The survey suggests that U.S. firms currently understand that the public will hold them to a "triple bottom line" of sustainability -- a new standard of corporate performance that moves beyond evaluation of short-term financial goals to evaluation of the long-term social, economic and environmental impacts of corporate activities.

However, despite the increased awareness by corporations of public scrutiny, the survey findings indicate corporations have yet to take adequate action to address this new standard.

The report shows that companies systematically fail to identify or assess a variety of risks related to long-term social, economic and environmental impacts, such as shareholder and investor flight, based on perceived self-dealing, unfair or unethical behavior; project delay or stoppage, due to failure to anticipate and address community or governmental concerns; and labor unrest and disruption, based on workplace conditions or practices perceived to be unfair or exploitative.

The report found that failing to meet the sustainability standards presents a series of financial and business risks to companies, including lower stock prices and reduced shareholder value; loss of valuable customer or supplier relationships; delay or termination of project; and loss of "license to operate."

"Sustainability is essentially a code of conduct that goes beyond the bottom line to protect social value as well as financial," said Andrew Savitz, a partner in PwCs' Sustainability Services Practice. "Given public concern, it is now in the interests of corporations to address these concerns. While sustainability is a new and evolving standard, most of the companies we surveyed believe that it represents a permanent change in the way that companies will be evaluated in the future."

editor@smartpros.com