Managing the triple bottom line

Part II: Opportunities for information services

December, 2003

In Part I of this series, we introduced the concept of triple bottom line (TBL) management. In this article, we look at specific opportunities that the concept holds for information professionals.

Of the three core TBL issues -- transparency, governance, and sustainability -- transparency is the most relevant for information professionals. By this we mean communicating relevant information to stakeholders where, when, and how they need it. But, who are the stakeholders and what do they want? How can you meet their needs at a reasonable cost? How do you know whether you've succeeded with any one group?

The transparency problem in TBL is not new; it's just magnified. For example, managing an intranet is challenging, but you can make certain assumptions about the audience's goals, terminology, and infrastructure. The audience served by an intranet (company employees) is only one of perhaps 8 - 10 stakeholder groups involved in TBL, and most of them are external to the company. Each group has a different world view and different objectives. Each uses a different vocabulary (even within the same language) and a wide range of communications technologies (including no technology!). As we learned with intranets, it's not enough to make information available electronically. You have to make it easy to find and deliver it in a format suitable for decision making. The really tricky part is to provide information that both customized (for each stakeholder group) and consistent (for benchmarking and reporting).

3 kinds of opportunities
The opportunities for information professionals in TBL reporting fall into three categories:

1. Conducting research to formulate a TBL plan.

2. Creating cost effective channels of communication to implement the plan.

3. Designing an information infrastructure for accurate, consistent reporting and monitoring.

More... (members only) How to become a member