By Business Daily
In 2019, I conducted a survey to understand the state of environmental sustainability in corporate Kenya.
The survey conducted in May and June through random sampling involved 852 firms. The general trend that emerged is that more firms are increasingly becoming conscious of how operations, consumption and production are impacting the environment.
And even more, are exploring avenues for improvement as company boards and managers become more environmentally conscious amid growing calls for accountability in light of climate change.
Interesting takeaways surfaced from the survey.
To begin with, companies with one or more women on their boards or in top management tended to perform a lot better in the environmental management side of their business. It’s a no-brainer that gender diversity in the composition of the board plays a big role in promoting sustainability practices, beyond strengthening a firm’s business case.Along the gender diversity line, the study revealed yet another finding, a less glamorous one.
The longer the female executives sat on company boards and held corporate leadership, the less their advocacy became for sustainable business practices. With time, they progressively showed apathy to environmental concerns, among other sustainability concerns.
It was almost as if the hand of time moulded women executives into a profit-first mindset, traditionally associated with their male counterparts.
Another glaring finding is that home-grown businesses are still playing catch-up with foreign-owned companies in observing eco-friendly practices. Overall, firms with any form of foreign influence and exposure had a lot more far-reaching, progressive programmes around environmental management than local ones. Read more>>
