Common Good Report

« Our first contact with The Economy for the Common Good was in 2010. We right away identified ourselves with their principles. The philosophy and values corresponded to what we do. In 2013, we successfully realised our first balance sheet. »

We have been committed to the Open Source philosophy since our inception. Our employees show this feeling of commitment and commitment to the general public and the common good in their daily work. The common good balance sheet was written by our innovation manager Katharina Kloiber, our CEO Nikolaus Dürk and our former CEO Roland Lehner. It was created in the framework of a peer audit between 16.10.2103 and 11.03.2014.

Credits:
Erich Goldmann: communication design and photography
Andreas Kump: interview

why Common Good at all?

"One thing leads to another. Not automatically, but in our case it was. The path from an IT company that relies on open source to a public welfare economy is not far away.", Nikolaus Dürk explains.

What brings the IT entrepreneur to the common good?

Roland Lehner: We have found ourself in the constitutive philosophy of the Economy for the Common Good. The open source philosophy fits excellent to the common good. Both are built on openness, sustainability and trust. You don't just take, you give something back to the community. That is why the economy for the common good is the suitable economic system.

Nikolaus Dürk: We discovered our ideas in many indicators. The common good balance sheet consists of 17 different indicators. Actually we have practised them already in the past 10 years and the balance sheet was just a measurement. We took a look into the mirror and evaluated how it really worked in our company.

Roland Lehner: It was an important self-reflection for us. You do something, you do business. The common good balance sheet gives you a feeling where you have responsibility and what has to be improved. It often needs only small steps to advance the company and to do something for the common good.

Is a common good balance sheet like a certificate? How is it measured and audited?

Nikolaus Dürk: There are indicators that base upon defined figures. And there are indicators that are variable.The self-assessment is reviewed by a peer group or an external auditor. Each indicator is valued in points. We actually reached almost 500 points. Of course, we want to reach more points in future. The balancing is like a process that accompanies into the future. You can reach a maximum of 1000 points.

Roland Lehner:It is clear that you can never reach 1000 points in certain sectors, but you can advance in small steps. You can lay small stones on top of each other and try to serve the common good better.

The complete interview is available in German in the common good report 2013.

The seeds on our front page are typical for members of the Economy for the Common Good that have realised an common good balance sheet in a peer group.

Peer Audit

The common good balance sheet was realised in a peer group with the following companies:

• Engineer M.E. Ingenieurbüro für Maschinenbau
• Biohof Fairleben – Bio-Gemüse-Vielfalt
• sattler energie consulting gmbh
• Schachinger Logistik Holding GmbH

Otto Raich is certified consulter of the Economy of the Common Good and has supported and accompanied the Upper Austrian peer group during the realisation of their common good reports and balance sheets.