Sustainability: business, life, environment

As consumer expectations and market pressures continue to challenge companies to explore more sustainable business practices and end products, questions surface on how to best focus resources.  In our professional consulting, we see leading businesses shifting their traditional emphasis in research and development.  As a result, innovation and business sustainability appear to be on a similar path.

“Most companies allocate a significant share of their R&D portfolios to incremental and next- generation projects. These projects may generate short-term returns, but they rarely help the company attain long-term strategic objectives or create competitive advantage. Leading companies ensure that they don’t let the near-term crowd out investment in breakthroughs.”  –CEB Views

At Procter & Gamble, CEO Bob McDonald has announced that his company will add a focus on “discontinuous innovation”.  Captured in greater detail in a recent Industry Week article, the author describes the advantages and challenges between continuous improvement and radical change.  Despite the effort, leading innovators, like P&G, are now adding the ‘break-through change’ or new invention to its creative process. 

“P&G needs to improve its innovation capability…The kind of cross-pollination of ideas across products and brands isn't easy for companies to do. Companies need to have the right culture and technology to enable that kind of innovation.” -Bob McDonald

Whether through continuous improvement or radical change, a company must determine its own path toward long-term business sustainability.  Our professional consulting provides information and resources to clients seeking step beyond the confines of their business to leverage employee, supplier, and end consumer thinking.  By implementing an open innovation culture armed with effective stakeholder engagement strategies, sustainability concepts will naturally find their way into the new developments within the company.