-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/bhr\/2018\/06\/06\/sustainability-in-hospitality-how-legality-and-authenticity-impact-the-rationale-for-integrating-sustainable-practices\/","title":{"rendered":"Sustainability In Hospitality? How Legality and Authenticity Impact the Rationale for Integrating Sustainable Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By<\/strong>\u00a0Christian E. Hardigree, J.D.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s hospitality conversations are rife with dialogue about sustainability, initiatives ranging from linen reuse programs, to donating toiletries, to auto dimming lights, to food sourcing, etc.\u00a0 Hospitality practitioners\u2019 quest to define the ROI (return on investment) is often at foiled by a concept that includes intangible metrics and differing definitions of what \u201csustainability\u201d really means.\u00a0 The oft-used \u201cTriple Bottom Line – People, Planet, Profit\u201d embodies the commonly agreed upon themes of sustainability, which include ensuring a healthy environment, improving economic prosperity, and implementing social justice initiatives that ensure the well-being and quality of life for current and future generations.<\/p>\n

Companies struggle to determine what role they play in advancing and addressing social and global challenges while enhancing their brand, ensuring consumer loyalty, and expanding their market share. Many companies evaluate and refine their efforts for engaged brand activism, particularly through marketing, which they balance with efforts to implement higher standards for suppliers, improve equality among workers, and keep pricing competitive \u2013 falling in line with the general categories of most corporate social responsibility efforts: 1) environmental efforts; 2) philanthropy; 3) ethical labor practices; and 4) volunteering.<\/p>\n

The \u201cArms Race\u201d of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For many companies, particularly in hospitality, corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting has emerged as a key business approach to articulate the benefits to the company\u2019s stakeholders through strategic initiatives.\u00a0 According to the Governance and Accountability Institute, sustainability reporting by S&P 500 companies increased from 19% in 2011 to 85% in 2017.[i]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Companies now appreciate the marketing value of CSR reporting, particularly as a mechanism to attract and retain customers. Increased societal pressure for greater regulation and transparency, coupled with research showing that consumers demonstrate a preference toward companies they perceive are more responsible, have resulted in a new \u201carms race\u201d with companies are making operational decisions that are more tightly linked to ethical values, environmental stewardship, and respect for the human equity.\u00a0 They want to ensure those efforts are known to their stockholders, investors, and the public.<\/p>\n

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While many CSR disclosures are currently voluntary in the United States, there are increasing requirements mandated by various statutes.\u00a0 Such mandates, commonplace in the European Union, are increasingly required in the United States.\u00a0 In particular, there is growing market demand for a more responsible and transparent corporate supply chain.\u00a0 Current statutory requirements range from the Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases rule for large emitters of greenhouse gases to the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act of 2010 to ensure that large retailers and manufacturers provide consumers with information regarding their efforts to eradicate slavery and human trafficking from their supply chains.[ii]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which impacted virtually every part of the US financial services industry also includes provisions for certain reporting on their exercise of due diligence in the source and chain of custody of certain minerals that are associated with armed conflicts in and around the Democratic Republic of the Congo, minerals that are associated with the manufacturing of devices such as cell phones, computers, and digital cameras.[iii]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 Most recently, the European Union\u2019s sweeping Global Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) went into effect May 25, 2018. Intended to give EU citizens greater control of their own, widely-define personal data, GDPR has far reaching implications for any company doing business with citizens of the EU.\u00a0 For the hospitality industry, new processes are required to be implemented to protect things like IP addresses and cookie data, similar to the protections currently provided to ensure privacy for addresses and social security numbers. In the three months prior to GDPR going into effect, it was estimated that 79% of companies were unprepared.[iv]<\/span><\/a>\u00a0 The mandatory disclosure landscape is changing fast, and hospitality is challenged to keep up.<\/p>\n

Not All Changes Are Mandated<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As consumers are holding corporations accountable for effecting social change in their business practices and beliefs, ultimately impacting the bottom line, companies refine their sustainability initiatives as a result of public advocacy, stockholder proposals, or consumer feedback. A 2017 study by Cone Communications illustrated some key elements, including:[v]<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n