From Continuity To Sustainability

the same period the previous year. For example, in 2020, Turkey's GDP
growth rate was 1.8 percent.

On the other hand, if total imports are more than total exports, countries
will show a current account deficit. This is also calculated as a monetary
value. According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT),
Turkey's current account deficit was $4.7 billion dollars as of March 2021.
However, Turkey does not produce data such as the Gross National Quality
or an Ethics Deficit as determined by TUIK or CBRT. In any case, it is not
possible to measure concepts such as quality or ethics in terms of mon-
ey. Therefore, it becomes necessary to use measurement units other than

money when talking about progress or development instead of growth. The
use of indices such as the consumer confidence index, human rights index,
social institutions and gender index, press freedom index, democracy in-
dex, innovation index and environmental performance index, which have
attracted attention in the last decade, are becoming increasingly common.

Indices such as these, which are accepted around the world, are not used

by companies and managerial decisions are generally taken on the basis of
financial statement data and financial projections, and money continues to
be used as the only unit of measurement. However, businesses have very

important social and environmental impacts other than those measurable
by money alone. These effects were not even considered until 10-15 years
ago and they are not reflected in financial reports now, because there is
no monetary value for the measurement of social and environmental im-

pacts. In actual fact, social and environmental effects, which are described

as economic externalities can be determined today through sustainability
reports and be connected to financial data through integrated reports.

In business, fair management, transparency, responsibility and accounta-

bility are an inseparable part of corporate sustainability. Even if the effec-

tive implementation of these principles increases the value of a business,
the valuation of a company always looks first and foremost at financial
data. If a business has superior profitability, good turnover and significant
market share in its industry, this is thought to be sufficient to whet the
appetite of investors. Even if they are not directly included in company

valuation formulas today, matters relating to the organisational structure

49

of a business, how decisions are made, management's accountability for
the latter, job descriptions befitting internal processes and whether em-
ployees are given freedom of expression, the existence of effective internal
control mechanisms and environmental awareness have now grown in im-
portance. In keeping with this, stakeholders - such as employees, manage-
ment and in particular investors - now pay attention to criteria other than
data measurable simply in monetary terms when they seek access infor-
mation about a company. Non-financial data such as these can, in combi-
nation with financial data, draw a much more realistic and comprehensive
picture of the business, and not only for investors; they also enable clients,
suppliers and potential employees to reach more accurate decisions. Many
companies have noticed this and begun to use integrated reporting that
brings together financial and non-financial data. For example, all publicly
listed companies in South Africa have to submit an integrated annual re-
port to their stakeholders. However, in order for integrated reports to be
effective, it is important not only for businesses to submit these reports,
but also for those who read the report to be able appreciate them and for
consumers to have increased awareness of the issue. Consequently, it is
necessary first and foremost to accept that there are measurable crite-
ria other than ‘money’ that can affect decisions and also to break out of
some existing practices. For instance, indicators such as the ratio of wom-
en managers, carbon emissions per capita, quality level, employee loyalty,
client satisfaction, training hours and paper consumption are not included
in financial statements. And yet, all of these are directly related to the sus-
tainability of the business and can affect the decision on whether to engage
with the company.

Figure 6 shows a table setting out examples of Key Performance Indicators
we use at Mazars Denge in addition to monetary data. In preparing these
KPIs, we employed the four components of our strategy performance man-
agement tool the 'Balanced Score Card', which forms part of our basic busi-
ness model for which we laid the foundations years ago and which I will
discuss in the next section. These comprise responsible income, employee
development and a learning organisation, client relationship management

50

and processes. In the table, the relationship between performance indica-
tors and these KPIs is notable.

The performance scorecard presented in the following table is a model
we applied from October 2020 to assess executive level performance. This
first version also included social and environmental indicators. However,
managers who were going to be assessed on implementation stated that
they felt uncomfortable and that for the time being, they were unwilling to
be assessed on these indicators. I decided to lead by example and add the
social and environmental impact items they chose to eliminate to my own
performance scorecard.

NO SUGGESTED SUGGESTED MEASUREMENT INDICATOR
WEIGHTING OBJECTIVE

1 %15 Responsible Net Profit Margin Net Unit Profit / Turnover
income (%)

2 %10 Responsible Receivables Annual Cost of Finance / Annual
income Overdue Turnover

3 %10 Responsible Risk Level Number of Clients with Serious
income Level of Risk

4 %10 Responsible Profitable New New Client Profits / Total Profits
income Client Acquisition

5 %10 Client Relations Client Satisfaction Marketing Department Client

Management Levels Satisfaction Measurement Results

Eliminating Client All Client Commercial Info, Client
Data Deficiencies
6 %10 Client Relations and Keeping Representatives and Authorities
Management (Chairman, CEO, CFO) Input of
Data Current and
Business Contact Information;

Accurate update every 6 months at least

7 %15 Processes Quality File Review Results

Employee Training hours in the Department

8 %10 Development Training Hours / Number of associated personnel
and Learning per Person (Minimum 30 Hours of training

Organisation required per person)

Employee

9 %10 Development Rates of employee Team Turnover Rate / Department's
and Learning
retention Annual Turnover Rate

Organisation

51

Soon, we aim to add the following performance indicators to the score-
cards of all our employees:

• Environmental impact score
• Social impact score
• Ethical approach score
• Team inclusion rates, gender distribution in teams, male-female

ratio, persons with disabilities, LGBTI+, ratio of foreign employees
• Innovation projects carried out during the reporting period
• SDG associated score, compliance scored on targeted SDG (based

on client and supplier selection, project work with NGOs, project
work with start-ups, etc.)

Naturally, I plan to begin a similar process at senior management level by
going over my own performance scorecard at the end of 2021. I would like
to demonstrate to our firm's executives that a KPI assessment that also
includes the social impact of criteria such as time allocated to NGOs and
training given at universities or of environmental impacts such as carbon
emissions, energy, water and paper consumption, is nothing to be afraid of.
Then I plan to create a similar scorecard for the rest of the firm.
As noted above, the assessment is based on financial and non-financial cri-
teria. The feasibility of this table may vary with company culture and em-
ployee awareness. The key is to be able to choose the parameters that are
compatible with each enterprise's founding purpose and culture, consid-
ering the Sustainable Development Goal which each firm will focus on and
their social and environmental effects. If these goals are met, then the true
performance of the enterprise will emerge. We also need to consider the
possibility that employees may resist sudden transitions. It may take some
time for them to get used to and trust these new criteria. In order to man-
age this process effectively, making gradual changes through long-term
planning will increase the chances of success. With the advent of Covid-19,
I believe people have become more aware of the environmental impact of

52

their actions and that these new processes will have a positive effect on the
environment of trust that is needed.

In fact, the components that make up a company's culture are directly re-
lated to corporate sustainability. When we talk of sustainability, we cannot
ignore the values that create the corporate culture. Although it won't be an
easy task, we intend to establish some benchmarks that align with Mazars
Denge's values in the longer term such as:

• Client / Supplier Environmental – Social Impact Rating
• Trust Index
• Boutique Services
Establishing a revenue model and generating sufficient minimum reve-
nues to maintain its operations, is essential for any business. Otherwise,
the company will either cease to be a 'going concern' or will always be
dependent on a third party for funding. However, the crucial point is the
source of this revenue and how it is applied. What kind of connection is
there between revenue generated and other criteria on the sustainability
side of the table? Is an increase in revenues dependent on suppressing im-
pacts on the social and environmental side? In my view, it is critical that
we begin to use other parameters that will measure the social and environ-
mental performance of enterprises in a way that fully aligns with Sustain-
able Development Goals, in combination with the more customary unit of
money as performance measure, as soon as possible.

Rivalry with Competitors – Rivals as Stakeholders

Rivals, Stakeholders, Stakeholder-oriented Competition,
Accountability, Progress Together

The English word "rival" comes from the Latin "rivus" and means those
who use the same stream. How then have we, who share the same river,
entered into cutthroat competition with each other to win more and more
and eliminate those who are not part of our team? What kind of compe-

53

tition is this, that putting aside sharing the same river, has caused huge
lakes such as the Aral Sea and the Lake Tuz to dry up? If this rivalry had
not led to abuses on a global scale and harmed all stakeholders, would
the “UN Global Compact”14 which includes articles such as preventing child
labour, fighting every kind of corruption including bribery and extortion,
preventing human rights violations, and supporting initiatives to prevent
and protect the environment, have been necessary? The ten articles of the
Global Compact, signed in 1999, remind companies of the responsibilities
they possess when carrying out their business. Thousands of companies
around the world, including Mazars Denge, have signed this compact. Be-
cause no action has been taken in the 21 years since it was agreed, we now
face the Covid-19 epidemic in addition to the climate crisis.

If we choose to view our rivals as stakeholders with whom we can collabo-
rate to see what we can create together as we do in ‘open innovation’ pro-
jects, rather than attempting to outdo or destroy them, will we not be able
to improve our economic, social and environmental development through
a new and different understanding of fierce rivalry, thereby taking our pro-
gress to higher levels?

We had a client in Bursa for whom we provided independent audit ser-
vices. Mazars Paris had introduced us to them because they audited this
client's foreign offices and recommended that we undertake their inter-
national audits. After they'd been with us for a while, we were asked to
provide locally compatible tax certification services as well. In principle,
we refrain from offering our services when the client has a satisfactory re-
lationship with another local firm. In this case, since the proposal had orig-
inated from a foreign office, we were not fully aware of which local firm in
Bursa the company was already working with. In fact, though the compa-
ny's headquarters above had suggested working with Mazars Denge for
seamless tax certification purposes, the local company insisted on staying
with their current local tax certification services provider. While discuss-
ing the proposal with the partner in charge of making the offer, this issue
suddenly came up. As I got more into the specifics of the offer and found

14 “10 Principles https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles (February 2022)

54

out that, not only was the potential client rather satisfied with their cur-
rent accountant, but that it was owned by the father of a close family friend

of mine, I realized how wrong we were to go ahead with the offer. We sent
an apology to our office in Paris, informing them that we had made this of-
fer by mistake and that we would immediately withdraw it. One day, I had
a call from Sworn Fiscal Advisor, Master Serif Baykut from Bursa.15

Serif Baykut: “Hello, am I speaking to Izel Levi Coskun?”
Me: “Hi yes, how can I help you?”
Serif Baykut:: “I'm Serif Baykut. I am the Sworn Fiscal Advisor
for the firm that you are auditing in Bursa.”
Me: “Yes, I know who you are.”
Serif Baykut: “You sound quite young. How old are you?”
Me: “I'm 35, Master Serif.”
Serif Baykut: “Well, you are quite young. It gives me hope that
we have young colleagues who still care about ethics in business

today. The client told me what you did. That's why I'm very
pleased to meet you.”
Me: “I am also very pleased. I tried to do as Leon Bey taught
me and what believe to be the right thing, so I was able to stop
before we made a serious mistake. Please excuse us and thank
you for your understanding.”
Serif Baykut: “Thank you too. But can I tell you something? That
company has been our client for a long time, you would not have
been able to take them away from us in a million years!”

Our dialogue, which began that day with this conversation with Master
Serif, grew into a partnership a year later, and we established Mazars
Denge's Bursa office together in 2009.

15 “It is customary for accountancy professionals to refer to older and experienced members of the
profession as ‘Ustat’ or Master to show respect. Sworn Fiscal Advisors certify tax returns.

55

This competition, triggered by the constant desire to win, can drag not
only companies but also employees into a vicious circle, causing them to
to waste their self-development and their adaption to their workplaces.
A company's competitive forays can harm the entire ecosystem. Mazars
Denge once found itself in a similar vicious circle. A competitor started
recruiting from our accounting services department, one employee after
another. The Mazars management was putting a lot of effort and invest-
ment into training its people. However, the department began to buckle
under the strain of a series of resignations. All those who resigned were
going to the same competitor. So the partner, who headed up that particu-
lar department, requested an appointment from the president of the rival
company to discuss the issue. He could not achieve the desired outcome
and three more resignations followed in quick succession. We decided to
file a lawsuit. We also reported the situation to the professional chamber
which tried to bring the two firms together for arbitration.

We got to the point immediately, communicating our distress that people
were being persuaded to leave to join the competitor company. Our rival's
comment to which I testified at the court hearing, was:

“Quality work is done with quality personnel. Correct? Correct. If that
quality employee works for you, I will hire them. I will even go so far as to
give a bonus to my own staff in order to get that person”.

My response was: “The ultimate chain of responsibility in our profession
touches the average citizen on the street. Because in every statement we
prepare, for every certification report we put our signature to, in every
independent audit on which we provide the opinion, the slightest mis-
take actually means misleading the people on the street. Correct? Correct.
That's why the burden of responsibility we bear is so great that it is diffi-
cult to measure it in terms of the salary we receive, i.e., money. This makes
us stakeholders, not competitors. Because if you hurt and harm your fel-
low stakeholder in the corporate sustainability cycle, you will also harm
yourself in the long run.”

The managing partner of the other firm laughed at this. “My dear Izel, what
you're saying doesn't occur in our capitalist economy. Everyone recruits

56

from each other. We give bonuses to our own staff to find other staff. I'm
sure Mazars foreign offices are doing exactly the same thing. You should do
the same, and let's be done with this," he said.

I said that providing bonuses to bring in employees meant tempting that
person, and this did not conform to professional ethics.

The managing partner angrily said that I had accused him of immorality. I
said, "That was not my intention, I'm not saying you are immoral. I'm say-
ing that our ethical points of view are different. We are not going to agree
on this point. So, I'll see you in court". I don't know if the practice of giving
bonuses to employees who persuaded their friends to move over to their
companies continued to occur in our sector after this case happened and
was spoken about in the market. However, I recently learned that a trans-
fer bonus was given to an employee, this time at another competitor. In
other words, employees do not actively try to recruit other employees but
transfer bonuses are at levels which might be as high as twice an employ-
ee’s current salary. It's natural that a bonus of several times their monthly
salary may be very attractive for employees at that level. Unfortunately, I
don't believe that an employee can be satisfied for long with the carrot of
a transition bonus plus a salary increase. Like the tale of the Crow and Fox,
I would wonder why I was given such an offer, whether it had substance,
what advantages would I gain compared to my current company, apart
from the financial reward?

I also recommend that they think twice by asking themselves questions
such as what they are expected to do in return for this fee and bonus.

In addition, I recommend that my students, when they’re invited to inter-
view with a company, visit the actual workplace. When you take a step into
the company offices you will have a feeling. Just like when you’re looking
for a house to live in. This is the feeling of harmony between your inner
world and the world you will encounter after stepping through the front
door of the company. Pay attention to this feeling. Look at people. Are they
smiling, are they happy? Do they greet the person who's showing you
around?

57

Are they sincere when they say hello? Or is it the case that no one is mak-
ing eye contact? Pay attention to these details. If you have any qualms, be
mindful of them. Working in a company that does not fit your abilities can
also add value to you sometimes. But being aware of this fact can, at a min-

imum, reduce the risk of possible disappointment down the road.

For example, I changed my interview questions after something inter-
esting happened regarding competitors and stakeholders and which has

since become part of our procedures and practices. It concerns a very suc-

cessful colleague in our Audit Department. Due to his knowledge of French
and technical expertise, we decided to appoint him as client manager in
charge of the audit of a very large French client. The client was an insur-

ance company, so we sent our colleague to France to a course to hone his
skills in this sector. Just before the audit, one of my partners called me up
to inform me that our colleague had received an offer and wanted to resign

immediately. I tried to handle the issue calmly. But the situation was grave:

he wanted us to waive his notice period, so as to be able to leave soon as
possible. Our partner could not afford to lose this mid-level manager at a
critical time. I could clearly feel his anxiety and helplessness even on the
telephone.

I called the manager to find out why he needed to leave in such a hurry.
The answer was: “The competitor that I'm going to needs me right now.
If I don't join them right away, they won't hire me." I told him that his first
duty was to Mazars Denge, and that as we had just sent him abroad for
expert training, it would be inappropriate to leave without completing
the first audit for the company. The manager said, “It's not possible. They
need me. I have to go right away. Otherwise, they won't have me. I've given
them my word; we have an agreement”. I was getting nowhere with this
line of argument so I asked him: “Well, if I call your new employers and
convince them to allow you to leave after the audit, would you be willing to
stay until then?” He replied, “Of course, that would not be a problem and
I would stay”. So, the next day, I called a member of their Board who was
a friend from a professional association we had jointly helped found and
explained how critical the situation was. My friend told me not to worry,
that he would intervene to ensure that it would be sorted out, that there

58

shouldn't be a problem in principle and that I should wait to hear from
him. After a day or two, I sent him a reminder. I was quite surprised when
I read the answer. “I'm sorry, we need this person quite badly. The depart-
ment manager will not accept your request for a delay”. I responded: “I do
understand however, the primary duty of an employee of any company is
to the one they are working for. In my opinion, it’s not professional or eth-
ical to coerce him to resign before he is able to complete his work. In any
case, thank you very much for your interest and support.” I subsequently
learned that our colleague was unable to adapt to the new company and
resigned after a short time. I heard he wanted to return to us, but I didn't
take it seriously. After this incident, I made a habit of asking the following
question in interviews: “Say you really wanted to work with us. Your inter-
view went very well today. Our HR Department immediately offered you a
job on the condition that you to start immediately. What do you do?"
We will only go the next round of interviews with candidates who clearly
state, “I absolutely cannot come to this new workplace without completing
my work in the current one".

I have met many who liken business to a game of chess. According to game
theory, chess is a zero-sum game. If you are not winning, you either draw
or you lose. You are (+1) when you win, (-1) if the opponent wins. In total
plus one added to minus one equals zero. If you draw, then each player
receives zero. In this case, the sum is still zero. But the world of business
world is not simply about competitors. There is an ecosystem consisting
of many stakeholders, from employees to clients, from competitors to sup-
pliers, from society to the environment. If you take all of these parties into
consideration, you will notice the shallowness of a mentality based only on
winning for yourself. I wholeheartedly believe a perspective that enables
all stakeholders to benefit and develop and win together, instead of models
where one wins and the other loses, will bring proper success.

59

The Interests of an Institution – The Interests of the Whole

Ethical Egoism, Utilitarian Ethics, Care Ethics,
Sustainable Development

In business, an approach which maximizes self-interest alone is consid-
ered quite natural. It is seen almost as an indispensable part of business
ethics. Most organisations, focus solely on maximizing their own interests.
Although this is considered relatively ethical, it is also ego-centrical. This
position is referred to as 'ethical egoism' in philosophy. This can often re-
sult in behaviour characterised by giving up, laziness and not caring about
things. In business, it can mean doing what works for you, without consid-
ering other people and can lead to an emphasis on transient objectives,
interests or pleasures that might have a potential benefit and which serve
to feed ethical egoism.
On the other hand, ethical egoism will make the achievement of Sustaina-
ble Development Goals impossible because it only takes into account the
interests of an institution or of a particular individual. The concept of sus-
tainable development transforms an economic model which 'concentrates
benefits in one centre' and which is based on consumption, into a model
that 'disseminates the benefit generally' and from which all stakeholders,
including the natural world and society, can benefit together. Instead of a
one-sided ethical egoism, this model presents us with an approach that
combines providing an outcome that has multiple benefits (Utilitarian
Ethics) with Care Ethics which emphasizes acknowledging human rela-
tions when making a decision. The most important difference between
these two theories is that while the generally accepted universal moral
principles are valid in the theory of utilitarianism, a moral particular is the
issue in care ethics. There is no place for emotions in the theory of utilitar-
ianism. In care ethics, on the other hand, the ties that individuals have to
each other are taken into account.

60

In 2000, I participated in an employee exchange programme at Mazars'
Paris headquarters. Three months into the programme, everyone went out
to lunch one day. My work was taking a little longer and I couldn't make it

to lunch with my teammates. There was only one other person left beside

me in our joint working space. His back was to me, and he was working
alone in the corner facing the window. After a while, I finished my work
and left the office passing by his side as I did so. Frankly, I was a little curi-
ous as to what he was doing all alone. He hadn't even noticed me. I slowly
made my way towards him. On his right was a pile of paperwork. He was
taking a page from these documents one by one and placing a tick mark

on the number at the bottom of the page. He was doing this at such speed

that it gave me the impression that he was marking and passing through
numbers without confirming their accuracy. I approached him and asked
him what he was doing. “As you can see, I'm checking the totals,” he said.

“I saw that, but shouldn't you be confirming these totals against another
document?”.

He answered with a somewhat harsh attitude, and I found it quite inter-
esting from a professional point of view. “I can't check all these documents
at once. I looked at a few at first. There were no errors in any of them. I'm
sure they're all fine. Who has the time to check them one by one". He was
higher than me in seniority. I was confused as to what to do. “Yes, I'm sure
you're right” I said and left. Actually, I should have gone to my line manager
to report him. But I was a foreigner; I didn’t have the courage to do so. I
thought I'd be needlessly creating problems for myself. That day, I failed to

follow the principles of utilitarian ethics, considering only what was to my
own benefit, not what was for the benefit of all. When I look back on how
I failed to report this unethical behaviour I am still ashamed. By noticing

unethical behaviour that day but keeping silent, I became complicit.

Regarding the ethical side of the issue, I want to narrate an incident in our

daughter's kindergarten. We had heard rumours that this popular kinder-
garten was experiencing financial difficulties and despite all kinds of facil-
ities and a fantastic staff, was literally collapsing in front of us. There were

rumours that teachers' salaries were not being paid and that the owner

61

was defrauding both the teachers and the parents. So, at beginning of the

second term, we formed a committee of parents to establish a dialogue
with the school administration and find out what was going on with a view
to sharing possible solutions. Though we were going through a very dif-
ficult process of our own, my wife and I decided to join the group. After
hours of meetings, extensive financial analyses based on the limited data
available to us, we came to the conclusion that the school was bankrupt.

Despite the fact that teachers were not being paid, they did their best to
ensure that their small students did not suffer the consequences and tried
to welcome the children and continue their lessons without interruption.

The teachers we interviewed were in a very distressing situation. Accord-
ing to our cash flow analysis it was not going to be possible to save the
school. However, the fact that the fees we paid in a timely manner were

not reaching the teachers whom we loved and the fact that they were

working so hard but were plainly the victims in this situation, was more

than we could bear. The person in charge, on the other hand, was trying
to buy time by claiming that she would find money from somewhere and
was leading them on. We had no choice but to contact the rest of the par-
ents and explain the situation transparently. Given that most of the parents
whose children attended the school were fairly well-off, I decided to make

a call. We chose a day, and I asked all the parents to come to the school to

pay any amount they wished to the school in cash in return for a receipt.

The money collected would be placed in escrow with my colleague Baris

Ertekin who is a lawyer, and, under our supervision, I suggested that it be

distributed to teachers on that same day. Teachers and school staff had not
been paid for about two and a half months. Once the money was collected,
we opted to distribute on a pro-rata basis according to salary levels. The

school owed money to many different parties. I took leave from my work
and recorded it as a social responsibility day. On the day we were planning
to execute the project, one of the parents called my wife and said, "Don't go
ahead. The mafia is planning a raid on the school to confiscate the money
you've collected,”. Of course, we didn't listen to this. We met Baris Ertekin
at the school. The school's accountant also joined us. We told him to give

the parents a receipt for the cash. We were there as observers and organ-

62

isers. So, we did not handle the money or the receipts ourselves. Parents
began to trickle in throughout the day. We told each parent that, given our
analysis, the school would not survive for much longer, that they should
not feel obliged to give any money, that they could take legal action to get
back the fees they'd already paid, that we would not touch the money if
they chose to make a cash payment that day. We explained that we were
acting as observers and told them how the money collected would be dis-
tributed to the teachers and the school staff only. It was one of the hardest
days of my life. The mafia did not come. But an angry parent did. He de-
manded to know what we were trying to do. He said “You have no right
to do this. I sued this school and I've established my rights as a creditor. I
have rights over the cash you are collecting,” he said. I countered that our
efforts had nothing to do with his lawsuit, that we were - with the consent
of other parents - trying to support the teachers whom we believed had ac-
tual rights. In terms of being victims, I said that as a parent, we were all in
the same boat as he was. Even though he didn't look too convinced, I gave
him my business card and said, "You can call me up to discuss this whenev-
er you want," so he left the school without making life more difficult.

Our fundraising began at 9 am and finished at 3 pm. We calculated what
should be paid and after allocating an amount for the weekly meal allow-
ance, we told the teachers what we had done and gave them the money. We
documented this via signed receipts. Some teachers hugged us with tears
in their eyes and said, “No one would have done what you have done here”.

I will never forget it. Maybe we were not able to give them their entire
salary. But at least they saw our sincere efforts and were able to move on
from the sense of injustice they felt.

A year on, my colleague Baris sent me a message in which he said: “Izel, I
wasn't able to say it then. But I really need to say this now. I am very proud
of what we achieved that day. It was one of the best things I've ever done
in life. Thanks a lot, bro.”

The reason why I've told this story at such great length is to illustrate how
a single decision can provide beneficial results for the whole. I could have
chosen to go to work that day. I could have got on with my life without

63

having to go through a difficult and tiresome ordeal. Would that have been
unethical? Definitely not. I could have spent the day in my comfort zone
instead of attempting a challenging task creating benefits for teachers and
other school staff. I wouldn't have been tired and wouldn't have put myself
in harm’s way. I believe that the choice I made contributed to providing a
greater value to those teachers who were giving their best for their stu-
dents, than the value I might otherwise have created by spending the day
at my company. By combining my knowledge and experience with that of
my lawyer friend, I made my choice in favour of a behaviour that benefited
the whole community. Thus, we not only protected the rights of our teach-
ers using the means at our disposal, but also enabled other parents to see
the truth. The bond forged that day between teachers and other school
officials has been an unforgettable memory for Baris and me.

Caring for the emotional connection and relations between stakeholders
and paying attention to the interests of the whole community instead of
putting our own interests at the centre of decision making and ignoring
other's emotions, forms the basis of sustainable cooperation. When car-
rying out their daily business and particularly putting together or imple-
menting certain agreements, I see that parties always aim to maximize
their own interests. In my opinion, the prevailing notion that the strong
do as they want and view the maximisation of their own interests as a suc-
cessful outcome has become part of our education and lifestyle. I dream
about a system where both in our education and our work life, we might
be taught not to compete, but to succeed together, not to manipulate na-
ture simply for one's own benefit, but to respect and learn to live in har-
mony with it; to find common goals, not simply self-interest. In order to
achieve the 17th Sustainable Development Goal which is 'Partnerships for
the Goals', I believe managers need to combine utilitarian ethics and care
ethics in their decision making.

64

Consumption – Savings and Prosumption

Consumption, Savings, Prosumption,
Interaction Circles, Ubuntu, Common Sense

A model that encourages continuous consumption and growth, by increas-
ing the tangible assets of an enterprise on the one hand and deliberately
destroying resources on the other hand, which extracts a very high price
on the nature and society that are its stakeholders, cannot be sustainable.
In the last 20-30 years, as speed has increased at the same time as cost
has decreased for the production of goods, I have observed that the belief
that it is our natural right to have more and more has become widespread.
However, the reasoning employed of "there's so much of this" or "If I don't
do it, someone else will" does not absolve us from responsibility. If we
were to identify the sustainability link between us and the many kinds of
things that we consume, would we still go on consuming indefinitely? The
electricity used by the lights we've neglected to switch off, the water that
continues to flow from the tap while we brush our teeth, the food scraps
thrown in the rubbish instead of on the compost heap, the paper towels
pulled from a roll in threes and fives rather than singly, our disposable
masks, napkins, plastic bottles, bags, balloons and fireworks are just a
few of the consumption items that we generally do not care about. How
often do we think about the resources these consumables are produced
from and how they reach our homes and workplaces? Or do we believe
that it is our natural right to always have more of these? On what basis do
we justify the price we pay for both the material and the way these goods
reach us? To show the importance of these questions and to give a strik-
ing example of how nuanced they are, the Ministry of Environment and
Urban Planning, revealed that the use of plastic bags in Turkey decreased
by 77 percent in 2019, after a law that came into effect making consumers
pay for them. This decrease corresponds to a fall in plastic consumption of
150,000 tonnes.16 We should stop and think about the fact that although

16 "The use of plastic bags in Turkey has fallen by 77.27 percent", 16 December 2019, Anadolu Ajansi
(February 2022).

65

the use of bags does not have a monetary impact on the consumer, it exacts
a heavy price on the environment. The fact that this cost affects the lives of
all human beings as well as other living creatures is ignored.

The market or the seller, purchasing plastic bags in bulk for a cost which is
less than 1 TL each, can provide the bag free of charge with the products it
sells, because it has little to no impact on the total revenue, as it represents
a very tiny discount. The customer obtains a transportation item in which
they can put the purchased products without paying a price. Thanks to the
logo on the bag, the customer is giving the seller free advertising. In this
scenario, it is very likely that the bag will go straight in the rubbish bin - it
is, after all, free. One bag goes, another bag arrives! The customer is sat-
isfied, the seller is satisfied, and the bag manufacturer is satisfied. From a
continuity perspective, this is an extremely efficient model. However, from
a sustainability point of view, the effects of this model on the environment
and society are never spoken of.

This goes to the heart of the conundrum. Charging for each bag is not suffi-
cient because the model is not circular. In order to be circular, the process-
es of bag production and its supply chain must be designed from scratch,
with the environment and society brought in as stakeholders. The use of
recyclable bags and increased consumer awareness to use fewer bags are
only two of the outcomes that a sustainable approach will achieve. The
sustainability perspective enables us to accomplish much more by direct-
ing businesses and individuals towards two behaviours. The first of these
concerns ‘savings’ that are put aside to delay the speed and size of our
consumption. The second is about ‘prosumer’17 activity, which mirrors na-
ture's circularity; nature has always been like this, but we have only just
begun to grasp what it means. I think sustainability definitely begins with
an awareness of savings. An awareness of saving lies in the fact that we can
have all the many things we see around us only by consuming our resourc-
es at an ever-faster rate. Unfortunately, what we consume includes the
earth, the air and our own time. When we buy something, we are using not

17 A term coined in 1980 by futurist Alvin Toffler, referring to individuals who both produce and
consume.

66

only the money, but also the time we spent to earn that money. Prosuming,
on the other hand, makes it possible to reach a result that creates value for
all stakeholders at the end of any cycle created, by living in harmony with
nature - an excellent example of which is compost.

The artist Sibel Horada who also happens to be my beloved wife organized
a performance art exhibition called “An Indoor Garden” at the Tutun Deposu
space in November 2018. She used the space to show worms multiplying
in a central compost unit with organic waste from the space's tenants Acik
Radio to produce compost. Newspapers were also turned into paper pulp
to make organic pots. Plant cuttings hung in jars along the walls took root
during the exhibition. On the last day, visitors took the plants from the
walls and added the soil produced by the worms to the organic pots made
from the pulp. With this clever conceptual exhibition, we all saw how com-
posting takes place with the help of these expert worms and millions of
micro-organisms and were able to understand the formation of a circular
model.

In order to prosume, we must begin first to save. The Covid-19 pandemic
showed us how we can save more because it was clear to all of us that
we can actually survive on less. Likewise, it shocked us into realising that
we can't have everything we want instantly, and that if we try to force the
issue, we will put ourselves and others at risk. Meetings, events, air trav-
el, gatherings and dinner meetings were cancelled but our work carried
on. Now we know that much is possible without these events. When we
entered an online meeting wearing the same outfit or t-shirt, no one was
judgemental. It became possible to meet potential clients without attend-
ing a gathering or an event. A lot of work was easily done without going to
and from the office every day.

Let's assume that we have interaction circles in order to access entities
that we are connected to from a savings point of view. Who and which
items do we want to include in these circles? First of all, we might prefer
the closest items, right? Let's say the first of these interaction circles is at
an arm's length. What might be included inside this circle? A computer,
mobile phone, pen, notebook, cup, etc. Now let's think about how we use

67

these things. For example, do we use our computer or mobile phone spar-
ingly, from the type of use to memory capacity? Doesn't the same apply
to the pens and paper around us? When we widen the circle, maybe this
time we reach the light switch, the handle of the window, or a plant in the
room. When we expand it further, first our family and then our colleagues
become involved in this interaction. This time, we can look at how we all
interact, how we can transform, and how we can save. Our savings di-
mension, of course, includes time. Can we contribute to each other's time
savings through sharing? For example, in our workplaces, can we strike a
balance between a busy employee and one who is not as busy?

It is also possible to expand the circles of interaction on the basis of a com-
pany, a sector and even a country. The critical thing is to begin at the clos-
est tangible point of interaction, which is the most accessible and the most
easily transformable. To feel that we are interacting with every being. To
be able to think about the positive-negative consequences of every one of
our actions on any entity or thing in the interaction area by establishing
a cause-effect relationship. Afterwards, we can observe how these circles
of influence expand and spread out like ripples formed by a stone thrown
into the water. In fact, this observation derives its source from the con-
cept of "Ubuntu" philosophy, sometimes translated as "I am because you
are". The story of how the concept of Ubuntu came about is told as follows:
someone in Africa gathered some children and pointed to a basket full of
apples under the tree in the distance telling them that whoever can run
the fastest will get all the apples for themselves. Instead, the children walk
towards the tree holding each other’s hands and enjoy eating the apples
together upon arriving at the tree. The truths and assumptions of people
who are aware that they can only exist together with nature, are very dif-
ferent from the truths and assumptions of people who are alienated from
nature and who are used to accumulating capital and consuming more
than they need in the capitalist economy. If we were to adapt this apple
story to the capitalist system the business that sees the apple basket first,
which is the most competitive and fastest, gets all of the apples. In fact, it is
not possible for the most competitive and fastest business to consume all

68

the apples alone. Nevertheless, it claims to own all apples. Unthinkingly, it
consumes as many of the apples it claims to own rightfully. The manage-
ment, which has until this moment been the 'hero' of its own story, is con-
tent. What happens to the apples that were surplus to requirements? Do
you care if these apples rot while other businesses go without? The apples
are the all-important resources such as food, money, education, water and
health. Which story we will choose provides important clues about what
kind of future awaits us. We see a similar attitude in the profit maximisa-
tion and competitive consumption approach of companies producing vac-
cines against Covid-19. For now, no company has had the courage to put its
profits and competitive advantage aside and open its patent to general use.
Since there has been no local production, vaccines have been sent from
place to place. This approach, far from meeting the needs of many coun-
tries, has created a situation where rich countries have access to vaccines
that others cannot reach, but not everyone, rich or poor, has been able to
deal with the distribution side. Here, human life has been the subject of
competition and profit maximisation-led consumption.

When I consider the second component of the sustainability perspective
- that of 'prosumption', I remind myself that it is a cybernetic and cyclical
process, and that it is still only at the 'idea' stage, and no one really knows
what shape these ideas will take.

Activity FIGURE 6
Output
Input

Result

I ask myself how one might design a fair way of prosumption so that the
elements included in the system can create maximum value. It is possible
to derive benefit, impact, sharing and value-creation, but how? Every year
between November and December, students aged 18-30, from cities and
universities around the country present their projects to TUSIAD's 'These

69

Young People Have Potential' (BGIV) programme. Among the projects col-
lected, the top 35 are invited to attend a training camp. Here, students re-
ceive training on a range of subjects from creating a business canvas to
preparing feasibility studies, from the types of company one can have to ef-
fective presentation techniques, from market validation to corporate sus-
tainability. At the end of the five-day camp, members of TUSIAD match up
with the students working on 12 projects. Students then work with these
coaches for two months whilst developing their projects and the three pro-
jects that reach the finals receive awards. When I assumed the presidency
of the Working Group, we began by assessing how we, as a team, could
turn the competition into a program that would operate in a more circular
way. We decided to monitor the students more closely after the competi-
tion side of the programme had finished. We directed them to incubation
centres and technology transfer offices. We introduced them to investors.
We used our contacts to ensure their interviews appeared in newspapers
and magazines. We included project representatives in our working group
meetings. We enabled students, who had gone through the process and
gained some experience, to share this with the students who attended
the following year. Some voluntarily gave organisational support to BGIV
during the camp. Thanks to the support of investors, TUSIAD members,
experienced students, entrepreneurs who were able to lead by example,
incubation centres, technology transfer offices and different NGOs such as
Endeavor, the Turkish Entrepreneurship Foundation (GIRVAK), Ashoka,
Starters Hub who are interested in fostering entrepreneurship we created
a model that is both circular and continues to create value for all stake-
holders. Most importantly, we did this through a common approach and
joint effort. We have continued to improve our model every year by striv-
ing to learn from our mistakes. Because of Covid, we celebrated the 10th
anniversary in 2021 with a 3-week online training camp with 25 groups
instead of coming together physically. During that camp, the fact that the
students were collaborating with participants from previous years and
among themselves in similar sectors and consciously sharing which SDGs
they targeted in their presentations gave me great hope.

70

I believe this process will evolve into a model in which students will be in
closer contact with each other, learn while teaching, and perhaps openly
share their innovation in the long run. This demonstrates how important
circular models are for individual and social transformation in the way
they place benefit at the heart of the model and share the created value
fairly. The outlook that has led to this experience, introducing people who
have the potential to create value when they come together, at every possi-
ble opportunity, has become one of the things I enjoy most in my life.

Global – Local 

Global Enterprise, Economies of Scale,
Economies of Scope, External Economic Factors,
Local Problems, Local Solutions

We define the word global as being that 'which comprises a broad per-
spective; on a world scale'. When we speak of a 'global' company, we mean
companies that apply similar or standard management principles wherev-
er they operate. While many global companies reduce their costs by bene-
fiting from the economies of scale and scope brought about by being global
and large, they impose some of the costs of what is known as external eco-
nomic factors on society and nature. In doing this, these companies stifle
the possibility of a local life because there is an insurmountable power
difference between the local and the global as if the standardisation of all
products and services is of indispensable benefit. A global standardisation
may facilitate the work of businesses and reduce their costs in terms of
creating a target audience and thus shaping and managing the demand for
certain products and services. However, we need to pose the question of
whether we are aware that we are putting our own future in danger when
we harm the local in trying to be global.

At this point, it might be helpful to touch upon the concepts of economies
of scale and scope. Particularly for businesses that require high capital
and have high fixed costs, economies of scale are generally employed to

71

reduce the average production cost per unit by increasing volume or ca-
pacity. Economies of scale can be exploited when purchasing or produc-
ing large volumes or through the use of distribution channels. The phrase
'globally scalable' refers to the global equivalent of economies of scale. In
economies of scope, in addition to centralising the production of units lo-

cated in different regions or producing different products in one place, or

both; activities such as purchasing, logistics, research and development,
information processing and marketing and fixed assets such as data cen-
tres are moved to a central location; sometimes cost savings are sought in
locations that offer tax advantages. The extent of the cost savings in this
instance is related to the regional spread of the enterprise and depends on

which functions it can centralize. To summarise when comparing the two,

economies of scale serve to increase the capacity output of a single prod-

uct by decreasing unit costs, whereas economies of scope operate on the

assumption that the cost per unit of the product(s) will decrease through

the spreading out of production costs over different products or through

the concentration of activities in certain centres.

The production costs incurred can be expressed by a formula such as TC
(Total Cost) = FC (Fixed Costs) + VC (Variable Costs) * X (Product). We can
divide the formula on both sides by the amount of units produced or X, i.e.,
UC (Unit Cost) = FC (Fixed Costs) / X + VC (Variable Costs).

Figure 7 shows fixed costs, Y (Total Cost) Production Cost = Fixed Costs
variable costs and total pro- + Variable Costs x Units
duction in graph form.

Fixed Costs

X (Number of Units)

FIGURE 7

72

In the following Y (Average Cost) FIGURE 8
Figure 8, on the 2
other hand, notice 1 Long-term
that as production Average Cost
increases, average
unit costs decrease.

1 2 X (Number of Units)

Today, it’s clear that giant global e-commerce platforms are able to bene-
fit from the cost advantages of economies of scale and scope at the same
time. Irrespective of whether you are a global company, a small or medi-
um sized company, or investing in any kind of project, this scalability ap-
proach, which I usually try to explain with these two simple graphs, con-
stitutes the core of the investment decision. However, this approach has
two main shortcomings. The first of these is the fact that environmental
costs, which increase in tandem with the increase in production capacity,
are not accounted for. Aptly named as economies of scale; they include no
calculation parameters for environmental or social costs. The second is
the impact on the local, both at the decision phase and afterwards when
implemented.

Another area where economies of scale and scope are deployed togeth-
er is metropolitan cities. Life in large cities plays a very important role
in the adoption and promotion of globalization. People migrate to these
places in order to find jobs more easily, to earn higher incomes and to ben-
efit from the socialization opportunities provided by large cities. Certain
common features of city life, such as working in business centres, living in
apartment compounds, and the existence of shopping centres that facili-
tate buying things and provide plenty of advertising opportunities, have

73

helped spread these habits. Population growth in cities globally brings
income disparities, increasingly poor air quality and traffic accidents.18
It is estimated that one of the world's biggest problems will be that by
2030, 60 percent of the population will likely be living in cities. As urban
life becomes aspirational, cities attract immigration and the populations
become concentrated in cities.19 This may enhance the opportunities for
many brands to reach their clients, to establish business relationships with
greater ease and to operate their supply chains more efficiently thanks to
the convenient location of nearby industrial zones.20 This trend also in-
creases trade volumes by facilitating the strengthening of the real estate
and construction sectors together with its myriad sub-suppliers. During
the Covid-19 pandemic, we observed that the disease spread more quick-
ly in regions which combined high population density with air pollution
caused by excessive industrialization, and that death rates were higher
in these regions.21 In fact, the dense population of metropolitan cities, in
which the majority wish to live because of greater job opportunities, af-
fects the very quality of life in these cities that we seek. As the Covid-19
pandemic has progressed, the inadequacy of the infrastructure in met-
ropolitan cities, particularly in health and sanitary conditions, continues
to be revealed. When contrasted with conditions in the countryside, the
disproportionate and unfair modernization and digitisation investments
in cities bring with them even greater challenges. Viewed from a wider
vantage point, it's obvious that no matter how many resources we allocate
and invest, no matter how smart they are, large cities will not be able to
absorb the population density that population growth will create. So, if we
redirect investment in technology towards the establishment of smart vil-
lages in order to eliminate the unfairness created, will we at least prevent

18 “10 things to know about the impacts of urbanisation”, 31 October 2018, https://odi.org/en/
publications/10-things-to-know-about-the-impacts-of-urbanisation/ (February 2022)
19 “Urban Population to Become the New Majority Worldwide”, 18 July 2007, https://www.prb.org/
resources/urban-population-to-become-the-new-majority-worldwide/ (February 2022)
20 “Urbanization and migration”, 6 May 2021, https://www.migrationdataportal.org/themes/
urbanisation-et-migration (February 2022)
21 CCAC - https://www.ccacoalition.org/en/news/scientists-probe-link-between-covid-19-and-de-
adly-air-pollution (February 2022)

74

migration from the rural areas? What can we do to prevent an individual
from a rural area taking the knowledge and experience accumulated from
many generations in the lands of their birth and transmitting it to other
places, to eliminate the trauma they will likely experience in trying to find
a new home in a completely different culture, and through this, to actually
preserve their local culture?

On this subject, I believe that I can provide a few examples of how com-
panies can help. Take the example of Mazars Denge, with its careful focus
on having local offices to provide local services instead of exporting its
services to different cities. These offices possess their own unique local
practices blended with the business culture of the regions where they are
located. Also, in my position as management, I try not to interfere in the
local decisions of these offices, because the main thing is to agree on basic
principles and values. I've noticed that the situation on the ground is often
not a factor in decision making for global companies. A manager in another
part of the world is quite capable of taking the wrong decision on behalf of
a particular region because they are unaware of both the local needs and
characteristics and of the added value a service provider is offering in that
country. They may neglect to combine a single philosophy of outlook with
the flexibility of differentiation in local practices. However, effective man-
agement on a global scale makes it necessary to consider the possibility
that local solutions may be required for local problems and dynamics. This
is because local solutions and dynamics can enable fast and effective reme-
dies to the problems of the day by providing inter-generational knowledge.

This is common in our sector. The manager of a company based in New
York, Shanghai or London who is in charge of the business or purchasing
department may force the local office to switch to another service provider
by terminating the relationship through a top-down command, ignoring
the years of effort, communication, the quality of service and the prefer-
ence of the local office to work with this provider.

I acknowledge that some global companies may be uncomfortable with
the client-supplier relationship established locally because of the fear of
corruption. However, instead of ending an existing high-quality and pro-

75

ductive relationship in the absence of hard data, I think that at least they

can attempt to minimize the risk of corruption through a simple process of

asking for three competing offers during the purchasing stage.

In addition, I have observed that many global companies are unable to com-
bine a single philosophy of outlook with flexibility in local practices. How-
ever, a globally scaled but effective management approach needs to take

into account the possibility that local dynamics and problems need local

solutions. Because local solutions and dynamics can provide fast and effec-

tive remedies to the problems of the day by ensuring a functionality which

moves beyond the current situation and conjuncture which is too often the

focus of the global perspective. At this point, I want to discuss the B-Corp
certification system, which has the mantra of being the best for the world
instead of being the best in the world. B-Corp can be thought of as a platform
to which for-profit companies can also sign up to create benefits for society
and the environment. Currently, there are only five companies registered in
Turkey and Mazars Denge has begun work on becoming the sixth. To this
end, we have formed a working group with the Turkish Family Businesses

Association (TAIDER) and S360 Consultants who represent B-Corp in Tur-
key. Our first task has been to make the TAIDER North Star Sustainability
Award B-Corp compliant. B-Corp asks companies detailed questions about
corporate governance, ethics and transparency, stakeholder engagement,

employee rights, social and environmental impact, bribery and corruption.
Among these questions, below is a set of four that emphasise the impor-
tance of local characteristics. These have above average weightings in terms
of points allocated to the questions and are detailed below:

1. Is the majority of management (more than 50 percent) located in
the same area as the majority of the workforce?

2. What are the key policies regarding local sourcing or recruiting?
• Formal procedures in written form which set out the preference

for purchasing from suppliers that are local to the place of work in

each region
• Formal targets that quantify targets for local purchases
• Pre-prepared and preferred local suppliers and vendor lists for

regional offices

76

• Preference for local managers on condition that equal pay is
provided

• Providing incentives to those who live within 40 km of the
workplace

3. What percentage of operating expenses (excluding pay) is spent on
purchases from independent suppliers in the regions where the
business headquarters or other offices are located?
• less than 20%
• 20-39%
• 40-59%
• more than 60%
• Unknown

4. Are most of your clients located in the region where the business
centre or other office or production centre is located?

In fact, all of these questions emphasize the importance of establishing lo-
cal relationships, in other words the selection of management, employees,
clients and suppliers locally. In one of the discussions we had about how we
would apply these to the North Star Award, I asserted that "the capacity of
someone who is not a native to be aware of local problems and to solve these
is extremely limited." Moreover, the concentration of investments in certain
centres and the efficiency drive of global enterprises is having the effect of
increasing migration from local areas to these centres resulting in tremen-
dous inequity. Factors such as the wholesale purchasing power of global en-
terprises, their credit capacity, their access to information and technology,
and the sheer number of employees make it impossible to compete locally.
A vicious circle exists. It seems that you're either a part of 'the global' or you
are doomed to fail. When global marketing and communication are added to
the mix, it is almost as if pre-conditioned, mechanical habits lacking in any
research, particularly when considering client and supplier selections are
repeated verbatim. It is thus extremely important that we are aware of the
existence and support of 'the local'. This realisation might lead to a target of
half global and half local in determining client and supplier portfolios and
would result in alleviating this inequity to a great extent.

77

Destructive Language – The Language of Peace

The Language of Peace, Nonviolent Communication,
Faking It, Being Judgmental, Envy

One day, a friend of one of our partners came to visit me at the office.
During our conversation, I learned about the ‘language of peace’ and of
an acquaintance of his who provided training in the subject. This was a
turning point in my life, and I went on to study this language which I was
first made of aware of that day. As someone who tries to incorporate psy-
chology in my management style, I'm constantly referring to authors such
as Engin Gectan, Dogan Cuceloglu, Erich Fromm, Irvin Yalom, and Melanie
Klein. Whilst training in the language of peace, I met another very impor-
tant author: Marshall Rosenberg. His book, Nonviolent Communication-A
Language of Life, which he wrote in the 1990s, had a lasting effect on me.
I care about listening to people, understanding them and finding creative
solutions to their problems but I became more acutely aware of my short-
comings after the training programme and additional research on this
subject. Although I try to act calmly and not go on the offensive when I
am angry with someone or at something, I believe I have made powerful
progress both in my business life as well as in my dealings with my family,
thanks to the language of peace teachings. Based on what I've learned, I'd
like to share some thoughts on the subject of listening to people, of under-
standing them and on being understood. We are constantly having online
meetings at work and now, thanks to the pandemic, at home too. It goes
without saying that those who tend to look away from the screen during
these meetings are usually interested in their mobile phones. So, given that
there are so many distractions easily within our reach, how can we be sure
that the other person is really listening when we're talking about some-
thing or exchanging views about technical information? Even if they seem
to be listening, we don't have the opportunity of viewing body language
on the internet so how can we ascertain whether they understand us or
not? Rosenberg's work explores some easy methods on what can be done
about these and similar issues. For example, you can ask what they've un-

78

derstood when talking to the other person and, if you are the listener, you
can ask them to summarize and repeat what you have understood back
to them. Since I began applying these two simple methods, I realized how
much I had missed on some issues and that some of the things I thought I
was explaining well might not have been understood at all. I also learned
that repeating something two or three times or asking the other person to
repeat themselves was nothing to be embarrassed about, considering the
time and effort that needed to be spent in resolving a situation borne of a
misunderstanding was much more onerous. Another thing I learned from
reading Rosenberg’s book was that we have a tendency to be influenced by
emotions instead of focusing on the actual thing being communicated. So,
when someone displays anger, if we respond to this emotion with yet more
anger instead of identifying the underlying cause of the emotion, it will be
impossible to reach a mutual understanding. In the workplace, titles, egos,
and styles intermingle. To top it all off, fake 'as if' behaviours prevent us
from forming the basis for an agreement. Employees may prefer to fake
behaviour unless an environment is conceived in which it is not consid-
ered humiliating for employees not to have command of an issue and in
which they can have ease of access to the answers they need without be-
ing condescended to when asking a question, in which they feel supported
when they make mistakes, and in which sharing rather than competing
is the dominant spirit. This creates a further obstacle to determining the
underlying need which is beyond emotions. Taking on roles in which they
appear to ‘know’, ‘seem to be understanding’, ‘he made out as if he was an-
gry’ or ‘she appeared to be very happy’ are perhaps examples of these. The
combination of this mixture of roles, unfortunately, takes us further and
further away from understanding and being understood. Consequently, an
environment in which prejudices are fostered and people are polarized is
created. Rosenberg refers to this as ‘Jackal Language’. When framed under
the continuity concept I call this ‘destructive language’. Regrettably, it's
impossible for us to reach the 17th and final SDG of 'Partnerships for the
Goals' phase using this language, because it disrupts employee relations
and corrodes enterprise culture.

79

I have an anecdote that shows how I used the language of peace without
realizing what it was at that time, understanding its use only afterwards.
I was doing my compulsory military service. There was a group of three
men in our division that nobody liked. These three were a ringleader and
his two henchmen who were all pure troublemakers. We were in a division
that was in charge of facilities management and as such we all had spe-
cific assignments. I was responsible for the Education Management and
Teacher Training School. My job was to ensure the general cleanliness of
the building, including the toilets, taking care of the teahouse, providing
a range of logistic support for the school commander's lesson prepara-
tions and ensuring that training programs were not interrupted. My team
of three soldiers was assigned to me from the service division and I ran
the entire school. Everyone was happy with our work, including our com-
mander. However, one day, I learned that the ringleader of the troublesome
trio had been transferred to our school without my consent. He would be
working on my team. In the army, an order cannot be disobeyed. In fact, it's
impossible to object. This soldier, who was not normally to be seen around
the place, showed up in our tea house a day or two later. “Sergeant Izel, I'm
here. I'll be working with you from now on," he said. He took off his anorak
and sat down at the nearest table. I went up to him and said: “Look, every-
body has a job here. We're four in total and each of us has a different job to
do.” Then I cut to the chase and asked, “Are you going to help us?” “Sergeant
Izel, you're not going to make me work here, are you? They sent me here.
Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you. I don't want any trouble; I'll
just hang out here." As it was obvious that he had no intention of doing any
work, I did not continue the conversation. “Understood but make sure you
don't make any extra work for me or my team! Deal?" I asked. "Don't worry,
Sergeant Izel there's a TV here and there's plenty of tea," he replied with a
laugh. I knew right away that this man was going cause me headaches. But
there was nothing to be done. I explained the situation to the commander
of the school along with my reservations about our new teammate. A few
days passed in this way. He disappeared frequently during the day, and
he did not inform anyone, including me, where he was going. One day, the
team had to work general cleaning overtime. The phone rang. My team

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member who was manning the tea shop picked up the phone. After he put

the phone down, he picked up an anorak from one of the tables and said,
"Sergeant, I'm just going to run to the division and back!". “What's going
on, we've got a ton of work to do, where are you going?” I responded. “I
just need to take this anorak to the division, and I'll be right back,” he said,
a little hesitantly. "Why? Is this your anorak?" I asked. "No. But just let me
go, I'll be back in 10-15 minutes, no problems," he replied. “Why is it a
problem? Why are you worried?" I insisted. “Sergeant, you-know-who left
his anorak here. He asked me to bring it to him." My blood boiled. "Are you

kidding me! His lordship left his anorak here and we have to carry it to his
presence? It's not happening. Everybody concentrate on your jobs. He can
come and get it himself," I said. My teammate panicked. “Please, Sergeant
Izel, we'll get into trouble. You don't know these people. They'll eat you and
me alive.” "Don't worry. The responsibility belongs to me. No one will harm
a hair on your head,” I said, and waited for the phone to ring again.

About 15 minutes later the phone rang again. When my teammate an-
swered the phone, I could hear the caller shouting, “You better get me that
Sergeant Izel right now!” I picked up the phone. I began to speak to the sol-
dier on the phone calmly but then said, "You need to learn how to address
a senior officer," when the cursing began and promptly hung up the phone.
Actually, as an act, it did not exactly suit the language of peace. “Every-
body back to work,” I said. An hour or so had passed when a friend from
another squad with whom I get on really well came red-faced to see me at
the school. “Sergeant, you have really provoked that guy quite badly. Just
wanted to let you know, that they intend to corner you when you come out

of the cafeteria and beat you up," he said. "Que será, será," I said.

Not long after this conversation, I made sure to go to the cafeteria on my

own. I was in luck and saw the trio were eating at one of the tables. Catch-

ing sight of me, they all glared in my direction. I ignored them. But as soon
as I got my food, I went straight to their table and sat next to them. They
were very surprised. “I hear you'd like to beat me up, fine. Let's eat and
chat first, and then we can go outside for our fight, okay?" I said. Complete
silence. All three of them were looking at each other in confusion. “Let's
put that anorak thing aside for now. So, tell me; where are you from, what

81

do you do, how long have you been here?” I asked. "We've never been prop-
erly introduced, have we? Then I will tell you a bit about myself”, I added.
All three were in shock. Still silence. “Well,” I said to the ringleader, “you
had a lot more to say on the phone half an hour ago. So, I assume you can
talk. As we'll be outside fighting soon, I'd like to get to know the person
whose neck I'll be wringing. Don't you want to as well?" I asked. “Come
on, tell me about your where you're from. Forget about the other stuff for

now," I said.

After this rather tense intro, all three of them talked non-stop for an hour,
meowing constantly like cats in need of attention. Of course, I talked about
myself too. Around eight thirty it was time for the cafeteria to close. I said,
“Come on now let's go out and fight." We just stood there and looked at
each other. Everyone started laughing. "Sergeant, you're a good guy," he
said. There was no fight that day. The anorak disappeared. He never came
to our school again. As I mentioned at the beginning, I did not use this as

a strategy at the time. It was spontaneous. But what I did was focus on the
‘attention’ that those three soldiers desperately needed, instead of getting
stuck on the ‘anger’ that not sending the anorak provoked. After all, when
we began listening to each other, understanding and trying to communi-

cate, instead of discussing whether the anorak was sent or not, which was
the sticking point, the situation changed entirely, and the fight dissolved
by itself.

Different versions of the above example are constantly encountered in
business and in daily life. Conflicting feelings, disagreements, quarrels
and mutual resentment follow one after another. Instead of hurting others

and feeding our prejudices, shouldn't we focus on taking time to get to
know, understand and really listen to each other? We can start with some
simple steps. Years ago, I started to write ‘With love’ under the e-mails
I sent for the first time. I remember that I received a warning from the
company, “This is a place of work, you have to end your e-mails with 'Best
Regards'”. Regard or respect, in my opinion, needs to be earned and frank-
ly, it is pointless to show respect to a person I do not know at all, unless

they are older than I am. But I can start communicating without prejudice
by showing love as the first step. And respect, I think, puts some distance

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between us. Establishing distance right at the outset can often engender

feelings of distrust for me. That's why I've never stopped using the word

"Love", which sounds more sincere to me, instead of a clichéd and oblig-

atory phrase when ending my words in an e-mail. Years later, I am also

happy that many of my colleagues at the company have begun to end their
messages ‘with love’.

Maybe it's a small detail, but it's like saying ‘you're welcome, thank you,
good morning, Bon appétit’, which all belong to the language of peace.
While the unifying and empathy-enhancing effect of the language of peace

in relationships is so evident, there are two obstacles in all human rela-

tionships -especially in work-related communication and interactions-

that can block all communication and relationships if not recognised and
resolved. The first of these is ‘being judgemental’. Sometimes, we assume
we are knowledgeable about everything and quick to judge the other per-
son. “What you're doing is childish, totally wrong, are you stupid, an un-
healthy approach, stupid talk, troubled relationship, this is lazy, brainless,
ridiculous behaviour, incompetent person, bad guy, idiot, idiot…” The more
people we talk to, the more examples we could come up with. Although
these judgemental expressions exist through different words and expres-
sions, they all have four common features. The first is that they involve
judgement. The second is that they are negative adjectives. Third, they are

destructive. The fourth is that they are unfortunately used too often. I come
across such situations with great frequency in business life. In fact, some-
thing that happened to me when I began bookkeeping will demonstrate
this in an excellent fashion. One day, my supervisor asked me to complete
the summary tax declarations. It was 1992. No such thing as the internet. I
had another assistant colleague who was in the same position as I was. Our
supervisor had given us both the same task for the companies for which

we did the accounts. I chose to use a few ratios to arrive at the net amounts
from gross through an application of the previous periods' statements. Of
course, the outcome was wrong. At this, my supervisor mocked me, “What
nonsense is this? Here's the correct formula,” showing me how to do the
calculation. After we completed the calculation together, I also did it on my
own once more. She posted the account entry. As it was my first time doing

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this job, I couldn't be sure of myself, but there seemed to be something off
about the record. After being told I was ‘peculiar’, I couldn't really say, “I
feel like there's something wrong with this record." A week passed. While
checking for errors, it turned out that the tax account would not balance.
My supervisor asked, "Why has this happened?". I immediately pointed to
the post and said, “There seems to be something not quite right here”. My
supervisor was pretty surprised that I was immediately able to pinpoint
the problem. “Did you know this was wrong?” she asked, and I was able to
respond, “Well I thought something was wrong with this record".

This time, she said, "Well, why didn't you say something?" I replied, "I did
not want to contradict you as supervisor, so I couldn't say anything". The
unfortunate sentence she then uttered was “Are you stupid?”.

We come across such situations so often. After that, the hurt, the sadness,
the resentment. Especially for the inexperienced young person who is just
embarking on a profession and as such is likely to be making a few mis-
takes at first, it is so very important to be aware of these things and to en-
sure the language we use is more constructive. It is the manager's respon-
sibility to encourage employees by using the language of peace instead of
judging them for a single incident.

In this section, I would like to draw your attention to another obstacle re-
garding the transference of emotions. We are all human and we can expe-
rience envy quite often, especially in the business world. Envy and jeal-
ousy are often confused with each other so I would like to explore what I
mean by envy. Envy is characterised by the desire to have something that
belongs to someone else. It can also be a feeling of wishing that person
not to possess that thing. This feeling takes place between two people
and the subject of envy can be as varied as a successful career, a high IQ,
a happy family life, a prestigious school, a high volume of followers on so-
cial media, great wealth, a stylish car, a beautiful boat or a large house. Of
course, envy often carries with it sadness, feelings of inadequacy, anxiety
and disappointment.22 Jealousy is an emotion we produce when at risk of

22 Ezgi Tuna, “Definition and Clinical Appearance of Envy and Jealousy”, DTCF Journal, 58.2 (2018)

84

a competitor taking over a relationship that belongs to us and that we val-
ue. Since envy is based on habits of comparison and since money enables
comparison to be easily made, we often encounter this feeling in the world
of business. A positive type of envy is often restricted to admiration. But
negative envy can go to the extreme of a desire to destroy the other person.
I realised that my feelings of envy gradually decreased in frequency as I
changed from viewing the world from the perspective of continuity to that
of sustainability. In those rare moments when I felt envy, I used the follow-
ing process to deal with it.

Suppose I envy someone who is very smart, hardworking, and has become
successful in a short period of time at work. The first step is being aware
of this. As soon as I have this awareness, I try to think about how I can
contribute to the success of the person I envy. In other words, I channel
my energy into finding areas where I can add value to that person's life,
instead of letting those negative envious emotions tire me to no purpose.
This not only makes me happy but if I am able to make a small contribution
to that person's success, I become a stakeholder in their achievements. I
recommend you try it.

Lateral Thinking – Integrated Thinking

Self-realization, a Holistic Approach, Osman Kavala,
Looking, Seeing and Understanding

My claim is certainly not that everything done in the name of continuity
that I presented at the beginning of this book in Figure 1 is wrong and
needs to be discarded. However, I think that the injustice of investing only
with regard to continuity is creating severe imbalances that are leading the
planet towards disaster. This mirrors the metaphor I like to use about our
lack of balance because we constantly invest in the left side of our brain at
school, in our family life and at work. To achieve successful and long-lasting
results, the right and left sides of our brain need to interact and cooperate
with each other. When this happens, creativity, productivity and perhaps

85

most importantly, happiness emerges. An individual can find self-realisation
only by becoming aware of the different characteristics they possess, devel-
oping this awareness of investing in these features through this process.

When I'm discussing integrated thinking, I want to convey this holistic ap-
proach. Integrated thinking also reminds me of the 17th SDG 'Partnerships
for the Goals'. The message of this goal is that we have only one world and
all beings and non-living things are partners together. We are connected
not only by the air we breathe and the water we drink, but also by invisible
circular bonds. These invisible bonds form part of a delicate balance. When
our actions upset this balance, for example when we hurt someone, we are
simultaneously harming ourselves.

I confess that when I'm attempting to implement an integrated mindset,
businesspeople are surprised by me. I would like to give Osman Kavala as
an example. I've only missed one of his many hearings at the Silivri Court-
house. I think it is a great injustice to imprison someone who has worked
so hard for humanity, for future generations, for peace and for the unifying
power of art and culture. On the 1,000th day of his captivity, I fasted and
shared this fact on my Instagram account in the hope of raising awareness
about the injustice done to him. I also wrote about how Osman Kavala
would have benefited society and the environment so much more if he had
been free instead. Some of my colleagues reacted by telling me to be care-
ful. "Don't take risks" they warned. From an integrated thinking perspec-
tive, I think the real risk is to Osman Kavala's health. The question in my
mind is constantly: What if something happens to him? There are so many
students, artists, academics and NGOs that have been inspired by Osman
Kavala. What is the opportunity cost of depriving so many people of his
presence? Isn't it unfair to all humanity that a person like this has been de-
prived of his freedom for almost four years? Doesn't it actually put not only
the business world, but also the whole of our society at risk if we, business
leaders, don't speak out against this injustice and accept this wrongdoing?
I believe this undermines those invisible bonds between us and further-
more, it harms the whole of society. For the most part, Osman Kavala's con-
tributions and commitment to freedom of thought, human rights, peace,
culture and art, not only in Istanbul but throughout Anatolia, are directed

86

towards providing future generations with a more habitable world. What

is the level of risk that the business world will be able to afford in an envi-

ronment where there is no freedom of speech, no respect for human rights,
no social accord and harmony, in which culture and art have no value? It
is after considering these reasons, that I believe my reactions as a busi-

nessperson are completely natural. It is the shared social responsibility of

the corporate world to react to such situations.

Corporate integrated thinking finds equivalence when social variables such
as gender equality and an ethical approach to business, and environmental
variables such as carbon footprints, which are usually viewed as financial
externalities, can be measured with other items in financial statements
which are measurable monetarily, thereby revealing the relationship be-

tween them, resulting in an integrated stakeholder report that includes a
serious commitment to bequeath a habitable planet to future generations.
My definition of integrated thinking represents a very comprehensive per-
spective that exists within our sphere of influence. In the corporate world,
this is an unorthodox point of view. Our learned behaviour is to evaluate
our decisions or actions only on the basis of cause and effect. Let's say the
client makes a request. They are then given a financial proposal. The of-
fer is either accepted or not. This is exactly an example of lateral thinking.
But let's consider the same scenario using integrated thinking: we should

begin by asking how we can add value in serving this client. Can the value
we create not only contribute to the financial development of the client,
but also enhance the client's social and environmental effects? What kind
of personal growth will be created for the team providing services to this
client and to what extent will they contribute to the development of the
client’s business while delivering these services? Does serving this client
lead to a conflict of interest, ethical or quality risks? When we start asking
these questions, it is obvious that things take on a different hue altogether.
Add to this social and environmental impacts and the dimensions of the

decision-making process widen even further. When we assess the circum-

stances solely as a client service provider or that of receiving or giving a

payment, we are acting as 'lateral' thinkers. If we combine the many di-

mensions of this process of contributing to a client's positive or negative

87

area of influence, of assessing what kind of process the working team car-
ries out in delivering the work, of reviewing quality, ethics and impartiality
values in addition to the probable income from the project whilst also con-
sidering non-financial risks such as the climate crisis or reputational risks,
then the outcome is integrated thinking.
I characterize lateral thinking as merely ‘looking’ and integrated think-
ing as ‘seeing and understanding’. As you start to weigh up the issues that
come before you when using integrated thinking, you also begin to think
multidimensionally. By that, I mean both short-term and long-term think-
ing which takes into account tangible and intangible elements; acting with
self-interest but also considering the interests of the whole; keeping up
with rivals at the same time as paying close attention to the wishes and
needs of stakeholders. Besides these, it is essential to query constantly
whether decisions taken are creating benefits for the community and the
environment or harm and it is necessary to be accountable for this, which
brings a burden of responsibility. Thus, the attitude of leaders - who run
companies, organisations, states, who basically run the system - will shape
the attitude of the masses, and these attitudes form not only our present
but also our future. When it comes to choosing whether ‘to borrow from
the lives of future generations or to leave a habitable world to them by cre-
ating value’, decisions taken by leaders today and in the future have critical
consequences affecting generations to come.
In this section I explored the difference between continuity and sustain-
ability by giving examples under ten different headings. In the second
part of the book, I want to share the processes Mazars Denge underwent
in order to integrate corporate sustainability into our daily operations,
to explain some of the challenges we faced, and narrate our journey be-
ginning with the publication of our first sustainability report to how we
arrived at today's integrated report. Do you have your tea or coffee ready?

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CHAPTER II:
Getting to an Integrated Report: Corporate Sustainability Phases

Our Journey's First Steps: How Did We Start?

Since the day I began my doctoral thesis on sustainability, I was bothered
by unanswered questions particularly on my duties as the manager of a
company. My thesis required that I study books and articles on the subject,
but I also read all of the sustainability reports written in Turkey until 2013.
These reports contained clear and serious commitments from managers
and CEOs on their responsibilities towards ensuring sustainable develop-
ment on environmental, social, economic and corporate governance issues.
One thing that caught my attention at the time and which is still common to
many companies today, is that many managers equate sustainability with
corporate social responsibility ('CSR'). Although definitions of CSR and
corporate sustainability have converged in recent years, corporate sus-

tainability represents a vision that integrates the economic, environmental

and social impact of a business within the framework of corporate gov-

ernance principles. CSR represents a company's environmental and social

responsibilities towards their community. Therefore, CSR should actually

be placed as a subset of corporate sustainability.

Corporate
Sustainability

Corporate Social
Responsibility

Corporate
Governance Principles

Society Environ-
ment

Income

FIGURE 9
89

Many businesses show their sustainability efforts as CSR projects in their
reports, and this is the means by which they establish their strategic ties to
corporate sustainability. Let's say a company is implementing a fantastic
regional development project on agriculture in a particular region, which
will have a positive and far-reaching effect on local people. In order to im-
plement this project, a serious human resource allocation has been made
as well as financial support. This is included in the company's sustainabil-
ity report, alongside the social and environmental benefits. On the other
hand, even if the project in question is related to the main activity of the
enterprise, if it is not one of the main components of the business model of
the company in reality, as long as it does not affect all the operations of the
enterprise and is not embedded in the vision and business style of the fu-
ture, it cannot go beyond being a CSR project. In other words, the fact that
a business is carrying out a CSR project does not mean that it is engaging
in what constitutes corporate sustainability. Regrettably, many companies
do not integrate corporate sustainability into their business models when
they engage in high impact CSR or through their hefty financial support of
the non-governmental organisations with whom they choose to develop
joint projects, which means that the outcome can be incompatible with
the concept of sustainability. As was the case with Enron or Volkswagen,23
companies that do not subscribe to a vision of sustainability and do not
conduct all of their activities in accordance with it will surely suffer seri-
ous loss of reputation when it becomes known - as it will inevitably - that
they only care about their current or future environmental and social im-
pact to the extent that it affects their profits.

So how could I incorporate the vision that my research and work on cor-
porate sustainability had given me, what kind of path should I be following
to carry out my environmental and social responsibility that would do jus-
tice to my role as a manager? As I was searching for the answers to these
questions, the United Nations Paris COP 21 meeting on climate change
mitigation, adaptation, and finance ended with failure and the fact that

23 Izel Levi Coskun, “Business, Ethics and Sustainability from Enron to Volkswagen”, December 2015,
https://hbrturkiye.com/dergi/enron-dan-volkswagen-e-is-etik-ve-sustainability (February 2022)

90

governments could not reach the desired agreement was a timely remind-
er that companies and their stakeholders needed to take the initiative in
sustainable development.

The principles of quality, integrity, ethics and mutual respect on which
Mazars Denge was founded revealed that we were not unfamiliar with
sustainability in many of our firm practices. However, I began to reflect on
what could be done to establish this approach in a corporate setting and
create social and environmental awareness and goals for our employees in
addition to pursuing profits. This led us to prepare our first sustainabili-
ty report. The company became a signatory to the UN Companies Global
Compact in 2016. A year later we completed the written text of our re-

port and uploaded it to the UN website. You can access
our first report at https://eng.mazars.com.tr/Home/In-
sights/Reports-Researchs/Sustainability-Report-2016 or
by scanning the QR code. 2017 marked our 40th anniver-
sary as a firm and was also marked by the long one and
half year process of preparing the second sustainability
report ever published in our sector. The most difficult part was in taking
the decision to integrate the corporate sustainability approach into all of
our firm's operations, in order to begin the arduous transformation within
the company. Despite all our best efforts, we faced many unforeseen dif-
ficulties and gained valuable expertise. I want to share the roadmap that
supported our decision and explore the kinds of benefits the corporate
sustainability report provides, how it overlaps with our goals, its impact
areas and the ways in which it made our struggle to go on working through
Covid-19 easier.

Why a Sustainability Report?

The fact that international sustainability norms are becoming more effec-
tive with each passing day, and in particular, the commitments that coun-
tries have begun to make on limiting carbon emissions, has meant that
more and more companies have put sustainable development on their
agenda. Sustainability reports have matured over the years and have come

91

to present a more objective and clearer picture of the performance of com-
panies. According to a 2014 McKinsey study, sustainability ranks in the top
three issues for CEOs24 and has been growing in importance year on year.
By 2020, the directly associated climate crisis has also ranked in the top
three spots. At the beginning of 2015, Harvard Business Review changed
its method for selecting the world's best CEOs with a 20 percent weighting
devoted to sustainability criteria. Accordingly, Lars Rebien Sorensen, CEO
of Novo Nordisk, was elected CEO of the year, while Jeff Bezos, CEO of Am-
azon, who was the winner of the previous year, fell to 76th place.

For sustainability to be addressed in a comprehensive way, it is critical
that it be placed at the core of a company’s vision so that it becomes part
of all its operations and one of the main elements in company assessments.
Mazars Denge underwent a risk analysis audit organized by Mazars Head
Office in 2019. Two Mazars representatives visited Istanbul to draw up the
risk map for the Mazars Turkey office and assess our risk landscape. The
project included risk assessments on cyber security, economic, political,
loss of clients and lapses in internal controls with a corresponding risk
degree for each category. At the approval phase for the report, I informed
them that the report was incomplete. The report made no mention of the
climate crisis. When I drew attention to this fact, they added it to the re-
port with the provision that all future audits will pay attention to this risk.
In 2019, we put Climate Action, which is the 13th Sustainable Develop-
ment Goal, at the head of the goals we wanted to focus on going forward.

As I have noted before, companies have social and environmental respon-
sibilities other than the pure pursuit of profits. What matters is how rev-
enues are generated. Sustainability reports aim to provide a transparent
record of how companies balance their economic returns with their social
and environmental impacts in line with their corporate governance prin-
ciples, and how they deal with risks and opportunities from a sustainabil-
ity perspective. However, the sustainability report is just a compass that

24 Sustainability's Strategic Worth, 1 July 2014, https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/
sustainability/our-insights/sustainabilitys-strategic-worth-mckinsey-global-survey-results
(February 2022)

92

forms the basis of the corporate sustainability model. In other words, it is
an extremely useful tool to achieve the main goal.

Why is the Sustainability Report Important?

In my opinion, sustainability reports offer three critical benefits:

1. Ensuring stakeholder engagement
2. Creating internal and external awareness

3. Establishing understandable and measurable goals.

1. Ensuring Stake-

holder Engagement:

To state that a compa- PUBLIC CLIENTS
ny consists only of its

management and em- INVESTORS
ployees is inadequate.

Everything that the COMPANY
company touches is
an integral part of the SUPPLIERS NGOs

entity and contributes

to its form. This means WORKERS COMPANY’S
that clients, suppliers, FAMILIES PLACE OF
investors, the families WORK
of employees, its phys-
FIGURE 10

ical operating environment, non-governmental organisations, the public

and other stakeholders are also within its scope.

2. Creating Internal and External Awareness: This is very important
especially in Turkey where the concept of sustainability is generally used
to refer to either growth or to the environment. In reality, a long-term ap-
proach to sustainability includes development rather than growth and
comprises not only its environmental but also its social impacts. At the
same time as furthering our understanding and integration of sustaina-
bility into our daily routines, these reports remind us that individuals also
have a role to play. The reports also perform an important task in raising
awareness both inside and outside the company. For instance, though the

93

choice of Mazars Denge company car was given to our employees, we also
ensured that the vehicles' carbon emissions formed part of their selection
criteria. This resulted in our employees showing a marked preference for
hybrid models in their choice of vehicle.

3. Setting Clear and Measurable Goals: One of the most important de-
liverables of a sustainability report is that the goals be clear and measura-
ble. These targets also cover areas that are not only measured in monetary
terms, but are characterized as economic externalities e.g., greenhouse gas
emissions, human capital and employee continuity. Sustainability reports
show the status of a company as of the reporting year and what steps it
should take to ensure sustainable development. Of course, we should not
forget that presenting these commitments and targets in writing carries a
burden of compliance for the periods ahead. Consequently, companies usu-
ally highlight the successes in their reports but do not necessarily identify
the areas where they have fallen short. It seems to me that short-comings
and problems are endemic to all businesses. Thus, what's important is that
the business identifies its problems in a transparent and sincere fashion,
with a view to resolving them in the short, medium and long term using
measurable criteria.

Preparing a sustainability report is just the first leg of a long journey. For a
business to embed sustainability into its operations through a considera-
tion for the three P’s (People, Planet, Profit) in a way that creates value for
all its stakeholders goes beyond a simple change of culture. First, this con-
cerns the philosophy of the work we do and asks ‘why?’ at every step taken
by seeking to answer the question from the point of view of a corporate
sustainability vision. If a company's senior management has failed to grasp
and adopt this philosophy in order to trigger the change in strategic focus
and culture of the enterprise, the transformation towards sustainability
becomes difficult. I was invited to speak at a webinar attended by some
other family business executives for a discussion of the Covid-19 pandemic
and sustainability. At the event I was asked “What's a good starting point
for corporate sustainability?”. My answer was simple and clear: we have
to start with ourselves. We are all surely aware of the many critical and
urgent problems we face, from the climate crisis to hunger and poverty,

94

from gender inequality to the broken education system. But we don't know
where to begin and how to go about solving these problems. It seems that
many managers are demanding that their employees make changes with-
out personally leaving their own comfort zones or changing their personal
habits. Sadly, this will not work. For a real transformation, those who lead
companies need to take the first step and lead their employees by personal
example.

At Mazars Denge it took us about fifteen months to prepare our sustaina-
bility report and during this time we took the following steps:

• Created and communicated our sustainability vision
• Took the decision to go ahead
• Planned
• Put together and trained our sustainability team
• Assessed initial results and completed a prioritization analysis
• Employee satisfaction survey
• Designed the sustainability model
• Assigned Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards individually to

the team
• Prepared report content by compiling information from internal de-

partments and offices
• Checked, proofed and edited the final report
• Added the Chairman‘s message
• Uploaded the report to the UN Global Compact site
• Prepared the communication infrastructure for the report
• Completed report illustrations
• Final check on report before printing
• Communicated the findings of the report

Creating and Communicating a Sustainability Vision

In the task of exploring how to create and communicate a suitable sustain-
ability vision, it would be helpful to know a little more about the history
of the Global Compact, which guides organisations towards sustainability
through its ten principles. At the UN Stockholm Conference in 1972, many

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countries possessing diverse socio-economic systems and at different lev-
els of development, came together for the first time to tackle the ‘environ-
ment’. The outcome was the Stockholm Declaration, which states that to
live in a dignified and thriving environment that provides freedom, equali-
ty and adequate living conditions is the fundamental right of every human
being, and that it is our common responsibility to protect and develop the
environment for present and future generations. It established the UN En-
vironment Program (UNEP) to coordinate activities aimed at solving envi-
ronmental problems.

The World Council for Economic Development (WCED) published the
Brundtland Report in 1987 which defines sustainable development as that
"which meets the needs of today without compromising future generations'
ability to meet their own needs”.

The report also addresses the three main components of sustainable de-
velopment: environmental protection, economic growth and social equity.
It broadly links the elimination of poverty, ensuring equality in the distri-
bution of benefits to be had from natural resources, population control
and the development of environmentally friendly technologies directly to
the principle of sustainable development. Acting on the assumption that
growth can be achieved in an environmentally friendly fashion, the report
argues that an era of longer-term development should be sought on the
understanding that developing countries will play an important role in
overcoming environmental problems and preventing poverty in the world.

In 1989, UNEP and the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) began
working together to conduct research on, advise and develop strategies to
tackle climate change. In 1989, the Montreal Protocol was signed for the
protection of the ozone layer. The World Climate Summit was held in 1990
and it highlighted that climate change is a global problem that needed a
joint effort to tackle it.25

25 Peter Jackson, “From Stockholm to Kyoto: A Brief History of Climate Change,” https://www.
un.org/en/chronicle/article/stockholm-kyoto-brief-history-climate-change (February 2022)

96

Two years after that, the ‘United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development’ was held in Rio de Janeiro (the 'Rio Conference') and
is considered an important turning point for the adoption of a series of
principles for nations to establish environmentally conscious govern-
ments. There, a priority action plan called Agenda 21 as well as the Rio
Declaration and Forest Principles were adopted.26 Also, during the same
conference, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
and the Convention on Biological Diversity agreements were presented for
ratification. In line with decisions taken at the Rio Conference, the United
Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, prepared in line with the
resolutions, was presented for ratification in 1994.

The Kyoto Protocol, which was adopted in Japan three years later, came
into force only in 2005. The Protocol, which is an international agreement
forming part of the United Nations Climate Change Agreement, has de-
fined binding targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in 37 indus-
trial countries including 28 (now 27) European Union countries. The key
difference between that and the previous United Nations Climate Change
Agreement is that the earlier accord encourages the balancing of green-
house gas emissions in industrialized countries, while the Kyoto Protocol
commits countries to implementation.

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC or the Global Compact) is the
most comprehensive platform ever established to produce and implement
sustainability and corporate responsibility policies in tandem with in-
creasing globalization. UNGC is considered to be an innovative approach
that proposes universal principles for a common development culture
for the business world. The Global Compact, which incorporates not only
United Nations organs and civil society, but also all private sector compa-
nies and public institutions, is based on ten globally accepted principles.
Taking the principles as its starting point, common goals are determined,
and voluntary and transparent participation is sought from all organisa-
tions that adopt these goals, both in strategy formulation and implementa-
tion. Today, UNGC members are expected to report their activities on fun-

26 Agenda 21, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21(February 2022)

97

damental universal principles and share how they have performed with
the public. At the 1999 World Economic Forum in Davos, Kofi Annan, then
United Nations Secretary-General, invited members of the business com-
munity to use the Global Compact both for company management and in
the implementation of public policies.

Any organisation that wants to behave in accordance with sustainable
development principles must, after completing the necessary infrastruc-
ture arrangements, sign up to the Global Compact, which is the first most
important step. Within a year of this subscription, the organisation must
submit a sustainability report to affirm their compliance.

10 PRINCIPLES OF THE GLOBAL COMPACT27

PRINCIPLE 10 Businesses should work against FIGURE 11
corruption in all its forms, including extortion
PRINCIPLE 1 Businesses should support
and bribery. and respect the protection of international-
ly proclaimed human rights.

PRINCIPLE 9 Businesses should 10 1 PRINCIPLE 2 Businesses must
make sure that they are not
encourage the development and complicit in human rights

diffusion of environmentally 9 ANCOTIR-RUPTION HUMAN RI 2 abuses.
friendly technologies.
GHTS
PRINCIPLE 8 Business- ENVIRONMENT PRINCIPLE 3 Businesses
es should undertake 8 UR should uphold the freedom
initiatives to promote
greater environmental 3 of association and the effec-
responsibility.
tive recognition of the right
PRINCIPLE 7 Businesses 7 LABO to collective bargaining.
should support a precau-
tionary approach to environ- 6 5 4 PRINCIPLE 4 All forms
mental challenges.
of forced and compulsory
labour must be eliminated.

PRINCIPLE 6 Discrimination in respect of PRINCIPLE 5 Child labour must be
employment and occupation must be eliminated. abolished effectively.

The Global Compact consists of ten principles in four main sections. The
first two are under Human Rights, four under Labour, three under the
Environment and the last under Anti-Corruption. You can join the Global

Compact by pledging to do certain things - commitments such as to pro-

27 Global Compact ibid.
98