Believing that businesses and the environment go hand in hand, I wanted to look for an example of a company that has successfully bridged these two worlds together to find a competitive advantage. As we’ve learned in this class, sustainability is now a driver of innovation and there are many companies that follow this belief. Philips is one of these companies that perfectly embodies this and can serve as a crucial case study to learn from. Philips is a leading electronics company that has products ranging in the home furniture, appliances and medical technology segments. With annual revenues of over 20 billion euros, it is safe to say that Philips is in a position to fully embrace sustainability.

Closing the materials loop and emphasizing recyclable options throughout their history and operating their manufacturing plants on clean energy are just a few of the initiatives that Phillips Electronics are doubling down on. Additionally they are one of the few companies that follow the precautionary principle with regards to managing potentially harmful chemicals and are opting to remove as many hazardous chemicals from their products as possible. From top to bottom, almost all of the organization’s actions point towards a proactive approach towards sustainability. Their goal is to become carbon neutral by 2020 and to minimize their ecological footprint, water consumption and waste. It is clear that their philosophy as a business is to have a positive impact on the environment and the results are reinforcing this philosophy. In 2016, 58.8% of all their fourth quarter sales came from green products.

By taking an environmentally focused position and aligning their brand to embrace sustainable practices, Philips has wielded their environmental mandate as a powerful tool for innovation. Philips’ line of Hue light products aren’t just LED energy efficient lights. They also operate within a connected ecosystem with other Philips products that allows you to control the entire suite of technology using your own devices. You have complete control to adjust the colour and brightness settings. Throughout any industry this is a common trend, companies that have embraced environmental causes have been able to lead the market by constantly finding new ways to innovate their product lines and operation processes. When markets become saturated with fierce competition, companies often find themselves stagnating without little change. In this atmosphere, the businesses that are able to innovate are the ones that separate themselves from everyone else. You can look at Patagonia and their materials innovation or Unilever and their use of MuCell technology into their bottle packaging as examples of sustainability and business innovation going hand in hand. The evidence is clear that a successful business model lies in embracing sustainability in order for companies to thrive and stay one step ahead of the competition.