Unlike the previous strategy where companies feel that there is no need to adjust operations, the companies in this strategy work to lower their impact incrementally but avoid any serious reconsideration of their strategy. The innovativeness of meta-organizations as alternative forms of organization to traditional hierarchical organizations bestows on them an advantage in coping with the complexity of sustainability. The following business sustainability strategies take organization, data, communication, resources, and technology to put into place — and a little compassion for the planet never hurts. The process behind the development of this technology was highly valuable for the firm. Meta-organizations are effective at recognizing opportunities through previously unimagined or unavailable participant connections. 1.8 billion more citizens of Earth will join the global consumer class, The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), How to Become a Dropship Supplier in 5 Steps, The Foodservice Distribution Industry is Changing, Bill of materials (BOM), Kitting & Assemblies. But, they offer a starting place for dialogue for a 21st century business model based on sustainability. The goal of a sustainable business strategy is to make a positive impact on either one of those areas. Before continuing, let’s define some terms. Unlike the previous strategy where the focus was on diffusing sustainability within the firm, the focus in this strategy is facilitating more sustainable practices outside the firm. KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011:  KPMG International Cooperative (2011); P. Lacy, T. Cooper, R. Haywood, and L. Neuberger (2010) op. This helps them defend their operations because they can lay claim to the fact that they are at least redistributing some of the profit associated with these operations to various causes that work to stem their effects. QuickBooks Inventory Management Software | Acctivate. That is, the mainstream market, which consisted of large industry government facilities purchasing industrial carpet, now expected that Interface competitors offer a similar portfolio of sustainable products. cit. The business case therefore evident in the need for a company to meet the needs of a growing niche market that wants consistency in their offering. Firms are playing a dominant role in society today. 1. That said, some companies might develop competencies in their brand as stakeholders perceive a certain company as a leader in making incremental improvements to their impact. Business sustainability or corporate social responsibility can then be defined as the achievement of economic viability (i.e. A critical source of competitive advantage for companies adopting strategy 5 is their ability to foster relationships with key actors in its external environment. Finally, Toyota introduced a vehicle part that removed completely the need for a particular toxic mineral. Performance evaluations are tied to cost reductions efforts that just so happen to be associated with environmental system improvements for instance, but there is very little in the way of accountability towards social and ecological goals across levels of the business. An imbalance between supply and demand is the direct cause of overproduction, and overproduction leads to waste. The primary reason for this is because firms adopting a transformational strategy tend to go beyond a niche segment of the market and are trying to tap into the mainstream. For instance a company might engage in philanthropic activities that are both related (defensive) and unrelated (denial) to their operations or they may both defend against the impact of their operations while still having a department that contradicts the seemingly careless operations of other departments (isolated). While many “green” consultants focus primarily on helping clients “do good,” we are laser-focused on helping our clients “do well” through value-added sustainability strategies, best-in-class public policy insights, clean energy transaction development, stakeholder relationship management, and detailed market and issue analyses. But any smart student of business would be interested in distinguishing responses that negatively affect these systems. Many academic scholars and practitioners alike have come to the realization that no organization can single-handedly make substantive strides to sustainable practices. cit. I have passion for small business and the planet, and I’ve built a list of ten business sustainability strategies for you to consider and maybe even put into action. Sustainability needs to be incorporated into corporate strategies and reflected in organizational business goals. Finally, external positioning and internal competencies must be supported by an organization’s culture and identity that transcends the worldviews of employees to the point where they see the relevance of the firm’s strategy to their daily activities, making it feel like employees live this strategy on a daily basis. The Equator Principles is a similar platform through which major global banks, including CIBC and Royal Bank of Canada, agreed to prohibit any loaning of capital to projects in developing countries of the world that carry substantial social or environmental risks to its citizens. SEKEM’s own ‘mother farm’ was so advanced in its agricultural practices environmentally and socially that the Egyptian government established regulatory policies in the agriculture sector based partly on what SEKEM proved was possible. Figure 1 illustrates these five strategies in the X axis alongside the guiding principle of philanthropy, business case, and paradox. Faculty combine interactive lectures, case studies, games, diagnostic exercises, and deep reflective work for a highly engaging experience. [iv] Bonini, S. “The business of sustainability”, McKinsey and Company (2011), [v] For example, Coca-Cola states, “Our next step is to embed sustainability into our strategic planning process”, Nestle explains, “All business units are now encouraged to embed Creating Shared Value and sustainability into their business strategy and consumer communication”; Wal-Mart held a conference on “How to embed sustainability into your organization”; Royal Dutch Shell chairman said, “Under the recognition of Shell that began when I became CEO in July 2009, we embedded sustainable development firmly into our business”; British American Tobacco stated that they are “Working to embed sustainability in the business” while Philips Corporate Communications says “You have to embed sustainability in your organization”, [vi] Examples include I. Andersson, S. Shivarajan and G. Blau, “Enacting ecological sustainability, in the MNC: A test of an adapted value-belief-norm framework,” Journal of Business Ethics, 59/3 (2005): 295-305;  W. Blackburn, The sustainability handbook: The complete management guide to achieving social, economic and environmental responsibility (Washington, DC: Environmental Law Institute, 2007); K. Buysse and A. Verbeke, “Proactive environmental strategies: A stakeholder management perspective”, Strategic Management Journal, 24/5 (2003), 453-470; B. Doppelt,  Leading change toward sustainability. A mining company, as another example, might take a much more comprehensive approach to community development surrounding one or two of their mines but relies predominately on donations and philanthropy on the remainder of their mines. In fact, their source of distinction represents a key erosion of social, ecological, and economic systems. Absent government regulation, natural resources such as a fish species, water or clean air would be depleted if companies behaved independently. This is an important paradigm shift from strategies 1, 2, and 3 because employees of the company struggle to understand how the business could exist without sustainability filtered through their daily activities just like employees of strategies 1, 2, and 3 struggle to understand how sustainability could at all be relevant to their daily operations. As a result, companies adopting this strategy will not necessarily lay claim that their positioning embodies sustainability but they will tout their efforts to make this a core part of their strategy by reflecting on the resources allocated to efforts to challenge certain sections of their products/services and operations. The Fair Labour Association, The Kimberly Process and Wal-Mart Labs are examples here. Associations representing restaurant or food production companies are often heard arguing that the unprecedented growth of food-related health problems is hardly a problem of the food itself but much more a problem of personal responsibility and a deficit in exercise. negative externalities) or finding ways to reinvigorate and improve these systems. The era of stand-alone sustainability strategies, with subsequent integration of sustainability into company strategy, needs to end; the creation of resilient business strategies that take sustainability as their foundation needs to begin. The results in Table 7 indicate that all business sustainability strategies have a significant positive effect on competitive advantage. Small Business Sustainability Strategies by Wayne A. Fillingim MBA, Walden University, 2012 BS, Excelsior College, 2004 AS, Community College of the Air Force, 1997 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University October 2018 (2010) p. 10. Open source innovation is a relatively new practice where multiple competitors join forces to innovate in ways that no individual company could possibly innovate. Unlike strategies 1and 2 then, the identity of employees and image to outside actors are aligned. Internally then, firms adopting strategy 3 demonstrate isolated yet highly lucrative competencies that are more typically found in pockets of the firm. The transformative strategy then can only be transformative if networks of actors are created. Ashley Madison is an organization whose fundamental premise is based on a service that a majority of society argues erodes social systems. SEKEM is an organic conglomerate located just outside Cairo, Egypt that specializes in agricultural commodities for a wide range of industries. When companies fail to assume responsibility, the opposite can happen, leading to issues like environmental degradation, inequality, and social injustice. Most, if not all, levels of the organization have performance indicators related to sustainability and decision-making processes incorporate social and ecological indicators. Most businesses don’t possess a deeper understanding about sustainability. Business Sustainability Strategies and Competitive Advantage. Several investors … Oftentimes companies, in the absence of core competencies in the area of sustainability, will acquire firms that have these competencies with the alleged intent to slowly integrate this way of thinking into its mainstream product lines (more often than not, this doesn’t actually happen). One of the ways to do this is to consider the relevance of these responses to the core strategy and operations of the firm. Patagonia, for instance, is a good example of a company that has clearly differentiated itself from competitors like North Face or Timberwolf. First, positioning goes beyond marketing and represents a unique value proposition to consumers that distinguishes the firm from its competition. My name is Ally Long. Or they might introduce a technology that dramatically reduces the use of water    An oil and gas company might have a full-fledged renewable energy program, staffed within a legitimate department such as BP that is distinct from its core operations of oil and gas exploration and production that can still result in catastrophic environmental damage. Ecological systems might include water systems, the climate system, biodiversity, or species reproduction. The companies in this category are therefore dependent on unrelated philanthropic initiatives that aim to distract stakeholders from the impact of their core operations. These strategies include corporate governance, employee development, innovation, and systematic improvements. Common across the acquisition versus greenfield approach to sustainability is that there is potential, however remote,  for these initiatives to gain greater traction in the organization. When you employ sustainability practices in your own region, likely no one will notice unless you openly share your vision or values. But the fourth strategy reveals additional competencies that are higher in levels of complexity. From an internal competence perspective, what distinguishes the firm from its competitors has virtually nothing to do with sustainability. 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