How does product responsibility connect with scope thinking? Infine founder Tiina Saukko explains in her blog series, highlighting both the cornerstones and pitfalls of corporate responsibility.
Responsibility Scope 1: A Company’s Own Operations
Responsibility touches all aspects of business activities. Leadership, HR, and company culture all significantly impact whether responsibility is ingrained in a company’s DNA. There are measurable aspects of responsibility, but, as of now, only CO2 emissions have uniform practices. Measuring responsibility will likely expand in the future, with new practices added.
Currently, many things are mixed up, such as responsibility (sustainability) and impact. In business management, a critical decision involves comparability — what challenge or phenomenon is being dealt with? Initial assessments and strategies on responsibility should focus on challenges or opportunities. A prime example of this is the extensive effort by fossil fuel companies to brand themselves as responsible and find alternative energy sources.
Responsibility Scope 2: What the Company Purchases
This aspect of responsibility is influenced by purchasing decisions: procurement and its indirect impacts (including waste management within procurement). New and existing contracts should continuously be guided toward greater responsibility. If your company lacks responsibility criteria in procurement guidelines or has insufficient subcontractor instructions, reach out to me. If your needs are not related to Infine’s core expertise in product responsibility, I can recommend good colleagues from the field.
Responsibility Scope 3: Product Life Cycle
The key aspect to remember about this scope is extending a product’s life. This includes more challenging elements to evaluate, such as timeless design. Of course, at the end of the product life cycle, attention should be paid to proper recycling and overall recyclability. In the case of fast-moving products and food, significant acts of responsibility cannot be made at this stage — it is determined by production and raw materials.
From a financial sustainability perspective, pricing and marketing considerations are also essential. I’ll return to those later, as they are a large topic. Companies that can move in sync with consumers — or slightly ahead — on a sustainability-branded journey are likely to win the competition. However, pricing and the customer promise must align with a new world still emerging.
Scope Thinking in Responsibility
Finally, it’s essential to note that I used scope thinking here in a slightly new way. The concept of scopes was initially launched by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG), which set the rules for calculating and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from businesses. The protocol has been developed since 1998 in collaboration with NGOs, companies, and governments. Guidelines for calculating and reporting emission reductions are also on the way. Most companies calculating and reporting carbon footprints use the GHG standard, including us.
Below is an image that explains the different scopes familiar from CO2 calculations. They are used to define the direct and indirect impacts of a reporting company. In addition to climate impacts, scope thinking can also be applied to environmental and social assessments. Examining these scopes is fundamental in product life cycle thinking.
Tiina Saukko
The author is the founder and CEO of Infine and has worked for over 20 years in the fields of product responsibility, responsibility marketing, and corporate responsibility.
