Making sustainability sustainable – Green business’s call

Over the past few decades ethical business leaders have been trying to steer and establish more sustainable operations that have greater accountability of the impacts they produce through their value and supply chains.

In class four we discussed ways that key change-makers could create the preconditions for sustainability innovation. This process reminded me of several concepts from other classes such as  Organizational Behavior and Brand Management. The first two steps represented quick wins that generate successful business cases for action as the required actions were easy/cost effective to implement, easy to measure and the success of which was particular relevant/resonant to the key stakeholder i.e. managers focused on a traditional, profit based bottom line.

This has been reflected in the way companies like Unilever and Bcorps place a heavy emphasis on defining key performance indicators (similar to a grading system) throughout their product chains, that are directly connected to sustainability and the bottom line. Data definition and collection is key.

This approach may seem like Business 101 but there now even smaller players can make a huge difference. Consider the way the water sector and water sustainability is being transformed by startups and companies targeting the entire value chain by creating the platforms for greater change.

By shifting the consensus/equilibrium we are then able to generate the social/professional credibility required to create the flexibility in a conservatively minded business that allows us to further move along the ladder of innovation for sustainability.

In the end if often comes down to taking a sales like approach by creating internal messages that show that we are doing the right thing for all the right reasons in a way that satisfy everyone’s bottom line.