Business Sustainability: Promoting Innovation

Monday, March 23, 2009 by Julie Urlaub
image: innovationDoes your company have the right structures in place to promote eco awareness and foster innovation?  Ask your key stakeholders.

The pursuit of business sustainability does not have to come from any one source.  It can generate from within your own company at the ground level, from the customers you service, or your suppliers.  Often employees have the information and ideas to make a significant but are limited by the structures of the organization.  One key to success is to create a corporate culture that encourages and rewards innovation at all levels internal to the  organization as well as external to the company.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development poses 4 questions in the innovation process to ensure success:

•    How can we ensure sustainability is part of the creative process?
•    How can we ensure that sustainability considerations are part of the management of a development process?
•    When and how can external viewpoints enrich the creative and development process?
•    What processes are going to leverage the value of our intellectual capital?

An open innovation approach to business sustainability offers stakeholders the opportunity to become engaged in the future of a business.  Recognizing that key stakeholders have a vested interest the success of the company, creates openness to new ideas that promote business success. 

Enabled by the right structure, stakeholder generated innovation can be the company’s greatest asset for change. 

•    Top level support for an open innovation culture.
•    A consistent management approach that promotes stakeholder  engagement.
•    Open and consistent communication of business sustainability goals.
•    Cohesive policies and procedures that clearly define incentives.

Taiga Company works with available small business resources to help your business capture its sustainable innovation.

Comments for Business Sustainability: Promoting Innovation

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 by Tim Albinson:
Take a look at firms who have successful sustainability initiatives underway, and you’ll see that it’s critical for green thinking to permeate throughout the company culture. When all stakeholders are engaged, companies benefit in a variety of ways, including innovation, improved efficiencies, and most likely, cost savings, too. www.2sustain.com

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