Competing in today’s modern business landscape means evolving past the traditional perspectives of success. It’s no longer enough for leaders to think in terms of dollars and cents—leaders who want to stay relevant need to become aware of their business’s impact on the world.
Businesses need a “soul.” That is to say, leaders need to adopt policies centered around sustainable practices for the environment, ethical approaches to customer relationships, and a conscientious awareness of workers’ rights across all operations.
Owners and operators who understand these ideas are changing business paradigms to reach an increasingly purpose-driven customer base. Here are a couple of ways conscientiousness gets applied in the real world.
Give Tech a Second Life
In 2019, the total amount of waste generated from electronic devices hit a massive milestone of 53 million metric tons. The demand for electronics is spurring a rush to mine the earth’s crust for the rare elements — creating grim consequences not only for our environment but also for the communities where mining occurs.
Contemporary workplaces are increasingly dependent on technological devices. For leadership looking to adopt corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, finding clean and ethical methods for device repurposing is becoming a necessity.
How to Reuse and Upcycle Tech Devices
One approach to reducing overall electronics waste is to reuse devices and upcycle them when possible. However, what makes this difficult is the current nature of the device market. For companies like Apple, creating new products every year is standard practice, and they often restrict access to much-needed proprietary parts and components needed for repairs. This means both old and broken devices end up in landfills — a cycle that is on an annual replay.
Very few companies address product lifecycle issues, seeking to reuse or repair rather than replace. TrenDevice is one of them. It is one of the fastest-growing device refurbishment companies, actively bridging the gap between manufacturers and consumers, supporting better sustainability for device use.
Working closely with third-party manufacturers to source high-quality replacement parts, TrenDevice offers like-new refurbished products that reduce nearly 80% of the carbon footprint of buying new. These reductions come from the mining, refining transport, and assembly of a newly manufactured device. In addition, refurbishment extends the typical life cycle of a device and prolongs usability.
What This Means for Leaders
For leadership, companies like TrenDevice offer no-fuss methods of cutting waste while still offering the devices needed for business operations. The goal is to implement efficient strategies for cutting carbon costs without sacrificing quality.
The easier it is to integrate sustainable environmental processes into existing systems, the more people will jump on board the “saving the environment” train. It’s more than the environment, though; it’s also a way to show principled global leadership.
With current work from home (WFH) policies becoming permanent business practices, device management is even more critical to staying connected. Refurbishment from a company like TrenDevice helps alleviate pressure on tech departments and positively impacts budgets.
Collect Data in a Conscientious, Ethical Way
No leader can ignore growing concerns around data ethics. We’re seeing an influx of creative content across numerous media channels. Unfortunately, we currently use inefficient systems to track all this information.
This has put many companies in hot water regarding their data collection practices. We currently rely on digital systems to manage sensitive information like tracking cookies and data for financial services. As a result, users are no longer in the dark as to what goes on with their personal and private information behind the scenes, prompting rising consumer and data privacy concerns.
How to Ethically Collect Data
One of the significant issues surrounding ethical data collection is the monumental nature of the task. This includes implementing ethical protocols for collection, storage, and sharing.
Rightsline is a platform designed to simplify the tracking of intellectual property (IP) — that is, intangible creations of the human mind — across the entire supply chain. Their mission is to move beyond managing IP to deliver in-depth insights with the ability to track contracts, manage inventory, and monitor reporting.
For leaders, Rightsline provides the tools to approach data collection ethically. Eliminating the risks of unintentional and unethical business practices and behaviors means handling growing datasets responsibly and turning off a collection that violates evolving company policies.
What This Means for Leaders
It’s no longer enough to say you prioritize ethical data collection. Instead, customers are looking to implement policies that help reduce the chances of unethical data harvesting.
The last thing you want is revelatory headlines hitting the web showcasing your misguided approach to user data. For some consumers, it’s enough reason to boycott your product altogether. Staying aware and vigilant means managing your business’ data, including IP, everywhere it lives. The more gaps in the system, the more chances for errors.
Store Data in a Conscientious, Ethical Way
Data collection practices are an essential issue for leaders. But that’s only half of the conversation. On the other side of data collection is data storage. In the United States alone, IP infringement claims take a $200 billion chunk out of the economy every year — putting pressure on businesses to revamp their data storage practices.
Customers engage in creating content for platforms, placing more of the responsibility for ethical storage onto businesses. However, much like the issues with data collection, a huge problem exists when managing large loads of data.
How to Store Data Ethically
Safely storing data means knowing exactly what you have and its location. Unfortunately, existing IP and data management strategies often fall short of what customers expect, putting leadership in a precarious ethical position.
Using Rightsline, for example, companies can efficiently manage all their data and IP on a single platform. A single piece of management software is a distinct advantage for businesses with massive amounts of data. This isn’t an issue only for enterprise-level organizations, either. Small companies and startups can leverage Rightsline’s platform to manage every aspect of their data pipeline fully.
What This Means for Leaders
An effective leader stays ahead of the curve. In terms of business ethics and practices, this means going beyond current headlines to see the industry’s future problems.
Storing data is more critical than it may appear. But, with the right tools, leadership can create sustainable practices for data storage and collection that grow and scale. In addition, with an increasingly conscientious customer base, presenting your business as ethically aware is critical to navigating this new chapter of digital growth.
How Leadership Can Leverage These Methods
Creating conscientious business practices is becoming easier every day. Companies like TrenDevice and Rightsline develop systems to address modern ethical and environmental concerns, implementing simple changes into daily operations is painless.
Leaders looking to stay relevant in this shifting landscape need to present a public face of awareness. Customers aren’t blind to the impacts of the global economy on the environment and communities. However, it’s no longer enough to simply understand the problem; the market will reward leaders who take action and champion real change.
