Vantage Research - Nu Metric Refinement

Vantage Research has collaborated with The Decency Foundation to refine the Nu Metric and expand its applicability to all industries. In its report (linked below), Vantage Research highlights the following:

Small Business Focus

The Nu Metric sets itself apart by focusing on micro and small businesses. Small businesses comprise the overwhelming majority of U.S. firms and are increasingly interested in evaluating and improving their environmental and social performance. However, many sustainability tools focus on large corporations and are too expensive for small businesses. The Nu Metric is specifically designed to address this gap and guide small businesses towards corporate stewardship and social and environmental impact.  

Broad Environmental and Social Lenses With a Focus on the Workplace

While the Nu Metric stresses economic viability as the cornerstone to greater social and environmental impact, its broader focus is on a business’ impact on local communities, consumers, animals, and the environment. 

The Nu Metric distinguishes itself from other tools by thoroughly assessing workplace conditions, employee well-being, work relationships, fair wages, and health and other benefits. 

Vantage Research reframed the Nu Metric’s five key dimensions as follows:  Sustainable Internal Operations; Sustainable Business Model; Product Quality; Decent Work; and Community Contributions. Sustainable Internal Operations relates to the specific sector within which the business operates (e.g., agriculture), whereas the other four dimensions can be more broadly applied across different industries. 

Focus on Agriculture

As the Nu Metric is first being applied to dairy farming through The Decency Foundation’s Hun-Val Dairy Farm pilot project, Vantage Research enhanced the questionnaire to help farmers identify and improve key areas of environmental sustainability. 

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The Nu Metric identifies key questions that small businesses might not even know to ask and will help guide them towards greater economic, environmental, and social sustainability. Please see the full report for a more detailed analysis.  Click HERE for the report.