MachteldOoijens,September2015

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Storytellingasaddedvalueinmessagingtruesustainabilitystories

“ Tell me a fact, and I’ll learn. Tell me a truth, and I’ll believe. Tell me a story, and I will live it in my heart forever”. – Indian proverb (From: Mayhew & Wood)

MachteldOoijens,Studentnr:41345409

ESAA-ErasmusUniversityRotterdam

Supervisor:Dr.KarenMaas

September2015

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Tableofcontent

Introduction 5

PartI:Researchmethodology 10

PartII:Tellingstoriesas“new”phenomena 12

1. Thewhatandwhyofstorytelling 12

o Whatisstorytelling?

o Whysharingstories?

2. Threekindsofstoriescompaniestell 13

o Corporatestorytelling

o Organizationalstorytelling

o Productstorytelling

PartIII:Storytelling&sustainabilityasawaytobuildtrustwithconsumers 19

1. Tensionbetweenmarketingandsustainability 19

2. Reachingouttoconsumersandaddressingthegrowingdemandfortransparency 21

3. Howtocommunicateyourstory? 25

PartIV–StoriesforImpactmeasurement 35

1. Thewhatandwhyofimpactmeasurement 36

o Whatisimpact?

o Whymeasuringimpact?

2. Whatandhowtomeasure? 37

o Whattomeasure?

o Howtomeasure?

3. Thecomplexityofimpactmeasurementandevaluation 40

4. Qualitativestorytellingrelatedinstruments 43

a)MostSignificantChange

b)Sensemaker

c)Learninghistories

PartV–Summaryandconclusions 51

Literatureoverview 58

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Listofabbreviations 62

Annexes: 64

I. Listofinterviewees 64II. Examplesofstorytellingbusinesses 66III. Qualitativeapproachestoimpactevaluationforpotentialusebyprivatesector 73IV. Quantitativeinstrumentsformeasuring/evaluatingimpact 77

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Introduction

Already as a child I was inspired by stories frommy surroundings. Life stories thatmake such animpressionthatyoudonotforgetthem,noteven inyour later life.Asculturalanthropologist (andlater also as economist), I applied participatory observation asmethod duringmy field studies inCostaRicaandHondurasandrecordedmanyamazingstories.Thesestoriesaboutentrepreneurship,wisdomand strength convincedme towant to contribute to aworldwithout injustice. The trips Imadetomanypartsoftheworldalsorevealedhowstoriesinspire,motivate,andputindividualsandorganizationsintoaction.AndasmanageratICCO,itwascleartomethatstorieshaveabridgingandbondingforce,strengthenenthusiasmandthatgoodandtransparentcommunicationcansupportanorganizationintransitionwhilecontinuingtoachieveteamresults.

In recentyears, Ihavebeenmoreengagedwith theworldwidesustainabilityagenda. I started theESAA program in Rotterdam to get a more in-depth understanding of latest developments andtheoriesandlearnaboutavarietyoftopicsrelatedtosustainability/CorporateSocialResponsibility(CSR), especially from a business perspective. Several guest speakers of this university programpointedout thewayscompaniessearch fornewapproachestocommunicatetotheirstakeholdersabout their strategies and impact achieved. Storytelling popped-up again, but now in a differentsetting.Givenmyownbackground,thisinparticularfascinatedme.

I saw an interconnection in the following five observations and leading to the next personalquestions:

Sustainabilityisontheglobalagenda

Worldwide,moreandmorecompanies (thecorporates,SmallMediumEnterprises,aswellasnewstart ups that construct completely new businessmodels based on new principles) seem to haveambitiontoworkinamoresustainableway.Theyareseriouslythinkingandtalking(notalwaysyetput intopractice)aboutchainmanagement,energy savings, fair sharing, sustainableprocurement,and/ordecentworkingconditionsontheworkfloor.ThenumberofcompanieswithaCSRstrategyisincreasing and even an integrated sustainability agenda is gaining attention (though in somecountriesmorethaninothers).Nowadaysmorethan250oftheFortune500companiespublishedasustainability report.1 More than 8000 companies are related to Global Compact, by which theypromise to act according to the principles of global good citizenship (human rights, labor norms,corruption,environmentalprotection).Thereisgrowingmarketforsustainableinvestments.

Underlyingmotivationsvary.SomecompaniesareconvincedCSR/sustainabilityisalucrativemarket(employeessatisfactionandloyalty,costreduction,competitiveadvantages).OftenthesecompaniesareleadbyavisionaryCEO,withastrongbelieveintransformationalleadershipandanambitiontocreateimpactandsharedvalue.Otherswanttoprotecttheirbrandreputationoracttomanagerisksvis-a-vis shareholders and investors. Some feel societal pressure (from consumers, UN principles,governmentalregulation)tomakesuretheircompaniesseriouslyinvestinsustainability.

AtsustainabilityconferencesIattendedoverthepasttwoyears,veryoftenthesamestoriesofDutchmultinationals, ranking high on the sustainability index, were told (DSM, Akzo, Unilever, KLM). Inotherevents I learned interestingexamplesof smaller companies creatingvalueonPeople,Planetand Profit. CSR-Netherlands (MVO NL) for example facilitates gatherings of Small MediumEnterprises (SMEs) to share their sustainability practices. And the younger start-ups meet in forexampletheImpact-hub,B-Corpcommunityevents,orSocialEnterpriseNL.Nevertheless,Ifoundit

1Source:WhartonSchooloftheUniversityofPennsylvania2012.

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remarkable that so often the same examples cameback. Iwondered if thereweren’tmanymorecompanies with great sustainability ambitions and strategies, which apparently are not yetcommunicatedsoprominently.

Moreconsciousconsumers

Another trend is that of the more and more critical stakeholders. Companies are challenged toensure credible and coherent communicationwith awider rangeof stakeholders,more than everbefore.Thisprocessisfastenedbytechnologicaldevelopmentsthatfacilitateaccesstoinformation.Oneofthecompanystrategiesnowincreasinglydeployedistobondwithstakeholdersthroughthelineofsustainability.However,theconsumerhaslessconfidenceinwhatcompaniessayanddo,andsearchesfortheauthentic,crediblestory,whichitcanandwantstoconnectwith.Thistriggeredmycuriosity:doesagood, truestoryprovideanaddedor thevalue toengageconsumers, inspireandconvincethemofthesustainabilityintentionsasacompany?

Addressingthegrowingdemandfortransparency

Furthermore,thereseemsagrowingdemandfromstakeholdersforgreatercorporatetransparency,whichseemsan irreversible force. In lengthyreports, factsandfiguresarepresentedbyagrowingnumberof (especially larger) companies,decoratedwith infographics,photos,andhyperlinks. Formanyreasonsthisisvaluable.However,whoreadsthesereportsanddotheyofferwhatthereceiveris looking for. To build trust good and sufficient, transparent (product) information (on pack,certifications) is needed. Given the fact that consumers are not always convinced yet, I found itinteresting to know if storytelling according to businesses could possibly move consumers intoaction.

Impact

Something else I noticed during the last few years is that in themany conferences andmeetingsorganized around sustainability theword Impact is easily used bymany. Companies express greatambitionsregardingtheexpectedimpacttheywanttoachieve.Realchangeagentsintrinsicallywanttodemonstratetheimpactoftheirworktostaff,funders,clients,otherstakeholdersandthegeneralpublic.Andthesegroupsnowadaysalsoexpectacompanytohavegoodunderstandingofthesocialandecologicalimpactcompaniesareachievingthroughtheirbusinessstrategy.

Givenmyownbackgroundinthedevelopmentcooperationsector,wherediscussionsonoutcomesand impact are conducted frequently, impact is a familiar concept. I am aware of how incrediblycomplexmeasurementofimpactis.SoIwascuriousaboutthewaybusinessesmeasuretheirimpact,whatinstrumentstheyuseandthewayinwhichtheimpactfoundissubsequentlycommunicatedtothestakeholderstomakesuretheirstoriesaresubstantiatedwithevidenceand/orlessonslearned.

Hypotheses

Allinall,thinkingaboutalltheseobservations,Iwonderedhowcompaniescouldleveragethevalueofstorytelling.This leadto the followingresearchquestion:doesstorytellinghaveaddedvalue forcompaniesworkingonsustainability, togetabetterunderstandingof the impactachieved in theirvaluechainandtocommunicatetheirstoryinamorecoherentwaytotheirclients.

Myfiveworkinghypotheseswere:

1. Storytellingisaneffectiveinstrumenttocommunicate,toengage,toshare,andcapitalizeontheknowledgeof individualswithina companyand/orvaluechain.ThishypothesiswillbeaddressedinPartII.

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2. Storytelling has added value for companies, large and small, to reach the stakeholders(especially B2B, B2C), informing and involving them enough so that they eventually feelrelatedtotheofferedproductorservice.Forthisitisessentialtohaveanauthenticandtruestory.Astorythatexplainsthedotonthehorizonofacompany,thewhybehindamission,values and the results it aims to achieve and has already achieved. This story is not onlyaboutsuccesses,butalsothedilemmas,thestruggles,andhowitdealswiththese.PartIIwillalsocomebacktothishypothesis.

3. Anauthentic,truestoryconsistsofthreestronglyconnectedmutuallyreinforcingstories:theorganizational,corporateandproductcommunication.Externalandinternalcommunication,viaowned,earnedandpaidmedia,shouldberelevant,coherent,consistentandtransparent.PartIIIaddressesthishypothesis.

4. Toensure that a company canbring true and authentic stories, there needs to be a goodunderstandingofthecompanyandthevaluechains,inwhatishappeningandwhatimpactisrealized at all levels of the chains. Impact measurement and evaluation are therefore ofinterest. Quantitativemethodologies are often applied to collect data formonitoring andevaluation. Collecting stories of people in the value chains can, in my view, improves acompany’sand itsstakeholders’understandingofwhat ishappening inthechainandwhatkindofimpactisachieved.ThiswillbeaddressedinPartIV,includingthepossibilitiesfortheuseofstoriesfromthevaluechaintoevaluateimpact.

5. MyassumptionwasthatmyhypothesiswouldalsocountforemergingeconomiesasBrazil,Kenya, India, South Africa and Colombia. For this reason, part of this research was alsoimplementedinColombia.ThisreportwillincludefindingsfromresearchinColombia.

Thehypothesesarevisualizedinthefollowingself-designedpicture:

©Allrightspreserved.M.Ooijens2015

Thispicturewill comeback in thevariouspartsof this report. In thecenter,yousee thecompanywithitsCorporate(C),Organizational(O)andProduct(P)stories(partII),whichideallyisacoherentwhole.Thecompanyaims tocommunicate-viavariouschannelsand forms- to its stakeholdersontheright,somemoreimportantthanothers.Inthisreportemphasisisplacedonthecommunicationtoconsumers(partIII).Ontheleftcenteryoufindthecompany’svaluechain,withallitslayers.Thisiswhere impact shouldbeachieved (part IV).This impact shoulddetermine thecompany’s storiesandthekindofcommunicationtotheconsumers.

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Someguidancetoreadthisreport

Thisreporthasbeendividedintofiveparts.

• Thefirstpartofthispaperisconcernedwiththemethodologyusedforthisstudy.

Thesectionshereafteraimtoaddresstheabove-mentionedhypotheses.

• In the second part, I try to give the readermore insight into the concept of storytelling, andrelatethis tothe increasinglymore importantagendaofsustainability.Basedon literatureandinternet-search,Ifirstsummarizethecharacteristicsofstorytelling,andthereasonsforapplyingit.Giventhedifferent interpretationsandapplicationsofstorytelling, thenotionsofcorporate,organizationalandproductstoriesareexplained.

• To focus, in the third part, I concentrate on the consumer, as very important stakeholder acompany has to take into consideration. I will come back to the question if storytelling addsvalueforcompaniestorelatemorestronglytoitsconsumer.Inthispartthewaystoriescanbetransmitted is presented. In particular, insight is given into the channels and the forms ofcommunications.

• In order to communicate on the sustainability impact achieved, it is crucial for companies tomonitor closely and evaluate what’s happening in the value chain. The story told externallyshouldreflecttheoutcomesofthisevaluativeprocess.Inthefourthpart,Idiveintotheworldofimpactmeasurement,inordertogetabetterunderstandingoftheterminologyanddiscussionstakingplace.Idescribehowimpactisusuallydefinedandforwhatreasonsmeasuringimpactisimportantforcompanies.Ialsoexplainwhatcompaniesmeasureandhowtheydothis(ornot),andwithwhatkindofinstruments.Alsothecomplexityofimpactmeasurementandevaluationisgiven attention. Given my assumption that recording stories might provide an interestingadditionalsourceofinformationinevaluatinginterventionsanddeterminingimpact,inthelatterpart of this chapter I focus on three qualitative research methods in which stories areprominently used. In annex III and IV some other research methods are presented for thoseinterestedtoreceiveabroaderrangeofinformation.

• Partfivesummarizesmyconclusionsbasedonthisresearch.

Acknowledgements

ThisresearchwasexecutedintheframeworkoftheESAAexecutivemanagementprogramonCSRinRotterdam.An expression of my most profound appreciation goes to all the people in Colombia and in TheNetherlandsthattooktimetofillinaquestionnaireortobeinterviewed,andsharetheirexperiencesand thoughts with me. It was very inspiring to meet people from different companies andorganizations, often in their workplace, and hear from them how they, within their sector, areengaged in the re-engineering of their business strategy. Andhow they turn their ideals into newmarketsandbusinessmodelsaimedatgainsforpeople,environmentandsociety.Yourstorieswereawonderfulsourceofknowledgeandinspiration!

TheorganizationofaseriesoflecturesonstorytellingandsustainabilitythroughtheImpactAcademycame tome at just the rightmoment. Thanks LarsMoratis for this initiative and for inviting veryinterestingguestspeakers.IwouldalsoliketothankKarenMaasforherguidanceandpatienceinmyresearchprocess,fortheinterestingeducationmodulesshepreparedandhergreatcommitmenttotheprogram.

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LastbutnotleastIwouldliketothankICCOCooperationforgivingmethepossibilitytoinvestinmyownpersonaldevelopmentbyattendingtheCSRprogramatErasmusUniversity.Itwasanenrichinglearningexperience,inwhichIgotthechancetogettoknowenthusiasticbusinessprofessionals(myfellowstudents),guestspeakersandaveryfriendlyteamresponsiblefortheeducationprogram.

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PartI-ResearchmethodologyThis report presents the main findings and conclusions of my research on the added value ofstorytelling for enterprises working on sustainability in terms of their communication to theirstakeholders, in particular their consumers and themeasurement andevaluationof the impact oftheir sustainability strategies. In this report, the term sustainable development refers todevelopment that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of futuregenerationstomeettheirownneeds.Theresearchquestionandhypothesesaredescribedintheintroduction.TheresearchtargetgroupconsistedofcompaniesactiveonCSR/sustainability(socialentrepreneurs,companies).Focuswasoncompaniesinfast-moving-consumergoodbusiness(BusinesstoBusiness,BusinesstoConsumers).Iwantedamixtureofsocialenterprises,retailandbiggercompanies.ResearchwasexecutedinTheNetherlandsandtoaminorextentinColombia.ReasonforincludingColombia in this research had to do with the assumption that trends, as described in theintroduction, in emerging countries are similar to those in The Netherlands. Another reason toincludeColombiawasmypersonal fascination for thisemergingeconomy, fullof contradictions.Acountrywhereneweconomicopportunitiesontheonehandarebooming,whichisfullofinitiativesand networks that aim to deliver sustainable development, is rich in resources and attractive toforeign investorsandwheremoreandmore companies communicate to feel socially responsible.2On the other hand, a country that officially is still in conflict, has an extreme inequality, hugenumbers of displaced people, an unfair distribution of land and where human rights of union-activists,farmers,womenarefrequentlyabusedbybusinesses.Wherestoriesaboutambitionsandinnovations, as well as about the harsh reality are told.3 So part of the research was alsoimplementedinColombia.ThestudyranbetweenNovember2014andJune2015andwasexecutedinthreephases:• Inception phase (including the definition of the research scope, the sample and research

instruments),anddefiningafurtherfocus(November/January2014).• Implementationphase,including:

o Deskresearchtoreviewpolicydocuments,academicliterature,otherrelevantdatawithrespecttostorytelling,impactmeasurement,andsustainability,inordertogetagraspofthe issues that are at stake and to deepenmyunderstanding (November – June). Theliteratureoverviewonpage55presentsanoverviewofthedocumentsstudied.

o Execution of a semi-structured survey in TheNetherlands and in Colombia. This studycovered results from 100 respondents in The Netherlands and 10 in Colombia. Theoutcomeswereusedtoadaptandfurtherfinetunetheinsightsgatheredduringthedeskresearch phase and to add first and indicative appreciations of the results generatedthroughthesurveys.Theresultsofthissurvey,whereillustrative,arepresentedinabox.

o In-depthinterviewswithrepresentativesofseveralcompaniesandkeyresourcepersons

2More andmore is published about sustainability/ CSR in Colombia. All kinds of institutions andmedia (CECODES, GRIColombia, Global Compact Colombia, ANDI, RS, Semana Sostenible, Sistema B, etc.) promote the acceleration ofsustainabilitythinkingandacting.Thereisalsocriticism.InthebookResponsabilidadSocialEmpresarial(RSE),ClaudiaToca,JesusCarrilloandMerlinGrueso(EditorialAcadémicaEspañola�,2012)criticizethewayColombianenterprisesuseRSEforallkindsofstrategies,whiletherearestillmanycasesofnon-responsablesactsbyenterprises(thinkofthehumanrightsabuse,contaminationbyminingcompanies,taxreduction).3 Iwould like to refer to twoblogs IhavewrittenaboutColombia:http://www.icco.nl/Actueel/Blog/Blogitem/Article/de-twee-gezichten-van-colombia#.Vg1mASiQtyZ. As well as: http://www.icco.nl/Actueel/Blog/Blogitem/Article/extr-aaandacht-voor-ruggiebeginselen-in-ruraal-colombia#.Vg1mGiiQtyY

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in TheNetherlands and in Colombia (March - August). See annex I for an overview ofthesepeople.

! Staff of 11 companies in The Netherlands (open interviews): 8 business 2businesses,1socialenterprisesandoneretailer(seeannexIforanoverview).

! 11 representatives of agencies in Colombia (through semi-structured Skype-interviewsandviaemail).

! 8 interviewswithresourcespersons inthefieldofstorytelling,sustainabilityandimpactcommunication.

! 4interviewswithresourcepersonsinthefieldofmonitoringandevaluation.Inthisreport,examples/quotescomingfromtheseinterviewsarepresentedinitalics.

o Participation in a course on storytelling and sustainability, organized by the ImpactAcademy,whichwasawonderfulopportunitytogetmore insight instorytellingtrendsandfutureperspectives(November–January).

o Participation in a conference, organized by Wageningen University on Responsibleevaluation(March2015),aswellasonimpactmeasurementinavaluechain,organizedbyAvance(July2)

• Reportingphase(August-September)Theresearchmethodologywaselaboratedduringtheinceptionphase.Changestothismethodologyandplanningwerenecessary.Thesurvey-resultsdidnotprovidemetheinsightIwashopingfor.Ontheotherhand,theopeninterviews,attendedconferences,lecturesandliteraturestudyprovidedalotof interesting in-depth information toanswer the researchquestions. I amconvinced that thecombination of literature research, survey and interviews sustain the conclusion I present. I dohowevernotpretend topresenta thoroughacademicanalysisandsubstantiationof research.Theresearch remains rather anecdotal. After finalizing this report, I hope to continue my search formaterialanddiscussionwithexpertsinthefieldofstorytellingandimpactmeasurement.Thetopicassuchkeepsfascinatingme.

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PartII:Tellingstoriesasa“new”phenomenon

Doingbusinesstodayisquitedifferentthaninthepast.Businesses,largeandsmall,havenewissuesto contend with: greater expectations of their stakeholders, a societal demand for transparency,rising consumer power in the digital information age, environmental constraints, economicuncertainty in theaftermathof theglobal financial crisis, anew styleofmarketingand leadershipandnewbusinessmodels.Establishingconnections,competitivedifferentiation,agoodvibearoundabrandandaconvincingwayofdoinggoodbusinessaremoreimportantthaneverbefore.

Moreandmorecompaniesseemtoembracestorytellingasawaytocommunicateandinteractwiththeir internal and external stakeholders. Storytelling is an ideal means to communicate in aninspirational way about what a company, its people and products stand for. Stories possess thepowertoconvincecustomers,employeesandproviders,of“TheBigWhy”ofthecompany,andbepartofalargerwhole:amovement,anambition.

Inthispart,Iwillfirstexplainwhatstorytellingisabout,andwhycompaniestendtotelltheirstory.This is based on theory and interviews. I will clarify the difference between corporate (C),organizational(O)andproduct(P)storytelling,andhowtheseareinterrelated.

1.Thewhatandwhyofstorytelling

Whatisstorytelling?

Storiesarecenturiesold.Thereisstillalotofconfusionaboutwhatastoryisandwhatisn’t.Astorycanbeeverythingfroma140-charactertweet, toa longforminteractivenarrative, toa60secondvideo. Also the platform, the channel andmediummay differ. For this research the definition ofOlivier Serrat is used: “Storytelling is theuseof stories, of narratives as “a communication tool tovalue, share, and capitalize on the knowledge of individuals. It is the vivid description of ideas,beliefs, personal experiences, and life-lessons through stories or narratives that evoke powerfulemotionsandinsights.“4

Astoryisamedium.Tellingistheinteractiveprocessofmeaning,sharingofexperiences,transferringknowledgeandnegotiatingidentity(relatedtosustainabilityeg.).

Inliteratureandduringinterviews5afewcoreelementsforagoodstorycomebackstructurally:

• Agoodstoryisauthenticandtransparent.Ithasthepowertoexplain,engage,andmakesenseofinformationandbytellingthestoryasharedpurposeisfelt.

• Goodstoriesspeaktoourhead,bellyandheart.Theycreatesense,inspiretochange,takeactionandhelptoconnectpeopleandideas.Theyarethebestwaytomotivateandmobilizepeople.

• Apowerfulstoryhasabeginning,amiddleandending.Itiscompelling.Ithasasenseofrealism;theexperienceisalmostasreal,likeinanovel.Thecharacterofthestoryisaprotagonist.Thestoryarticulatesyourownvalues.Youevaluatetheprotagonistpositively.

• Agoodstoryhas thepowertotransport thenarrative,meaningyougetsucked intothestory,untilitinfluencesyourbehavior,judgmentandleadstopositivebrandattitude.

4Serrat2010.5InterviewswithrepresentativesofcompaniesinTheNetherlandsandinColombia.Seealsoliteratureoverview.

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Interviewees, for example the director andmarketingmanager of Peeze, alsomentionedmanyofthesecharacteristics:

Peeze:Passion,authenticityandquality

Peeze isanenvironmental-friendly refinery in thehigherechelons in thecoffeemarket.ThecompanyhasapassionforqualitycoffeeandwantstoremainfrontrunnerintermsofCSR.“Astory issomethingyouhaveto feel, there isaphilosophybehind.Listeningtoagoodstory,youfeeltheneedtoact,youfeelcommitment,passion,andapersonalconnection.”Astoryshouldbetransparent.Asacompany,youneedtodaretobevulnerable,listen,searchforaconnection,itmustbereal,andfeelasyourownstory.”Thedirectorandmarketingmanagerhave both personally visited Sri Lanka for their tea-line, and can speak from their ownexperience.“Wetellastorythatyoudonotgetfromabook.”

Whysharingstories?

In general, there are numerous reasons why peoplemake use of storytelling. These reasons alsoapplytocompanies:

• Tohandleuncertaintiesandtodealwithverystrongemotions,peopletell,inventandstructureimportantvalues. Religionaddresses suchuncertainties andprovides rules forhow tobehave.Storiesareanotherwaytomakeourlivesbearable.

• Stories provide us an identity. Stories help us understand theworld around us. They create arealitythatthelistenercanidentifyitselfwith.Telling,hearing,readingastorymakesusfeelthatwe should be there, it connects people, creates the attention that we need. In this waystorytellingcancontributetobrandidentityandbrandexperience.

• Stories help us retain information and facilitate learning processes. People learn best bycombining listening (10%), reading (20%)and seeing (70%). Storiesestablish linkages, relationsthatgivemeaningandclarifygoals.

• Theycanprovideahumanfacetodata.Storiescanconnectrationalitiesandemotion.• Storieslinkustooursenseofgenerosityandinfluencehowwedecide.Personalstorieshelpthe

client/consumer/readerrelatetoconceptsinawaythatnumbersandchartsoftendon’t.Theybring(sustainability)initiativestolife.

2.Threekindsofstoriescompaniestell

Storytellingforcompaniescanreferto:

• acorporate• organizationaland• productstory

Oftenstorytellingbycompaniesisacombinationofthese.

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Corporatestorytelling

Aimofacorporatestoryistopresentthemissionofacompany,itsvalues,itsstrategiccompassforthefutureandtobeastartingpointforallcommunicationtoitsstakeholdersinawaythatmotivatesthemtothinkoractfavorably.ItexplainstheBigWhyofthecompany,thereasoningbehindacompany’smissionandhowitcreatesvalue,nowandinthefuture.6

Storiescanhelpacompanytopresentwhoitis(asorganization/company);howitaimstoimpacthumanlifeandtowhatend;whyitshouldcare(now);whyitshoulddo;howdifferent it is; what it wants to be knownfor;whatdifferenceitismaking?

It provides a compass to navigate; a storythat is propagated everywhere, inside andoutside the organization. Corporate storiesusually contain little emotion, dilemmas,struggles and are often “wishful stories".7Theyformpartoftheformalorganization.

“In order to tell a better story, you need to be a better story”.

A condition for an effective corporate story is that the story is authentic, alive at all levels of thecompany. Leadership throughout the whole company at all levels is fundamental. And what ispreached should be common practicewithin the company.Most interviewees did underscore theimportanceofhavingaCEOthatfeelsthestorythroughoutitscapillariesinordertomakeitagoodbusiness story.PaulPolman,CEOofUnilever, is famous forhisambitiousand inspiring leadership,aimingUnilevertofullydecoupleitsgrowthfromanoverallenvironmentalfootprintandincreaseitspositive social impact through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Within the company there isroomforengagementandsharingofideas.RayAndersonwassuchaninfluentialleaderatInterface.Hisstorywaspowerful:

TheInterfaceCEO

It happened from one day to another in 1994 for self-made (now deceased) man RayAnderson:areversal.Hehadsingle-handedlysetupInterface,amanufacturerofcarpettileswith 3,500 employees in 110 countries and more than one billion dollars in annual sales.Interfacejusthadleftbehindadifficultperiod.Profitsweregoodagain.“Andthen,suddenly,Anderson decided that his company had to be 100 percent sustainable in 2020. No timidtargetofreducingitsenvironmentalimpactby20percentor30percent.No,ithadtobe100percent. Mission Zero was born: Our Promise is to eliminate any negative impact ourcompaniesmayhaveontheenvironmentbytheyear2020.“Thisambitiouscommongoalischallenging our people constantly to come up with good ideas and try them out.” Thecompany isnowontheworldwide listofworld’smostsustainablecompanies.And itseemslikeitiscompletingitsmission.

Corporatestorytellingisalsoawayofinformation-,knowledge-andvaluetransfer.Acorporatestorycanencouragecollaborativediscussions(astoryraisesyetanotherstory),dialogueandco-creationprocesseswithinanorganization.Thisstimulatesthecreationoforganizationalstories.

6Source:Sinek:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KV_BDIhRJY7Tesselaar&Scheringa2013:9.

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Organizationalstorytelling

Organizationalstoriescomefromtheinformalorganization.Theygiveinsightintotheheartandsouloftheorganization,inwhatisoftenconsideredaselusive,namelytheorganizationalculture.Thesestoriesconnecttheinformalandformalsideofacompany.

Aimofcompaniestomakeuseof theexistingorganizationalstories is tounderstandand interpretorganizationallifeintheirorganization,intheirvaluechains.Organizationalstoriesmightalsoservetheinternalorganizationalchange,learningandcommunicationprocesses.Theyhavethepowertobind,makechangevisiblewithinanorganization,engage,andgivemeaningtochange.Howthiscanworkout,wasexpressedinoneoftheinterviews:

StorytellingshouldbetellinganauthenticstorythatislivedthroughouttheorganizationPerfetti Van Melle is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors ofconfectionery and chewing gum. It employs around 19.000 people. It creates products andbrands(thinkofMentos,Fruitella,Klene,Frisk,Smint,ChupaChups,VanMelle,Look-O-LookandMentos Gum) that are consumed in over 150 countries. “Beautiful stories often comefromourownexperiences,theemotionofstafforactorsfromourvaluechains.Thesekindofstoriesconvince.”

Tospeedupand/orfacilitateanorganizationaltransition,afewcontributingfactorsareimportant:Having shared values and leadership; clear goals and a reporting and communication strategy;engagement(involvementofpeopleandtrulylisteningtothem);andstructure(decisionmaking).Itisclearthatinallofthesecomponents,tellingandsharingorganizationalstoriesisinstrumental.

Onregainingprideofthecompany

“SeveralyearsagoPerfettiVanMelle,afterabigreorganization,collectedstoriesinabook.Thiswasaveryexcitingprocess,andproducedastunningspecial imageofourcompany. Ithelpedallofusinthiscompanychangeprocessandmademefeelproudofthecompany.”

Organizational stories are spontaneous; they have a more informal character. Collectedsystematically they form a useful extra information channel, next to the existing managementinformation.

Productstorytelling

Thepurposeof investing inproductstorytelling is toseduceconsumerswithaconvincingmessageabout a product, its production, ingredients and the value chain. Aim is mainly to attract newcustomers,tobindexistingfansandincreasebrandawareness.

As indicated above, the underlying vision of an organization has become increasingly important,especially for an increasinggroupofmore critical customers.As SimonSinek says, "Peopledonotbuywhatyoudo,theybuywhyyoudoit."JustpraisingteafromSriLankaas"themostsustainabletea in The Netherlands' no longer works. Customers are more critical and no longer believeeverythingthatisclaimedinadvertising.

For customers’ loyalty, more and more companies opt for a complete brand experience, as youexperienceatPeeze.

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BrandexperiencewithPeeze

Storytelling at Peeze is part of their B2B customer engagement. At Peeze’s refinery, youencounter yourself in the delicious smell of coffee while being received in a special coffeeroomwithaperfectlymadecoffeebyabarista.Inthisroom,thefacesofthecoffeefarmersonthepacksofcoffeearewatchingyou.Everythingexudespassionforqualitycoffee,whichhasbeenestablishedinafairandsustainableway.

Abrandexperienceisnotonlyabouttheproduct,butalsoaboutacompany'svision.Havingagoodstoryasacompanyandcommunicatewell isthereforeawaytoconnectcustomerstoaproduct,abrandandawayofdoingbusiness.Customerswhorecognizethe(sustainability)visionofacompanyaremorelikelytousetheirproductsandservices,evenintimeswhenbusinessisgoinglesswell.

Entrepreneurs do their best to make their product stand out, and connect to the needs of thecustomer. Their story is often integrated in the product design: its uniqueness andhaving a greatideal.

ABeautifulStory

In 2012, the Social enterprise A Beautiful Story8 won inAmsterdam the most sustainable enterprise award. Thecompany sells fair trade, handmade jewelry from Nepal(withagrowthinproductscomingfromIndia).Thesocialentrepreneurhasastorytotellandtheproducts(jewelry)tellastory,atthesametimegivinganinsightintoothercultures.Thejewelryisnowcharacterizedbyasymbolofafingerprint,fromtheheart,aspiralofgrowth.Thisalignsperfectlywiththecorevaluesofthecompany:Connection,courage,compassion,andcreativity.

Recently,ABeautifulStoryhasseentheneed for thebusinessconcept toconstantlyadjust.“The factory in Nepalwas once the first reason to start; it would create jobs. Butwhy dopeoplebuyourproduct?People/consumersareoftenmostlytouchedbytheirownstory,theinspiration in themselves. A jewel is something very personal. You want to find the goodstories inanyperson.Therefore,ourstory is increasinglyaboutpeoplehereandthere.”Ourmottois"Let'scare,shareandco-create".

Ideally, the company and product story are integrated and mutually reinforcing. When livedthroughoutthecompany,theorganizationalstorywillbeincoherenceaswell.Seeforexampletheprevioustwoexamples,andthefollowingtwoexamplesofKuyichiandInterface.

Kuyichi:Truestorytellingtellingthroughthevaluechain

In the year 2000 the founders of Kuyichi,9 the NGO Solidaridad, wanted to introduceorganiccottonintheclothing industry.Duringtheirexperiencewiththedevelopmentoffairtrade organic coffee and fruit business in Latin America, they found thecottonindustrycausedalotofpollutionandpovertyamongindigenousIndiansandfactoryworkers.

8Source:http://www.abeautifulstory.nl/over-a-beautiful-story9ThenameKUYICHIisderivedfromthePeruviangodoftherainbowwhobroughtcolourinsocietyaswell.

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Solidaridad decided tomake a change. First,Solidaridadtriedtoconvincethebigplayersinthe denim industry to use organic cotton, inorder to improve the working and livingconditions in developing countries. None ofthe brands were interested and Solidaridadstarted their own fashion brand in response.In 2001Kuyichiwas born with a belief thatsustainability isn’t just a trend. And itshouldn’tbethenextgeneration’sjob.Kuyichiis convinced that quality fashion should becreatedina100%sustainableandresponsibleway. By being part of a bigger plan thatdrives the use of progressive sustainablematerials,sociallyresponsibleproductionandcleaningup its productionprocesses throughcollaboration, innovation inspiration andtransparency.

Kuyichi sells a product: sustainable clothing.Storytelling is the narrative behind thisproduct.How itwasmade,wherethecottoncomes from, what makes this productdifferentfromotherproducts. “Thestorywetell has a beginning and an end. For Kuyichiproductswegoallthewaybacktotheirsource,therawmaterials,andbiologicalcotton.Wedescribe the production process,we present a product photowith our authentic story.Wenotice that the story around our products influences the consumer’s decisions to buy theproduct.Consumerswantanauthenticstory,andnomarketingstory.Ourrevenuesfromtheonlineshophavedoubledsincethelaunchofthenewwebsite.”

Interface:innovativenewproductsasconsequenceofcross-sectoralcollaborations

AninnovativeproductcomesfromourNetWorks project, the result of across-sectoral collaboration with anNGO. One inclusive repurchaseprogram whereby discarded fishingnets(fromthesea,thebeach)serveasrawmaterialforInterfacecarpettiles.Theold fishingnets serveasmaterialfor a supplier of yarns who developed a machine to make these yarns usable again.Fishermen in the Philippines, and now also in Cameroon, collect broken fishing nets andbecome supplier of raw materials for Interface carpet tiles. They thus restore their ownenvironment,getextraincometosaveandhaveabetterlife.“Itseemslikeafairytale,butitisa truestoryofoneofourwonderfulproducts."Thisproduct story is strengthenedby thebroadercompanystory,provingthatsustainability-thinkingcanbeasmartbusinesscase.

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Survey:ReasonstocommunicateaboutyourCSR/sustainabilityAccordingtorespondentstothesurveyinTheNetherlands,thefourmostimportantreasonstocommunicateaboutCSR/sustainabilitystrategies:101)itisimportanttoshowasocietalcontribution(63%);2)Itispositiveforourimage(60%);3)Itmakesusabetteremployer(58%);4)Ourstakeholdersencourageustodoso(50%).Otherreasonsmentionedwere:Tomanageourrisks(46%);Wecannotstaybehindourcompetitors(43%);Toreducecosts(42%);Ourcustomersaskforit(41%);andourinvestorsaskforit(36%).Intheresearchsample,storytellingisinparticularusedforcommunicationaboutthecompany’scorevalues(63,4%),sustainabilityresults(51,2%),challenges(43,9%),productcharacteristics(46,3%),andfinancialperformance(41,5%,especiallyforthebiggercompanies).17,1%alsocommunicateaboutthetypeofpartnershipsestablished.80,5%aimstoengageclients,70,7%toinform/engageemployees.Only14,6%indicatesitcouldalsoservemonitoring&evaluationintheownvaluechain.InColombiacommunicationonCSR/sustainabilityistooalargeextentdonetoengagewithemployeesandclients(asindicatedbyinterviewees).Interestingisthefactthatinthesurveyforthisresearch,internationalcooperationagenciesarealsomentionedastargetgroupforcommunication.11

10IncomparisontotheMVOMonitor2015,someofthesesurvey-outcomesarecomparable,othersarenot.AccordingtothisMonitor,CSR-driversforDutchSME-companiesaretheethicalresponsibilitytheyfeel(62%),whichisalsoverymuchrelatedtoimage/reputation;costreduction(30%);therequestfromclients(15%);fromemployees(6%);andanincreaseinrevenue(9%).51%ofthecompaniesconsiderCSRasastrategicchoice,40%asagoodbusinesscase.Others(43%)seeisasanacceleratorofinnovation.11AccordingtoasurveydonebytheColombianANDIin2012,inwhich292companiesparticipated,CSRdriversinColombiaare:betterstakeholderrelationships(76.7%);reputation(63,4%);reasonsrelatedtohumanresources(56,8%);shareholdervaluecreation(505,%)andriskmanagement(49,8%).

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Part III: Storytellingandsustainabilityasaway tobuild trustwithconsumers

Companies have a variety of stakeholders to engage with. For each of these groups differentcommunication channels and forms are desired. Forsake of focus, I hereafter concentrate onsustainability communication and stories forconsumers (B2B, B2C) as important stakeholders,link this to sustainability and see if storytelling hasaddedvalueincommunication.

1.Tensionbetweenmarketingandsustainability

AsFrankvanEerdofBisschopsmolenconcluded:12 "Consumers,especiallywith the introductionofsocialmedia,raisemoreandmorecriticalquestions.Theywanttoknowwheretheirproductscomefrom and what is in it. They are no longer satisfied with a marketing story about sustainability."BasedonresearchdonebyGfK,b-openandTribalAmsterdam,weknowthenumberofconsumersthatfocusonsustainableaspectswhenpurchasingproductsorservicesindeedincreasedin2014byas much as 12% to 42%. In Colombia, consumer behavior is not changing that rapid yet, thoughespecially amongst middle/upper class a growing demand for healthy and organic products isnoticed,accordingtointerviewees.

Beforediscussingthisinmoredetail,Irecallthecitizens-consumerparadoxthatseveralintervieweesmentioned.Citizensseemtohaveasplitpersonality.Ontheonehandcitizenstendtoemphasizetheimportanceof sustainability.On theotherhand, these samecitizensas consumerdo insufficientlytranslatetheirsustainabilitymorals intotheirownpurchasingbehavior. Iwillnot furtherelaborateonthepsychologyofconsumerbehavior,butthisiscertainlyworthstudyingmore.

In particular large companies through their CSR policy create enormous expectations from thegeneral public. CSR is emotionally charged. Thismakes the subjectmore susceptible to a reactionfromconsumersandbusinessesextravulnerable.Consumersdonolongerquicklybelieveintentions,strategiesandbusinesses.Thereisgrowingskepticism:5outof10consumersdistrustclaimssuchas"sustainable" or socially responsible. More than half of the consumers distrust advertisements-stories of businesses.13 Consumers are suspicious and are reluctant to believe that companiespracticewhattheypreach.14Theyquicklysuspectarathercommercialthansocialmotivebehindthegoodcorporatebehavior.Thislackoftrustamongthepublichastodowith:• Thekindofcompanysendingthemessage.E.g.achemicalcompanythatcommunicatesitsfocus

ongreen isnotrapidlybelieved;acandymanufacturer thatcommunicatesabouthealth issuesditto,rightlyorwrongly.

12 Source:http://www.mvonederland.nl/praktijkvoorbeeld/bisschopsmolen-en-sonneveld-group-transparantie-doen-we-samen13FishburneandJigsaw2013.14 Researchconductedbymarket research firmGlobeScanshows thatbarelyone in threeWestEuropeansbelieve thatcompaniescommunicatehonestlyaboutsustainability.

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PerfettiVanMelle

ForacompanyasPerfettiVanMelle,activeinthecandyindustryusingsugar,itisextremelydifficult todealwithcomments fromthemediaonwhat theyaredoing.Muchofwhat thecompanydoesisnotbelieved,despiteaSA8000certification,commitmentsandachievedCSRresults.“Bythemedia,many initiativesarebeingpresentedasslickmarketingoraretakenoutof their context.”TheCSRpart in the companies’ corebusiness isbeingacceptedmoreeasily than the communication expressions related to the brands, which is more oftenconsideredtobeonlypromotion/marketing.

• It is ratherhotandsexy to includeyourvalues inyourstory,but if consumersnotice (viaowndigitalresearch,NGOs,thepress,socialmedia)thatthesevaluesarenot lived,practicedintheorganization, a story will “ work against you”. A counter-narrative is harmful for yourcredibility.15Asexplainedbyoneoftheinterviewees:

StorytellingforPerfettiVanMellemeans“tocommunicateamessageinapersonalwayandmakeastory,anauthenticstory.It isnotafairytale.”“Theconditionisofcoursethatyourstoryisbasedonthetruth.”

• Green washing. Bringing out selective positive news about environment-related and socialactivities,withoutfulldisclosureofnegativeinformationonoperations,astopaintatoopositiveimageisdamagingforacompany’sreputation.Atoorosypictureofthesustainabilitystrategyofacompanyoccurswhenclaimsarenot true, there isnoevidence, strategiesare toovague,orwhencooperationwithNGOs ismainlyusedtodistract fromthecoreprocesses.Result is thatcompaniesareoftenreluctanttocommunicateaboutwhattheydoonsustainability.

Credibilityofstoriesofcooperationwithcharities

InColombia,accordingtoastudydonebytheFundaciónDISandFundaciónPromigas,withsupportofAFE,129corporatefoundationsareactiveinthecountry(2012).Theirfundingcomesmainlyfromthecompaniesthatfoundedthese.Alargemajorityoftheirprojectsareeducationrelated(80,5%),communitydevelopmentoreconomicdevelopment.ManyresourcepersonsinColombiaindicatedthatCSR/sustainabilitystrategiesinColombiaaretooalargeextentinterpretedassupportingsocialgoalsbymakingdonations,havingyourownprivatefoundation or mobilizing staff (social voluntary engagement) to contribute to social goals.Companies aim to communicate especially stories about these initiatives. Using this kind ofcommunicationshouldbebasedonopenness,honestyandmutualrespecttomakesurethegeneralpublic(media,aconsumer,investors,citizens,NGOs)doesnotinterpretthiskindofcommunicationasopportunisticanduntrustworthy.Asustainablepartnershipwithacharity,asocialorganizationor the sustainability strategyof a company foundation is themost durable and credible, if this isconnectedtothecoreofthebusiness.

• Theway that amessage about sustainable behavior is “framed”. “The trick is to develop andapplybridgesbetweenwhatyouwanttosayandtheissuesthatyouraudienceisinterestedin.Butwithout inadvertently promoting values thatmake sustainable behavior less achievable in

15Forexample:TheMilkStoryfromFrieslandCampina’sMilkStory(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB5vuGU5KPQ)wascontradictedbyMilieudefensieinTheTrueStoryofMilk(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td38TkeEMwA).BasedonarticleofScheringaandSchutte2014.

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the longer term”.16Peoplewhopromotesustainabilitydonot (andshouldnot)seektotryandchangepeoples’values.

• The story about motives, your why, your mission and values is often not told. Knowing thebroaderpicturemakesconsumersunderstandfailuresmuchbetter.Whereconsumersareawareofyourproblems/issues,honestyisoftenrewarded.Itispositivetocommunicateaboutwhatisnotgoingwell.DSMtooktheinitiativetoreportasfirstmajorcompanyon"WhatwentWrong?"BothDutch and Colombian interviewees stressed the importance of also telling about failuresandcomplications.At thesametime, theyalsothought this isstillnotoftenput inpracticebycompanies.

2. Reaching out the consumers and addressing the growing demand fortransparency

Sosustainabilityneedsanewstory,especially in theBusiness toConsumersmarket.TheS-word isweakening and as a “label” no longer enough. Yale School of Management concluded thatSustainabilityisnothelpinginsales.AlsothelatestCSRNetherlands17TrendReport2015emphasizesthat"sustainability"isnotsellingandencouragesamongotherthingstotelltherealstory!18

There are various ways to reach out to consumers in order to build trust and provide moretransparency.Hereunderseveralformsaredescribed.

Certifications/labels

Totellaproductstoryandshowthataproductmeetsthesustainabilityrequirements,atthelevelofindividualproducers,theso-calledcertifications/labelsareawayto“guaranteeastory”behindtheproduct. Very familiar labels areMax Havelaar (Fair Trade), UTZ Certified and Rainforest AllianceForrest,butalsoMade-by,EKO,FSC,Made-By,IkKiesBewust,BeterLeven,etc.

Theyareneededasevidenceforthesustainabilityclaims.Theypreventinmanycasesthecriticismofgreenwashing,sustainsustainabilityclaimsthataremade,andareuseful intenderingprocessesintheB2Bmarket.Aspin-offadvantageofpurchasingacertificateisthatitalsohelpstostructureandsharpentheinternalcompanydiscussionsonsustainability.

Certifications offer a starting point for business.19 They “inform customers, suppliers and otherstakeholders in the supply chain about the characteristics of a product, or process by which aparticular product was made”. They are a means to indicate, promote and prove a company’scommitmenttosustainability.Theygiveconsumersakindofassurancethattheproductshavebeenproducedinanethicalandresponsiblemanner.AsinthecaseofKuyichiforexample:

Theimportanceofcertification/labelsforKuyichi

“We communicate results at company level through the presentation of the Made-ByScorecard.Thisscorecardispubliclyavailableforeveryone.WearemonitoredbytheexternalNGOMade-By.Kuyichiusescertifiedmaterialstoensuretheclaim"organic".“Viatheproductstorieshowit'smade/whereit'smade/whomadeyourclothes,wetelltheconsumerhow

16Corner2012:24.17 CSR Netherlands is the Centre of Excellence for Dutch companies that are striving towards CSR. More than 2000companiesareaffiliatedwiththisnetworkorganisation.18Source:http://www.mvonederland.nl/trendrapport-2015.19Certification:aSustainableSolution?InsightsfromDutchCompaniesontheBenefitsandLimitationsofCSRCertificationinInternationalSupplyChains.MVONederland.2015.ElizaCharlemagnee.a.;InterviewJeroendeVries.

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the fabric is certified, and we also explain what this certification is about. In this way,stakeholderscanseeourprogressandourconcerns.Wealsodothisbecausewehavetodealwith the critical consumer who buys clothes only if it is certified. The moderate criticalconsumeris lesscriticalandtrustsus,andthenon-criticalconsumersarenotlookingatthisatall.Wewanttoprovidethisinformationtoallthesetargetgroups.Wehaveconfidenceinthe certification system. Our whole approach is based on this. If we cannot trust on thecertificationthenthereisnobasisforasustainablebrand.”

Thelabelsalsohaveanawarenessfunctionforconsumersandaminimumstandardforcompaniestotakeintoaccount.Addedvalueforsomecompaniesisthatformulatingacertificationschemeforagroupofcompaniescanstartabroaddiscussion,setsabaselineandcreatesa levelplayingfield.20Certifications serve as learning and networking tool and help companies build capacity onsustainability.Lastbutnotleast,standardsandcertificationssystemshaveintroducednewformsofpartnershipsbetweenCivilSocietyOrganizations(CSO)andleadingbusiness,shiftingthe landscapeofsustainableproductionandconsumptioninimportantways”.21

Kuyichi

WeareaffiliatedwithMade-ByandFairWearFoundation.TheseexternalNGOscheckourworkannually,andguideusthroughtheprogress.Ifyouclaimtobeasustainablebrand,youshould be checked by a third independent party, in order to fulfill your claim. Andcommunicate inatransparentmannerabout it.Bywayofexample,theMade-Byscorecardand audit reports of the Fair Wear Foundation are accessible for the broader public. OurbrandperformanceisalsolistedonthewebsiteofFairWearFoundation.

During this research,also thedownsideof certificationsand labels came to the front. Certificationschemes cost too much time for especially smaller companies and are often experienced as anadministrativeburden,thatmostsmallercompaniesdonothavethefinancialcapacityfor.

Getting and meeting the requirements of a label also leads to only a minimal commitment tocontinuetoworkonsustainability.Itdoesnotleadtoinnovation.Whywouldyouneedtogobeyondthelabelorabenchmarkagreedupon?Andlastbutnotleast,acertificationitselfisnotenoughtohaveimpact.

Consumers complain about the increasing proliferation of logos, leading to a “choice overloadproblem.”Theclaimofalogobecomesweakerwitheverynewlogoappearingonthemarket.22

Acertificationseemsmerelyatool,whichcanfacilitateacompany’ssustainability initiatives,butisnot a prerequisite for achieving sustainability, and should not be considered as the only way forbusinesstotellitssustainabilitynorimpactstory.

Interestinginitiativestoreestablishtrustofconsumers,trulyconnectandincreasetransparency

InSeptember2014TeunvandeKeuken23oftheKeuringdienstvanWaardeevenproposedtoabolishthequalitystamps.24Thereisatendencyamongstconsumerstobeincontactwiththesourceofa

20Charlemagnee.a.2015:6.21Charlemagnee.a.2015:7;InterviewJeroendeVries.22Charlemagne2015:p.15.23VolkskrantSeptember15,2014.

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product/service.Allsmall-scalerenewableenergyinitiatives,cominguplikemushroomsoutoftheground,especiallyinhealthcare,foodandenergysectors,showhowimportantcontacthasbecomebetween companieswithin collectives.25VandeBrone.g. enables consumers tobuyenergydirectlyfromthewindturbineowner.Nocertificationsareinvolved,butasacustomeryouknowwhereyourenergy comes from and from what source (wind, water, sun). Also in food there are plenty ofinitiativessuchasWillem&Dreesthatbringtheconsumerclosertothefarmeranditsproducts.26

VandeKeukenpleaded for a newmodel, one that is basedon trust and introduced the so-calledCeesmodel."Inthismodel,manufacturersknowwheretheirproductscomefromandunderwhatconditions they are produced. They are completely honest to their clients. If they do not knowsomething,theysay.Andtrytofindoutwhatitis.Ifsomethingiswrong,theytellyouaswell.Andtheytrytodosomething.Nosweettalkwhenrealityisnotpretty.Thetradertakesresponsibilityforthethingshesells.Only in thiswaytherelationshipbetweenthecustomerandthe foodproducercan be restored.” Transparency, traceability and trust are key principles in this model. Not onlyapplicableinsmallcompanies,butalsoforthelargeindustry.

Thisisconfirmedinmanyinterviews.AsJosReinhoudtputis:“Consumersclearlyneedtogethonestinformation so that they themselves can choosewhether to buy a product or not. Transparencyseemstobeacoreconcept!”MichaëlWildefromEOSTAexplainswhatthatlookslikeinpractice:

EOSTA:transparencyandtraceability27

EOSTA, an international distributor of fresh organic vegetables, fruits and juices givesconsumers insight intothestoriesofproducersandgrowers.This isdoneviathe"traceandtell" system that Nature & More offers. It provides consumers complete transparency onorganicproductsfromdifferentcontinents.Onthewebsite,asaconsumeryoupayavirtualfarmvisitandmeettheproducermembersoftheorganicfruitsandvegetables.Basedonaso-called"sustainabilityflower",youcanalsocheckhowaproducerdealswithearth,water,air,plants,animalsandenergy(thepetalsoftheflower)andsocialsustainability(theheartofthe flower). This "flower power" is themodel that EOSTA uses to evaluate the sustainableperformanceoftheorganicgrowers.WithNature&Moreconsumersgettheopportunitytomakeaconsciouschoicefortheirpurchases.

Kuyichi’stransparency

“Inoursocialreportwecommunicateopenlywhatpointsstillneedattentionandwhichwearedealingwithalready.Bybeingtransparent,ourstakeholderscanseewhatwearedoing

24 In February2015GustaafHaanof TheQuestionMark.org suggested to adjust the standardof normalproducts. 'Good'productsshouldnotberewardedwithalabel,but'bad'shouldbepunished.Hewantedatermthatisapplicabletosuchfaultyproductsandorganizedacompetitionforthebestnameforanewlabelforfaultysupermarketproducts(VolkskrantFebruary28,2015,4).Thewinningnamebecame(inDutch)"WoekerProduct".25Source:LectureJanJonkerandJeroenKruijd.26Inemergingeconomies,thesetrendsarevisibleaswell.InChinamorecityinhabitantsbuydirectlyfromsmallfarmersinruralareasbecausetheydonolongertrustthequalityofproductsfromthecities(Simons2015:19-20).AlsoinColombia,especially Bogota, you see a new type of business arising for the growingmiddle class/ higher-class people, preferringhealthyandorganicfood.Atthesame,thisincreaseisslow.Consumerawarenessisrising,butthisisnotyettranslatedintodifferent consumer behavior and demand. Local consumption of sustainable foods remains negligible. Colombia is animportant producer of natural ingredients. However, themajor source of fair trade products, organic fruits are sold inEurope/theUSA(cacao,sugar,coffee).Tooalargeextentthishastodowiththehighprices(organicisstillperceivedasluxury) and the lack of consciousness of the amazing biodiversity of the local natural products. Source:http://www.organicmonitor.com/r1203.htm.27Source:http://www.natureandmore.com

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andwhereweareworkingtowards.Wedonotmisleadourstakeholders,andtheonlywaytobehonestaboutthisistransparentcommunication.”

Inthisframework,manyotherinitiativesaretryingtobringtheimportanceoftransparencyfurther.Questionmark is a neutral, independent organization that collects product and sustainabilityinformationbasedonscientificallyacceptedstandards.Questionmarkinformsconsumersthroughanappandwebsiteabouttheproductstheypurchase,withtheaimtogiveconsumerstheopportunitytomakeconsciouschoices.Aconsumerreadshowproductsareproducedandwhattheimpactisonhumanbeing,animalsandtheenvironment.Theambitionistohaveagrowingdatabase(eachyearwith 10 thousand products) until the entire range of products in the supermarket has beeninvestigated. Later also products such as electronics and clothing will be included. If a particularproduct isnot yet analyzed, it canbe reporteddirectly toQuestionmark.Withina fewweeks, theproductisthenadded.

Rank a Brand is another initiative offering a (mobile) tool to choose the most sustainable andconsumer-knownbrands. This stimulates simultaneously the trademarkowners toperformbetter.RankaBrandisEurope'slargestsustainablebrandscomparisonsitewithover600brandsinapparel,electronics, telecom,media and food& drink. Rank a Brand has become a reliable source for themediathatcompaniescanprofitfrom,asKuyichiindicates:

Kuyichi’sRankaBrandassessment

RecentlyRankaBrandhasdoneanindependentstudyamongalljeansbrands,andwewereconsideredtobe(underRankabrand)themostdurablejeansbrand.Ourcontentisperceivedasveryauthenticandisasourceofinformationforjournalistsinterestedinsustainability.

Jumbo

“One of the initiatives that keeps us sharp is the way Rank a Brand reports about oursupermarket.”

Newtypeofrelationshipbuildingwithconsumers

Inthechangingcontext,whereconsumersreallyexpectdifferentbehaviorofcompanies,therulesofmarketing have radically changed. In the old stylemarketing, focus was on the short term,massproduction, efficiency driven production and sales and on consumption. Companies aimed to“evangelize”.Thenewmarketingstyle ispayingattentiontothelongerrun,personalizedproducts,aremorepurposedriven, focusonuse insteadof consumptionandengageand influencepositivebehavior.28

MarketingbasedonjustthewordSustainabilityoronlyacertification/logoisnotalwaysenough.Itdoesnotsell.29Peopleexpectmorefromtheirbrands.

Much more attention is paid to create space for dialogue, sharing experiences (games, events,workshops, online) and having a shared goal. A brand can be built and turned into a powerfulcatalystforchange.30SeeannexIIforareferencetoBen&Jerry’sactivism.

Sharingahistoryandvaluesandjointlydevelopingaproduct(personalizedsneakersforexample)isanothertrend.AninterestingexampleIfoundisthefollowing:28Source:ImpactAcademy.29Edelman2014.30FauconnierandBaghuis2015.

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ISYOU:shoestellingastory31

Sneaker brand ISYOU, is the business case of twoDutchentrepreneursdoingbusinessinamongstotherColombia.ISYOU sees the sneaker as “the voice of the country”.32Colombia is still known for itswar, drugs, the FARC andpoverty.Atthesametime,thereisanenormouscreativeand positive vibe in the country, increasing energy andpossibilities.TheshoebrandmakesuseofthisColombianpotentialandstronglybelievesinaco-design philosophy. ISYOU established a business that supports local entrepreneurs andtalents.Thebrandwants tobeaplatformfor talentsandamarketingtool for thecountry.What counts are the stories behind the brand: the designer of the prints, the people thatmake the canvas, etc. The typeof shoes youwear tell a lotabout your identity. ISYOUhasbecomealivingproofthatthroughapairofshoesgreatstoriescanbetold.

It seems an intrinsic motivation and truly desire to be sustainable or socially responsible is whatreally counts. Certification is a possibility to demonstrate commitment. Enhancing consumerawarenessandemotionalattachment,byshowing thestorybehindacompanyandaproduct,hasaddedvaluetotrulyconnect.

3.Howtocommunicateyourstory?

Companies have the opportunity tocommunicate through a multitude ofchannelsandindifferentforms.Withinandoutside a company their story can betargeted to different audiences and beshaped in many forms (art, photo, video, digital, etc.). For different types of stakeholders andpurposes different channels are applicable. To strengthen the company’s relationship with itscustomers,messagesaresentoutvia:33

• ownedmedia(oftenfocusingoneditorialcontent,narratives,morefacts,andlessonadvertising);34

• earnedmedia(socialmediapostedbyothers,customerreviews,bloggers,journalists,ambassadors);

• andpaidmedia(advertorials,posters,etc.).

Kuyichiexplainedwhatkindofchannelsitusestoreachitscustomers:

31Source:https://www.syou.com/es/ab;Stamkot2015.32Stamkot2015.33Kerkhoff2012.34AninterestingexampleofcleveruseofownedmediaisprovidedbyTriodos,providingeditorialcontentforitsmagazine"The Color ofMoney". In thismagazine the name Triodos is hardly used. TheAllerhande of theAlbertHeijn is anotherpowerful example. You could say that this magazine learned the Dutch to cook. It is focused on customer education,entertainment, there is room for complex issues such as sustainability, and use is made of info graphics to makecomplexities understandable. It is voluntary communication (you are not required to read the magazine opposed toadvertisingontelevision).Themagazinepaysforitself.TheANWBhasasimilarstrategywithitsmagazineTheChampionandTravelGuide.

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Kuyichimakesuseofseveralmedialchannelsandforms

Ownedmedia:Ownblogs,newsletter/2xmonth,socialmedia(FB,Instagram,Twitter,Pinterest,LinkedInonadailybasis),videochannels(Youtube+Vimeo/2xyearnewvideosareuploaded)

Earnedmedia:Rankabrand,oneworld,Duurzamebloggers(6x/month)

Paid media: branded content, advertisements / 4x year, a PR office helps to publish contentpreparedbyKuyichiinmagazines(12xyear)

Iwillfocusonthewaycompaniescancommunicatetotheirconsumers/clients.Reportingasaformofownedmediaisdescribed;socialmediaandtheroleofambassadorsasearnedmedia(themostpowerfulmediatoleveragethepowerofstorytellingandtoreinforceacompany’sintendedimpact);andproduct packaging as paidmedia. All of thesemedia channels and typeof stories need to becoherent,consistent,relevant,authentic,transparentandmutuallyreinforcing.

Reporting

Companies communicating about sustainability or impact often do so in the form of an annualreport:aseparateCSRreportoranintegratedsustainabilityreport.Mostimportantreasonfordoingso is, either because stakeholders ask for it or because it is required as for listed companies (andsomecompaniesuseitstrategicallyforinternallearning).

Interface’sreporting

“Weareastockmarketlistedcompanyandmustjustifyeveryinvestmentwemake,wedosofinanciallyonareturnoninvestment,butwealsodothisonsustainability,inrelationtoourobjectives."

Especiallythebiggercorporatesareembracingthetrendofintegratedreporting.Stakeholdersarenolongersatisfiedwithatraditionalannualreport,butwanttoknowwhatvalueisaddedineconomic,socialandenvironmentalfields,andhowitisprocessedintoasustainablebusinessmodel.35Oneofthecorporatetoolsfortoday'sbusinessisintegratedthinking36andreporting.Thisextendsstrategyanddailymanagementbeyondthepurefinancialtoencompassthesocialandenvironmentalfactorsthat deeply affect a company's future viability in the 21st century. Integrated reporting tells thecompany's story of how it creates value and how it can create value in the future. Integratedreportingprovidesinsighttothestakeholdersintothestateofaffairsofacompany.37

35EY2013.36 Integrated thinkingcomprisesof: security,environment,humancapital, commercialactivities, internalaudit, financial,governance,PR,sustainability.37 According to an online survey ofwww.2degreesnetwork.com (May 2015) Integrated Reporting is themost importantissue in future reporting. Furthermore, respondents concluded that reporting should be simple, relevant and honest;interactive, real timeanddigital; the right information shouldbe targeted to the right audience.And companies shouldbringreportstolife(video,dialogue).

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A whole industry has grown to address this new urgency: a transparency benchmark, GRIstandards,38 ISO26000 self-declaration, etc. Especially in Colombia, interviewees mentioned thegrowinginterestinGRI-4(theregionalofficeofGRIisbasedinBogota).39

Problemofalltheseframeworks/instrumentsisthattheyareverytimeconsumingandreportsareonly read by a relatively small group of stakeholders (very interested consumers, investors,governments,NGOs).

SmallercompaniesthereforeeitherpresentaseparateCRSorsocialreport,ordonotspendtimeonreportingatall.Writinganannualreport(letaloneaGRIreport)isoftenconsideredtimeconsumingandnotaddingmuchvalue.

Intertaste’sreporting

“WedonothaveaGRIreport.Itrequiresalotofworkandforwhom?Ourclientsaresatisfiedwith our CSR report as it is: informative, with less focus on accountability.We do have a“companymagazine”,writtenby staff itself, forappropriate informationsharingwithin thecompany”.

Thewrittenwordisagoodwaytocommunicatelargeamountsofcomplexinformation,butithasitslimitations.Youneedtosustaintheinterestofthestakeholders.Thewrittenreportscansometimesbe too long and complicated to be read and understood by all. People don/t read masses ofinformation.Theydonotneedlongtextversionsofdocuments.40

According to CSR Netherlands, only 25% of the SMEsworking on CSR, communicates about theirsustainabilityactivities.NowthatmoreandmoreSMEsinTheNetherlandsarebeingforcedtoworkonsustainability,inordertocomplywithregulations/requirements(assupplier),companiesseekforwaystobringtheirmissiontothefront.ForthisreasonmoreSMEsfeeltheneedtoformulatetheirpolicy (forexample intheformofa“zelf-verklaring”)andtotell theirstory inanattractiveway.41“Sprankelend Vonk” offers training to entrepreneurs to define their story. “What I hear fromentrepreneursisthattheyespeciallystrugglewithalackoftime.Alsotheyfearthatnoteverythingis100% in place, so they think this makes them too vulnerable. Others just do not have thecommunication capacity within their enterprise to pay attention to external communication. Thesame informationgot tomefromColombia:SMEsdon'thavetimetoreport, thinkreporting is fartoocomplicatedandbelongstobiggercorporates.42AnotherintervieweeinColombiahoweveralsosaid: “Once theSMEs inColombiabecomemoreconscientiousof thepowerofcommunication,ofstorytelling, they can use it to promote their products and ideas much faster and in innovativeways.“43

38 To avoid ‘greenwashing’ and present a meaningful report, GRI’s guidelines include the following principles: balance,comparability,timeliness,accuracy,clarityandreliability.39In201377%oftheColombiancompaniesreportedbasedontheprinciplesoftheGRIguidelines.Thisismuchhigherthantheglobalaverageof25%of162 reports studied in2014.This fastgrowthcanbeexplainedby the fact that companiesrelatively recently started reporting (Deloitte 2015). Research done by ANDI (2012-13) concluded that 42,1% of thecompaniespresentsanannualinternalreport;26,3%submitsaGRIreport;and14%aseparateCSRreport.40 2degrees/ Alison Azaria, 11 June: https://www.2degreesnetwork.com/groups/2degrees-community/resources/top-10-reporting-tips-experts-how-improve-your-reporting/41 Source: Interview Elise Vonk; http://www.nenblog.nl/2015/06/12/waarom-verhalen-de-iso-26000-zelfverklaring-verlevendigen/42Source:InterviewSteveRamirez.43Source:InterviewAngelaCadenaMuñoz.

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Digitalreporting

Increasingly companies report online instead of a printed brochure (not just in a pdf, but asinteractivedocument,oranAPP).Moreandmore(online)reportsarefullofvisualizations,videos,photos, info graphics, which have the power that they can communicate qualitative data moreefficientlyinamediumthatiseasilyunderstoodbymostpeople.Anddigitalmediacanmoreeasilydeliver added features that print publications cannot, for example sound, movement, humanexpressionandemotion.44

Onlinereal-time,simplereportingisanothernewwaytoreducetoaminimumtheformalreportingrequirements and free up time to provide more real-time updates (text, GPS location, pictures,videos,etc.).45Thisformisincreasinglyusedinthedevelopmentsectororbycorporatefoundations(aswasalsoobservedalsoinColombia).

Socialreporting46

VanPerfettiVanMellepresentsaSocialReport(publishedinaHTML5format),inwhichtheresultsover2013arepresented.ThereportemphasizesthatCSR is fun,that itgivesenergyandthatitprovidesgreatthings.

Socialmedia

The context inwhich companies nowadays operate has radically changed.Up to 2004, companieswere able to control their own information. They were in control of which stories to share, andhardly had to present any form of accountability to the outside world. Nowadays, you see a“democratizedpowertopublish”.Citizensallovertheglobemoveonline(mobilehandsets,websitesandsocialmedia) toaccess informationand interact.Everyone (consumers,employees,etc.)hasavoice via social media (twitter, facebook, instagram, etc.). Everyone can publish easily any storyaboutacompany,aproduct,oraservice.Reviews(especiallythebadone)andlikesaregettingviralrapidly.

SocialmediainColombia

AllColombianintervieweesemphasizetheincreasedimportanceofsocialmedia(inparticularTwitter)toreachconsumers.Duetotherapidlyincreasedconnectivityinthecountry,eveninmoreisolatedareas,peoplecanquicklyinformthemselvesandgivetheiropinionsonprices,quality,behaviorofpublic services, restaurants, companies,andother topics related to themarket.Socialnetworkingprovidesanopportunityforconsumerstoactivelyconnecttooneanother, as well as creates a channel that companies can profit from to engage withconsumersinatwo-wayrelationship.

Thisrequiresnewwaysofcommunication.Inthiscontextitisofutmostimportancethatcompanieslearntolisten:Whatdoesyouraudiencecareabout?Whatdoyouhavetosaythatisuseful?Send

44 See more at: http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2015/01/showcasing-your-strategy-through-storytelling#sthash.MuD2zOmw.dpuf45UNDP2013:8.SeeasexampletheworkoftheDutchWASHAlliance:www.washalliance.nl.46http://www.perfettivanmelle.nl/mvo

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themasignalthatyouarelisteningtowhattheyhavetosayaboutyourorganizationalethicalstanceandbehaviorsandshowthatyoucareabouttheirconcerns. It iscrucialtoengageyoursupportersandinspirethemtotakeaction.Eveninvolvethemincreatingyourcompanyandproductstory.AsZady (“a lifestyle destination for conscious consumers”) from the USA puts it: “As company youcommunicatewithyourcommunity,insteadofyourconsumers.Tomanageyourrisksasacompanyit is important to respond immediatelyandproactivelyonblogs,wiki’s, ratings/ review,discussionfora, and social gaming.47 Honesty, authenticity, transparency and building a community havebecomekeyinsuccess.

In this framework, it is remarkable that still a small percentage of companies (though growing)appeartobeusingSocialMediaactively(excludingtheexceptions).48 Intervieweesindicatednottobeactiveonsocialmediaforreasonsofcosts,timeorfornotbeingabrand.

Intertaste

“Wedeliberatelyavoidsocialmedia.That'smore forbrands.There isadistinctionbetweenthebrandsandthebricks,thestoryandwhatwedo.”

VanMellePerfetti

“Thesocialmediaisusedtoreachconsumers.Facebookpagesexistforthedifferentbrands(asforLook-O-Look).Youcanadvertiseinafunny,attractiveway.FBprovidesthemostuptodatenewsofyourwebsite.”

Some companies recognize the need, but also see it costs a lot of time and try to find creativesolutionsinordertomaintainanonlinecommunity.

CommunicationbyABeautifulStory

Founder and director Cathelijne Lania explains how communication channels and formsevolvedovertime.ToreachconsumerswestartedwithTupperwaretypeofeventsandfair-likeactivities.Thesehadmostimpact.Thiswasandishoweververytimeconsuming.Oncewebecameabrand,Facebook forexamplebecame important.Experienceshowsus thatsocialmediaalsotakesalotoftime.

Kuyichi

Weworkwithsmallmarketingbudgetsandasmallmarketing/communicationsteamsowehavetobecreativeinreachingourstakeholders.Socialandonlinemediaaregoodchannelsto reach your stakeholders. If we need an in-depth consumer research we ask graduatestudents to help us out. This is inspiring and effective. And also very motivating for thestudents.Furthermoreanalysisofonlinebehavior isanalyzedusingGoogleAnalytics. Inthisway,weareabletomonitorthefrequencyofsearchesforKuyichi.

Ambassadors

Companies telling themselves how good they are often not taken seriously. The companies’ ownemployees, consumers/NGO, celebrities and the press are the ones telling the best stories aboutyourorganization.

47KLMisinvestingenormouslyinitssocialmediacommunication.Withmorethan7millionlikesonFB,itreallytriestogiveKLMaconversationalhumanvoiceandpresentthepeoplebehindthebrand.Theriskofsuchastrategyisthatyouopenupallpossibilitiesforcritics.Theothersideofthecoinisthatthroughyoursocialmediayoucanshowwhatyouaredoingandchanging(source:ImpactAcademy).48AccordingtoANDIthiswas22,7%inColombiain2012-13.

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Research conducted by Edelman (2014) concluded that own employees are the most importantambassadors.49Inordertocreateagroupofambassadorsandengagementofstaff,aclearcorporatestoryaboutthemission,theWhyofyourcompany,itsidentitycreatespower/influence.Ifpracticedinthecompany,itinfluencestheorganizationalstories,communicatedbystaff.“Thepublicwantstoheardirectly fromemployeesasambassadors for the companywhocanattest to its integrity, thequalityandrelevanceofproductsandservicesofferedandtheoperationalstrengthofthecompany,includingitsleadership.

Interfaceseriouslyinvestsinaninternalambassadorsprogram:

Interface:Storytellingisinvolvement/engagement,internallyandexternally

Everyone who comes to work at Interface will hear how we look at sustainability andemployees are stimulated to join the program "Fast Forward 2020”, if they want, tocontribute to solutions. People encourage each other, the 'engagement' is contagious in apositivesense.Storiesofpeoplethemselvesareconvincingbecausetheyareabletoremainclose to themselves, to their own expertise. We learned you should therefore facilitate aprocessinwhichpeoplediscoverwhatmaybetheircontribution.

Oncepeopleknowhowtheycancontributetothecompany’smission,withintheirownfieldof expertise, it is a flywheel effect. For example, my sales colleagues discourage theircustomerstobuynewcarpeting,andrecommendinsteadtocleanthecarpettilesandtojustreplacethewornones.Customersfinditquiteunusual...Andinpracticewerealizeprojectswhere the old carpet tiles can be reused up to 70% and people still have the feeling of ahavinganewfloor.Andpreciselythesesalescolleaguesarethemostsuccessfulonesinourcompany.Becausehemightearnlesswiththiscustomer,buttheword-of-mouthadvertisingthatfollowsispriceless!"

“Putanambassadorsprograminplace,mobilizeyourpeople,startsowing,fromthebottomup.Thepeopleherearethemostimportant.ThankstovirtualnetworksallemployeesinsideInterfaceareinvolved."Wenowhaveaplatformwhereweaskforideasandinputsfromourvarious divisions on different continents on specific challenges regarding products or onquestions/needsfromourcustomers.Wehavealsopublishedabookletwithalltheideasofthoseambassadors.Peoplelikeitandareproudoftheircompany.

Loyal customers and NGOs representing consumers are important as ambassadors to attractpotentialnewcustomers,especiallyinnichemarkets.Theydosobymouth-to-mouthpromotionandusingsocialmediatools.

Anotherwaytoaskforattentionforyourcompanyisbyworkingwithanappealingrolemodel,asG-StarisdoingwithcelebrityPharrelWilliamsintheirJeancollectionofrecycledWasteOcean.50JuliaRoberts also gained attention by expressing her support to the Save Our Soil campaign, alertingconsumerstotheurgentneedtoendirresponsiblefarmingpractices.Theadvantageofworkingwithcelebritiesasambassadorsisthatpeoplewanttoassociatewiththesefamouspeople,andthattheyincreasethecredibilityofastory.51

SurveyresultsSurvey-respondentsindicatetheymainlycommunicateviathefollowingchannels:annualreport

49Edelman2014.50MVONL2015.51Source:InterviewMichaëldeWilde.

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(47%incaseoflargercompanies>250employees;19forsmallerones),website(inparticularforthebiggercompanies),newsletter,socialmedia(28%).Externalpresentations,TV,pressareusedtoaminorextentaschannels(thoughinColombiamoreoften).Forthelargemajority(97%)thesechannelsservewellenoughandnootherchannelsareneeded.Accordingtothesurvey,company’stargetgroupsarebestreachedviaInternet,thewebsiteandmail.SMEsoftenprefertocommunicateviaanewsletter(17,1%)andsocialmedia(16%).Intranetismainlyusedforinternalcommunication.Remarkablynonoftherespondentsofthesurveymentionedthestoriesthatarecommunicatedintheshop/supermarket,northeon-packstories.InColombiagettinganarticleinthemagazinesofCentrodeResponsabilidadSocialorSemanaSosteniblewasalsomentionedbyintervieweesasusefulchannel.52

Dialogue

Reputation is adelicate topic. It is earnedover timeanddestroyed in a second. Tomaintain yourreputation,regularface-to-facecommunicationwithyourstakeholdersisimportant,inparticularthekey people with influential power. Investing in the relationship, by asking for stakeholder advice,responding to their requests and questions rapidly, and organizing a two-way conversation ismentioned by most interviewees as key to success. Bigger companies more often invest instakeholder management and organize dialogue sessions. For smaller companies, being closer totheirclients,thisoftenmeansfrequentdirectpersonalcontact.

Intertaste’s“justdoing”story

Intertaste is more pragmatically oriented, is more of “just doing”. Intertaste stands forquality,goodmanagementofprocessesandofafairsupplychain.Thisisthestorywewanttosell.Itisastorythatwillkeepevolving.Ourstoryismainlytransmittedorallyindialoguewiththecustomer.

IntersnackOurcommunication is “walk the talk”.Wehavea sustainability charter,areworkingonanimprovedwebsiteandannualreport,butinvestespeciallyinagooddialoguewithourclients.Themoreyoucommunicateviadifferentchannels,themorefeedbackyouget,andtimeyouneedtospendtoaddressallthisfeedback.

OMShantiGroup(Colombia)

Ourclients lookfor informationabouthealthyfoodtrends,organicornaturalproducts.Ourcommunicationwithourclientssofarisdirect,withoutintermediaries.

Theimportanceofgoodoralpresentations,speechesisconfirmedbyFryer(2013).”Mostexecutivesstruggletocommunicate,letaloneinspire.”53“Theygetlostintheaccoutrementsofcompanyspeak(powerpoint slides, dry memos, hyperbolic missives from the corporate communicationdepartment)”Toplevelshouldbeabletofindthekeytotheheartsoftheiraudience.Fryer’sadviseis:“Tellastory!Wetendtoforgetlistsandbulletpoints,butremembergoodstories.”

52Source:www.rsnoticias.com;sostenibilidad.semana.com/home.53Fryer2003.

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SurveyresultsAccording to the sample, clients/ stakeholder groups that companies aim to reach, in particularappreciateascientifickindofstorywithvividimages(videoetc.).In 48,8% of the answers a communication departmentwithin a company compiles the story. In36.6%thisisdonebythestrategydepartment;12,2%mentionaprofessionalwriter/consultant.In Colombia the communication departmentwas alsomentioned, aswell as the company’s ownfoundation, a marketing agency, a shared value department or a sustainability committee.Intervieweessaidthatusuallyconsultantsarecontractedtoorganizetheinformationcollectionandcommunication.Forminwhichstoriesarebeingtold:Longreads,powerpoints,storiesofownemployees,scientificepistles,journalismtypeofstoryornovels.

Onpackmediacommunication

InPartII,theincreasingimportanceofthebrandexperiencewasmentioned.PeezebroughtauniquepackageonthemarketthattellsthestoryoftheteapickersinSriLanka.

Peezedevelopeditsowntealine,calledCommunitea:anoriginalinterpretationofenjoyingyourteafromSriLanka consciously. Peeze wants to create a linkbetween the country of origin of their sustainable /fair product and the consumer. The concept ideabehindCommuniteais'MailfromSriLanka’.Itcreatesaconnectionbetweentheteadrinkerandthecountryof origin. The community in Sri Lanka has helped to

shapetheteapackagingthroughdrawings,personalitemsorobjects.Thesecanbefoundasanimageontheboxesandbagsofteayoudrink:high-gradeblack,greenandherbalteas.Inaddition,each tea flavor carries itsownmessage for the teadrinker in the formofanote.Throughthispostthestoryabouttheteaistold,aboutthepeopleinvolvedintheproductionchain.TheCommunitaealsoinformsthedrinkerthathe/shecanbeassuredthattheteaisFairtrade/MaxHavelaarandorganiccertified.

Alsootherideasforcommunicationformswerementionedtomakesureclientskeepconnected:

• Useoftext,photosandinfographicsinthestore

Jumbo

Youcouldthinkofprovidingmoreinformation(textandphotographs)ontheshelf,explainingwhatisoccurringinthevaluechains.

• Useofshockinginformation

To confront consumers with their own behavior, Swedish supermarkets approach them moreaggressivelywithinformationthathinderaformof“willful ignorance”.54Forexamplebyexplaining

54Source:InterviewMichaelWilde.

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whycageeggsaresocheapandarecrammedinanequivalentspace likeashoppingcart.Anotherexampleisasupermarketthatsellsorganicbananasalongsidesprayedbananasinthestore.

• Useofvisuals/logoswithinthecompany

Interface’sinternaluseoflogos,quotesandotherforms

"Take the logo of the Mission Zero. It is everywhere and thus a constant reminder of ourmission.PeoplealsowalkaroundinT-shirtsthatreadWaronWaste.OnthefloorinourfactoryinScherpenzeelyoureadPeopleMakingHistory.RayAndersonhimselfwasespeciallygoodinquotes: 'Doing well by doing good’. "That statement everyone knows inside and outsideinterface.”

• Useofmuchmorevideo/documentaries

Videos,shortmoviesappeartobeapopularwaytopresentacorporatevision.Thecombinationofstorytellingandonlinevideomakes itpossible topresenta companyoranorganization inamoredynamicway,connectwithyourstakeholders,andlinkproductstoastrongstory.AsIwasinformedinColombia:

One of the bigger corporate foundations in Colombia - the Fundación Bolivar Davivienda -explainedhowitcommunicates itssocialstories(andcontributiontoColombiansociety)viavideos. A video was demonstrated to me about the history of a group of talented youngpeopleplayinginaPhilharmonicconcert(withsupportofthefoundation).“Thisvideocanbefoundoninternet(websites,youtube)andisalsodemonstratedatthebeginningofconcertsintheaters,havinganinspirationaleffectonpeoplewatchingit.”55

• IninterviewsinColombiaIalsoheardideasaboutsustainabilitystoriesaspartoftelenovelas(soaps)orrealityshowsonsmallbusinessesworkingonsustainability,thoughnot(yet)sustainedbyanyconcreteexamples.

Withexceptionofafewcompanies,suchasKuyichi,videosmadebycompaniesfrompeopleworkingin thevaluechainarenot sooftendemonstratedyet.An interesting initiative in this regard is thedocumentaryfilm”TheTrueCost”,that“pullsbackthecurtainoftheuntoldstory”.Itisafilmabouttheclotheswewear,thepeoplewhomakethemandtheimpactindustryishavingonourworld.56

To conclude this part about the communication to consumers, I here present themost powerfulelementsofconvincingstories:57

• Storiesareaboutmission,vision,values,themoral,theybindustogetherbygettingagrouptoshareasenseofwhatisimportantandwhatisnot.

• Declareyourmoral:beclearaboutwhatyouwanttosay.Authenticityiscrucial.

• Provethatyourmoralistrueandplaysoutinthelivesoftangiblecharacters.

• Focusonwhat is interesting foryouraudience.Makesureyouraudience is thehero,notyourcompany.Useacharacter.Admire thischaractermore for trying than for their successes.Also

55 Source: http://sostenibilidadfamiliabolivar.com/htms/nuestras-companias-fundacion-bolivar-davivienda.html; InterviewJuanAndresRojasCastillo.56http://truecostmovie.com57Source:SachsinMakeapowerfulpoint.com;Tesselaar2012;Friedenwald-Fishman2012.

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create an opposite character, challenging yourmain character. Give these characters opinionsandaconflict,maketheaudienceawareofwhatisatrisk.Addingalittleshockvaluehelps.58

• Makeuseofaction-orientedemotions:storiesshouldconveyemotionsthatmovepeopletoact,andprovideeasytofindpathwaystogetthemtothosedesiredactions.

• Makeuseofaplot,ajourneywithabeginning,middleandanend,andtellastorywithacalltoaction.

• Theaudienceshouldimmediatelybeabletoknowwho’sstoryitis,what’shappeningandwhat’satstake.Thereforitiswisetostayongroundlevel:thestorycomestolivebyusingvisuals,verbaldetailsandsimplifiedlanguage.

• Speaklanguageofyourclientssothatyourstoryresonates.Facilitateaprocessinwhichpeoplecanchoosetheirownwordingandassumetheirownresponsibilitytocontributetoacompany’smission.

• Chooseanattractiveformat.Usevideos,graphics,imaginarytocommunicateastory,quotes,eyewitness,etc.Makethecomplicatedmorestraightforward.

• DonotmentiontheSwordofSustainability.TherearetoomanydifferentdefinitionsandinterpretationsofS,whichmakesitconfusing.

• Domakesustainabilityfunforconsumers,thoughitshouldnotalwaysbeaboutentertaining.Itisalsoaboutafairsupplychain,ethicalsourcing.

• Crowdsource innovationandmakesureyouengageyouraudience.Bewhereyourcommunityis,openyourbrandintoanopenplatform.Givethecommunitysomethinguseful(e.g.recipestopreparefoodwithwastefood).Makeyourmessageentertaining.

• All in all the corporate, organizational and product story need to be in coherence, consistent,relevant,authentic,transparentandmutuallyreinforcing.

“A good Storyteller tells a good story, a great story tells a story that allows yourself to be a Storyteller”

58 See: Volkswagen China, riding while phoning: http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/videos/10142005/VWs-stop-texting-while-driving-ad-is-brilliant

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PartIV–Storiesforimpactmeasurement

As mentioned in the previous Part, the three types of CSR/sustainability stories must be true,authentic,consistent,relevantandtransparent.Thiscanonlybeachievedifthestoriesrelatetotheinput,output,andmostlytotheoutcomeandimpactofacompany’ssustainabilitypolicyandefforts.In this way, stories become even more inspirational and convincing. But how much “impactinformation”docompaniesactuallycollect?

The2015NewYear’seventofCSRNetherlandswastitled“FromAmbitiontoImpact”.TheHUMANconference this year focused on “Social Impact”.59 For many companies the expected impact isthoughnotclearlydefined.WhatimpactisachievednoworwillbeinthefuturebyCSRstrategiesorimpact investments is often not that clear and reporting on outcomes and impact is stillweak. In2014,KPMGconcludedthatonly20%of100 largestcompanies reportedonquantifiedmetrics forthe impact of the programs they fund.60 93% of companies quantify social investment inputs(financial contributions, employee time and donations) and 88% quantifyoutputs (e.g. number ofparticipantsinasocialprogram)(2014:8).Hardlyanyreportreferstooutcomesandimpactonlongertermandsocialwellbeing.

OfthecompaniesperformingbestontheDowJonesSustainability Index,aroundhalfdidnothaveany system tomeasure their impact, and it is questionable what kind of impact informationwasproducedbythesystemsthatdoexist.Oftenonlyoutputorperformance information,or focusononlypartoftheimpactonsocietyistakenintoaccount.

Despite themotivationof social entrepreneurs to add societal value, to be a rolemodel, to showbusiness can be organized differently and action can be accelerated, and to claim their impact,impactmeasurementstillisnocommonplaceamongstsocialenterpriseseither.TheMonitorSocialEnterprise2015statesthatonly50%ofsocialenterprisesinTheNetherlandsstructurallymeasuresitsimpact.

Oneofmyhypotheseswasthatcollectingstoriesofpeopleinthevaluechainscanimprove1)acompany’sanditsstakeholders’understandingofwhatishappeninginthechainandwhatkindofimpactisachieved,and2)thatthisunderstandingisneededtoensurethatacompanycanbringtrueandauthenticstories.

The outcomes of the interviews and the survey reflect above figures. Only few companies I havespoken to invest in impactmeasurement and evaluation ofwhat is happening in the value chain,though they are conscious of the increasing importance. Other resource persons confirmed theexplorativephaseinwhichmanysectorsstillfindthemselves.Intervieweeswerehighlyinterestedtolearnmore about sustainability impactmeasurement in general and theway storiesmight fit intothis. Therefore, in this chapter, also more general information based on literature is presented.Questionsthatwillbeaddressedinthispartare:

• Whatdoesimpactactuallymean?Andwhydocompaniesmeasuretheirimpact?

• Whatandhow?Whatarethestepstotake?

59Aconferenceon“TowardsSocial Impact.Amulti-stakeholderperspectiveoncorporatehumanrightsperformanceandreporting,”June16,2015.OrganizedbyCNVInternationaal,PwC,VBDOandICCOCooperation.60Only32%ofcompaniesreportedadetailedinvestmentstrategy.

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• Whatmakesitsocomplex?

• Andcouldqualitativestorytellingrelatedinstrumentsbeinterestingtogetabetterunderstandingoftheimpactofacompanysustainabilitystrategy?

1.Thewhatandwhyofimpactmeasurement

Whatisimpact?

Thereisavarietyofwording,arangeofdefinitionsandinterpretationsofthetermimpact.Justthinkabout impact investors, impact boosters, an impact evaluation / assessment, the impact of thesustainability strategy in abroader senseorof a sustainabilitypilot, on the longand short run, atproducersorsystemslevel,productorsectorlevel,impactintheLifeCycleAssessment(LCA),etc..

TheWorldBankdefinesimpactas:Changesinthewellbeingofindividuals,households,communitiesorfirmsthatcanbeattributedtoaparticularproject,program,orpolicy.Maasdefinesimpactasasocietal change caused by an organization or a specific project. How can resources/ tools/interventions within the framework of a mission lead to effects. She argues that impact can bemeasuredatthelevelofthemissionofacompany(haveobjectivesbeenachieved)andatthelevelof society (this ismuch broader).61 Liket likewise distinguishesmission related impact (the impactthatanorganization,program,policy intends to realizeaccording to itsmission)62andpublicgoodimpact (beyondthescopeof themissions,anysocietaleffect, intended,orunintended,positiveornegative).63

Themost commonlyuseddefinition is thatof theOECD/DAC (2002)whichdefines impact as “thepositive and negative, primary and secondary long-term effects produced by a developmentintervention,directlyorindirectly,intendedorunintended.”64

Whymeasuringimpact?

This definition fits best with my hypothesis about the need for a company’s true story to haveinformationaboutthetrueeffectsproduced.Measuringimpactdrivesthetruthfulness,authenticityand self-transcending quality of company’s stories on sustainability. Next to this, assessing yourimpact,canalsoserveseveralotherpurposes:65

• Generating input for better steering and improving management and monitoring systems,decisionmakingandenlargingyourimpact(“whatgetsmeasuredgetsmanaged”).

• Social impact assessments can benefit a company bymakingmore effective investments andcreatingabusinesscaseforfutureinvestments.

• Impact measurement accompanied by planning, monitoring, evaluation and learning is oftenrooted in the idea of being transparent and accountable towards its donors/ investors/

61Maas2014:52-53.62Thistypeofimpactisalwayslimitedtoanotionofintent.Measuringonmission-relatedimpactassumesthatthemissionstatementdepictsintherightwayanorganizationwantstostrivefor,butthismightbenotthecase.63Liket2014:88.64http://www.oecd.org/development/evaluation/daccriteriaforevaluatingdevelopmentassistance.htm65KPMG(2014):p.17;WBCSD:p.9

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shareholders,andtowardsitsbeneficiaries/clients/consumers(upward/downward/horizontalaccountability).Impactmeasurementisoftenmotivatedbyademandfromstakeholders(board,funding agencies, government, clients and as mentioned by Colombians by internationalstandards).66

• Italsocontributesto testing thevalidityofatheoryofchange,pioneeringapproachesandtheresultsacompanywantstoachievewithinitscustomerbase.

• It facilitates sharing of results and lessons learnedbeyond the project and program level, andlearning and identifying opportunities to improve programs. It creates the possibility to knowwhy,how,forwhom,andunderwhatconditionscertaininterventionsmightworkandtodecidewhethertheyshouldbeexpandedandpursuedatalargerscale.

• Informationabout impact achieved canbeusedas instrument tomobilize groups, to facilitatetransitionprocesses.Telling, touching, andengaging – collecting information is used for goodcommunicationpurposes, tomakevisiblewhatyourcompany isdoing.This facilitatesbuildingstronger relationshipswith own employees (motivated employees are the best ambassadors),community stakeholders, suppliers and (very important) the customers/ clients, distinguishingyourcompany’ssustainabilitystrategy.

• For social entrepreneurs, impact investors, sustainable companies that want to make adifference,knowingtheimpactachievedisimportant.Beingabletoshow/presentyourimpactgivesyourstoryandyourcompanyanditsproductsandserviceslegitimacy.67

Socialimpactmeasurementwiththesepurposesinmindcanultimatelycontributetostrengtheningthecompany’struecorporate,organizationalandproductstory.

2.Whatandhowtomeasure?

Whattomeasure?

“LearningforSustainability”presentsthefollowingimpactmeasurementmodel:68

66SocialEnterpriseNL2015;Avance2015:I;InterviewLauraVelez.67SocialEnterpriseNL2015:p.12.68Source:http://learningforsustainability.net/evaluation/

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The inputs, outputs, outcomes and impact are differentiated in most models (www.AVINA.net;wbcsdsocialcapital):

• Inputsor resources invested inanactivity: thesearethemeansbywhichthebusinessaimstoachievethecommittedimpact;

• Activitiesasinterventionsthatleadtodefinedoutputs(e.g.training,compliancewithstandards,products/services,etc.).

• Outputs or immediate results are the direct products obtained through the activity, such asnumberofcustomers,unitssoldorcreditamountachieved;

• Outcomesorresults(mediumandlongterm)arethechangesgeneratedinthelifeofthepeopleexposedtothebusinessactivity(suchaspercentageofpeoplewithgrowthofcapital,accesstomarketsorreducedvulnerability);

• Impact is the estimate of the outcomes (medium and long term), analyzingwhatwould havehappenedwithout the intervention of business impact. Impact can be divided into economic,social,environmental,culturalandpoliticalimpact(theselasttwoelementsdohardlynotcomebackintheliteratureonCSR/sustainabilityimpact).

This model is a simplified flow. In reality planning, implementation, monitoring69 and evaluatingprocessesaremuchmore iterative. Theoutput/outcome/impactwayof thinking canbehelpful togive structure to analysis. Conventional measurement techniques mainly focus on inputs andoutputs.Thisishowevershiftingmoretooutcome,impactandvalue-thinkingofimpact.70

Howtomeasure?

Definingscope

Firststepinimpactmeasurementistodefinewhatimpactmeansforacompany/organization.Whatkindofsocietalchangeyouaspire?Forwhom?Atwhatlevel(thefarmersorsocietyasawhole)?Whatisyourscopeandfocus?Forwhatpurpose(accountability,learning,improvementproducts,etc.).WhatdoesyourTheoryofChange(ToC)looklikeandwhatareyourimpactquestions?AToCcanexplainhowacompanywilldeliveronthedesiredoutcomesandwhatconditionsareneededtodoso.71Itspecifieshowyouthinkaninterventioncancontributetoachainofintermediaryresultstoachievetheultimateresults,whilemakingyourassumptions,productsandservicesexplicit.

69There isoftenconfusionaboutthedifferencebetweenevaluationandmonitoring.Monitoring isacontinuingfunctionthat uses systematic collectionof dataon specified indicators toprovidemanagement and themain stakeholders of anongoing development intervention with indications of the extent of progress in the use of allocated funds (OECD/DACGlossary).Reasonstomonitorinclude:internalusebymanagement,trackingdata,quality,earlywarningsystem,planning/managementpurposes,addressaccountabilityofboard,fundingagents,shareholders,etc.70 Often we assume that inputs and outputs lead to positive impacts/ transformation in society. However, this is toosimplistic.E.g.havingaradiocommercialontheradiodoesnotautomaticallyleadtopositiveimpact.71http://www.theoryofchange.org/

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Materialityanalysisanddeterminingimpactindicators

Most (bigger) firms firstdoamaterialityanalysis, lookingat the issues thathavemostprobablyadirectorindirectimpactontheabilityofacompanytocreateeconomic,environmental,andsocialvalueforthemselves,thesocietyandtheirstakeholders.

Based on this scope, a company defines the type of information it needs in order to answer itsimpactquestions. Itspecifiesthetypeofkeyperformance indicators(financialandnon-financial) itwillmonitorandevaluate.Most companiesdistinguish indicators in relation toPeople,PlanetandProfit72 or to the social, environmental, tax and economic domain (see imagedevelopedby PwC),depending on where most impact seems to be achieved, most value is added. Indicators can bequantitativeorqualitative.Theyshouldbemeaningful,direct,useful,andpractical.

It is interesting to see that the bigger accountancy firms, such as PwC,73 are actively developingmeasurement approaches andorganizing learning reflections to sharpen theirmodels. For smallerenterprises, adjusted approaches are promoted by Social Enterprise NL and Avance, aiming topromoteanewandstillpragmaticwayofworking,addressingtheneedentrepreneursfeeltodoaquick-scan.FromUniversityside,evaluationresearchisdoneaswellwithamorescientificapproach(forexampleWageningen/LEI;ErasmusUniversity).74

Also worth mentioning are the initiatives, such as the Green Deal, KPMG sector analysis, CSRtransition networks, the Sustainability Consortium, and IDH/SIFAV (fruits and vegetables) or IDH-cocoa, that aim to bring businesses together to jointly identify and report on the social impact oftheir operations and supply chains. "The impact ismuch bigger and goesmuch deeper whenwetackle sustainability industry-wide.75 An interesting example is the IDH-SIFAV program, fruits &vegetables. 31 companies have committed themselves to achieve impact at scale and becomesustainablebefore2025(forexample,C1000,AlbertHeijn,Jumbo,VanOers,EOSTA,Chiquita,Dole,etc.).Companiesinvolvedaimtoagreeonsector-wideharmonizationof8socialandenvironmentallabels (BSCI, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, SA8000, GlobalCAP, etc.), using the Social ComplianceProgram and GlobalGAP as benchmark. Implementation support comes from civil societyorganizationsICCOandSolidaridad.76Alsointhetimber industryaseriousefforthasbeenmadetoreach a common understanding and an indicator that everyone should report about (% ofsustainable, legal timber).Acompanythatdoesnot jointhis initiative isout.Manyassociationsdonotgothatfaroutofforfearoflosingmembers.

72InColombiagender,humanrights,etnicandracialdiversity,energy,water,recyclingandvoluntaryworksaretopicsthatgetalotofattention(InterviewSteveRamirez).Ingeneralindicatorsoftenfoundindocuments,dependingonthecompany/organizationcouldbe:

Social Impact:Vitalityofemployees;Employability; Income;Laborconditions (child labor, slavery,positionwomen, laborunions,freedomofexpression);Knowledge;Humanrights(inthechain);Health;Education;Security;Integrity;Communitycohesion;Housing;Legislationandtaxes;Consumers:protection,privacy.

EnvironmentalImpact:CO2performanceladder;Usechemicalfertilizers/pesticides;Water;Landuse;Noise/Light;Toxicsubstances;Animalwelfare;Exhaustioncommodities;flightkilometers;Wasteproduction.

FinancialImpact:Purchase;Profit,turnover,return;FraudpreventionGoodgovernancePoverty/distribution;Creditcrisis,confidence;Assets;Damages/liability;Accesstofinance;Accesstomarkets,income;Productivity;Qualityofproducts.73PwCdevelopedaTotal ImpactMeasurementandManagementapproach, inwhichmeasurement isaboutquantifyingandmonetizingthe impact-value, ina languagethatbusinessunderstands.Managementreferstoevaluatingtheoptionsandoptimizingthetrade-offstomakebetterdecisions(Source:PwC2013:5).74AninterestingsocialenterpriseinthisframeworkisSinzer:asoftwareplatformformeasuringimpact.Sinzerhelpssocialinvestors(publicandprivate)andmissiondrivenorganizationcollectdataefficientlyandanalyzetheresultsandmanagetheirimpact.75MVOmanagerNature’sPrideinP+(nr.3,2015),p.47.76Source:P+,p.44-47;InterviewJeroendeVries.

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Datacollection:sourcesandfrequency

Furthermore, before doing impactmeasurement, a companyneeds to definewhich sources itwillandcanuseandwho’sperspectives itwill take intoaccount(Whoto involveand inwhatway?). Italsodefineswhenitshouldcollectitsdata.Onceayearoronaregularbasis?

More timely data collection implies a different information flow. Better and cheaper satellites,inexpensivemobilephonesandtablets,andmoresophisticatedsoftwarefordataanalysisalsomakedatacollectioneasier.Toaccuratelyreachalsotheprovidersatthebeginningofthevaluechain,theintroductionofmobiledatacollectioncanbeeffectiveandeasilyintroducednowadays,eveninmoreremote areas. These also provide the possibility to include photographs, video and a geographiclocation. Also the rise of new data sources (blog posts, tweets, online searches, satellite images,mobilebankingtransactions,etc.)combinedwiththeabilitytoanalyzethese(big)data,createsanexplosionofdigitaldata,holdsthepotentialtoallowdecisionmakerstotracktheperformanceandeffectsofpolicies,strategies,andtounderstandwhattosteeronandwhattoadapt.Withtherightcomputertechniques,trendsandpatternscanbeunveiledintousefulinformation.77

Companiesshouldtakeintoaccountthatalargenumberofpeopleactivelyinformthemselvesonasituation around them, often usingmobile phone technology and open source platforms. Citizensreportwhattheyseeorhear,especiallyrelatedtosensitiveissues(waste,violations,corruption,useofpesticides,badworkingconditions,etc.).78Thesetypesofcitizens’storieswillcertainly influencethetruestorycompaniespresent.

EvaluatingInordertogetabetterunderstandingofthehowandwhy,tounderstandthe“what”andtherootcauses behindwhy somethingworks or not, investing resources in evaluation is beneficial.79 As acompanyororganizationyouwillprobablywanttounderstandwhatworks inwhatcontext,underwhat conditions, for what groups of people, in what ways and to what extent, so that you canachieveefficacyreliablyatscale.

Communication

Basedonallthedatacollected,acompanywilldefinehowandwithwhomtosharetheresultsoftheassessment,andwithwhatreasons.HowtodothiswasexplainedinpreviousPartIII.

3.Thecomplexityofimpactmeasurementandevaluation

Thequalityofagoodmonitoringandevaluation(M&E)processandfinalproductdependsonmanyfactors: Design, participation and ownership, planning/ timing, evidence, follow-up, evaluator’scredibility, skills, political awareness, organizational culture and leadership, relationship betweenevaluation outcomes/ communication, etc.. It is not surprising that defining your impact andconductinganimpactevaluationisexperiencedasacomplexexercisefullofchallenges,assomeof

77ThoughIcouldnotcollectanyinformationonthenumberofColombiancompaniesusingICTtechnologyintheirM&E,mobiletechnologywasmentionedbyseveralintervieweesandrespondentstothesurvey.78UNDP2013:6-7.79Source:www.fsg.org;WageningenConference.

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the intervieweessaid.Whatmakes itsocomplex?Herethemost frequent fundamentalchallengesaresummarized:80

a)Attribution

• The change a company envisions is not always clearly formulated (absence of a Theory ofChange). A good logic is needed from the beginning of a project/ process to define latereffectivenessandefficiency.81

• Attribution: it is difficult to determine what outcomes are attributable to a specificintervention.So,isthechangethatweobservecausedbyourinterventionanddoesitimplyacausalrelation?Thedifficultyisthatoftenmanyfactorscontributetoaresult.Andwhatwouldhave happened if we had not intervened? How to determine counterfactual positions?Claiming to make a contribution to a desired result is often more likely. Evidence ofcontributioncanbeencouragingandprovidecredible informationontheeffectsofprograminvestment. As the M&E experts interviewed emphasize: be realistic about your sphere ofinfluenceandrecognizethelimitationsthereare.UTZCertified

The effects of certifications are also caused by many other issues (eg. pre-financing offarmers).Theattributionproblemisathornyissue.Youcannotisolatethecertificationfromitscontext.

• Drop-off,meaningthateffectsobservedmightdecreaseonthelongerterm.• Additionally: If your interventioncauseschange, itdoesnotautomaticallymeanyouare the

bestactortoimplementtheproject.Ifyouhadnotbeentheinterveningagency,wouldtherehavebeenacommercialorpublicpartythatwouldhavesteppedin?

b)Complexityofdatacollectionandanalysis

Thereisoftenalackofabaselineandofavailabledataneededfordatacollectionandanalysis.Nexttothis,thedefinitionoftheindicatorstousecanbequitecomplex.Whatdoesanindicatorincludeand what not? How is it defined in one country and how on another? For example the socialindicator“livingwage”bringsupalotofdiscussion:doesitalsoincludetaxpayment,educationofchildren, health care, healthy food, leisure, long term contracts, religious costs, cultural costs,insurances, savings, access to water/ sanitation, etc.? And are indicators measurable andcomparable?

Doingdatacollectionmoreefficientlyinthewholevaluechainispromising,butalsochallenging.Theuseofelectronictablets,ofopensource(Google)wasalreadymentioned.However,producersareoftenreluctant tosharedataon theirproduction.Andyouneedtobeverycarefulwithprivacyofdata.82

For companies and their investors it seems important todetermine thequantifiable valueof theirimpact.New initiativesarisethatmonetizethevalueof impact, forexampleSROI,PUMAandTrue

80Source:Literatureandresourcepersonsonimpactevaluation(seeannexI).81 Effectiveness: to what extent does an activity attain its objectives? What were the major factors influencing theachievementornon-achievementof theobjectives.Efficiency: measures theoutputs --qualitativeandquantitative -- inrelation to the inputs. Were activities cost-efficient? Were objectives achieved on time? Was the program or projectimplemented in the most efficient way compared to alternatives? Sources: The DAC Principles for the Evaluation ofDevelopment Assistance, OECD (1991), Glossary of Terms Used in Evaluation, in 'Methods and Procedures in AidEvaluation',OECD(1986),andtheGlossaryofEvaluationandResultsBasedManagement(RBM)Terms,OECD(2000).82Source:WorkshopAvanceJuly2015;experienceICCOwithAKFVO-FLOW.

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Price Foundation (see annex IV formore information). However, critics argue that value is ratherrelative, subjective, depending on the context, the person. “You pay a price, but what you get isvalue”.

c)Lackoftime,lackofcapacity/expertiseandfinancialresources

Impactevaluationsdemandasubstantialamountofinformation,time,energyandresources.Thesecostsshouldneverexceedthebenefitsthatcanbeattributedtoimpactstudy.Thereseemsatensionbetweenmeasuringwiththebestpossiblequality,whatisstillrealistic,andwhatdoesnotbecometoosimplistic.83

ImpactmeasurementPerfettiVanMelle

“AtPerfettiVanMelle, impactmeasurement, in termsof impacton society, isabridge toofar. It is too costly and time consuming. At company level, an annualmanagement reviewtakes place. Four CSR-working groups jointly define the KPIs for reporting. There isdeliberatelynoseparateCSRdepartment.ThecompanyconsidersCSRanintegralpartoftheentirebusiness.Withintheworkinggroupsdiscussiontakeplaceonthepossibleaddedvalueofimpactmeasurementandwhichaudiencewouldbeserved.BasedonISO26000,fourcorethemesweredefinedthatformthepillarsofthecompaniesCSRpolicyandthatarediscussedin theworking groups: Responsible Trading, Environment, Employee& Society and Health,andQuality.”

Somesocialentrepreneursorcompaniesforwhichsocialimpactistheirtrademarktendtobewillingto investmore in research/ evaluations. For this, they depend on subsidies from social funds orgovernment,whicharenoteasilyavailable.

Others are convinced they do not need further studies, because “they are just doing well.” Asexplainedbyoneoftherespondentsinthesurvey:"You'retalkingaboutimpactmeasurement.Wedon'tdothat.Wedonotinvestigate,havenobaseline-measurements,etc.DuetotheSMEcharacterofourorganizationthere issimplynobudgetforthat.Wedoeverythingonour"gutfeeling".Thatworksforusfortunatelyverygood.Obviously,wemakemistakes,butoverallweusuallygotitright.”

ImpactmeasurementIntertaste

“If we are honest, we do not measure much at the moment. At best, we measure someinternaloperations(throughanenvironmentalbarometerforexample),butnotthroughoutthe chain. A lot happens based on a "good feeling". We do not have separate staff formonitoring. We do perform audits. To better monitor the chain, backward integration iscurrentlystillnotapriority. Inverysensitiveproductclaims,wegoseeforourselveswhat'sgoingon.”

Most professionals seem to agree that impact measurement will require both quantitative andqualitativemeasures.This requiresavarietyofexpertise,which isnotalwayseasilyavailable.“Weaimfortheuseofmoremixedmethods,butitappearsdifficulttofindtherightexpertise“.84

M&Eexpertsunderscoretheimportanceoflearning,sotimeandanopenspacetodiscussstrengthand weaknesses of strategies, in order to improve the efficiency and effectivity of work andultimatelythequalityoffinalproducts/servicesdelivered.Unfortunately,withinorganizationstimefor triple loop learning and making good use of M&E outcomes, gets often squeezed in busyschedules.

83Source:InterviewEdithKroese.84Source:InterviewHenkGilhuis.

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M&E methodologies still fall short in tackling the complexity of development of sustainabilitystrategies. Although a lot ofM&E experience comes from the aid sector, also heremany are stillsearchingforadditionalconceptstoimproveagoodunderstandingofdevelopment.

d)Measuringatsectorlevel

Despite the encouraging examples mentioned of sector-level impact measurement, it appearsdifficulttoagreeonimpactmeasurementatsectorlevel.Difficultiesare:85

• Each single company and the context it operates in determine the trajectory towards moresustainability.Thisdeterminesthefocusandpace.Thepaceofchangewithinasectorisusuallydefined by theworst of the class (memberswant to hold on to the current situation). This isfrustratingforthefront-runners.

• Dataareoftennotreliable,sowhatcanyoupublishassector?Badstoriesarenotbroughtout,andwhatisalistwithonlygoodscoresworth?

• Sectorsareoftentoodiffusewhichmakesitalmostimpossibletochoosetherightindicatorthatismeasurableandrelevanttoallparties.86

Industrywideimpactmeasurement

Perfetti VanMelle Benelux participates in steering committees and study groups, as in theCDU(SustainabilityCommittee)and theDutchFood IndustryFederation (FNLI)and theVBZ(DutchAssociationofBakeryandConfectioneryIndustry-).“AsCSRLeader,especiallyontheenvironmental side,webringourexperiencehere.Given thegreatdiversityof the industry,wecanstillnotgetasmuchoutofit.”

There are certainly opportunities to do more as industry. In the case of the candymanufacturer,withcombinedforces,ameasurementcoulde.g.bearrangedwithrespecttothe impactof the legislationonkidsmarketing. Inco-operationwithaGGD, forexample,agoodindicatorcouldbedetermined.

4.Qualitative,storytellingrelatedinstruments

SurveyresultsBasedonthe100companiesparticipatinginthesurvey,48%saytocollectquantitativedataand52%qualitativeinordertomonitorobjectivesandresultsoftheircompany.Unfortunatelynomoredetailswereprovidedinthesurveyonthetypeofqualitativeapproachesapplied.Impactmeasurementisdonemostlybyusingexternalaudits(30%),andbythemeasurementofdefinedKPIs(27%).13%indicatedtoevaluatethecompany’swork.Duringinterviewswithcompaniesandresourcepersonsthequalitativeapproachesdidnotseemtobecommonlyused.Company’srepresentativeswerehardlyfamiliarwithforexampletheuseofMSCorSensemaker.

85Source:InterviewJosReinhoudt;HenkGilhuis.86“InColombia,CECODESandSistemaBcreatespacetodiscussimpactmeasurementbutinsectorassociations,thisisnotsomuchanissueyet.”(InterviewLauraVelez).

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Consideringthedifficultiesandcomplexitytoassessorevaluateimpact,itisrecommendabletousedifferentapproaches.Fromthe1990sonwards,anenormousvarietyofmethods/approacheshasbeendevelopedtomeasure(social) impact.Mixedmethodsallowfortriangulation,which isbettersuited to capture complex realities and to provide different perspectives on the effect of policies,programs or service delivery. The downside is that the availability of a diversity of measurementinstrumentsmakesitdifficultforcompaniestodecideontheinstrumenttoapply.87

Oneway toclassify theseapproaches is todistinguishbetweenmorequantitativeapproachesandmorequalitativeones.Maas(2009)illustratesthisdiversitybypresentingalistofthirtyquantitative(social) impact measurement methods (not intended to be exhaustive). The Balanced Scorecard(BSc),MeasuringImpactFramework(MIF),MillenniumDevelopmentGoalscan(MDG-scan),PovertySocial Impact Assessment (PSIA), the Public Value Scorecard (PVSc), Social Footprint, and SocialreturnonInvestment(SROI)arepartofthislist.88

Measuringsocialchange isnotonlyaboutcounting thenumberofpeoplereached, thenumberofnew educational centers established or CO2 emissions reduced. These benchmarks can help toconfirmifyouareontherighttrack,buttheydon’ttellthefullstoryaboutimpact.Measuringimpactisaboutaskingwhatchangeoccurredinthelivesofpeopleorintheenvironmentasaresultofourintervention.Forthatpurpose,qualitativeinformationcanbeveryeffective.Thecollectionofstoriesispartofsomeofthemorequalitativeinstruments.Tobesystematicinhowyouuseyourqualitativedatatoevaluateyourworkisachallenge.

The interviewswith representativesof companiesnor the survey results gavea clear indicationofhowprivate companiesareor couldbeusingqualitative instruments toassess the impactof theirsustainability strategies (not in The Netherlands, neither in Colombia). It seemed that eithercompanies are only familiar with quantitative instruments, and not so much with qualitative,alternative approaches. Or companies are not yet assessing structurally their impact at all.Manyindicatedtobereluctanttoapplyqualitativeapproachesbecauseoftheirlackonknowhow,oftimeand the idea that these data do not provide hard evidence. At the same time all expressed theirinterest in learningmoreaboutnewapproaches,since impactmeasurementassuch is increasinglyontheagenda,astheynoticed.

Mixedmethods?

TheM&E Department of UTZ Certified has grown rapidly during the past few years, sincecollecting information on impact has gained interest. Still many so called hard data arecollected,butUTZisexploringwhethertheuseofmixedmethodscanprovidemorevaluableinformationtotheorganizationanditsbusinessclients.

Asexplained in the introductionof this report,myhypothesiswas thatcollectingstoriesofpeoplewill improveacompany’sunderstandingofwhat ishappening in thevaluechainandwhatkindofimpactisachieved.Interviewswithsubjectmatterexpertsprovidedinformationonthreequalitativeapproaches of impact evaluation in which stories, telling of stories play an important role. Theseapproaches,described in thisparagraph,are frequentlyused in internationalcooperation, insomepublicprivatepartnerships,andmightbeinterestingforprivatesectoraswell.Theseare:

a. MostSignificantChange(MSC)

b. Sensemaker

87InterviewwithKarenMaasbyJolandaBreedveld2014.88 Corporate Social Performance: FromOutputMeasurement to ImpactMeasurement.Maatschappelijke prestaties vanorganisaties: van output meting naar impact meting (Proefschrift Karen Maas, 2009). Maas clustered the methodsaccordingtothefollowingclusters:Approach;Perspective;Objective;Wayofworking;Orientation;Timeline.

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c. Learninghistories

InannexIIIotherqualitativeapproachesarebrieflypresented,suchasOutcomeMapping,ManagingforImpactApproach,ContributionAnalysisandPADEV.

Surveyresults34%oftherespondentsthinkstoriescouldbeusedasaninstrumenttomeasureimpact.32%doesn’tknowandtherestanswerstheydonotseeapossibilitytousethem.

a)MostSignificantChange89

TheMostSignificantChange(MSC)startedin1994byRickDaviesandwasusedsince1996byNGOsandlaborunions.Itprovidesinsightsintopicsthatpreviouslywerehardlyvisible.

TheMSCtechnique isa formofparticipatoryM&E.90 It’snotmeantasastandalonemethodology(2011:6).Itis:• Participatory:manyprojectstakeholdersareinvolvedbothindecidingthesortsofchangetobe

recordedandinanalyzingthedata.• Aformofmonitoring: itoccursthroughouttheprogramcycleandprovidesinformationtohelp

peoplemanagetheprogram.• Itcontributestoevaluationbyprovidingdataonimpactandoutcomesthatcanbeusedtohelp

assesstheperformanceoftheprogramasawhole.MSCisaboutcollectingsignificantchangestoriesemanatingfromthefieldlevel,andthesystematicselectionofthemostsignificantofthesestoriesbypanelsofdesignatedstakeholdersorstaff.Thesestaff and stakeholders are initially involved by ‘searching’ for project impact. Once changes havebeencaptured,variouspeoplesitdowntogether,readthestoriesaloudandhaveregularandoftenin-depthdiscussionsaboutthevalueofthesereportedchanges.

MSCcanbeapowerful tool forongoingdialogueand learning.MSC isbetter suited tomonitoringthan accountability. It is also an appropriate tool when you are interested in the effect of theinterventiononpeople’slivesandkeentoincludethewordsofnon-professionals.Inaddition,MSCcanhelpstafftoimprovetheircapabilitiesincapturingandanalyzingtheimpactoftheirwork.ThestrengthofMSC:91• Itisagoodmeanstoidentifyunexpectedchangesandtocaptureexpectedchange.• It is a good way to clearly identify the values that prevail in an organization and to have a

practical discussion about which of those values are themost important. This happens whenpeoplethinkthroughanddiscusswhichofthechangesisthemostsignificant.Thiscanhappenatalllevelsoftheorganization.

89Source:http://www.mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf.Othersource:TheMostSignificantChangetechnique.AmanualforM&EstaffandothersatEqualAccess,February2011.90MSCconsistsof10steps:1)Raisinginterest;2)Decidingondomainsofchange;3)Decidingonthereportingperiod;4)Collecting social change stories; 5) Selecting the most significant stories; 6) Feeding back results to key people; 7)Verificationof stories;8)Quantificationof stories;9)Secondaryanalysisandmonitoring;10)Evaluatingand revising thesystem.91SomeofthekeyenablersforMSCare:1)anorganizationalculturewhereitisacceptabletodiscussthingsthatgowrongaswellassuccesses;2)champions/ambassadors(i.e.peoplewhocanpromotetheuseofMSC)withgoodfacilitationskills;3)awillingnesstotrysomethingdifferent;4)timetorunseveralcyclesoftheapproach;5)infrastructuretoenableregularfeedbackoftheresultstostakeholders;6)commitmentbyseniormanagers.

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• It isaparticipatoryformofmonitoringthatrequiresnospecialprofessionalskills.Comparedtoothermonitoring approaches, it is easy to communicate across cultures. There is no need toexplainwhatanindicatoris.Everyonecantellstoriesabouteventstheythinkwereimportant.

• Itencouragesanalysisaswellasdatacollectionbecausepeoplehavetoexplainwhytheybelieveonechangeismoreimportantthananother.

• Itcanbuildstaffcapacityinanalyzingdataandconceptualizingimpact.• Itcandeliverarichpictureofwhatishappening,ratherthananoverlysimplifiedpicturewhere

organizational,socialandeconomicdevelopmentsarereducedtoasinglenumber.• Itcandevelopgoodnewsstoriesforpublicrelations(PR).• It can be used to monitor and evaluate bottom-up initiatives that do not have predefined

outcomesagainstwhichtoevaluate.ThemainlimitationsofMSCare:92• It istimeconsuming.Forasimpleprogramwitheasilydefinedoutcomes,other instrumentsare

moresuitable.• Asastand-alonetoolforM&E,isthattheremightbeabiastowardstheviewsofthosewhoare

goodat telling stories. Subjectivity in the story selectionprocess isa risk.Thisprocess tends toreflect the values of the people on the selection panels. However, recording the reasons forselectingstorieshelpstostrengthentheprocess.

• Anotherbiasisthepositive,popularviews:usuallymostlypositivechangesarementioned.• Bysettingaselection,afilter,youmissthenuancesfromcontext,signals,etc.• MSCraisestheimportantissueofvoiceandpowerassociatedwithwhoparticipatesinthestory

selection process. This can be overcome by ensuring that the people on the selection panelsrepresentawiderangeofbackgroundsandvalues.

• An aspect to take into account is anonymity, confidentiality of data and ethical concerns. Thepeoplewhomstoriesarecollectedandusedneedtobemadefullyawareofthepossibleuseoftheirstories.

• MSCismoreorientedtowardsidentifyingashowcase,forPRpurposesthancollectingevaluativematerial.

ThequalitativeresearchpartoftheWorldCitizenPanel(WCP)ofOxfamNovibisbasedontheMostSignificantChangeTechnique.Participantstelltheir‘storiesofchange’,whichisthemostsignificantchangetheyperceivedintheirownlivesorintheircommunityasaresultoftheprogram.

TheWorldCitizensPanelOxfamNovib93

TheWorldCitizensPanel(WCP)isanimpactmeasurementmethoddevelopedbyOxfamNovib.Itcombinesquantitativeresearch(impactsurveys)withqualitativeresearch(storiesofchange)to give participants in the Oxfam programs a voice, to learn how their programs can beimproved, and to contribute to the public debate on effectiveness of developmentcooperation.94

Ineachcountry,WCPstartswithasurveyamonga largegroupof randomlyselectedpeopleparticipatingintheOxfam-programs.Inaddition,interviewsaredonewithpeoplewhoarenotparticipating in the programs to serve as a control group. TheWCPuses a Smartphone app

92Mande2011:9;InterviewIreneGuijt;Otherresourcematerialcamefromthreeorganizations(Woord&daad,HumanityHouse, NoordBaak and Your Bricks) that recently did a qualitative evaluative research, using the MSC(www.ncdo.nl/artikel/wanneer-meten-leren-wordt).93Source:https://www.worldcitizenspanel.com/;PresentationduringWageningenConference2015byPeterHuismanenAnneOudes(20March2015).94 In 2012, theWorld Citizens Panel started in Uganda and it has now also been rolled out in Somalia, Pakistan,Mali,CambodiaandNigeria.

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with a questionnaire to interview large numbers of people in an efficient, affordable, andreliablemanner.Thematicdomains forstoriesofchangeareselectedbasedontheresultsoftheimpactsurveys.

Challenges Oxfam encounters are related to how tomake sure learning also takes place atbeneficiarylevel;howtointegratetheWCPinthewholeprogramscycle(baseline,reflections);whattodesignwithstaff&partnersgiventhecontroversialityofstaffpartnersconductingtheinterviews (howdoes thiseffectquality, reliabilityand independence);keeping thecostsataminimum;andhowtocreateasafeenvironmenttospeakout.

With theWCPOxfam really aims to understand if andhow interventionsmakea difference,howchangeisbroughtabout,whataretheunexpectedresultsandintangibleresultsobtained(this is not easy to capture in a standardized method). The WCP also offers input foraccountability,evidencebasedstrategicandfinancialresourcemanagement.

MSCispreferablynotastand-alonemethod.Interestingforcompaniesisthepossibilityitgeneratesto learn, stimulate dialogue, reflection, deepen understandings of what is going on in theorganizationandinthevaluechain,anditscomplementaritytoquantitativedata.

b)Sensemaker95

Sensemaking is about creating meaning to data/ experiences, to create plausible understanding.Implicitly in many processes a lot is covered in black boxes: values, power, who’s priorities,assumptions,etc.Bysensemakingyoutrytomakethedifferentviewsmoreexplicit.

The Sensemaker methodology was developed by David Snowden, who aimed to develop anapproach to understand complex, unstable social systems. He thought that various relationships,dynamicsandmarketmechanismsareconstantlyinfluxandcanneverbefullyunderstoodintermsof linear cause and effect. He was fascinated by the power of stories. He started applying hismethodologyinthebusinessworld(mining,banking)/marketing/consumerneeds.Itwasnotusedforevaluationpurposesinfirstinstance.

The Sensemaker methodology consists of several micro-narrative collection tools, a patterndetection software and an underlyingmethodologywhich relies on the use of a large number offragmentedmicro-narrativestomakesenseofcomplexrealities,todistilpatterns,andthenrespondtothepatternsinatimelymanner.

The software tool turns rawdata into information that can be visually presented and analyzed toreveal patterns, belief systems and attitudes. These raw data include stories, micro-narratives,pictures, blogs, provided by communities or possibly other target groups that give a snapshot onwhat’s on people’s mind and that people use to make sense of the world around them. Thecollectionofstoriesisdonebypen,paper,Ipad(aspecialApp),ortheonlinecollector.

The system maps stories' similarities and differences to tease out trends, which make sense ofcomplexsocialchallenges.Aftercollectingthesefragmentsofinformationinarawform,thepersonwho provided them decides what they mean (as opposed to computer based analysis or expertjudgement) by assigning them to a location on a 3x3 spectrum. To understand the stories better,storytellersareaskedtoanswerasetofquestionsabouttheirstories.Storiesarelikefiltersthroughwhichpeoplemakemeaningandtakedecisions.Theyareoftenatipofaniceberg.Additionallayersofmeaningembeddedandconnectedtothestory/experiencearerevealedthroughquestionsina

95Snowden2010.

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significationframework(values,believes,ideas).Thisadditionalinformationgivesquantitativedata–whichcanbevisualizedandanalyzed.Byvisualizingthesepatterns,yourevealtheworldthroughtheideasofthestorytellers.

In order to deepen insight, the results are then discussed with respondents. This providesunderstandingintothedifferentperspectives,attitudes,andvaluesofdifferentactorsaroundtopicsofinterest.Thefinalresultofthewholeprocess(formanagementofanorganization/companyforexample)isasetofdata,areportwithanalysis,fullofstories,whatmatterstothem,whatimpact,thematically split up, including strong patterns. As Deprez argued: A company focused on addingsharedvalue,wantstoknowwhereitismakingarealdifference.Youshouldwanttoknowthegapsin your sustainability strategy and be able to showpatterns in terms of short termand long termresults.

SensemakerwaspilotedbyGlobalGiving inKenya,96with funding fromtheRockefellerFoundation.IreneGuijt,partof thispilot:“Makingsenseofstories thatpeopletellhelpsyouseewhatyouaredoingthroughtheeyesofthebeneficiaries.Afasterandearlierdetectionofsuccessesandfailures,e.g.byusingtextmessagingonmobilephones,canmakethemarketplaceworkbetter.Sensemakercanhelpdonorsandbeneficiariesonwhatworksandwhatshouldbefunded.”97

Guijtsofarconducted11sensemakertrayectories,amongstwhichavaluechainanalysis.Accordingtoher,Sensemakeroffers“alotofanalyticalpotential.Itislikeasophisticatedspeedboat.”Butherexperience in the biological cottonwas that the use of Sensemakerwas complex: therewere toomanyactors,stepsanddynamics.“Itwastoodifficulttoseewhoisdoingwhat.Collectingstoriesinthiscontextwouldbefartooexpensive.”ItwouldbeveryinterestingtopilotaSensemakerprojectinamoredefinedpartofthewholechain,wherethereisaclearsupplierandbuyer.

SensemakerwasalsoappliedinthePROOFS98(ProfitableOpportunitiesforFoodSecurity)programinBangladesh,99 where 800 respondents in the framework of a market research, participated in asensemakingprocess,tellingstoriesabouttheircurrentandfuturesituation.Hereoneofthebiggestchallengeswastofacilitateaspontaneousstorytellingprocess,especially inacountrywithculturalgenderissues(e.g.womenarenotallowedtotalkwithoutsiderswithoutpresenceofmotherinlaw).

Vredeseilanden(aBelgiumNGO)exploredtheuseandusefulnessofSensemakertomeasure, learnand communicate about smallholder farmer inclusion in modern markets, amongst others in teavalue chain in Vietnam and banana chips in Ecuador. These cases involved smallholder producerswho are organized in producer organizations/ cooperatives, which sell their produce to a privatecompany that sources from them. The cases differ in context, product, geographical scope,complexity,typeoffarmerorganization,typeofbuyerandmarket.TheobjectiveofVredeseilandenwastoassesshowchanges in inclusivebusinessmodels insmallholderchainsareexperiencedandperceivedbysmallholders.InterestingtoremarkisthatthispilotprojectwasmadepossiblethroughtheThematicLearningProgram(TLP)onPlanning,MonitoringandEvaluationofComplexProcessesofSocialChange,facilitatedandfundedbyPSO(TheNetherlands)andsupportedbyHIVA(Belgium).So,asinthecaseofKenyaandBangladesh,theuseofthesemoreinnovativeinstrumentsseemstodependonfundingfromdonorsorfoundations.ThisalsocountsforNespresso/Starbucks,currentlyexperimenting with this method in Colombia, funded by USAID. And sponsored by the NikeFoundationinEthiopia,2500storieswerecollectedtobringbackahumanvoice.

96Source:http://www.globalgiving.org/jcr-content/gg/landing-pages/story-tools/files/-story-real-book--2010.pdf

http://www.nec2013.org/documents/papers/Innovations-in-mande.pdf97Boss2011;MaxsonandGuijt2010.98www.proofsbangladesh.org99QualitativeinterviewwithMarijkedeGraaf.

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AccordingtobothGuijtandDeprez,thestrengthofSensemakeris:100

• That decisionmakers can quickly assess fragmented qualitative information frommultiplesources.

• Theobjectivityoftheinformation.• Theopportunitytogeneratequalitativeandquantitativedatasimultaneously.• Togainnewinsightsintodifferentperspectives,attitudesandvaluesofactors.• Itdetectsweaksignalsthatsignalemergentopportunitiesandthreats.• Itmakesreal-time,evidencebasedadjustmentstoanapproach.• That sensemaker is lightweight, cost-effective, affordable, has fast feedback loops,

complementingotherassessmentmethods.

Theweaknessintermsofimpactevaluationisthat:

• Sensemakerseemsmorelikeacollectivelearningtooltostrengthenthevaluechain.Itisnotsomuchformeasuringtypical“harddata”indicators.

• As experienced in Bangladesh, the whole process appeared rather academic, timeconsuming,andexpensive(traininginterviewersforexample).

• Anassumption is that people reallywant to bring out different views, arewilling to listencarefullyanddealwith theconsequences.This ishowevercertainlynotalways thecase. Itcanbethreateningtoletfarmersspeakoutforexample.101

Forsuccessfulsensemakingyouneedengagement,inclusion,enoughtime,therightquestionsattherightmoment,enoughstories, competenciesand the feeling thatdifferentactorsare inconcertedaction.

c)Learninghistories102

WhereSensemakerismoreorientedonnowandthefuture,learninghistoriesareespeciallylookingbackward.

Learninghistoriesareprimaryaprocesstomakesenseto(learning)experiences.Alearninghistoryisaprocessthatresultsinajointlytoldtaleinmultiplenarratives,withillustrationsandreflectionsonstrategies, noticeable results,what happened andwhy. It gives insight in organizational dynamics,theinternallogicsondealingwithchange.Alearninghistoryisalsoaproduct:adocument,oranyotherformof(multimedia)presentation,tobespreadanddiscussedonalargescale.Alearninghistorycanhavetheformofanongoingstory,continuously renewed, in the form of a collective journal or learning blog, or as a website. TheLearningHistorycanbepresentedinvariousways,forexampleinapaperdocument,aslide-show,awebsite, a TV-production/ DvD, a theatre play, strip album, an online social network, with blogs,chats,forum,etc. Theexerciseisperformedbypeoplewhowere/areinvolvedinthecentralissueofthehistory,preferablyalsoexternalpeople,liketrainers,partners,stakeholders.Alearninghistoryaboutacompany’sprocesstocometoanintegratedsustainabilitystrategyintheircorebusiness couldbevery interesting, informativeanda learning tool forownstaffandexternalstakeholders.100Deprez2015;WageningenConference2015;interviewsSteffDeprezandIreneGuijt2015.101Source:InterviewSteffDeprez.102http://www.learninghistories.net/

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So,inallthethreeabove-describedmethodsstoriesandstorytellingplayakeyrole.Theyhavetheirconsandpros.Theweaknessofstorytellingasinstrumentofmonitoringandmeasurementhastodowith:

• The representativityof thedata, scientific reliabilityof results isweak.Storytelling isnotasubstituteofcounting.Itismoredifficulttomakegeneralizationsbasedonstories.

• The before mentioned attribution problem is not solved by using storytelling as researchinstrument.

• Organizationsoftenlackthecapacity,theknowhow,timetousestorytellingasamonitoring/evaluationinstrument.

Ontheotherhand,thestrengthofthesequalitative,participatoryapproachesisa.o.:

• Theseapproachesprovideastrongcontextandagoodfeelingfortheinterventions,aswellasarealtimeinsightintomorereal-timeissues,processesandchangesinsociety.

• These real-timedata facilitate fasterdecision-making, and they increase the credibilityofdatacollected.

• Especially MSC is ideal for complex programs where cause-effects are poorly understood,programs that seek to influence policy, social change, and innovate to discuss solutions. Themethods are useful where it is not possible to predict in detail what the outcome ofinterventionswillbe.

• Theparticipatorycharacterofthesemethodshasthestrengthtopromoteactiveinvolvementofcompany’sstakeholders.

• In termsof reporting assessment outcomes, stories aremore appealing tomany readers thantablesofstatistics.Theyaddthestorybehindthedryquantitativenumbers.

Survey respondents, interviewees and literature also confirmed (although not yet often put inpractice) that a combination between compelling stories and data will work best. Qualitativeresearch should not play a secondary role to conventional empiric investigation. It should not beused simply to only confirm or towindow dress. Qualitativemethods could play amore rigorousrole.103Itwouldbeworthwhiletostartmoreexperimentswithmixedmethods.

103AlsoconcludedbyGarbarinoandHolland(2009).

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PartV–SUMMARYANDCONCLUSIONS

Inthisreport, Ipresentedtheoutcomesofresearchdoneonstorytelling,sustainabilityand impactmeasurement. As indicated in the first part, five hypotheseswere formulated and investigated. Inthis final part, I will summarize my findings in relation to these hypotheses and draw someconclusions.Thefirstthreehypothesesarerelatedtostorytellingandcommunication,thefourthtostorytellingandmeasurementandevaluationof impact,andthefifthtothetrends inanemergingeconomyasColombia.

Storytellingandcommunication

Doingbusinesstodayisquitedifferentthaninthepast.Aconvincingwayofdoinggoodbusinessismoreimportantthaneverbefore.Storytellingisanidealmeanstocommunicateinaninspirationalwayaboutwhatacompany,itspeopleandproductsstandfor.

Literature studied, interviewees both in Colombia and in The Netherlands as well as the surveyoutcomes confirm that storytelling is an interesting tool to communicate, engage and share thesustainability story of a company and a product. Convincing and relevant stories put people intoaction. Characteristics of good stories are that they are authentic and transparent;make senseofinformation (providing a human face to data); refer to a shared purpose; motivate and mobilizepeople;articulatevaluesandinfluencebehavior.Theyconnectpeople,andcancontributetobrandidentity and experience. The added value is also that stories help people retain information andfacilitatelearningprocesses.

Thedifferencebetweencorporate,organizationalandproductstorytellingwasexplained inpart II.The strength of a strong brand is that all three types of stories are coherent. The product storyshould be in line with the corporate story and the organizational stories, transmitted by staffmembers,workingatallkindsoflevelsinthecompany.Storiesatalllevelsinthevaluechainhelptocreate thebiggerpictureof a company, and vice versa. Consumers connect at personal levelwithpeoplejustlikethem.Forthisreason,storiesofpeopleinvolvedinthebusinessvaluechain,thoughstillonlypresentedbyafewcompanies,engageevenmore.

Toreachitsstakeholders, inparticulartheirclients, Iconcludethatstorytellinghasaddedvalueforcompanies. Statistics, facts and figures remain essential. However, informing and involving acompany’s stakeholders inan inspiringway, can inspirea refreshmentof stakeholderengagement(internalandexternal).

Good stories not only inform about ambitions, intentions, but especially about the intrinsicmotivationofacompanywhytoworkonsustainability.Consumers liketorelatetothevaluesofacompany.Stakeholdersaimtoknowthatthecompany’sstrategydeliversrealsocialimpactandcantell a story of change. All interviewees and reports studied underscore the importance of beinghonestaboutthetrueresultsachievedandalsoaboutwhatwentwrong.Opennessaboutprogressaswellasthestrugglesacompanyisfacedwithareappreciatedandleadtoabetterunderstandingof the situationa company is in.The full storyneeds tobepresented togaincredibilityand trust.Interviewees also indicated that this requires courage. In practice companies (larger and smaller)remain still rather reluctant to communicate this type of information, out of fear for negativeconsequences.

Thenumberofconsumersthatfocusonsustainableaspectswhenpurchasingproductsorservicesisincreasing,inTheNetherlandsaswellas(slowly)inColombia.Consumersarenolongersatisfiedwithamarketingstoryaboutsustainability.Thereisalackoftrustamongthepublicincompanies(havingtodowith -amongstothers -companiesnotpracticingwhat theypreach,greenwashing, theway

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messagesareframed).AsCSR-Netherlandsconcludedinits2015report:Sustainabilityneedsanewstory.

PartIIalsoaddressedthevarietyofinitiativestotellthisnewstoryandtoinformconsumersontheproducts they buy: certifications to demonstrate commitment (with its advantages anddisadvantages);theso-calledCeesmodelbuildingontrust;providingtransparencyandtraceabilityorinformingconsumersviainitiativessuchasTraceandtellsystems,QuestionmarkorRankaBrand.Allinitiatives are built on the importance of transparency. Another increasingly important way toconnecttoconsumersistocreatespacefordialogueonthecompany’smission,andwayofworking,sharingexperiences,havingasharedgoal,andevenjointlydevelopingaproduct.

Anintrinsicmotivationandtruedesiretobesustainableorsociallyresponsibleiswhatreallycounts.Withalltheinformationavailablenowadays,(theveryinterested)consumersknowifamotivationisreal or not. By showing the true story behind a company and a product, you truly connect andenhanceanemotionalattachment.

InpartIIIthekeysuccessfactorsofgoodstorytellingcommunicationweredescribed.Itbecameclearthatastory isastory,buthowyoutell itandwhoyoutell itto,shouldbeflexible.Companiescancommunicateviaamultitudeofchannelsandforms.Athoroughanalysisofthecompany’saudienceiskeysothatacompanycanfitthestorytowhataspectsmattermosttotheirtargetgroups.Gettoknowwhatpeople/consumersreallywant.Useconsumersinsightstotellthesustainabilitystorytheright way via the most effective channels. Part III touched upon three communication forms:reporting,socialmediaandtheroleofambassadors.With respect to reporting, I conclude thatespecially for smaller companies, investing inproducingthick reports isno longer thebestapproach tocommunicateexternally. For the larger corporates,registered at the stock market, other rules might count. However in general you could say thatreportingshouldbecomesimpler,morerelevant,interactive(withanimations,video,interviewswithdirectors,etc.),anddigital(bothfortheseparateCSRreportortheintegratedsustainabilityreport)tobring stories to life.Digital reportingalsogivesyou thepossibility tochooseandoffer the rightinformationfortherightaudience.

Reporting isnotsomuchanendin itself,butaprocess.Datashouldsupportbusinesstosteerandreflect. Reporting should ideally not just be an annual thing to do, it should be part of a widerstrategyofmonitoringandevaluation.With thespeedof technologicaldevelopments today (thinksocialmedia, smart phones, i-pads, big data), a one-time snapshot every year through an annualreport is loosing its importance. The future therefore also lies more in real-time monitoring andcommunication.

Besides reporting, nowadays, with all the new communication possibilities and expectations ofconsumers, dialogue with your clients has become very important. Dialogue to receive feedbackfromyourclientsonidentifiedpriorities,toknowwhatimpactmeanstothem,whattomeasureandwhattocommunicateon.Dialogueisalsoaboutcreatingaspaceforinvolvementofyourcustomersorotherstakeholdersaimedatimprovingthevaluechainandtheendproducts.

Themostpowerfulwaytoleveragethepowerofstorytellingandtoreinforceacompany’sintendedimpactisbyusingsocialmedia.Thisiskeytotellyourstoryandtointeractwithyoursurroundings.Buildingacommunityhasbecomekey insuccess.Manyalsostatedthat tomanageyourrisksasacompany it is important to respond immediately andproactively onblogs,wiki’s, ratings, reviews,discussionfora,andsocialgaming.Someintervieweesindicatednottobeactiveonsocialmediaforreasonsofcosts,timeorfornotbeingabrand,especiallythesmallercompanies.

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Another communication channel of importance is that of the ambassadors re-telling your stories.Ambassadorscanbeyourownemployees,loyalcustomersorcelebrities.

Inall three formsvisual storiesaregrowing in importance.Theyare illustrative,easilymemorable,andallowanyfirmtocreatestrongeremotionalbondswiththecustomers.Moreandmore(online)reports are full of visualizations, videos, and photos, infographics, which communicate qualitativedatamoreefficientlyinamediumthatiseasilyunderstoodbymostpeople.

With reference to the figure presented on page 7, I would like to emphasize that all thesecommunication channels and types of stories need to originate from a very clear and authentic“why”.Storiesmightdifferinform,dependingontheaudienceyouaimtoreach,butallstoriesneedtobecoherent,consistent,relevant,transparentandmutuallyreinforcing.

Storytellingandimpactmeasurement

Theenemyofcorporateresponsibilitycommunications ispoor impactmeasurement.104Thisbringsmetothefourthhypothesis.PartIVgaveanexplanationofthedefinitionofimpactandthereasonsto measure impact. CSR strategies that are integrated in the whole business strategy have thepotentialtoaddvalue.Toensurethisstrategytobetrulysustainable,itisofutmostimportancethatthe strategy as such is monitored, regularly measured, evaluated, reflected upon and taken intoaccount inmanagementdecisions.Whatandhowtomeasureandevaluate,andwithwhatkindofinstrumentswasdiscussedinpartIV.

For a company’s true story it is important to have information about the true effects produced.Measuring impact drives the truthfulness and authenticity of company’s stories on sustainability.Thereisanincreasedcriticismoncompaniesmeasuringonly inputs,activitiesandoutputs,withoutknowingwhat kind of impact they contribute to. This occurs especially where companies in theircommunicationsclaimtohaveanimpact.

Stakeholderswantproofthatcompaniesareatleastdoingnoharm,andwanttoreceiveinformationthatisclear,credibleandrelevant.Asconcludedhereabove,CSR/sustainabilitystoriesmustbetrue,authentic,consistent,relevantandtransparent.Thiscanonlybeachievedifthestoriesrelatetotheinput,output,andmostlytotheoutcomeandimpactofacompany’ssustainabilitypolicyandefforts.Thecollectionofall kindsofdata isneeded todefine thisoutcomeand impact. Inmyopinion,anintegrated approach strengthens the reliability of data, and validity of findings. Qualitativeapproachesusingstorytellingaddvaluetootheroftenmorequantitativeapproaches.“Anevaluationislikeagoodstory,itneedssome(qualitative)anecdotalevidencetoputthelessonincontext,andsome (quantitative) facts and figures that reinforce the message.”105 The collection of stories ofpeopleinthevaluechainscanimproveacompany’sanditsstakeholders’understandingofwhatishappeninginthechainandwhatkindofimpactisachieved.Togetabetterunderstandingofhowacompany brought about change, it is inevitable to presentwhat improved and by howmuch andwhy.Alsohowpeople felt thechange in their lives.Thisunderstanding isneeded toensure thatacompanycanbringtrueandauthentic,inspirationalandconvincingstories.Practice isdifferent.Severalresourcepersonsandcompaniesspokento,confirmedtheexplorativephase in which many sectors still find themselves when it concerns impact measurement andevaluationofwhatishappeninginthevaluechain.Thereisagrowingofferofframeworks,toolsandtechnologiesthatcanbeusedtoassistwith impactmeasurement.Eachhasvalueandeachcomes

104Ogilvy2010.105Source:www.learningforsustainability.net/evaluation.

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with limitations. Choosing the right approach and method is often considered difficult. Andinterviewees also said that it is hard to allocate sufficient time and resources to do thoroughmonitoringandevaluation.Mostinterviewees/respondentstothesurveydidexpresstheirinterestinlearningmoreaboutqualitativeapproachesinwhichstorytellingisapplied,inordertocapturetheheartsandmindaspectsofimpact.Storiescanprovidethesepeople'svoices.Basedontheinformationretrieved,Iconcludethat,withaclearstrategicvisionandpurposeANDanorganizationalculture inwhich learning,knowledgedevelopmentand innovationare recognized,agood impact assessment and evaluation can provide meaningful insights for both internal andexternal stakeholders. The value froma good learningprocess is relevant to informyour strategy,operational model and business plan and to innovate. So, impact measurement and evaluativeactivitiesshouldnotbeastand-aloneprocess.Theyshouldbecomeameanstoanendratherthananendinitself.For smaller companies amoremanageable and focused approach is recommendable. Thismeansthat you must build impact measurement into your everyday work rather than viewing it as anunhelpful add-on, or something that comes at the endof a project or at the convenienceof yourfunder.Withonlyafewindicators,itispossibletogetabetterinsightinwhathappensinyourvaluechain.Takingintoaccountthecomplexityofagoodmeasurementprocess(seepartIV),thefactsandinformationyouprovidebasedonyourmeasurementshouldespeciallybeplausible.InformationcomingoutofM&Eshouldfeedthecommunicationandthedesirefordatashouldfeedthewaytosearchfordatainthevaluechain.Inordertohaverichmaterial,itisrecommendabletoemployreal-timedatacollectionmethods,quantitativeandqualitative.Thefindingsoftheevaluativeprocessneedtobeproducedontimesothattheyinformdecision-makingandaction.

Thereisstillalottoresearch,discuss,pilotandfindout,especiallyinrelationtotheprivatesector.Itwouldbeenrichingtopilotthethreequalitativemethodsdescribedormixedmethodapproachinaprivatesectorsetting(orapublic-privatepartnershipconstellation)andlearnfromthisexperience.

TheNetherlandsandColombia

One of my assumptions was that my hypotheses would also count for an emerging economy asColombia.PartofthisresearchwasthereforealsoimplementedinColombia.Outcomesofthesurveyand interviews confirmed this hypothesis, though there are some differences. In both TheNetherlands and Colombia sustainability is on the agenda. In both, a vibrant world of socialenterprises isontherise.Wherethesustainabilitydiscourse inTheNetherlands ismoreandmorefocusing on shared value and systemic, disruptive changes,many companies in Colombia canalizetheir CSR through corporatephilanthropy. In Colombia themost easily accessible informationwasabout corporate foundations communicating on their vision and results achieved. A lot of thediscussionsonstorytellingandresultorsometimesimpactmeasurementarerelatedtotheworkofthese foundations. The increasing number of companieswanting towork on integrated reportingseemsapositivedevelopmentofcompaniestakingtheirsustainabilityresponsibilitymoreseriousintheircorebusiness.

Withrespecttoimpactmeasurement,IgottheimpressionthatthediscussioninTheNetherlandsisaheadofColombia.Besidesorganizingsomeassessmentpilots,anexchangebetweenColombiaandTheNetherlandsabouthowtomeasuresustainabilityimpactwouldbeinteresting,payingparticularattentiontothepoweroftheuseofmixedmethods.

In most interviews both in Colombia and The Netherlands, it became clear that a majority ofcompaniesthinksitwouldbeinspiringtosharecompanystoriesmuchmoreactivelythaniscurrently

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done(despitethealreadyexistingphysicalandonlineplatforms).InColombia,severalintervieweessuggestedtonotonlyshareamongstcompanies,butinparticularalsowiththewiderpublic,aspartofawarenessraising.

Surveyresults53%ofthesamplegroupinTheNetherlandsindicatestobeveryinterestedinsustainabilitystoriesofothercompanies(39%isnotinterestedand8%neutral).Manydifferentreasonsarementioned:to learn from others, inspiration, learn from best practices, useful, to copy work from others,knowledge development, refreshment. Those that indicate not to be interested in the work ofothers,saytohavenotime,thinktheyare“notcomparabletoothers”,orindicate,“wewilljustnotdoanythingwiththeinformationtoreceive”.

Inmyopinion,sharingknowledgeandskillscanliftanentireindustrytoahigherlevel.Andcanleadtoinspiration,quality,innovationandsustainability.Itwouldbeinterestingtocreateextraspacetoshare stories offering solutions, innovative ideas and inspiring options of playing an active role inchangingsociety.

Connectingtruestoriesfortrueimpact

Inmy view, reflecting on all the information gathered, transparency is one of themost powerfulassetstoreachyourstakeholder.Transparencyismuchmorethandemonstratingtheavailabilityofinformation,ofreports,iftheseareuploadedonlineonnot.Youofferconsumers,otherbusinesses,the investor, theNGO,media, a fair and authentic story based onwhich he / she can come to atradeoff.Youprovideinsightintowhatdrivesyouasanentrepreneur,inthestepsyoutakeandthedilemmasyouarefacedwith.Youshowwhatcontributionyouwanttomakebasedonwhatvision.Transparency is about providing your stakeholders (in case of this research the consumers)information about your strategy, the governance of your company, lessons learned, results andimpactachieved (atall levelsof thevaluechain), innovations,anddifficulties.Transparency isalsoabout openness for involvement of, dialogue with your stakeholders, the willingness to let themthinkalongwithyourcompany.The incredibly complex, time-consuming, annual (sustainability) reporting processes will remainimportant for various reasons (especially for larger companies). For example to facilitate amovement within a company, make choices and learn. Or to provide investors information uponwhichtheycantake investmentdecisions. Inmyviewit isdesirableto includegoodinformation inthesereportsonthedotonthehorizon,inordertoinformtherecipient,engageandconvince,andtofeelthesoulofacompany. Informationaboutthepath itwalkstowardstransformation, itsroleandimpactinsociety.Iamalsoconvincedthatwiththespeedofdevelopmentstoday(thinkofsocialmedia, smart phones), a one-time snapshot every year through an annual report is becoming lessinteresting.Ithinkthefutureliesmorewithreal-timemonitoringandfrequentcommunication.

And finally, I strongly belief that not only the corporate company's story itself, but rather thosestories of the actors in the value chain are of value. Let the small farmers in Ethiopia, the youngwomeninthesweatshopsinBangladesh,thefactoryownerinChina,tellrealtimeaboutthechangestheymayormaynotbeexperiencinginthewaytheyoperate,theirworkingconditions,theirlivesorin their community: stories about the true impact achieved. Ultimately, no Key PerformanceIndicatorcanbeatsuchstories!

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Whatcouldthisallmean?

Apart fromtheaforementionedpossible initiativestostart, inmyview,therearemorethingsthatcanstrengthenthepositionofstorytellinginTheNetherlandsandinColombia.

Spreadingtheword

In order to raise more attention for storytelling, the added value of authentic stories should beexplained more often within companies, organizations, during platforms gatherings. I thereforeapplaud the initiativeof the ImpactAcademy toofferanother roundof lecturesabout storytellingand sustainability this year. One could also think of trainings and workshops in the workplace. ItwouldbevaluabletospreadthewordaboutthepowerofstorytellinginmeetingsorganizedbyforexampleCSRNetherlands,theannualNationalSustainabilityCongress,multistakeholderknowledgeplatforms,theImpactHuband/orSocialenterpriseNL,thealumnidaysoftheErasmusCSRtrainingand/orsector-wideprivateassociations(andofcoursethevariantsinColombian).Andhowinspiringitwouldbeif,besidestheory,adiversityofstorytellingcaseswouldbesharedanddiscussedmoreoften(offlineandonline).Inparticular,alsostoriesthataddresswhatishappeninginthevaluechain,andhowthisimpactsthosewhoworkatthedifferentlevelsofthechain,needmoreattention.

Newretailconcept

Spreadingthewordundercompaniestolearnandinspireisonething.Truestoriesalsooughttobepresentedmoreeasily (possiblyevenreal-time) to thepublic ingeneral (thepotentialclients).Youcould think of an online business concept where such true stories are being presented in anattractivewaytothepublic,whereinteraction,dialoguewiththissamepubliccantakeplace(whatabout a Pinterest for stories, the possibility for consumers and entrepreneur to upload pictures,video,questions,suggestionsandco-createnewconcepts?).Actually,inmyview,businesseswillbeable to better distinguish themselves (online and offline) by making their corporate and productstorymuchmoreexplicitandeasilyaccessibletoconsumers(sowithoutforexamplehavingtoscrollthrough various windows on internet before finding information about sustainability or the storybehindaproduct).

Collectingmorestories

To make sure new generations are familiar with storytelling and the use of more qualitative,participatoryresearchinstruments,thesedeservemoreattentionaspartofthecurriculumofvariousdisciplines(forexampleeconomists,businessadministration,leadershiptrainings,marketers).Inthisway, the current lack of knowledge and capacity on how to use stories in daily operations isaddressed.

Within companies, it could help to create a (temporary) position or contract support from theoutsidetoacceleratestorytellingthroughoutthecompany.Someonewhoismandatedtohelpdefinethe“why”intheorganizationandtoestablishthelinkbetweenmonitoringandevaluationofimpacton theonehandandcommunicationon theother.Andbasedon informationcollected, translatesthis intoacoherent,authenticandtransparentnarrative.Supportof the topof theorganization iscrucialinsuchaprocess.

Furtherresearch

Thescopeofmyresearchwasofcourselimited,intermsoftimeandfocus.Manyrelatedtopicsareworth diving in more. It would be very interesting to do more research on the psychology ofconsumer behavior and see how to influence consumer sustainable behavior.Why do consumerschoose for certain products? In this document, I highlighted the added value of storytelling toconvince, engage consumers to influence their thinking and sustainable behavior. We know thatconsumer behavior is also influenced by internal (opinions, values, habits and personalcharacteristics) and external factors (group pressure, accessibility to sustainable products). In myview,moreresearchandsharingofknowledgeandexperiencesontheabsolutekeytorealchangeis

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crucial. Another topic is the financial business case of storytelling. Based on interviews and literatureresearch,Iamconvincedthatstorytellinghasaddedvalueinmanyways.Ihavenot(yet)proventhatalsofinanciallythereisastrongbusinesscase.Thiswasoutsidethescopeofthisresearch.Knowingthatcompanydecisionsare(still)especiallydrivenbybusinesscases, itwouldbeusefultodefineageneric logic to define such a business case more explicitly. More in-depth analysis on also thefinancialsidewouldmakemycaseformorestorytellinginvariousformsprobablyevenstronger.

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Listofabbreviations

AI AppreciativeInquiry

ANDI AsociaciónNacionaldeIndustriales

B2B Business-to-Business

B2C Business-to-Consumer

BoP BaseofthePyramid

BSCI BusinessSocialComplianceInitiative

CDU CommitteeSustainability

CECODES ConsejoEmpresarialColombianoparaelDesarrolloSostenible

CNV ChristelijkNationaalVakverbond

CSR CorporateSocialResponsibility

DAC DevelopmentAssistanceCommittee

EKO Ekokeurmerkvoorbiologischproduct

ESAA ErasmusSchoolofAccounting&Assurance

FARC FuerzasArmadasRevolucionariasdeColombia

FSAS FairandSustainableAdvisoryServices

FSC ForestStewardshipCouncil

FB Face-Book

Gfk GrowthfromKnowledge

GGD GemeentelijkeGezondheidsDienstGIIN GlobalImpactInvestingNetwork

GMO GeneticallyModifiedOrganism

HIVA OnderzoeksinstituutvoorArbeidenSamenleving

IDH InitiatiefDuurzameHandel

IDRC InternationalDevelopmentResearchCenter

IRIS ImpactReportingandInvestmentStandards

KPIs KeyPerformanceIndicator

LCA LifeCycleAssessment

M4I ManagingforImpact

MDG MillenniumDevelopmentGoals

MFI MicroFinanceinstitution

MIF MeasuringImpactFramework

MVO MaatschappelijkVerantwoordOndernemen

MSC MostSignificantChange

NCDO NationaleCommissievoorinternationalesamenwerkingenDuurzameOntwikkeling

OECD OrganisationforEconomicCo-operationandDevelopment

OM OutcomeMapping

PADEV ParticipatoryAssessmentofDevelopment

PME PlanningMonitoringandEvaluation

PROOFS ProfitableOpportunitiesforFoodSecurity

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PSO PersoneleSamenwerkingmetOntwikkelingslanden

PSIA PovertySocialImpactAssessment

PwC PriceWaterhouseCoopers

PVS PublicValueScorecard

QDA QualitativeDocumentAnalysis

SMEs SmallMediumEnterprises

SROI SocialReturnOnInvestment

TLP ThematicLearningProgramToC TheoryofChangeUFE Utilization-FocusedEvaluationUSP UniqueSellingPointUTZ UTZ Certified stands for sustainable farming and better opportunities for farmers,

theirfamiliesandourplanetincoffee,cacaoandteasector.

VBDO VerenigingvanBeleggersvoorDuurzameOntwikkeling

VBZ Vereniging Bakkerijen en Zoetwaren Industry (Dutch Association Bakeries andConfectionaryIndustry)

VECO Vredeseilanden(DevelopmentorganizationBelgium)

WBCSP WorldBusinessCouncilforSustainableDevelopmentWCP WorldCitizenPanel

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ANNEXI:Listofinterviewees

Interviews/conversationswith:

Storytellingandcommunication:

• ImpactAcademy:5storytellinglecturesNovember2014–January2015(LarsMoratis,coordinatorofStorytellingcourseattheImpactAcademy)

• ImpactAcademy21april:“Mythesenmogelijkhedenvanduurzaamgedrag”• EliseVonk,Vonk,SpankelendMVO• ArianneWienke,DigitalStoryteller

StorytellingandImpactmeasurement:

• SteffDeprez,VECOBelgium• HenkGilhuis,UtzCertified• MarijkedeGraaf,FSAS,Foodsecurityspecialist,experimentedwithSenseMakerin

Bangladesh• DienekedeGroot,PMEcoordinatorICCO• IreneGuijt(Phd),LearningbyDesign• EdithKroese,Avance• KarenMaas,ErasmusUniversity• MartijnMarijnis,ICCO,Monitoringadvisor/bigdata• HettieWalters,ICCO/FSAS,specialistcapacitydevelopment

Storytelling,sustainabilityandimpact:

• JeroendeVries,FSAS/IDH• NellekevanderVleuten,FSAS,specialistpublicprivatepartnership• JeroenKruijd,masterclassESAA(April2015)• JosReinhoudt,MVONL• MaartenHasselman,researcherErasmusUniversity

IntervieweeswithincompaniesinTheNetherlands:

• JudithDutourGeerling,PerfettiVanMelle• LiekevanAalten,PerfettiVanMelle• DiaraToschi,Intersnack-Procurement• AldertvandeKamp,CSRCoordinatorIntertaste• CathelijneLania,DirectorAbeautifulStory• MichaëlWilde,Sustainability&Communication,EOSTA• TimmoTerpstra,DirectorPeeze• JennyBerenpas,MarketingmanagerPeeze• MoniqueVoorneman,HeadofcommunicationsKuyuchi• GeannevanArkel,HeadofsustainabledevelopmentInterface• PieterGoudswaard,MVOJumbo

IntervieweesfromColombia/peopleprovidinginformation:

• AndrésVera,ProgramofficerICCOColombia

• AngelaCadenaMuñoz,GrupoOMShanti

• AngelicaAcosta,AgenciaPresidentialdeCooperacióndeColombia

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• DianaCatalinaArciniegasGonzalez,BusinessforEffectiveCooperation(previousANDI)

• GonzaloGiambruno,Girando,University,Sustainabilityexpert

• JanWillemvanBokhoven,DirectorHollandHouse

• JuanAndresRojasCastillo,FundaciónBolívardaVivienda

• JoseFranciscoAguirre,executivedirectorCompartamos

• LauraVelez,DirectorSistemaB(B-Corp)Colombia

• NicolasDuran,ProgramofficerICCOColombia

• SteveMartinez,CentroResponsabilidadSocialColombia,Communicationmanager

• SusanaYepesBernal,InnovacionSocialCompartamos

• MariaCarolinaSuarezVisbal,DirectorAssociaciondeFundacionesEmpresariales

Surveysamongst100companiesinTheNetherlandsand10inColombia

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ANNEXII:Examplesofstorytellingbusinesses

Good stories are retold. This annex presents a list of storytelling businesses that were frequentlymentionedbytheinterviewees(aswellasfoundinliterature)assuccesscasesofstorytelling.Thesecompanies communicate invariousways,allproviding inspirational stories thatpeople remember,like to transmit toothers, createa feelingofuniqueness thatpeoplewant tobepartof andhaveincreasedcredibilityandtrustinthetellingcompanies.Thecompaniesarepresentedinalphabeticalorder.

Ben&Jerry’s

IcecreammakerBen&Jerry'sforexamplepresentsitselfasasocialandsustainablecompanythataimstomaketheworldabetter place. Its socialmission is to improvequality of life byoperating in an innovative way. This can be seen inadvertisementsandonthewebsite,wheretheycommunicatetheirclearmissionandtheirvalues.Thecompanycaresaboutthefightthatmatterstothepeople.Theiractive involvement incampaignsallovertheworld(marriageequality,climatechange,GMO,fairtrade,etc.)givesthebrandmorecredibility.Italsoengagespeoplewithspecialflavorsthatareconnectedtoaspecificcause,likethePeacepopsandApple-yEverAfter(forsamesexmarriage).

Source:http://www.benjerry.com/values/issues-we-care-about/climate-justice;Innatemotion2015.

Chipotle

PurposedrivenfastfoodbrandChipotleMexicanGrill is a fast food chain that sells burritos andtacos in the US, Canada and Europe.Commitment of the founder andhis teams is toonlyserve“FoodwithIntegrity”,sourcingalltheiringredientslocallyandorganically.Chipotlealsoaimstochangethewaypeoplethinkaboutandeatfastfood.Theywanttomakegreatfoodaffordableandaccessiblesoeveryonecaneatbetter.Theirfocus on the quality of foodmakes their approach relevant to customers.Most people take theirdecisionsbasedonprice,quality,convenienceorstatusinsteadofdoingsomethingright.“Savingtheworldisnotatoppriorityincustomers’dailylives.

WithstorytellingChipotleaimstostimulatetheconversationaroundfoodethicsandsustainability.Chipotle is doing this by entertaining in short videos, telling a simple and compelling story. InparticularaddressingtheWhyofChipotle.

“We think that complex issues–such as those with which we are dealing–are made much moreaccessibletopeoplewhentheyarepresentedinthecontextofentertainment,”saidArnold.“Filmslike ‘TheScarecrow’or ‘Back to theStart’aregreatexamplesof this.Theytakedifficult issuesandpresentthemasentertainment,andyoucanreachauniverseofpeoplewhomightnototherwisebepayingattentiontotheissues.”

Source: http://contently.com/strategist/2013/09/26/best-of-branded-content-chipotles-the-scarecrow-is-brand-storytelling-at-its-finest/

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Gulpener

Gulpenerbreweryisawonderfulexampleofhowacompanycanwork on sustainable in an innovativeway. Gulpener decided touse only environmentally friendly locally sourced rawmaterials.Groundbreaking was a local partnership with local farmers.Barley, wheat, rye, spelled and hops are not bought on worldmarkets, but in the region. Barleyresidues are used in the area by for example Bakery The Bisschopsmolen. Farmers are guided inmaking theiroperationsmore sustainable.Exhausted fieldsare transformed intopedestrianareas.Gulpeneruses renewableenergy and twoownwater resources.Residualwater is cleanedand re-used. To compensate for CO2 Gulpener contributes to reforestation. Socially Gulpener employspeoplewithadistancetothelabormarket.ResidentsfromtheregionareinvolvedthroughvariousactivitiesinthebreweryandGulpenersupportslocalassociation.Andtherearealreadynewplansindevelopment. Four times a year, all employees are engaged in sustainability activities andinnovations.

IntheexampleofGulpener“sustainablestorytelling”hasfounditsway.Theauthenticcorevaluesofthebrewery-valuecreation,authenticity,credibility,inspirationandrelevancy–arecentraltopicsthatarecommunicated.Whoarewe?Whatdowestandfor?Whywedothethingswedoand inwhat waywe do so? Toos Hofstede talks about “Magnetizing” power of Gulpener: the appeal ofauthenticitythatgivestraditionalmarketinganotherdimensionormakesitevenredundant.

Source: http://www.viastory.com/artikelen/sustainable-storytelling-als-duurzame-strategie/; P+, p.20-23,Jaargang13,nr.3,2015.Gulpener.

Fairphone:buildingamovementforfairerelectronics

ThesocialenterpriseFairPhoneconnectsconsumerstoitsstory:Fairphoneaimstobuildamovementforfairerelectronics.“Bymakingaphone, we’re opening up the supply chain and creating newrelationships between people and their products. We’re making apositive impact across the value chain in mining, design,manufacturing and life cycle, while expanding the market forproducts thatputethicalvalues first.Togetherwithourcommunity,we’rechangingthewayproductsaremade”.

Source:https://www.fairphone.com/about/

Honestby

Bruno Pieters is a Belgian fashion designer and art director highlyregarded for his avant-garde creations and sharp tailoring.Experiences in India had a radical affect on his outlook on life. Hebecameincreasinglyconcernedfortheenvironment,animalwelfare,andchildren’scauses.InJanuary2012,Pietersreturnedtothefashionstagewithanewconceptandbrand.Asentrepreneuranddesigner,Pieters iscreatinganewmodel forthefashion industry,andforother industriesworldwide.Honestby is the first company in theworld toofferdetailedpricetransparencytotheircustomerandtomaketheirentiresupplychainpublic.Honestbycontinuously

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doesextensiveresearchintothesourcesoftherawmaterials,tracesbacktheoriginsoffabricsandtrimmings used in the products to be certain that every element in each garment is asenvironmentallyfriendlyaspossible,thatthewellbeingoftheclient'sskinistakenintoconsiderationand that the working conditions in the production facilities are safe, for every product we sell.Honestby choosesnot todistribute leather goods, or clothes that aremadeor trimmedwith fur,shell or horn. The only animal products selections do contain arewool and silk. These are eithercertifiedorganic,recycledorsourcedfromselectedfarms.

Honest by regularly invites international designers to create a 'Green' item, look or collectionexclusivelyfortheHonestbystore.20%ofitsprofitmadeonthedesignercollaborationcollectionsgoestoacharitychosenbythe inviteddesigners,while80%will fundgrowth, includinghiringnewstaffandexpansionofitsoffer.

Source:www.honestby.com

Innocent

Innocent Drinks started in 1999 after selling smoothies at amusic festival.Thecompanymakesvegetarianpots,juicesandkidsdrinks,soldindifferentcountries,to“makenaturalhealthy,deliciousfoodsthathelppeoplelivewelland die old.” The Innocent story is presented in the formof a timeline ontheirsite.

Innocent aims to become a truly sustainable business with a net positiveeffect on the world. It’s strategy focuses on ingredients, production,packaging, legacy and branding. The responsible core values are a dailyremindertoeachoftheemployees.

Innocent communicates actively to its consumers (active website, Facebook, Instagram, twitter,youtube).Theyhaveanewslettertobecomepartofthe“Innocentfamily.”

Source:www.innocentdrinks.co.uk;www.innocentdrinks.nl/over-ons/ons-verhaal

Patagonia(OutdoorWear)

Outdoor clothing company Patagonia has becomeknown for not only its products, but also for creatingawareness about the environment and theircontributions to it. It strongly believes that onlyunconventionalbusinesscanmakeadifference.Thecreationofagoodqualityproductremainscrucial,butPatagoniaalsowantstoshowtheircustomerswhytheirproductsarethebest.Organiccotton,ethically obtained down, helping create a national park and amongst other efforts are all part ofPatagonia’scontributionstobeinganeco-friendlyapparelcompany.Patagoniahasalsoinvested$20millioninsocialandenvironmentbasedstart-ups.TheircampaignWornWeargotfamous,offeringtoolsandtipstofixowngear,offeringtobuybackgentlyusedclothes,andencouragingpeopletomendtheiroldclothesandre-useit.

Thecompanywantstomakeiteasyforpeopletodiscoverwhatthecompanyisallabout,andmakesureit’snothiddenandtoughtoaccess.“Becauseoncetheydoknow,they’rein.They’rewithus."

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Through story-telling, Patagonia wants their customers to be able to relate and get involved inenvironmental causes. Through for example films, it informs customerswhat theirmission is andwhattheyaredoingtofulfillthesegoals.Alsosocialnetworkingservicesserveasaninformativeandmotivational tool for their customers; who can inspire others to also get involved. Patagonia hastakenadvantageofsocialnetworkingservices,creatingthepossibilitytotellPatagonia’sstoryonlineand openly discuss with consumers its products, environmental issues, sports and Patagonia’sdifferentprojects.In line with Patagonia, various clothing companies are trying to also embark on eco friendlymovements.DutchDenimCompanyG-StarRawhaspartneredwithmusicartistPharellWilliamsinanew clothing linemade fromplastic taken from the ocean. Raws of theOcean is a campaignthatbringsawarenesstothe issueofplasticpollutionfound intheoceansandhowtomakesomethingfromthishazardtotheenvironment.

Source: http://socialmediaweek.org/copenhagen/2015/01/15/storytelling-patagonia-not-just-another-outdoor-apparel-company/

http://www.fastcocreate.com/3038557/behind-the-brand/the-purpose-driven-marketer-how-patagonia-uses-storytelling-to-turn-consume

RainForestAlliance

Since 1987, the Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity andensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices,businesspracticesandconsumerbehavior.

As part of its campaign, end of 2012 the Alliance posted a video onYouTube,whichwas seen bymore than amillion views in less than sixmonths. The Follow the Frog of Rainforest Alliance (see:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iIkOi3srLo) aims to reach consumerswho are eager to learnmoreabouthowabusinessisworkingwiththeRainforestAlliancetomaketheworldabetterplace.Thecampaignhopestoinspirecustomersandstaffthroughoutthecampaignbytakingthemontheirown journeysofawarenessaboutkey issues likeclimatechange,deforestation,povertyalleviationandwaterquality. It links toregularlyupdatedcontentonsustainability—and learnwhy itmattersandhowbusinessesandindividualscanmakeadifference.

The digital story told in the video is entertaining, contains a clear and convincing message andpromotesaction. Thequalitymarkof theRainforestAlliance thatmanyhadnevernoticedbefore,hasforgoodbeennestledinthemindsofmanythankstoabeautifulpieceofstorytelling.

Kiss&Tell–TheSilkStory

Kiss & Tell started in January 2011, while entrepreneur Bahareh PanjehShahiwastravellingthroughIndia.Shefellinlovewithitscolours,scents,believesandarchitectureandmostof all its silk fabrics. Shemetvariousweaversandartisansmakingdifferentnaturalsilk fabrics.Those inspiringpeopleliveandworkinvillageswithoutmostessentialsofmodernlifeandusetheirskillsforcenturiestoearntheir living. Inspiredbytheirsilkstoriesandthesaying“Bethe

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changeyouwanttoseeintheworld”byGandhi,shequithercareerasalawyertomakeherdreamcometrueandstartedKISSANDTELLtomakeadifferenceinthefashionindustry;luxuriousfashionwithcareforpeopleandplanet.KISSANDTELLisanethicalfashionbrand,whichisallaboutnaturalandhandmadesilk.Thecompanyoffersluxuriousfashionwhiletakingcareoftheplanetandthepeopletheyworkwith.Itpromotestraditionalsilkfarming.Byusingdifferentkindsofhand-wovensilkfromNorth-EastIndiaKISSANDTELLhelpstokeepthetraditionalsilkfarmingalive.TogetherwithlocalNGOsitcreatesfairjobsforweaversandfarmersandprovidealivingformanyIndianfamilies.Eachdresshasitownsilkstory,whichiseasilycommunicated.

Source:http://www.kiss-and-tell.nl

Triodosbank

In the financial world, Triodos Bank has become trendsetter inthe field of storytelling. The bank aims to bring forward it’simpact on society. What actually happens to the money of itssavers?WhatsocialmovementsarebeingpossibleforTriodos-fundedbusinessesthankstosavingsorassetsofindividuals?

With stories about sustainable enterprises and entrepreneurs, Triodos shows how it can make adifferenceasabank.Triodosaspirestobringaboutapositivechangeinsociety.Theutterancesarethereforeprimarilymeantaswaytospreadinganewlookatbanking.ThisisdonethroughFacebook,themagazineTheColorofMoney, thewebsitemijngeldgaatgoed.nland inspiring films like "Small.Thenewbig'.TriodosBankhasalsodevelopedaspecialappformobilebanking."Onceyouopentheapp,youcanopenthe'Findoutwhereyourmoneyworks”.Onemoreclickonthetouchscreenandyou'llseewhatcompaniesyouinvestedintheneighborhood.Agoodexampleofhowyoucantouchtheheartofpeopleinasympatheticway,byclearlyaddressingtheWhyof(sustainablebanking).

See more at: http://www.marketingonline.nl/bericht/triodos-bank-het-verhaal-maakt-het-verschil#sthash.3gyMDVdy.dpuf

Tony’sChocoloney

The story of Tony’s Chocolony is probably one of the most familiarstoriesaboutsustainability.Evenchildrenatprimaryschool learnaboutit.In2003,journalistTeunvandeKeukenresearchedslaveryinthecocoaindustry inWestAfrica,findingthatslavelabourwasstillwidespreadinthe Ivory Coast. Feeling conscience about his own eating of chocolatemade from suchwretchedconditions,in2004heturnedhimselfintothepoliceasachocolatecriminalcomplicitinslavery.Thechargewas initially droppedby theprosecutor, but a courtof appeal decided itwould accept thecharge if Van de Keuken could provide witnesses, which he did. The court’s judgment was thatexploitation did indeed occur on the plantations and that consumers share in responsibility, butdidn’tconvictVandeKeuken.VandeKeukenbegantolobbymajorchocolatecompaniestosourcetheircocoafromslavery-freesources.Sincenoneof thesewaswilling,hedecidedtostarthisowncompanywithethicalsources.Andso,in2005,Tony’sChocolonelywasbroughtonthemarketasthefirstandonlyslavery-freechocolateintheNetherlands.Theinitialdemandwasfargreaterthantheinitial production run of 5,000 bars. It’s aim is to change the whole chocolate industry. Tony’sChocolonely proves that responsible entrepreneurship and commercial success scan go hand inhand.Thecompanyhasahealthyprofitgoalandgrowthsrapidly.

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Sources:http://www.tonyschocolonely.com/over-ons/onze-geschiedenis/;http://www.icco.nl/Mensenrechten-en-bedrijven/Tonys-Chocolonely-Op-keurmerken-vertrouwen-is-te-makkelijk

WakaWaka

BuyingaWakawakalight/charger,meansnotonlybuyingaproductbutalsoastory.WakaWakabrandhasachievedthatpeoplefeelanemotionalconnectionto a solar-powered phone charger and light. Ito the 'smallest decentralizedpowerplantintheworld."It’sagreatexampleofhowabrandcanestablishasharednarrativewithpeopleandprovidethemwithanactiveroleforco-creationasameansofrealengagement,creatingmeaningforthebrandandpowerto itsmission.Thismission istosupportagoaltobringlightto1.5billionpeoplewholiveoffthegrid.WakaWakareallyinspiresconsumers.Itcreatesthesensationofbelongingtoamovementcreatingimpactformany,reallycontributingtoamoresustainableworld.CelebritiesallovertheworldarecommittedtocontributetoWakaWakaaswell.Sources:http://nl.waka-waka.com;http://www.p-plus.nl/nieuws/maurits-groen

ThefollowingtwoColombiancompanieswerementionedasinterestingfortheirambitiousworkonsustainabilityandcommunicatingactivelyabouttheirwayofworking.

CrispyFruitsColombia

Crispy Fruits is a Colombian company, founded in 2012,that produces and sells healthy snacks to serve thegrowingsegmentofthepopulationseekingto include intheir diet, natural and practical products that suit theirchanging lifestyles. Interesting is that the company wasformed entirely by women entrepreneurs and is nowoperatedbyamajorityofwomen.Thecompanyaimstoprovide high value services to poor communities togenerate social and economic impact through the commercialization of agricultural and agro-industrial productswith high added value. It’s purpose is to empower farmers in this process, bybuildingthecapacityoffarmerstoadoptorganicagriculturalprocesses,secureorganiccertificationandultimatelyaccessdirecttradeopportunities.

The company ismainly activeon socialmedia (Twitter, Facebook for example) andpresenting thecompany’s work in various externalmeetings. The entrepreneur Jimena Flórez was applauded byBarackObamafortheworksheisdoing.

Source:http://www.crispyfruits.co/

Fruandes

Fruandes was mentioned by interviewees as an interesting Colombian companies working onsustainabilityandcommunicatingactivelyabouttheirwayofworking.

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“A truebelief in sustainability and thehighest respect for our consumers are themaindrivers forFruandes to commit to organic production. As part of this effort, Fruandes supports our businesspartners(thefarmers)intheirgoaltobecome100%organiccertified”.

Fruandes is committed to Fair Trade, which is evident in corporate policies, working conditions(compensation, engaging female breadwinners, legally hired, covering children’s’ education andhousing),productiveprocessesandtraderelationships.Fraundesaimstoprovidebetterconditionstoitsworkersbythecreationofahousingsubsidyprogram,whereworkerscanapplyforaloanwithcomfortableand fairpaymentarrangements.Fruandesalsoworkson itsaccountability towards itsconsumersbyofferingatransparent,traceableproduct.

To communicate Fruandes not only tells its corporate story inmany fora, but it communicates inparticularalsothestoryoftheworkersinthevaluechains.ThiscanbefoundonthewebsiteandonYoutubevideo.

ThecompanyisnowadaysalsoB-Corpcertified.

Source:http://www.fruandes.com

ANNEXIII:Qualitativeapproachestoimpactevaluation,forpotentialusebyprivatesector

Based on literature study and experiences in the development sector, this annex compiles a fewqualitative approaches to impact evaluation, whichmight be interesting for private companies inordertoassesstheimpactoftheirsustainabilitystrategies.Thisoverviewisnotexhaustive.

OutcomeMappingOutcomeMapping(OM)isanintegratedmethodforplanningandassessingthesocialchangeandinternalperformanceofprojects,programsandorganizations.Thismethodisespeciallyusefulwhenchanges in behaviors and capacities of partners in sphere of influence are the focus (Guijt/Ortiz2007).Ithasanumberofstrengths:

• Assessesbothprocessandoutcome,andplausiblecontribution(notattribution).• Enablesstakeholderdialogue,learningandconsensusbuilding,aswellasaccountability.• OM puts people and learning at the centre of development and accepts unanticipated

changesaspotentialforinnovation.• Captureselementsofpolicyimplementationratherthanfocusingon‘paper’policy.

TheweaknessesofOMare:• Itdoesnotevaluatevalueformoney.• Observedbehavioralchangepositsalinkbetweencauseandeffectwhichmaybeimpossible

todemonstrate.• Theapproachiscostlyandtime-intensive.

A precondition for success is that OM needs skilled facilitation, dedicated budget and time, andsupportfromhigherlevelintheorganization.Source:Earl,Carden,Smutyloa.o.(2001),Canada;Guijt/Ortiz(2007)

PADEV(ParticipatoryAssessmentofDevelopment)Padev is an innovative toolbox of techniques and methods, which aims to achieve a bottom-upassessmentofdevelopmentandchangeinaparticularareaoveraperiodoftimebasedonthevaluesystems of the population. It is holistic and participatory. Main purpose is to focus on the whyquestionsandtoassesslongtermimpactofinducingchangeinasituationofmultiplestakeholders.Itisnotareplacementofconventionalapproaches,butanalternativeapproachthatenablesa“bigpicture”ofdevelopmentandchangetobeconstructedforanarea.The method was elaborated by the University of Amsterdam, together with the University forDevelopment in Ghana, l’ Expertise pour le Développement du Sahel (Burkina Faso), the AfricanStudies Centre (Leiden), the Royal Tropical Institute (Amsterdam) and the developmentorganizationsICCO,Woord&DaadandPrisma.IthasbeenadoptedbytheRoyalTropicalInstitutein impact assessment for e.g.. how investments in SMEsmay lead to social change at producers’levelinEasternAfrica.Source:www.padev.nl

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ContributionanalysisContributionanalysisisanapproachforassessingcausalquestionsandinferringcausalityinreal-lifeprogramevaluations.Itoffersastep-by-stepapproachdesignedtohelpmanagers,researchers,andpolicymakersarriveatconclusionsaboutthecontributiontheirprogramhasmade(oriscurrentlymaking) to particular outcomes. The essential value of contribution analysis is that it offers anapproachdesignedtoreduceuncertaintyaboutthecontributionthe intervention ismakingtotheobservedresultsthroughanincreasedunderstandingofwhytheobservedresultshaveoccurred(ornot!)andtherolesplayedbytheinterventionandotherinternalandexternalfactors.

Contributionanalysisisparticularlyusefulinsituationswhereaprogramisnotexperimental,i.e.notin trial projectsbut in situationswhere theprogramhasbeen fundedon thebasisof a relativelyclearly articulated Theory of Change and where there is little or no scope for varying how theprogram is implemented.Contributionanalysishelps toconfirmor revisea theoryofchange.Thereport froma contributionanalysis isnotdefinitiveproof,but ratherprovidesa lineof reasoningfromwhichwecandrawaplausibleconclusionthat,withinsomelevelofconfidence,theprogramhasmadeanimportantcontributiontothedocumentedresults.Source:http://betterevaluation.org/plan/approach/contribution_analysis

Managing for Impact (M4I)ApproachM4Iisaninterestingapproachtounravel complex situations anddostakeholderengagement.The essential idea is that aninterrelated set of capabilitieswill provide the collectivecapacity to effectively manageforimpact.Characteristics of this approach:Holistic, comprehensive, peopleoriented,resultsbased,situation-specific,learning,empowering,adaptive,&response.Source:http://www.wageningenportals.nl/sites/default/files/images/M4I_model_590_x_381px.png

Utilizationfocusedevaluation

“Utilization-FocusedEvaluation(UFE),developedbyMichaelQuinnPatton,isanapproachbasedontheprinciplethatanevaluationshouldbejudgedonitsusefulnesstoitsintendedusers.Thereforeevaluationsshouldbeplannedandconductedinwaysthatenhancethelikelyutilizationofboththe

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findingsandoftheprocessitselftoinformdecisionsandimproveperformance.”Ratherthanafocuson general and abstract users and uses, UFE is focused on real and specific users and uses. Theevaluator’sjobisnottomakedecisionsindependentlyoftheintendedusers,butrathertofacilitatedecision-making amongst the peoplewhowill use the findings of the evaluation.Premise is thatevaluationsshouldbejudgedbytheirutilityandactualuse.

Source:http://betterevaluation.org/plan/approach/utilization_focused_evaluation

Usingstoriesasinstrumentinorganizationalchangeprocesses

TheoryUTheoryUisnotsomuchanimpactevaluationmethodology/instrument,butisinterestingintermsofitsuseofstories.In2009,OttoScharmeroftheMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT),presentedhisTheoryU.

In theprocessofTheoryU - the letterU shows thewaybywhichchangetakesshape-,youpassasanindividual,ateamoranorganizationalongfivestages:• The 'seeing'phaseatthebeginningofachangeprocess

describestheprocessoflookingwithafresh,openlook.Thisisincontrasttodownloadingfromoldpatternsandschedules, which often happens when faced with newsituationsandissues.

• Inthesecondphase,thatof'sensing',it'sgoingtomakecontactwithadeeperlayerinyourself,asinsomeother

way(fromanopenheart)toconnectwithothers.• Thephaseof‘presencing’isfocusedonmakingcontactwithwhatisthereandwhatispossible

inthefuture.• At the stage of "crystallizing" the trick is to further depict the possible future. Shaping the

insights and ideas that arise in the previous phase, are the core here. It is about makingconscious unconscious and invisible information visible. In order then to be able to use thisinformation in the process of change. This can be achieved by a different way of looking,communicatingandacting.Observing, feeling,andactingwithanopenmind,openheartandopentocompromise."

• Inthelastphase,thatof'prototyping',it'sabouttheideasturnintocautiousfirstactions.Inalthesestagesstorytellingisanessentialmedium.Fromdownloading(culture,thelivedstories,the flowofcontinuouschanges) toPerforming (structure, thestoryofmanagement, focuson thefuture)viaPresencing(co-creation,makingajointstory).Sources:P+,p.58-59,2015;http://www.vanvieren.nl/files/Theory%20U.pdfwww.ottoscharmer.com

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AppreciativeInquiry:storiesasinstrumentinorganizationalchangeprocessesAppreciativeInquiry(AI)isanapproachtoorganizationalchangewhichfocusesonstrengthsratherthanonweaknesses - quite different tomany evaluation approacheswhich focus ondeficits andproblems. "AppreciativeInquiry isaboutthecoevolutionarysearchforthebest inpeople,theirorganizations,andtherelevantworldaroundthem.In itsbroadestfocus, it involvessystematicdiscoveryofwhatgives“life”toalivingsystemwhenitismostalive,mosteffective,andmostconstructivelycapableineconomic,ecological,andhumanterms.AIinvolves,inacentralway,theartandpracticeofaskingquestions that strengthen a system’s capacity to apprehend, anticipate, and heighten positivepotential."(Cooperrider&Whitney2005,p.3). AI shifts the focus fromproblems toperspectiveand fromdenying, complainingand criticizing totaking responsibility,ownershipandcooperation.Thiscreates thecreativity, commitment,actionsandinitiativesneededtoachievechangesuccessfully.AIbringspeopleinandbetweenorganizationsindialogueonissuesthatmatter.Forexample,aboutcooperation, market positioning or leadership. That always happens in an appreciative manner,respectfulofdifferences inviews,backgroundsandambitions. Inthechangeprocesspeople learnfromandwitheachotherandcreatenewprospectsforthefuture.Thatperspectiveisreflectedinactions and initiatives, inwhichpeople take full responsibility for the futureof their organizationandthemselves.Storiesofthepastareusedasasourceforpositiveopportunitiesforthefuture.The ultimate tangible outcome of an Inquiry is a total set of statements that describewhere anorganizationwantstogoto,basedupontheprevioustopmoments.Theprocessitselfalreadyleadstoa fresh impetusandenergy.Attendeeswill leavewitha senseofcommitment, confidenceandaffirmation that theyhavebeen successful. Theyalsoknowhow they individually and collectivelycancreatemoremomentsofsuccess.Inanorganizationalprocessofredefiningthedotonthehorizon,and(finetuning)thesustainabilitystrategy,thisAIcouldbeveryuseful.

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ANNEXIV:Quantitativeinstrumentsformeasuring/evaluatingimpact

SocialReturnOnInvestment(SROI)TheRobertsEnterpriseDevelopmentFunddevelopedSROI in the90’s in theUSA.Purposeof thisAgencywastodevelopamethodtodefinethereturnoninvestmentoftheirgifts/ investments inprojectsand/or socialenterprises.SROIusesamonetaryunit ($) toquantifyvalue.The ideawassimple:ifIinvest1euroinasocialproject,howmanysocialeurowillitgenerate.

“SROI is an approach formeasuring and accounting for a broader concept of value. Itmeasureschange in relation to social, environmental, andeconomic, andpossiblyother results. SROIbasestheassessmentof valueon financial returns, as appreciatedbyperceptionandexperienceof thestakeholders. It looksforkeyindicatorsofwhathaschangedandtellsthestoryofthechangeandusesmoneyvaluesfortheseindicators.”(Context2010:14).SoSROI researchaims toget insight into theequationbetween total investments (costs) and thesocietal effects that are achieved or to be expected (benefits). One analyzes the objectives of asocialenterprise,whichotherorganizations,actorshaveastake(stakeholders–government,fund,volunteer, etc.), what they aim for, and what impact they expect. In this way, it provides theopportunitytocommunicatewhatreallymattersforthe(primary)stakeholdersinvolvedinaproject(2010:p.9).

PrinciplesoftheSocialReturnonInvestmentapproachare:• Stakeholdersaredirectlyinvolvedindraftingtheanalysis.• Changesfromtheperspectiveofstakeholdersarebeingexamined.• Shortandlongtermeffectsofactivitiesarefinanciallyvalued.• Onlyrelevantandsignificantissuesaretobeconsidered.• Thereisnottoomuchclaimed(conservativeassumptions).• Transparency(opennessinstepsduringanalysisandverifiableassumptions).• Financialassumptionsandeffectswillbeverifiedwithstakeholders.

IntheNetherlands,theSROInetworkforTheNetherlandsandFlemishwasfoundedin2010.QualityofSROIresearchdiffersalot.Criticismisbasedonthefactthatoftenreportspresentnon-realisticreturns.

Sources: SROI. A practical guide for the development cooperation sector. 2010, Context,InternationalCooperation.

https://contextinternationalcooperation.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/sroi-practical-guide_context-international-cooperation.pdf

https://contextinternationalcooperation.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/qpq_44-47.pdf

PublicValueScoreCardBasedon the concept of theBalances Score card, the Public Value Score Card,was developed in2003,helpingorganizationsunderstandandincreasetheirvaluetosociety.Theideaistomeasure

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the ultimate value in non-financial terms as produced by an organization. It focuses on not justcustomerswhopay for theservice,or theclientswhobenefit fromtheorganization’soperations,butalsoonthethirdpartypayers.Anditfocusesonproductivecapabilitiesforachievinglargesocialresultsoutsidetheboundaryoftheorganizationitself.Source: http://performance.ey.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2014/02/EY-Performance-Organization-valuable-to-society1.pdf

QualitativeDocumentAnalysisQualitativeDocumentAnalysis(QDA)istherangeofprocessesandproceduresusedtomovefromthe qualitative data that have been collected from a wide range of sources (including policystatements,technicalreports,minutes,speeches)intosomeformofexplanation,understandingorinterpretation of the people and situations under investigation. QDA is usually based on aninterpretativephilosophy:theideaistoexaminethemeaningfulandsymboliccontentofqualitativedata.

SurveysA survey is a pre-formatted series of questions asked of multiple actors, generating bothquantitative andqualitative data. The strengths andweaknesses of surveys for evaluating impactarerelativelywellknown.Itsstrengths:· Cost-effectivemeansofobtainingdatafromarangeofactors· Allowswiderinvolvementofstakeholdersthanpossiblewithinterviewing· Canidentifygreaterbreadthofoutcomesthanothermethods· UsefulforthetriangulationoffindingsfromothermethodsWeaknesses:· Reliesuponaccesstopopulationsofinterest,orrobustsamples· Reflectsbiasesinthoseselectedandthosewhorespond(cansufferfromlowresponserates)· Relativelyunresponsivetounforeseenissues· Mayrequirefollow-upinterviewstofullyunderstandtheresults· Aquestionnaireapproachcanoverlooknuancesandsubtletiessurroundinginfluence

CasestudiesCasestudiesfocusonunderstandingaunit(person,siteorproject)initscontext,whichcanactuallyincludeacombinationofqualitativeandquantitativedata.Thestrengthofagoodcasestudyisthatit isexplanatory,andrichindetail,andcandemonstratepathways from research to impact. It has the potential to combine sources and methods(triangulation). Case studies are particularly useful in situations and contexts where theunderstanding of research impacts is poor, and where there is only some knowledge on thecausalitiesinvolved.Theweaknessofworkingwithcasestudieshastodowiththedifficultyinselectingcases(issuesofbiasandattribution), it istime-intensiveanddifficulttogeneralizefindings.Lastbutnot least, thequality of case study is highly dependent on the skills of the researcher. Especially in Colombia,

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interviewees mentioned the risk of weak representativity, and of collecting testimonies that arebasedonsociallydesirableanswers.

BaseofthePyramidImpactAssessmentFrameworkTheaimofthis framework,developed in2007byTedLondon, is tounderstandwhoattheBoP isimpacted by BoP ventures and how they are affected. Framework is developed to evaluate andarticulate impacts,toguidestrategyandtoenablebetter investmentdecisions. Italsocontributestobetterunderstandingoftherelationshipbetweenprofitsandpovertyalleviationandtorecognizepovertyalleviationimplicationsofdifferenttypesofventures.Source:http://www.wdi.umich.edu/

IRISIRISisaninitiativebytheGlobalImpactInvestingNetwork(GIIN).TheGIINisanetworkofinvestorsthat care about impact investing. Founded in 2007, initiated by the Rockefeller Foundation, thenetworkhasgrownandcurrently isactive in investing, in research,hasdevelopedstandards,anddevelopedadirectorythatcontainsawidevarietyof investmentvehicles that require funding forenvironmental and socially engaged projects. GIIN has initiated amajor project that is called theImpactReportingandInvestmentStandards(IRIS)whichisasetofgenerally-acceptedmetricsthatcan be used to measure and report the social, environmental and financial performance ofinvestments (Hasselman2014). In themeantime,asubstantialnumberofmetrics invarious fieldshave been developed, such as: community-banking, health, land conservation, early-stageenterprises,microenterprise,microinsurance,smallandgrowingbusinesses,socialperformanceofMFIs. The platform is definitely not an evaluation tool, but helps companies to report on theirperformancewithout giving reporting guidelines by itself. Themethodologies used have a rathermathematicalapproach.Source:http://www.thegiin.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home/index.html

MonetizationofthevalueofimpactPuma had the ultimate objective to offer customers products that are truly sustainable. In 2011PUMAfiguredoutwhatthetotalenvironmentalimpactineuroswas,causedbytheactivitiesofthePuma brand. This was translated into the PUMA Environmental Profit & Loss. Puma did this forvarious individual articles. The idea behind this exercise was that consumers who areenvironmentallyconsciousnolongergetconfusedbyallthedifferenteco-labelsthatexist,andthatPUMAbecomestransparentabouttheexternalenvironmentalcostsoftheirproducts.Together with a lot of other companies, the True Price Foundation is developing a valuationmethod,whichuncoverstheenvironmentalandsocialcostsofbusinesses inorderto improvethedecisionmakingofcompanies.TruePriceassistsorganizationsprovidinginsightsintotheirimpactsand their associated risks and opportunities. The idea is to calculate the true price of a product,meaning the retail price plus all hidden monetized external costs (the unpaid social andenvironmentalcosts).Basedonthisinformation,strategiescanbedefinedtoreducethetruepricegap.