as noted earlier in this paper, the tbl emphasizes the need for organizations to consider social and environmental outcomes alongside economic ones. TBL’s architect, John Elkington, intended companies to go beyond sacrificing profit levels to achieve desirable non-economic results. In fact, when considering a business as a system, the ideal is to design (or redesign) production and marketing models so that they are inherently sustainable (Elkington, 2018). bwb has consciously described its business model in terms of tbl (better world books, n.d.-j). the following paragraphs show how it has achieved positive results in the economic, social and environmental dimensions.
there are several indicators of the economic success of bwb. First, unlike many startups, the company survived; 18 years after its founding, it is thriving. obviously, he found a business model that worked. Creating a market for books owners no longer needed required learning how to efficiently collect, process, sell, and donate. bwb’s level of profit does not appear to be a matter of public record, but the fact that it is continually engaged in philanthropic activities is clear evidence of its economic viability.
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Second, bwb has clearly grown over time, likely displacing actual or potential competitors who were less organized, altruistic, or environmentally conscious. Finally, there is evidence to suggest that BWB delights the vast majority of its customers. According to a company that has collected over 211,000 bwb customer ratings, the bookcase has an overall satisfaction rating of 4.8 on a scale of 1 to 5 (buyer approved, no date).
bwb has generated social value on several fronts. First, it has obviously provided employment for a significant number of workers. Current and reliable information on the company’s workforce is difficult to find, but Sward (2012) cited a workforce of 350. Second, throughout its history, BWB has donated nearly 29 million books, working through a lot of non-profit organizations. (best books in the world, n.d.-a, n.d.-f).
Third, bwb reports that it has raised more than $31 million for literacy and libraries (better world books, n.d.-a). this figure presumably includes a few different types of transactions:
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- payments to libraries. libraries supply a significant part of bwb’s book inventory. when a library’s books are sold, the company shares a portion of the net proceeds (sward, 2012; better world books, n.d.-b).
- literacy scholarships. bwb runs two annual grant programs for libraries and non-profit organizations. These programs have a global reach, with recent beneficiaries located in Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Malawi, Nicaragua, Uganda, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries (better world books, s.f.-c, s.f.-d).
- payments to partner organizations with a social conscience. According to Sward (2012), “If a library donates a book, … it can designate which of the BWB-supported literacy programs receives an additional 5 percent of net proceeds from book sales” (p. 64).
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bwb’s main environmental value proposition is the fact that it allows books to be reused or recycled, depending on whether there is a market for them. To date, the company has disposed of 365 million books in one of these ways, obviously reducing the impact on landfills (better world books, s.f.-a). in 2010, bwb won a waste award, justified by the fact that the previous year it had “recycled 7,090 tons of materials, which is the carbon dioxide equivalent of taking 2,900 passenger vehicles off the road for a year” (agency United States Environmental Protection Act, 2011).
also important is bwb’s purchase of renewable energy credits (recs) and carbon offsets. In 2016, the company reported purchasing 2,591,000 kWh of RECs corresponding to its electricity use (Better World Books, 2016b). bwb’s carbon offset program is funded by customers; seeks to offset the impact of transporting books to their buyers (better world books, 2015). The company claims that this program has so far reduced the carbon footprint of shipping activities by 87,000 tons (better world books, n.d.-f).
A review of bwb’s donation and grant activities clearly shows that it has made a global impact in the social arena (better world books, n.d.-c). however, it has also impacted the environment on a global scale. Citing an interview with xavier helgesen, founder and chairman of the board of directors of bwb, sward (2012) wrote,
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