Jump to navigation
  • News Feed
  • Services
    • 3BL Professional
    • Sponsored Series
    • 3BL CSRwire
    • ReportAlert
    • Green Bond Alert
    • Special Announcement
    • Custom Webcasts
  • Community
    • TriplePundit
    • 3BL Forum
    • CEO of the Year Awards
    • 100 Best Corporate Citizens
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Search
  • News Feed
  • Services
    • 3BL Professional
    • Sponsored Series
    • 3BL CSRwire
    • ReportAlert
    • Green Bond Alert
    • Special Announcement
    • Custom Webcasts
  • Community
    • TriplePundit
    • 3BL Forum
    • CEO of the Year Awards
    • 100 Best Corporate Citizens
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Search

Search form

Header Nav

  • Login

John Friedman's blog

John Friedman

 

John Friedman, an award-winning communications professional and recognized sustainability expert with more than 20 years of experience, is co-founder and vice chair of the board for the Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SBNOW). 

Friedman has served as both an external and internal sustainability leader, helping companies, ranging from small companies to leading global enterprises, turn their values into successful business models by integrating their environmental, social, and economic aspirations into their cultures and business practices. 

His insights on sustainability issues and strategy are a regular feature on Huffington Post.

Friedman authored the e-publication The New PR which outlines how companies must modify the way they communicate to meet stakeholders' changing expectations through five proven keys for developing programs that replace "spin" with transparency and unlock the full potential of a sustainability program to build reputational capital. Friedman is currently working on a new book Your Backyard Is My Front Yard.

He can be reached at johnf@sbnow.org, is @JohnFriedman on Twitter and can be connected on LinkedIn and Facebook. 

The Time is Right Now

Conclusion of the series "The New PR"

Many including this author, believe that forward-thinking companies will integrate sustainability goals into their business models and will use their visions of sustainability to help define revenue-generating strategies. Certainly the recent implosion of financial markets around the world offers a clear and disturbing picture of what happens when people lose faith in the long-term viability of businesses and business models.

As...

  • Read more about The Time is Right Now

The Complicating Factors

Part 12 in the series "The New PR"

Lack of Consensus on Standards

Globally there is no consensus on what social responsibility is, or how it can be defined across cultures and nationalities. For example, there are those that believe that the obligation exists to give back once a certain level of financial success has been attained. Others believe that true social responsibility is a pathway to success. In the US, a...

  • Read more about The Complicating Factors

The Forces Encouraging Sustainability as a Business Model

Part 11 in the series "The New PR"

Globalization

One hundred years after the first powered flight, the oceans are no longer impenetrable barriers that keep people, ideas and information apart. 

Today people travel more than ever before, and corporations often outsource products and send workers to new locales. This leads to exposure of both companies and individuals to differing practices and societal norms. This...

  • Read more about The Forces Encouraging Sustainability as a Business Model

Business Benefits of Sustainability

Part 10 in the series "The New PR"

For anyone to accept the premise that social responsibility is a business strategy, we must be able to define and quantify the business benefits that can be derived from adopting this model. This is so that success can be measured, just as with any business strategy. ...

  • Read more about Business Benefits of Sustainability

Sustainability as a Business Strategy

Part 9 in the series "The New PR"

In addition to the obvious impacts on the environment, business is a powerful force for driving social as well as economic gains. This can be seen from the benefits that generations have come to take for granted in industrialized nations. For millions of people around the world, capitalism has been a force for economic and social advancement. People are living longer, healthier lives and enjoying the...

  • Read more about Sustainability as a Business Strategy

Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 5: Maximize Stakeholder Engagement

Part 8 in the series "The New PR"

Companies that have a genuine commitment to sustainability can implement their programs in ways that add value and clearly demonstrate their commitment.

Accurately Define and Identify Stakeholders

Many businesses take a marketing approach to customers – selecting to focus their efforts on the most profitable segments of their market. This is a sound business strategy that companies usually...

  • Read more about Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 5: Maximize Stakeholder Engagement

Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 4: Tangible, Local Benefits

Part 7 in the blog series The New PR

“All politics is local” – Tip O’Neil

With exceptions such as relief after the Indian Ocean tsunami and other disasters that draw international attention and concern, for the most part, people like to see the benefit of corporations in their own community. Impacts such as employment opportunities, contributions to tax revenues and bringing needed goods and services to the community are easily understood...

  • Read more about Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 4: Tangible, Local Benefits

Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 3: Employee Engagement and Empowerment

Part 6 in the blog series The New PR

Employees are closest to the community of stakeholders because they are community stakeholders with the unique perspective of knowing the needs of both the community and the company.

Recently I attended a conference on social media. One presenter offered up the notion that companies are no longer able to control their ‘brand’ or image using the example of a recent YouTube video ‘...

  • Read more about Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 3: Employee Engagement and Empowerment

Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 2: Integrate Sustainability into Day-to-Day Operations

Part 5 in the blog series The New PR

From a Vision to a Culture (building an internal constituency)

For sustainability to be integrated into a business model, it must be compatible not just on the theoretical level, but also practically on a day-to-day basis. Asking people to engage in behavior that is seen as incompatible with their regular duties is a recipe for failure. For this reason, the human...

  • Read more about Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 2: Integrate Sustainability into Day-to-Day Operations

Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 1: Alignment with your Core Business Model

Part 4 in the blog series The New PR

Successful businesses are adept at determining market changes, trends and expectations. They cannot be in such a rush to embrace the “new” trend that they abandon their fundamental and core purposes.

For any program to be valuable to a business, it must further the goals of that company. Businesses must therefore be prudent when it comes to sustainability efforts, and not rush headlong into activities or partnerships that are not aligned with...

  • Read more about Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program - Key 1: Alignment with your Core Business Model

Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program

Part 3 in the blog series The New PR

The measure of success is not how well your business model supports sustainability objectives but rather how well your sustainability efforts support – and define - your business model.

The five “keys” that I have developed over the last fifteen years and have been teaching for about a decade are those elements that I believe are necessary to build a unlock the full potential of...

  • Read more about Five “Keys” to Unlock a Successful Sustainability Program

Evolution becomes Revolution: The Changing Role of Professional Communicators and ‘The New PR’

Part 2 in the blog series The New PR

The changing information needs of both stakeholders and companies are redefining the role of corporate communications departments and professionals including community, investor, government, and employee relations. Companies are recognizing that increasingly savvy – some would say cynical – audiences are becoming more and more discerning about messages that corporations are sharing.

Using the internet as simply another...

  • Read more about Evolution becomes Revolution: The Changing Role of Professional Communicators and ‘The New PR’

The Connection Between Sustainability and Communications: An Introduction

Part 1 in the blog series The New PR

The role of communications professional has dramatically and irrevocably changed in recently years. The instant-information age has not only changed the ways in which information is shared, it has exponentially increased the amount of information that people both need and receive.  In media relations the news cycle has expanded to 24 hours; and the increasing prevalence and importance of non-traditional social media (and the increasing influence of bloggers...

  • Read more about The Connection Between Sustainability and Communications: An Introduction

A Lesson in Ethics From the Olympic Games

We each have our own favorite memories from the Olympic Games -- whether it be Jessie Owens demonstrating the absurdity of Adolf Hitler's racist notions, gymnast Nadia Comaneci's perfect "10"s, Kerri Strugg's valiant vault on a sprained ankle to win gold or Michael Phelps' eight gold medals. This summer the world can once again look forward to breathtaking athleticism and triumphant and emotional moments that can only come from the collective shared global experience that are the ...

  • Read more about A Lesson in Ethics From the Olympic Games

Philanthropy Mindset Hampers Sustainability Efforts

Are we so busy helping others to build their sustainability (environmental, social and economic) pillars that we're neglecting our own personal ones?

It is no secret -- in fact many take pride in knowing -- that altruistic endeavors traditionally pay less. Those working for not-for-profits accept that part of their income is psychological. However, the sustainability concept is not based on one of philanthropy....

  • Read more about Philanthropy Mindset Hampers Sustainability Efforts

Sustainability Marketing Needs 'Here's How' Not 'Just Say No'

Telling customers what they can't have will send them elsewhere. Earn their trust and educate them to promote sustainable purchasing.

In the 1980s, the ...

  • Read more about Sustainability Marketing Needs 'Here's How' Not 'Just Say No'

Stakeholder Relationships: Key to a Sustainable Enterprise

 

Most companies envy the passionate loyalty that Apple customers have for their products, the dedication that Southwest Airlines employees demonstrate without understanding that effectively managing their stakeholder relationships is the key to earning these benefits. Employee engagement and customer loyalty are intangible (non-physical) assets that contribute more to the value of a company than the physical 'things' it owns....

  • Read more about Stakeholder Relationships: Key to a Sustainable Enterprise

Are You Being a 'Muppet'?

 

The most famous Muppet of all, Kermit the frog, famously stated, "It's not easy being green." Turns out, it's not easy as being an empowered investor either.

...
  • Read more about Are You Being a 'Muppet'?

The Role of Business in a Global Society: Progress or Protect?

The concept of 'The Butterfly Effect' explains that even small actions can have far reaching and unintended consequences. This presents a unique problem for businesses operating in a global context because any business working across cultures must face the fact that -- no matter how they conduct their business -- they are going to have some impacts that will cause some stakeholder to question their actions.

To be sure, global standards such as...

  • Read more about The Role of Business in a Global Society: Progress or Protect?

Climate Change: Good for Business?

While some see the threat of climate change as pitting the needs of the planet against those of progress and business, some brave entrepreneurs will seize the opportunity that efforts to build a more sustainable future will create.

Even those who question the scientific consensus around global warming may quickly find themselves on the wrong side of history -- arguing in favor of pollution because, in addition to water vapor, combustion exhaust includes large amounts of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. It also contains carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, ozone and...

  • Read more about Climate Change: Good for Business?
Subscribe to RSS - John Friedman's blog

CSR Bloggers

Alice Korngold - Korngold Consulting

Andrea Learned - Learned On

Benjamin Comer - Pharma Executive

Beth Bengston - Hale Advisors

Celesa Horvath - Making Sense of Responsibility

Chris Jarvis - Realized Worth

David Chase - Forbes

David Connor - Coethica

David Williams - Health Business Blog

Dorothy Davis - All Energy All the Time

Dr. Scott M. Shemwell - Governing Energy

Elaine Cohen - CSR Reporting

Future 500

James Epstein-Reeves - Citizen Polity

Joe Waters - Selfish Giving

Julie Urlaub - Taiga Company

Kate Olsen - Companies for Good

Marc Gunther - Green Biz

Marcy Murninghan - Murninghan Post

Matthew Rochte - Opportunity Sustainability

Maxwell Drommond International - Human Capital: A Global Perspective

Megan Strand - Cause Marketing Forum

Monika Mitchell - Good-B

Paul Klein - Forbes

Stephen Heiser - Nuclear Knowledge

Tracy Lloyd - Emotive Brand

Wayne Visser - CSR International

Will Henley - Responsibility Inc.

© 3BL MEDIA, LLC

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Site Map
3BL Media, LLC
136 West St Ste 104
Northampton, MA 01060
  • Contact Us
  • About Us

Find Us on Social

Latest from Leading Brands

  • 3BL Professional
  • 3BL CSRwire
  • 3BL ReportAlert

Editorial & Leadership

  • TriplePundit
  • 3BL Forum
  • 100 Best Corporate Citizens