Strategy discourse and strategy's role in social responsibility Essay

Strategy discourse and strategy's role in social responsibility and sustainability - Essay Example The plan consists of sustainable procurement, reducing environmental impact stemming from the company’s business model, reducing waste, recycling and curbing over-consumption of energy; as well as reduction of the firm’s carbon footprint. Having defined the Sustainable Living Plan by Unilever, Polman did an excellent job of using discourse, this being narrative and storytelling, to ensure successful implementation of these objectives. Polman opened discourse with influential members of the Consumer Goods Forum to agree to abide by practices related to sustainable palm oil production, an issue that had deforested many regions. The company is also trying to change behaviours of millions of consumers worldwide, getting them to abide by being more proactive in water consumption by taking shorter showers. The Sustainable Living Plan will not be effective without contributions by vendors, competitors and even consumer markets, something that requires discourse and narrative to achieve effectively. Storytelling is an excellent forum for sharing norms and values that have been built from an organisation’s past experiences and also describe a desirable future. It is through this discourse that leadership is developed and provides opportunities to provide a compelling vision (Buckler and Zien 1996). It is through shared stories and narratives that understanding and organisational dedication is created, familiarising individuals with dominant and compelling narratives and anecdotes that assist in gaining commitment by others to adopt the norms and values described in such stories. Storytelling is also recognised as being a predictor of trust development in relationships. Such discourse provides opportunities for the storyteller to indicate his or her competencies and level of commitment toward a particular value or objective. The process of revealing personal narratives and