http://www.harling.de/archives/2008/12/saps_approach_t.html ideas and actions that make a difference Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:36:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.harling.de/archives/2008/12/saps_approach_t.html/comment-page-1#comment-3 Felix Harling Tue, 09 Dec 2008 19:02:44 +0000 http://harling.de/WordPress/http:/harling.de/WordPress/archives/2008/12/saps-approach-to-sustainability.html#comment-3 Mike, thanks for your comment. Well, I agree of course that face-to-face meetings are important especially in the beginning of a relationship (building trust) and for important meetings in sales, delivery, or review situations where you need the "high touch" context. So, the rule is less to minimize the # of miles but rather to maximize the customer satisfaction. It would be a good practice of course to issue a guideline to decide whether or not a face-to-face meeting is appropriate (there are plenty of checklists available - <a href="http://www.bnet.com/2410-13059_23-68788.html" rel="nofollow">example</a>). The existence of a strong platform to enable virtual meetings is of course a prerequisite for this approach. Nevertheless, there is still the option to decide to buy voluntary offsets for the unavoidable emissions. Based on the sustainability report SAP would have to spend about 4 Mio EUR (or 0.04 % of 2007 revenue) for a voluntary carbon offset (based on an average price of 15 USD per tons of CO2 outlined <a href="http://www.myclimate.org/download/0701_tufts%20study.pdf" rel="nofollow">in a study of Tufts University</a>). There are some companies which have built up their business model on this offset topic (e.g. a spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology: <a href="http://www.myclimate.org/index.php?&lang=en" rel="nofollow">myclimate</a>). Mike, I would looking forward to seeing you discuss directly <a href="https://cw.sdn.sap.com/community/sustainability/blog/2008/11/04/saps-very-first-sustainability-report#comments" rel="nofollow">on the sustainability report workspace</a>. Sustainability professionals should join forces. Mike, thanks for your comment.
Well, I agree of course that face-to-face meetings are important especially in the beginning of a relationship (building trust) and for important meetings in sales, delivery, or review situations where you need the “high touch” context. So, the rule is less to minimize the # of miles but rather to maximize the customer satisfaction.
It would be a good practice of course to issue a guideline to decide whether or not a face-to-face meeting is appropriate (there are plenty of checklists available – example). The existence of a strong platform to enable virtual meetings is of course a prerequisite for this approach.
Nevertheless, there is still the option to decide to buy voluntary offsets for the unavoidable emissions. Based on the sustainability report SAP would have to spend about 4 Mio EUR (or 0.04 % of 2007 revenue) for a voluntary carbon offset (based on an average price of 15 USD per tons of CO2 outlined in a study of Tufts University).
There are some companies which have built up their business model on this offset topic (e.g. a spinoff from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology: myclimate).
Mike, I would looking forward to seeing you discuss directly on the sustainability report workspace. Sustainability professionals should join forces.

]]> http://www.harling.de/archives/2008/12/saps_approach_t.html/comment-page-1#comment-4 Mike Balin Mon, 08 Dec 2008 21:20:12 +0000 http://harling.de/WordPress/http:/harling.de/WordPress/archives/2008/12/saps-approach-to-sustainability.html#comment-4 I look at strategic marketing and sustainability for <a href="www.streamserve.com" rel="nofollow">StreamServe</a>, an enterprise software company based in the Boston area that is an SAP Endorsed Business Solution. This past year alone I traveled about 120,000 km including several trips to Germany in support of my work with SAP. The air portion alone for each of my round trips from Boston to Walldorf came to about 1,600 pounds of carbon put into the atmosphere. While videoconferencing technologies continue to improve, face-to-face enables a level of nuance and understanding that are so far only possible by getting on that crowded, polluting airplane! Thoughts? I look at strategic marketing and sustainability for StreamServe, an enterprise software company based in the Boston area that is an SAP Endorsed Business Solution. This past year alone I traveled about 120,000 km including several trips to Germany in support of my work with SAP. The air portion alone for each of my round trips from Boston to Walldorf came to about 1,600 pounds of carbon put into the atmosphere.
While videoconferencing technologies continue to improve, face-to-face enables a level of nuance and understanding that are so far only possible by getting on that crowded, polluting airplane!
Thoughts?

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