Sustainability Concepts

Unlocking your Green Potential for Greater Good

Friday, February 3, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

What are the most common excuses for not "doing the green thing"? Convenience? Lack of education/ information?   Unclear value? How do you go green conveniently yet still have your eco actions add up?

Sustainability is really about transformation - a transformation process by discovering hidden treasures in daily habits that unite conscious habits and routines with eco awareness and eco actions to take.   Most of us are inspired by eco actions and the idea of "doing the right thing." However, we also recognize that change can be unsettling. It can be scary, and too often it is just easier to slip back into a traditional and comfortable way of doing things. Part of staying on the green path is reconnecting with our personal drivers for seeking a sustainable lifestyle.   There are many benefits to living a sustainable lifestyle; however, implementing effective sustainable change does not have to be a laboring process.

Create a plan - Personal sustainability programs are about making and sustaining a change in your life that you can be inspired and passionate about. Although a sustainability plan originates as a comprehensive one, your actions are the expression of that plan in daily life. Eco actions can be anything from riding a bike to work or using eco-friendly office supplies to eating organic healthy meals or recycling. It can also be about achieving a personal goal, sustaining it, and building from that platform. Ultimately, it's about making choices that feel good to you and generate an expectation of more and better to come in your life and the environment.

The basic premise of a personal sustainability program is reducing your carbon footprint; lighten the load on the planet as well as be good to yourself, others, and your community.

Do the green thing via subcategory or importance. Categorizing gives awareness to the habit change as it relates to the sustainability concept. For instance, energy consumption and turning off a light as you leave a room, or replacing bulbs, or using an energy strip. Another perspective is to prioritize the habit as it relates to environmental impact. If your carbon footprint is large due to travel, then exploring ways to reduce your travel. Suggestions made in our eco friendly consulting include: telework, virtual conferences, and green travel options.

Schedule time. If the habit requires a new way of doing things, then schedule time to learn the new habit, integrate it into your routine, and make adjustments as you learn. Bike commuting would be an excellent example of embracing a new habit, reducing your carbon footprint, yet, requiring time to learn and develop a new routine.

Reward and Review. The process of linking sustainable living with new opportunities for development creates a personal incentive that further promotes the process. Sustainable actions are reinforced daily by positive feedback from realizing your personal goals.

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.” – Unknown If you never start, you will never get anywhere. In fact, did you know that approximately 80 percent of pollination by insects is carried out by bees? Maybe that's why the call them busy bees.   Perhaps, but curiously, what would our world look like today if those living a sustainable lifestyle were as busy as bees in sprinkling or "pollinating" our daily lives with eco action? Unlock your green potential for our greater good.

What Defines the World’s Most Sustainable Company?

Friday, February 3, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Business sustainability supporters and critics continue to debate the ability to link environmental and social responsibility to business profitability. Without a definitive financial incentive, companies have historically been unreceptive to the idea of integrating sustainability concepts into core business practices without a definitive return on their investment. However, recent trends and business rankings indicate that the business world may be changing their view.

Within Marc Gunther’s post, Ratings, rankings and the world’s most sustainable company, we take a tour of the recent Top 100 as defined by the Canadian magazine Corporate Knights in their 8th release of their business sustainability honors. The list was developed from the measure of environmental and social impacts in the areas of energy, carbon, waste and water productivity, diversity and employee turnover, safety and, interestingly, the ratio between CEO and average worker pay.

While these measures do not appear overly surprising or may even seem too straight forward, our sustainability consulting can appreciate the link to company financials. Tying impacts to economic performance, our sustainability consulting feels these results add weight to a comprehensive business sustainability measure.

“Interestingly, these more sustainable companies have outperformed their peers. In a year in which Wall Street was occupied and capitalism became a bad word, the Global 100 companies serve as ambassadors for a better, cleaner kind of capitalism which, it also turns out, is more profitable.” -Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights

At Taiga Company, our professional consulting practice acknowledges the business sustainability leaders who define economic links between sustainability concepts and business value drivers. Within our own work, we provide information and professional consulting services to assist corporate and small business leadership build business sustainability strategies and continuous management plans.

Twitter, Facebook, and Blogging: The Three Pillars of Sustainability Communications?

Thursday, February 2, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

The requirements to build and maintain a sustainable business today are quite different than they were just ten years ago. The triple bottom line, also known as people, planet, profit is recognized by sustainability professionals as the the three pillars of sustainability. In essence -a process by which firms manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities.

Companies on the leading edge are evaluating the economic, social and environmental impacts that will ultimately affect profitability. Green business practices are becoming more and more the norm, as companies both large and small realize the value of integrating eco awareness and sustainability concepts into their operations and business strategies. But, how are small and large sized businesses communicating their sustainability successes?

Is it possible that Twitter, Facebook, and blogging could be the three pillars of sustainable communications? Two recent posts, Business Blogging for a Sustainable Purpose
and Who are the Tweeps Tweeting for A Better Green Brand? explore the value of social media for sustainability communications. Our friend Fabian Pattberg asks, Facebook – A useful Sustainability and CSR platform? Mirroring thoughts on the subject include those found in the post, Sustainability Professionals + Facebook = Worth It?

With sustainability concepts and definitions still subject to interpretation and debate, there are challenges to effectively and clearly communicating the business sustainability message. Facebook offers opportunities to engage differently with stakeholders compared to the other platforms.

Consumers, prospects, potential business partners require different levels of stakeholder engagement and buy in to your company as well as to your definition of business sustainability. While Facebook may or may not be the most dynamic platform, there are ways to make a sustainability social media marketing strategy work for you.

If you are looking for more information on how to use Facebook to grow your sustainability practice of create social media success for your business, consider checking out our 8 -week, self-guided, online course called Social Media for Sustainability Professionals. It includes an entire section devoted to Facebook (with additional sections focused on websites, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging, Google+ and more!)—including the difference between a Facebook profiles and pages, privacy issues, tactics for growing your fan base, and mistakes to avoid.

Capitalizing on Sustainable SCM Trends

Thursday, February 2, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

In a January post, the Supply Chain Standard cited some all too familiar procurement predictions for 2012. Referencing a recent procurement professionals survey conducted by Science World and eWorld Purchasing, the article defined cost cutting as once again at the top of most sustainable supply chain agendas.

84 per cent of procurement professionals say cutting costs is their main procurement priority for 2012

51 per cent ranked spend control and visibility highly in their long term strategy

However, the survey also revealed that 85 per cent of companies are planning to invest in procurement technology, training or recruitment. Building on this bright spot in the professional feedback, our sustainability consulting foresees a wave of strategic sustainable supply chain activity. Following with the 34 per cent that plan to tackle categories, we believe the next generation of sustainable category management includes a new level of responsibility across all activities. Successful implementations will require visibility,engagement, and stakeholder alignment with company defined sustainability objectives.

Our sustainability consulting has already witnessed how leading supply chain focused organizations define visibility as a critical first step in managing business risk. We find that these companies are leveraging this total-view perspective to redefine value characteristics and performance measures of a ‘new’ sustainable supply chain. With this insight, companies can build strategies, management plans, and improvement process to address:

Material sources: the quality of supply and manner in which it is obtained.

Supplier business practices: the ethical standards by which business partners conduct their business.

Supplier business processes: the environmental and social impacts of supplier operations.

Supplier business relations and affiliations: the quality of the category supply chain sub-tier relationships.

Building of a comprehensive business sustainability plan includes incorporating sustainability concepts in the supply chain. Our sustainability consulting and small business resources provide information and tools to clients seeking to develop successful business sustainability strategies that transcend traditional business sustainability strategies, like cost cutting. Visit us at Taiga Company to learn more.

Managing Risk as a Business Opportunity

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

The next time you have a moment, try a simple exercise: write down the five biggest risks facing your company, the five biggest opportunities on the immediate horizon, and the five most important pieces of information you are lacking that could have a huge impact to future success. You may be surprised to see business sustainability concepts are all over the page. The ability to connect the dots on the paper requires the right business intelligence resources to capture and leverage the information.

What is on your sheet? In our professional consulting, the most common feedback we receive from business leaders is: there aren’t any business sustainability opportunities on my paper. Why should I pursue action without reward? The answer is simple: managing risk can become a business opportunity. Consider sustainability as a profit center: crazy talk or real possibility?

According to an Aberdeen Group study, The ROI of Sustainability: Making the Business Case, top performing organizations view sustainability as a "must have" strategy for long term business viability and success.

Whether your company is just becoming familiar with the concept of business sustainability or is sustainability leader in your industry, sustainable performance can no longer be viewed as an option. If valued by your stakeholders, sustainability can become a risk or an opportunity. According to BSR, reviewing and reflecting on business sustainability strategies is especially important for companies with investors who care about why and how they expect to create value with their efforts.

Implementing sustainable business strategies in any organization requires a complex mixture of finesse: realistic, achievable and measurable. Finding that magical balance is what is required to make change stick.

• Define Value - each organization identifies value differently - what is it from their perspective?
• Bridge the Gap - Connect the dots from the current status to the vision by helping those to capture their own vision and define a path forward to live into it
• Speak the Business Language - Tie Business objectives to sustainability. What gets measured gets managed. Hence, identify key metrics and tie to the bottom line.
• Bridge Up - what existing programs wrap up to an overarching sustainability plan?
• Who's at the table? Invite all stakeholders to the table to include buy in from all.

These efforts enable proactive businesses leaders to capture the benefits of sustainable business: reduce business costs, improve business reputation, and attract and maintain top job candidates.

Accelerating Creativity through Sustainable Business Partnering

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Global trends and resulting business sustainability action support the concept that innovation will be essential for business growth over the next decade as companies seek new opportunities, improve their competitive positions and provide more sustainable value to their customers. We ask: How can aligned business sustainability objectives enable both internal and external innovation? Which of your many business sustainability stakeholders will play the most critical roles?

The recent article, P&G Adapts R&D Model, discusses the innovation strategies of one the world’s largest companies. Despite its enormous resources, Procter & Gamble is taking a different and some would argue, a more sustainable approach to build its business. Leveraging collaborative research, the company has already witnessed success through its innovation committees with key business stakeholders.

"In fact, today, over 80% of our innovations have some kind of external partner. We even have joint development laboratories with our suppliers," Bob McDonald, Procter & Gamble's CEO

As a strong advocate for such collaborative efforts, our sustainability consulting practice encourages companies to explore the circumstances, frameworks and parameters necessary to spark creativity, idea generation, and true innovation within the supply chain. We find innovation partnerships tend to excel on several fronts:

Providing suppliers with the right level of guidance to drive ideation.

Providing internal business partners with a clear framework that defines their responsibilities.

Making the IP sharing process easier.

At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting practice believes that business sustainability is the vehicle which enables a business to meet your goals of profit, growth, and revenue while positively impacting the environment and social realms of your business. By capturing creative ideas and inspired actions of both internal and external business stakeholders, a company can create an innovative environment that promotes long-term success. P&G offers an interesting approach from which to build your own innovation strategies and programs.

Focus: A Prerequisite to Green Choices

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

When it comes to daily choices, our personal and professional consulting views each decision point as an opportunity to integrate eco awareness into an eventual outcome. While the result of every decision does not have to be directly aligned with sustainable values, the inclusion of sustainability concepts in the thought process can greatly improve the evaluation. Seems simple enough?

Yes, but look around and you'll see going green slogans everywhere. The web is full of information on going green, living a sustainable lifestyle and advice on personal sustainability. For many, this mountain of information can be confusing and at times a little overwhelming. In fact, the post, A Practical Plan for When You Feel Overwhelmed, refers to overwhelm and its effect on our ability to make choices. "The more numerous our options, the more difficult it becomes to choose a single one, and so we end up choosing none at all. That's what happens when we have too many things to do. We become overwhelmed and don't do any of them."

Noted, we are all faced with an endless number of choices every day that can lead us in one direction or another. Standing at a decision intersection, some may choose to turn right while others may choose to turn left. The outcome of a left versus right turn is not the concern. Our sustainability consulting simply asks the question: was sustainability part of your decision making process?

Rather than getting bogged down with the enormity of the sustainability discussion, our sustainability consulting advises clients to first focus on solutions that are within their control and which have immediate impact. For example, two areas of immediate personal impact lie in energy conservation and source control. We encourage individual efforts to identify the ‘low hanging fruit’ at home first.

Conservation is a solution within every one's control and can be a huge difference maker. Our green living consulting helps clients identify personal mitigation strategies as well as understand the nature of their consumption.

• What appliances and/or equipment are consuming the most energy?
• How are these high energy consumption items being run (simultaneously, non-efficiently, etc.)
• When are these high energy consumption items running (when not needed, during peak load times, etc.).
• Are appliances and/or equipment left plugged in when not in use?

However, conservation is not the end of the story. Managing your energy source can be very simple and often does not have to be a huge capital expense. Depending on where you live and work, you may have a choice in your electricity provider. While the debate over deregulation continues, the ability to choose may offer you the opportunity to make a significant difference.

• By simply choosing a “100% Wind Energy” option, the average household can have the same impact as not driving their car 20,000 miles in that same year.

• The same choice made for a “Renewable Energy Option” (typically 90% hydro, 10% Wind) would equal a 2,000 mile reduction.

Whether you have the capital to make home improvements, the power to choose, or simply a desire to consume less, the decisions you make have real impacts on your business, life, environment.

Lessons from First Retail Industry Sustainability Report

Monday, January 30, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

“RILA's 2012 Retail Sustainability Report, released this morning, offers an interesting look at the evolving philosophy on sustainability within an industry that has the largest energy bills and the second largest amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the commercial sector of the U.S. economy.” -Environmental Protection Agency.

As the introduction to the report explains, the retail industry now recognizes ‘sustainability’ as not only a core value but as being an essential component to the sector’s success. As a result, sustainability concepts are being introduced into strategy, operations, workforce engagement, consumer interfaces, and community involvement.

Our sustainability takes note of this report’s findings, as the sector seeks cost savings major operating improvements in similar areas of business sustainability interest to most other major industries. In addition the report spotlights the challenges the industry must overcome in the near future. Of particular interest to our professional consulting are the defined challenges and ongoing efforts to improve the engagement of the industry’s internal and external stakeholders. Key issues include:
Framing the critical issues
Anticipating future trends
Recognizing challenges
Sharing examples of how retailers are responding

At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting practice believes that the mark of progress, whether internal or external, is an excellent a point of discussion. Relative to business sustainability monitoring and reporting, the debate continues on whether a company should focus on transparency and continuous individual improvement or corporate performance measures relative to a broader all-encompassing target. Rather than separating traditional performance from sustainability, we seek out those who see these as parallel pursuits. The expanded focus and demonstrated success in the retail industry has moved this sector one step forward to this goal.

Who are the Tweeps Tweeting for A Better Green Brand?

Thursday, January 26, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

It's been questioned if social media change the world? Can it make our world a better world? How is it advancing the sustainability conversation? Considering that for the first time in the history of humanitarian aid, the Internet and social media provides individual donors and worthy organizations the ability to connect meaningfully on opposite sides of the world, our sustainability consulting practice would have to say, yes. Social media engagement can help save the world. More importantly, can social media help YOUR world? Your brand? Your clients?

Social media executed successfully can be a powerful vehicle to build sustainable business communications by engaging with stakeholders. As explained in our professional consulting, social media engagement provides business a global reach. Besides the marketing a team can do in the local community, a social media marketing strategy allow businesses to have a global following allowing individuals, communities, businesses, and non-government organizations the ability to connect with the business in meaningful discussion from anywhere in the world in real time.

Who are the key players tweeting to a better world? Better brands?

The just released,SMI -Wizness Social Media Sustainability Index, has been prepared specifically to provide key social media insight for Sustainability, CSR, internal comms, corporate communications and marketing professionals and the agencies that work with them. By downloading the report you'll learn how:
leading companies like GE, PepsiCo, BBVA and Timberland are using editorial techniques and effective storytelling to communicate sustainability initiatives.
the Financial Services sector is pioneering social media thought leadership and new crowdfunding ventures.
10 companies are liberating their Sustainability Reports with social media innovation
companies are using more than 25 different types of social media platforms, apps and tools to connect with sustainability communities.
Who is part of this year's Wizness Green Twitterati (hint - we are @TaigaCompny)

Within Taiga Company's professional consulting, we've used social media success to expand eco awareness and introduce sustainability concepts to others. Social media is effective because it addresses two of the biggest hurdles of social change: reaching the people who can actually make a difference, and providing the means and channels for them to do so.

Want more information about how to use Twitter to grow your sustainability practice? You're in luck! Check out our 8-week, self-guided, online course called Social Media for Sustainability Professionals. It includes an entire section devoted to Twitter (with additional sections focused on websites, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogging, Google+, and more!)—including Twitter etiquette, managing your time on Twitter, and building an engaged audience.

Wasteless Wednesday

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Where does eco inspiration come from? Everywhere! In a recent Agrion webinar, Exploring Catalyst for Corporate Sustainability Culture Change, we stated that eco inspiration can present itself in many forms and specifically via social media. Using twitter as an example, #WastelessWed is a day to analyze how much we are wasting and uses the day to focus on ways we can all reduce, reuse & recycle more.

First, what exactly does reducing waste mean? When you avoid making garbage in the first place, you eliminate the disposing of waste or recycling it later. It's the first component of the sustainability concept of the three R's: reduce, reuse, recycle. In honor of #Wastelesswednesday, let's take a look at different areas to reduce waste.

Reduce Food Waste:

Pre plan your meals, buy in bulk, and prepare what you need.
Compost and turn your old food into healthy soil.

Reduce when you shop and shop with the environment in mind:

Purchase products that are returnable, reusable or refillable. Use reusable and refillable containers in your home instead of disposable items.
Purchase products with the least amount of packaging.
Get the most out of what you buy by comparing warranties and cost to repair or replace the item.
Look for products designed with the environment in mind. Organic clothing, sustainable furnishings, and solar powered products are just a few examples.
Rent or borrow instead of purchasing.
Reduce paper consumption
Find new life for old furnishings, appliances and clothes

By thinking of ways to reduce waste when you shop, work and play, it raises the level of eco awareness in your day and contributes to living a sustainable lifestyle. There are fun and creative ways to reduce waste and also be good to the Earth at the same time.

For eco inspiration, follow @WastelessWed on twitter. It’s a great way to green your hump day.

Applied Leadership in Business Sustainability Program Management

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

What is a leader? What are the qualities of great sustainable leadership? Does leadership only rest on the shoulders of those in the top positions in your organization or is it present in each of us? Our sustainability reviews leadership qualities in business sustainability program management.

We leverage the GreenBiz article, Inside Kohl's Green Energy Leadership, as an example of how one company is implementing their business sustainability program through effective leadership. Applying some basic management principles, Kohl’s has implemented an impressive energy reduction program. Some general concepts which our sustainability consulting believes could be applied to similar programs include:

Start Small: “You just don't start your energy program with a fuel cell installation or a solar system…The first step is just to start, and usually to start small. An energy audit, learning how much energy your company uses, and where, is a great place to begin, because that gives you a push toward energy efficiency.”

Establish Commitment: Commit to reducing your energy use and reducing your carbon footprint.

Focus Your Efforts: Focus in on one area to start with, maybe look at doing an energy audit or doing a lighting upgrade.

Quantify Your Progress: Make sure you're measuring your results.

More companies today are implementing leveraged leadership cultures to enable every role in an organization to align business sustainability concepts within traditional practices. In fact, our sustainability consulting foresees a new age of sustainable business, one in which organizations recognize the value in leveraging their internal resources and business stakeholder feedback as a catalyst for effective business sustainability program management.

Expanding the Sustainable Talent Conversation

Monday, January 23, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

In order to meet the growing demands of business sustainability and maintain a competitive advantage over the competition, businesses are encouraged to take a hard look at their internal resources and talent management processes. Thus, our professional consulting often asks executives: Is ‘sustainable’ talent management a top priority? How are you incentivizing this more engaged and diverse culture?

Business Finance Magazine recently released an interesting article, Is Your Value Proposition Still Working?, which examines the critical business sustainability concept of resource alignment. Referencing a CEO survey, the post explains how a growing percentage of companies are making a significant change and offering more no-financial rewards.

“An employee value proposition represents everything of value a company provides to its employees. Financial rewards are, not surprisingly, a key part of any value proposition. However, there is much more to it than that. Employees also value training and development opportunities, robust and clear career paths and progression, workplace flexibility, and a welcoming and supportive company culture, to name just a few elements of any employee value proposition.”

Supported by articles like this one, our sustainability consulting research leads us to the simple conclusion that organizations are utilizing an expanded view of talent management. This altered perspective encompasses alternative skills, career paths and employee incentives. We find leading ‘sustainable’ talent management focused organizations are addressing the challenges of:

How to determine the characteristics needed in a sustainable workforce?
How to differentiate and attract top talent?
How to develop, engage, and retain top performers and sustainability leaders?
How to motivate and incentivized a workforce that wants more from its employer?

The ability to plan and take action to address resource demands has long been a defining characteristic of a successful business. Our sustainability consulting practice works with businesses to understand the value of the right talent and tools which are required to strengthen their company.

Supply Security: A Top Sustainable SCM Priority in 2012

Friday, January 20, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

A recent Wall Street Journal article, Reinforcing the Supply Chain , discusses the global supply challenges companies faced last year. Spotlighting the natural disasters and political upheavals that marked 2011, the WSJ identifies some of the business sustainability vulnerabilities even the largest multinational corporations can face when caught unaware. However, as the author states: awareness has not necessarily led to action.

Our sustainability consulting prescribes to a strategic approach to sustainable supply chain management. Expanding upon our own post, Continued Evolution of Sustainable Category Management in 2012, we explore the advantages of focused and integrated business processes with key suppliers as stabilizing and risk mitigating strategy.

“Leading procurement organizations invest in upfront protection for critical supply in addition to their risk monitoring and response efforts. When determining what supply to protect, first consider where your biggest vulnerabilities are (i.e., what supply puts the most revenue at risk) and then review your suppliers to determine which ones are most closely linked to those supplies.” -Procurement Strategy Council

Moving forward into 2012, our business sustainability consulting prescribes to the idea that the next generation of ‘sustainable’ category management will continue to emerge in the New Year. Focused on a new level of responsibility across all supply chain activities, efforts in 2012 will drive deeper into category value by addressing more pointed supply questions.

What is your commercial strategy?
Do you have supplier/contract management plans?
How does your company approach demand and demand management planning?
Is there a communication and change management process in place?
How do you view continuous supply chain improvement?

Business Blogging for a Sustainable Purpose

Thursday, January 19, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

How does the old adage go? Two aspirin a day keeps the doctor away? Well, we subscribe to the idea that blogging 2 posts a day, inspires eco action each day. Truth be told, as sustainability consultants, we like to lead by example.

Within our business sustainability consulting practice, it's not uncommon to encounter those executives that say sustainability is too hard, too resource intensive, or that it's a passing trend. With big aspirations, 3 years ago Taiga Company set out with the intention of writing 2 blog post each day to dispel the myth that sustainability and living a sustainable lifestyle is hard. Blogging is sort of like writing an essay. Imagine writing 2 essays, every week day, in addition to your regular workload, the requirements of your personal life, sick or not sick, holiday or not holiday, vacation or no vacation…you get the picture.

There are ups and downs in life and there are easy days and harder days. While it's easy to be green or execute sustainable business strategies when things are good, most fall short when the challenges increase. The intention of writing 2 blog post each weekday is a living example that you do the best you can with what you've got. Some post are great. Others, not so great. But, the posts demonstrate the commitment to sustainability regardless of the ebbs and flows of life. And, it demonstrates that sustainability isn't all or nothing. Short story: we all can take eco action daily and we don't have to be perfect about how we do it.

So what about blogging for a sustainable purpose? To have an impact in communicating the sustainability business strategies of your business or consulting firm, it's not required that you blog as frequently. However, there are benefits to blogging. Blogging on sustainability related topics offers a host of benefits: insights to new, fresh perspectives of sustainability; a resource for tools, services, white papers; and more importantly, how your business is leading in the sustainability space.

If you are new to blogging you may not realize there are ways to spread the great green news that you are writing about in your blog posts.

Consider building your community of linking your blog post to LinkedIn and Facebook updates.
Engage with stakeholders on Twitter to promote relationships.
Collaborate and participate in conversation on LInkedIn groups specific to sustainability concepts of water, energy, and carbon.

The biggest contribution anyone can make in the sustainability space is to share, communicate, and inspire others by living the example of how sustainability works in your life or business. Blogging as a sustainable purpose is a vehicle that offers a communication channel so others can learn from your eco actions and discover the value of sustainability for themselves.

If this blog entry whetted your appetite for more information about how sustainability professionals can use blogging to grow their business, you may be interested in our 8-week, self-guided, online course called Social Media for Sustainability Professionals. It includes an entire section devoted to blogging (with additional sections focused on websites, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and more!)—including how to use categories to properly tag and organize your blog entries, how to come up with blog content, and how to properly manage your time on the blog.

The Growing Need for a Social Media Marketing Strategy

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

There is a sustainable business mindset that is gaining tremendous momentum, yet many companies are still just coming to grips with it: Today’s consumers are becoming more socio/eco aware and companies with a traditional business approach are sure to witness a diminishing return in simple product marketing.

Described in greater detail in the Bloomberg Business week article, The Key to Success? Your Corporate Mission, today’s consumers are less focused on products than they are on the companies who sell them.

“The world has wised up. No one is going to be tricked into buying something by cute TV commercials. In the Internet Age, everyone has the ability to find out everything about your company, market, and products. If you want to sell, you’d better show customers that you care intensely about your product and what it stands for.”

This increase in buyer eco awareness has resulted in a significant shift in sustainable business expectations. Our sustainability consulting finds that companies now realize that a solid reputation goes beyond product characteristics. Consumers want to know they are being heard. Are you listening to what the world is saying about your company?

The simple truth is that consumers are now in driver’s seat and business sustainability actions speak louder than words. In fact, a study by Green Seal and EnviroMedia Social Marketing reveals:

Only 9 percent of consumer say green advertising is their primary influencer
15 percent cite brand loyalty
19 percent say word of mouth
And 25 percent of consumers say it is a product’s reputation

A strong emphasis on reputation management is not a new concept, but it has become especially important in driving consumer eco awareness and business sustainability perception. The key is to not just promote but to engage with the outside world. Our sustainability consulting works with clients to leverage the power of two-way stakeholder communication as part of a business sustainability social media strategy. Come visit with us to find out more.

New Year Perspectives on Sustainable Business Development

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Evidence now indicates the gap between global awareness and business action may in fact be the single largest opportunity for global sustainability progress. Specific to business sustainability monitoring and reporting, the debate continues on whether a company should focus on transparency and continuous individual improvement or corporate performance measures relative to a broader all-encompassing target. Rather than separating traditional performance from sustainability, would a business be better served in aligning business sustainability with global standards or individual financial reporting?

An Environmental Leader post, Implementing a Universal Sustainability Scorecard: How Do Your Partners Measure Up?, recently weighed-in on this conversation with its own perspective of global measures. Arguing on behalf of universal applicability and standardization, the article cites the rate of business sustainability concepts adoption as the major value driver.

“For any company, no matter what their industry, implementing sustainability standards within their own organizations is an obvious first step. Creating a universal scorecard will not only help smaller companies without resources take that next step sooner, but will also help larger organizations streamline their processes and achieve sustainability more efficiently.”

An alternative perspective presented in our own post, Varying Perspectives of Sustainability Measurement and Reporting, focuses on incremental and continuous improvement relative to traditional standards. Rather than jumping directly to global consequence and accountability, a global business shift toward greater internal transparency and an individual ‘step-change’ in business sustainability metrics could drive significant progress.

What are the business sustainability risks poised to limit company growth?
What are the business sustainability threats that may impact stakeholder return?
How have recent business actions impacted internal and external costs?
How have recent business actions affected revenue?

At Taiga Company, we foresee the future of business sustainability going far beyond the implementation of standards. The leaders of tomorrow will continue to push the edge of business sustainability to transform individual business performance. We believe the right strategies and business resources can help tie your sustainable business strategies to your company’s bottom line.

Sustainable SCM – Release Your Boldness

Friday, January 13, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

In a recent Supply Management post, Creative Industry, author James Napier from Best Buy discusses the challenges with business innovation and ways to create break-through ideas in business. Operating under the premise that managed innovation is not an easy task, the article probes the question: Can boldness become a creative business sustainability driver?

“Leading organizations provide staff with tools and techniques to curtail biases and assumptions that limit bold thinking. They also provide a model of breakthrough thinking for staff to emulate by defining what good ideas are, showing staff the effort and process that leaders apply to generate them, and exposing staff to a variety of breakthrough idea examples.” –CBE Views

The growing focus on supply chain management as a strategic function within the organization has proven there to be opportunity to reduce cost and add value to the bottom line. Expanding on internal efforts, our sustainability consulting finds that today’s bold SCM organizations are looking to replicate the same business sustainability successes in their external processes and business relationships. We have witnessed how companies are:

Proactively incorporating sustainability concepts to decrease total supply chain cost.

Promoting greater eco awareness into transportation and inventory practices to drive efficiency, increase utilization of key assets, and address future regulatory changes.

Creating a common understanding of sustainability concepts, goals and objectives to provide a platform for supply chain discussion and continuous improvements.

Rather than regressing to a stagnate slow-moving model, simply passing along the cost and risk to suppliers, our sustainability consulting follows the progress of bold leaders who are exploring new sources of sustainable supply. Taiga Company works with proactive organizations seeking the unique value opportunity in sustainable supply chain management.

Exploring Sustainable Business Innovation Structures

Thursday, January 12, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

“The wave of creative destruction looming over companies like Eastman Kodak Co., Blockbuster Inc., Barnes & Noble Inc. and the record labels has been focusing the minds of American executives on two questions: Are large companies able to innovate quickly enough in an age of rapid disruption? And if they can, how do they do it?”

This lead-in to the Wall Street Journal post, Avoiding Innovation’s Toll, which describes the potential fate for many organizations lacking in creative and sustainable business models. In contrast, the article explains how companies that do manage to survive are ruthless about change.

An accelerated and comprehensive approach to traditional internal R&D programs is to allow the external world into the creative process. Our sustainability consulting firmly supports an open innovation approach to business sustainability. This offers stakeholders the opportunity to become engaged in the future of a business. It also recognizes that all key stakeholders have a vested interest in the success of the company and creates openness to new ideas that promote business success. The key is effectively engaging resources at all levels of the value chain.

Include sustainability concepts in your employee personal development plans.
Engage financial stakeholders in the sustainability conversation.
Set direction for business sustainability alignment within the supply chain.
Recognize the ‘innovative customer’ as a key contributor for new product development.

From our sustainability consulting experience, it is clear that innovation is essential for small businesses to thrive and survive over the next decade. However, the article above demonstrates how even the most stable of organizations can fall prey to stagnate business models. Taiga Company encourages every organization to leverage the creative powers of their stakeholder networks.

Green Websites that Inspire Eco Action form the Inside Out

Thursday, January 12, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

Does your website mirror your business sustainability values? As viewed in our professional consulting, many websites succeed in presenting basic information about business sustainability programs and service offerings. However, we encourage clients to demonstrate sustainable leadership in a variety of innovative ways. There are Companies with GREAT Sustainability Websites and what makes them so special? As we refer to the triple bottom line, of people, profit, planet in our sustainability consulting, the three pillars of inspiring green websites include 3 key elements:

Website business objectives are met:

What is this company?
What kinds of customers does this company work with?
Who are their competitors?
What makes this company special?
What are the services?
Are they credible?
Why would I want to work with them?

The website is green. There are web hosts that are powered by solar panel, wind, or some type of combination of traditional and natural power. Green web hosting typically involves several of the following elements:

Servers directly powered by renewable energy.
Energy use offset using a carbon credit.
Energy use offset using a Renewable Energy Credit (REC).
Hosting servers optimized for energy efficiency.

The website inspires eco action. After all the energy audits and establishing sustainable business strategies have been executed and measured, sharing and communicating the sustainability success stories has never been more critical. We note in our eco friendly training that sustainability concepts are universal but how your business or sustainability consulting practice uniquely applies them is the secret sauce to compelling content that inspires others to eco action.

Doesn't it make sense to have the website reflect sustainability values? Social Media for Sustainability Professionals is an 8 week, self-guided, online program specifically designed to help you communicate sustainability via your website and social media.

Business Sustainability Planning - The Cure for Economic Volatility

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 by Julie Urlaub

“Whether it is a temporary phenomenon or a permanent structural shift, the market’s increased volatility and uncertainty makes planning and budgeting hard for finance staff. How can Finance plan effectively without an idea of what the future looks like?”

This quote was taken from the recent post, Does Rolling Forecasting Work?, which examines business sustainability planning in the continued volatile market. Agreeing that the dynamic nature of the recovery has thus far been responsible for slow growth, prominent economist debate how to most effectively budget and invest capital in the coming year.

Most major companies we work with in our business sustainability consulting utilize some sort of forecast to predict and mitigate future risks. Presented in the article is the concept of a ‘rolling forecast’ and its applicability in a seemingly unpredictable business environment. Taking a more sustainable long-term perspective, the post presents the following comments on trend-based forecasting:

More drag, same accuracy: Companies using rolling forecasts report less efficient performance management processes and no improvement in forecast accuracy. They update forecasts more frequently, creating additional work for the business and finance, but their forecast accuracy does not improve.

Better (adjusted) target-setting: Despite weak efficiency and average forecast accuracy, companies using rolling forecasting are more satisfied than others with their overall forecast output. Why? Well, these companies do report one very important improvement. They have more insight into the drivers of performance, and this allows them to better adjust targets mid-year.

Our sustainability consulting does not prescribe to any one predictive method; however, we do believe in a long-term business sustainability outlook. We believe that each organization must find its own unique drivers of success based on a long-tem and comprehensive business sustainability plan. For this very reason, Taiga Company provides its clients with tools and resources to build focused strategies and programs which span short-term economic volatility.