The sustainability challenge: What are companies who gain from their sustainability efforts doing differently?
MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) carried out a global survey among over 4,000 executives and managers – including 2,874 respondents from commercial enterprises, from 113 countries –, relating to how businesses manage sustainability, and possibly profit from sustainability initiatives. Key findings include:
- According to two-thirds of survey participants, sustainability is highly important for being competitive in the modern marketplace Tweet This!.
- Approximately 31 per cent of survey participants said their companies were currently profiting from sustainability initiatives.
- 68 per cent of businesses surveyed increased the time and resources committed to sustainability efforts.
- Companies profiting from their sustainability initiatives were:
- more likely to have strong leadership commitment to sustainability, a separate sustainability report and sustainability function, a sustainability focus by business units, and a chief sustainability officer
- three times more likely than other companies to have a robust business case for sustainability
- 50 per cent more likely to clearly communicate who was responsible for sustainability
- more than twice as likely, compared to other organizations, to have operational and personal key performance indicators connected to sustainability
- 60 per cent more likely to relate sustainability to financial incentives
- twice as likely to change their business model due to sustainability
- more than twice as likely to say sustainability increased their collaboration with competitors
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