2008 Headlines
Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise Partners with Filene Research Institute
New report on sustainability and credit unions suggests going "back to the future"
May 28, 2008 | Ithaca, NY | The Johnson School at Cornell University today announced the culmination of a year-long project with Filene Research Institute to develop a new report on sustainability for credit unions, entitled "Back to the Future: Integrating Sustainability into Credit Union Strategy" written by Dr. Stuart Hart, Samuel C. Johnson Chair in Sustainable Global Enterprise and Professor of Management, and Monica Touesnard, Director of the Base of the Pyramid Learning Lab at Cornell University's Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise.
Rather than competing directly with banks, Hart and Touesnard conclude it makes more sense for credit unions to go "back to the future" by using their unique historical and organizational characteristics (e.g., tax- exempt status, cooperative ownership, community lending, and focus on the underserved) to offer a set of products and services that differentiate them from banks and other financial services providers. The broad domain of "sustainability" offers such a landscape of opportunity.
Current strategies to minimize waste and emissions from operations, for example, might include green building initiatives and paperless services such as bill pay and online banking. Product stewardship strategies designed to integrate stakeholder views into business processes might include sustainability reporting initiatives and in-house sustainability consulting services.
For the future, clean technology provides the possibility to develop competencies such as financing green products and investment in clean technologies. Sustainability strategies also hold potential to create a shared road map for meeting unmet needs, such as REAL Solutions products and services.
"The opportunities identified in this report suggest that financial institutions are just beginning to experiment with programs and initiatives related to sustainability," says George Hofheimer, Filene's chief research officer. "As a result, we have yet to realize the challenges and opportunities implicit in sustainability strategies."
This report gives credit unions a reliable working definition of sustainability by one of the world's leading experts on the subject, providing a variety of models to consider for integrating sustainability into credit union strategic plans.
Download a copy of Back to the Future: Integrating Sustainability into Credit Union Strategy or visit the Filene Institute at http://filene.org/home .
About the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise
Founded in 2004, the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise is dedicated to building the next-generation management practices that enable growth and innovation strategies which address the world's environmental and social problems. The Center's focus on innovation and enterprise development guides its work with companies around the world to effectively identify, understand, and pursue competitive opportunities that solve those problems. For more about the Center please visit: http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/sge/ .
About Filene Research Institute
The Filene Research Institute is dedicated to scientific and thoughtful analysis about issues affecting the future of consumer finance and credit unions. Through Filene, leading scholars and consultants analyze managerial problems, public policy questions, and consumer needs for the benefit of the credit union movement. Visit the Filene Institute at http://filene.org/home .
