In 2008, E2 ManageTech (E2) conducted a benchmark study for Current Practices and Tools for Sustainability. The 2008 survey indicated that the majority of participants had not reached the “tipping point” in their sustainability program defined as implementing some type of corporate Sustainability Managing Information System (SIMS). It was forecasted at that time that a surge would be seen in SIMS (similar to what occurred with Environmental Management Information System (EMIS) in the late 1990’s) as companies realize that they can streamline their collection, manipulation and reporting of sustainability data to save time and money. In 2013, E2 conducted an updated version of the 2008 survey, analyzing comparative results from several industries in Corporate America, specifically the petroleum/oil & gas industry. While the predicted “surge” did not occur, the 2013 survey did reveal an increase in SIMS usage; and the challenges of implementing a SIMS have taken on a nuance. Prior to initiating this survey, we had fully anticipated more widespread deployment of SIMS. However, it appears that a lack of clarity and standards surrounding metric definition and a desire for indicative metrics may be what is holding back many companies. Malcom Gladwell’s book Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking discusses the ability of scientists to predict with 95% accuracy which marriages will end in divorce over a 15-year period by analyzing during a 1-hour period the sequence of emotional interactions between a husband and wife. The emotions analyzed cover the full range from disgust, contempt, defensiveness, and criticism amongst others. In simplest terms, the greater the occurrence of these negative emotions, the greater probability of divorce. Additionally, the greater the occurrence of contempt specifically, the higher the correlation to divorce. Scientists in Gladwell’s book were able to dissect with uncanny accuracy the leading indicators that would predict whether a new marriage ended in a divorce or not.
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