Sustainable Business Strategies

In a recent article by the Wall Street Journal, a summary of sustainable business best practices was issued offering suggestions for sustainable business strategies.   As a sustainability consultant, I couldn't agree more with the information provided; however, I was left questioning how do the busy, overworked, under resourced business owner, executive translate a conceptual best practice into a tangible business strategy that delivers results to the bottom line?  It's not as is sustainability implementation is mainstream.  In fact, most are still struggling with what sustainability is and how it applies to their business. 
 
Regarding reducing carbon emissions, the suggested best practice was to look for things  that boost productivity and simultaneously reduce carbon emissions.  Conceptually, that's easy to grasp but how does that translate to daily behavior that is measurable, impacts the bottom line, and meets the environmental criteria?  To bridge the gap from concept to eco action, following are 5 sustainable business strategies that address that recommended best practice.
 
Interestingly, did you know that if 10% of the nation's workforce telecommutes one day a week, we would avoid the frustration of driving 24.4 million miles, we'd breathe air with 12,963 tons less air pollution, and we'd conserve more than 1.2 million gallons of fuel each week?
 
3.  Co-working provides a gathering spot for individual entrepreneurs or employees from multiple companies sharing a common work space.  Basically, a bridged solution between traditional office locations and telecommuting, that also offers a unique option for those concerned about their employment carbon footprints.
 
4.  Bike commuting programs: As explained in our eco friendly consulting the benefits to employers in adopting a bike commuting program include:

• Increase worker productivity: Fit employees are more alert, more productive, perform better and more efficiently.
• Improve employee health.
• Lower health care costs: healthier employees can reduce health insurance costs.
• Reduced carbon emissions.
• Reduce turnover: Employers who appreciate workers' personal needs have less employee turnover.

There are benefits to the bike commuters as well.  Not only are employees expanding eco awareness in the community and within the business, they are also elevating their moods, saving money, and improving well being. 
 
5.  CRM and online invoice and billing  applications for small businesses that boost productivity as well as reduce carbon emissions.

According to a study conducted by the American Marketing Association and Fleishman-Hillard, Inc., nearly one in six corporate marketers and communicators think their organizations will increase involvement in environmental sustainability initiatives over the next two to three years, and half believe the economy will actually encourage the adoption of sustainable practices.  Why? Because our business sustainability consulting practice understands that sustainable business strategies are key to creating winning workplaces. 
 
Aside from the positive impact sustainable business practices deliver to the bottom line, today’s employees are looking for more than just the ‘green’ in their paycheck.  “Engaged employees are not just committed. They are not just passionate or proud. They have a line-of-sight on their own future and on the organization’s mission and goals. They are enthused and in gear using their talents and discretionary effort to make a difference in their employer’s quest for sustainable business success”.  - Employee Engagement Report 2008.  

Most companies may recognize the high-level consequences of their decisions; however, not all take the time to evaluate the positive and negative impacts of their choices on the communities in which they conduct their day-to-day business.  The link between business sustainability and a thriving business community is more visible today than at any time in recent past.  What role does your company play in the business community?

As a sustainability consulting firm working in our own community of ecopreneurs, small ‘green’ businesses, and action-oriented corporations, we are constantly reminded of the community benefits to both our professional consulting and the stakeholders who engage with our business.  We recognize that a company and the business community in which it operates are closely and strategically linked.

Taiga Company seeks to be a source of business sustainability information and a positive example of community values.  Our professional consulting focuses on and seeks to partner with individuals and organizations who:

•    Recognize a thriving community as being essential to business sustainability.

•    Incorporate supporting business sustainability strategies and a governance structures into their core business processes.

•    Align business actions to support and engage community goals and objectives.

•    Engage the business community as a key stakeholder in corporate planning.

•    Defined internal performance metrics to evaluate ongoing business actions on the community.

As part of our sustainability plan and company core values, we are committed to the empowerment of others.  We believe that we must operate in a matrix of value adding relationships: with employees, with the supporting organizations, and with peer companies. 

In speaking with prominent business leaders, we have come to realize there are a wide variety of opinions on the topic of sustainability.  Some view business sustainability as re-purposed business jargon, while others stress sustainable development to be the most pressing issue facing their organization. 

The willingness to ask and address some basic questions often differentiates business views and set varying business sustainability efforts apart.  Leading companies are adopting more comprehensive definitions of “sustainability” and implementing business sustainability strategies that run consistently through their core functions.  These organizations are chasing business sustainability value:

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to minimize business risk.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to protect and differentiate business reputation.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to increase sales and ensure market position.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to ensure viable operations.

•    Corporate commitment to sustainability to ensure sustainable supply.

At a minimum, companies are now leveraging sustainability concepts to address their business exposure. The ability to manage and mitigate business risk often depends on the availability and access exposure.  Being able to sift through what is important and what is not can be a determining factor in transforming a good decision into business turning point.

These sustainable business strategies enable executives to focus on more than just cost and risk management.  They provide visibility to leaders that their response to environmental and social pressures for sustainable business practices can ultimately affect company profitability.  When you think of it, the title is really not that important.  It's whether or not business sustainability is occurring is what is important.

Choosing a business name is one of the most important aspects in starting a business. The name you choose represents the image and label of the business and carries a powerful energy.  In as much as biomimicry is used to inspire sustainable solutions by emulating nature, in a similar fashion, Taiga Company too found its essence inspired from the environment.
 
Taiga, pronounced, tahy-guh is a biome that stretches across a large portion of Canada, Europe, and Asia.  The taiga is truly vast in extent. It makes up 27 percent of the world's total forest and occupies 11 percent of the land area of the Northern Hemisphere.  The taiga's immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the plant. 
 
It is this inspiration that Taiga Company was founded and named.  The continuous renewal that the taiga offers our planet has shaped our company vision to drive similar change in the business world.   Collectively, we are entering an age of broadening eco awareness and changing societal expectations: our personal and professional views of the world and of business are changing.  As sustainability consultants partnering with small business to integrate eco awareness, sustainability concepts, and sustainability plans, we seek to transform traditional business processes, to explore, discover, and embrace new sustainable ideas, technologies, and best practices.
 
Business sustainability isn't about sacrificing profitability or becoming an environmental business.  Sustainable business strategies span a multitude of topics: stewardship of resources; best practices; reputation, brand management and customer service; leveraging technology and enable a business to meet goals of growth and revenue generation while simultaneously contributing innovative thought leadership to some of the world’s most complex and pressing concerns.
 
Taiga Company was founded to address the growing need for individuals and organizations to incorporate sustainability concepts into their everyday world.  Through demonstrated eco action and an inquisitive, sustainable mindset, the sustainability consultants of Taiga Company seek to be the "oxygen for your business."

Evidence has shown that stakeholder engagement is critical to a company’s ability to capitalize on its eco awareness, product stewardship, reputation, and overall business sustainability.  But how are stakeholder informed of business sustainability milestones? 
 
The rise of social media has led companies to form new relationships with their stakeholders, including investors and customers, but also employees, suppliers, NGOs and others. Stakeholders are increasingly looking for authentic, transparent, two-way communication with organizations. 
 
Two questions surface:  "How does a business authentically and effectively communicate their sustainable business strategies to stakeholders?"  And "What corporate sustainability efforts should be shared?
 
Echoed throughout our professional consulting is a communication framework for companies to better communicate  their environmental message which includes:

•    Impact: Make sure it’s real
•    Alignment: Build Support Internally and Externally
•    Communication: Communicate it accurately
 
As far as which milestones to communicate?  There are the most obvious which include meeting and exceeding sustainability targets and recognizing/ rewarding the creation of specific value from sustainability efforts. What is most appealing?  Telling your story of how your business embraced sustainability concepts in your business and the results that you achieved.  Sustainability principals are universal, but how your business applies them to your circumstances and goals yields a different result and inquiring stakeholders are listening.     

Work over the past few years reveals that supply chain improvements are driven by a wide variety of business sustainability goals and objectives.  Although, businesses across all industries have one thing in common, the search for greater supply chain value.  However, the question that looms on our minds as sustainability concepts find their place in the supply chain: Are suppliers engaged in the value discussion or is this a one-way conversation?

Wal-Mart made the business sustainability headlines again this week with an announced goal to reduce their supply chain greenhouse gas emissions by a 20-million-tons by 2015.  The retail giant continues to set the mark for corporate commitment and supplier performance from which we can all leverage.  As a sustainability consultant, I am encouraged by Wal-Mart’s step forward and take note of opportunities for further expansion.

Procurement organizations view environmental and social responsibility actions within the supply chain as both a risk mitigating strategy and a business opportunity.   Companies are creating strategic sourcing and procurement guidelines aligned with their business sustainability strategies.  The next step, even beyond the Wal-Mart model, is expanding a one-way conversation to include active engagement with all key stakeholders.

•    Supply Chain Alignment: All business partners have input into the business sustainability direction and have equal value opportunity.

•    Supplier Integration: Integrated processes with supplier to improve communication, increase efficiency, and ensure common sustainable processes.

•    Customer Expectation Translation: Sustainable product expectations clearly communicated down the supply chain to material and service providers.

Creating supply chain management alignment begins with increased eco awareness, applied sustainability concepts, and corporate commitment.  However, increased value can be realized by active engagement and two-way communication with key business stakeholders.  Our sustainability consulting provides information and business resources to clients of all sizes seeking to make incremental steps towards a sustainable supply chain.

Most business leaders would agree that an organization’s strength is, in large part, based on its internal resources and the practices utilized to cultivate talent.  When it comes to building a sustainable business reputation, employees are just as critical, and who better to communicate the message than the internal business stakeholders who live the day-to-day operations.

Our professional consulting finds that highly effective organizations are doing more than simply attracting and retaining top eco-talent.  Through continuous communication and employee engagement, companies are equipping their internal stakeholders with the information to communicate their business sustainability actions.

In a recent article, The Role Your Current Employees Play in Attracting New Talent, PCS describes the critical role employees play in communicating corporate actions.  When attracting new talent, 80% of candidates view current employees as a credible source of information.

So what are your employees saying about your organization?  Are they equipped with information and engaged in your company’s business sustainability programs to passionately communicate the message you would like the world to hear?  Leading ‘green’ talent organizations are responding and creating sustainability advocates by:

•    Cascading business sustainability strategies down through organizational and individual performance goals.

•    Informing, motivating, and actively engaging employees in the company’s business sustainability programs.

•    Integrating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) into the business processes, corporate performance, and employee recognition.

•    Actively engaged with key stakeholders on sustainability issues, including employees to understand how sustainability issues are affecting the business.

•    Performing transparent reporting on sustainability concepts and sensitive issues, with both positive and negative results.

Within our professional consulting experience, we have seen many companies over the years live and die by the quality and effectiveness of their staff.  Building and motivating the organization has always been a critical criterion to retaining top talent; however, it is becoming more and more important to communicating corporate sustainability actions. 

One of the common myths around business sustainability is that it is just too hard.  In speaking with business leaders, they sometimes believe that sustainability will come at a cost and is most often a long and laboring process.  While all change comes with its own unique challenges, sustainable development can be a path to engage your organization, develop talent, and celebrate the success of the business.

At Taiga Company, our professional consulting services recognize that one of the keys to a successful implementation of a sustainable business model is the management of change.  However, effective change management does not imply one-way communication. Our sustainability resources work with organizations to actively engage stakeholder in the process and to celebrate their contributions along the way. 

•    Cerebrate and communicate the company’s sustainability strategy, including clearly stated policies, integration into core business, links to profitability

•    Announce regular updates to program management and tracking systems, including training and or certification opportunities for employees and other key stakeholders.

•    Recognize and reward the creation of specific value from sustainability defined from within organization.

•    Celebrate, acknowledge, and promote the creation of a group or individual sustainability plan that succeeds.

•    Reward value creation and business sustainability within the company’s supply chain.

•    Re-engineer the business and performance metrics of the organization, creating a direct tie to compensation.

Whether implementing a single sustainability concept or a broader business sustainability program, sustainable development often requires a mindset shift across the entire company.  Change will require the engagement and active involvement of internal resources and key stakeholders.  This stakeholder buy-in will most definitely make or break your business sustainability efforts. 

Setting milestones is often a great way to engage the organization around common goals as well as define marks of accomplishment.  But don’t stop there!!!  Acknowledge and reward sustainability efforts continuously within the organization. 

Valentine's Day is generally celebrated by personal relationships and uncelebrated in the business world.  However, as most leading sustainable business strategists know, challenging assumptions leads to innovative insights.  Using Valentine's Day as a means to connect with key stakeholders is just that endeavor: leveraging a traditional medium with a sustainable twist.  Why not celebrate Valentine's Day as a means to share and connect with stakeholders in the community?  
 
One sustainable business strategy is to partner with suppliers, customers, and employees to collectively contribute to the local community for a common cause.  As noted in our business sustainability programs, these kinds of partnerships lead to beneficial back scratching.  Organizations working together allow sustainability plans to synergize in a way neither organization can achieve on its own and also powerfully contribute on a local level. 
 
Another option?   Corporate volunteering.   Engaging employees in corporate volunteer programs transforms the corporate vision into tangible, qualified action.  By tying corporate sustainability initiatives to day to day processes, it makes a corporate sustainability plan more personable to an employee and helps employees to identify their role in corporate responsibility.   The vision is experienced differently with an emotional link formed between the employee, the organization, and community. 
 
With the essence of Valentine's Day being one of love and appreciation, perhaps sharing in the community is one way for business to celebrate Valentine's Day.         

Led by efforts by the like of Wal-Mart, many businesses are now beginning to reevaluate their traditional supply chain measures in an attempt to define the criteria that will move their organization up the business sustainability scale.  These organizations are focusing on integrating sustainability concepts directly into their purchasing processes to not only improve supply chain performance but to establish their next-generation supply chain management.

As we move forward into a new age of expanded eco awareness, the business practices of the past continue to evolve to meet shifting global expectations of the future.  This forward business sustainability progress can already be seen in the continuously evolving supply chain.  Consumer expectations are effecting the front-end while legislative pressures from all sides are creating process changes. This is all leading to a ‘leaner’ and ‘greener’ strategic sustainable supply chain.

The key to capitalizing on the forward momentum involves more that simply jumping on board.  Companies who take the wheel to set direction for their supply chain are a step ahead of the competition.  Taking a look at several traditional supply chain management activities, the key is to integrate a sustainability mindset consistently trough every process step. 

•    Supplier Qualification – ability to evaluate a supplier’s capability to meet desired financial conditions, technical specifications, quality standards, delivery requirements, and customer service levels

•    Supplier Management and Development – ability to evaluate and develop a supplier’s capabilities of providing and maintaining quality services by utilizing supplier certification processes, development programs, and continuous improvement initiatives.

•    Supplier Performance Management – ability to create and utilize processes and tools to define, analyze and monitor supplier effectiveness.

By developing the ability to create sustainability alignment and measure the performance of key supplier relationships, businesses are realizing additional value from their evolved supply chain efforts.  These leading edge organizations are developing supply chain business sustainability strategies with indicators of future success.

Whether a company is just becoming familiar with the concept of business sustainability or is a sustainability leader in the industry, there are sustainable supply chain improvements that can increase eco awareness and drive sustainable change.   Determining the criteria that will move an organization on the business sustainability scale has become the focus of the next generation of supply chain management.

A Rodale Press survey found that Americans want to have the opportunity to bike to work instead of driving, with 40 percent of those surveyed saying they would commute by bike if safe facilities were available.   Sounds good, but even better?  Getting paid to bike to work!
 
Well, hop in the saddle because  that is what many sustainable businesses across the nation are doing – paying their employees to commute by bicycle.  Commuting to work by bike can be a component of a business sustainability program.   Cycling as alternative transportation helps the environment by keeping CO2 out of the air and bikes require far less materials, energy and waste in their production than even the ‘greenest’ car.
 
Your two wheels are now recognized by the IRS as a “qualified transportation fringe benefit” which means that the costs (up to $20/month, $240/year) associated with riding your bike is eligible for reimbursement.  Explained in our eco friendly consulting, that things like spare tubes, bar tape, riding gloves, eye wear, cycling clothes, commuter bags, rain gear, lights, gloves, helmet, cost of maintenance, even the cost of a new commuter bike, basically anything you can purchase at a bike shop qualifies for reimbursement.
 
Aside from being part of a sustainable business strategy, there are countless benefits to employers in adopting a bike commuting program:

• Increase worker productivity: Fit employees are more alert, more productive, perform better and more efficiently.
• Improve employee health.
• Lower health care costs: healthier employees can reduce health insurance costs.
• Reduce parking cost.
• Reduced carbon emissions.
• Reduce turnover: Employers who appreciate workers' personal needs have less employee turnover.
• Supporting bike commuting is less expensive than an in-office fitness facility.
• Improve work/ life balance: Bike commuting can be substituted for the gym, saving employee’s personal time.
• Community engagement: Bicycles can be produced and maintained locally by local bike shops contributing to local job opportunities as part of a sustainable economy.
• Improve company image.
• Expand eco awareness within the organization and community.
• Link wellness programs with the corporate sustainability plan.

Becoming a bike friendly  office is easy.  To learn more about how your business can implement the benefit visit the League of American Bicyclists Commuter Benefit FAQs page.

Whether your company is just becoming familiar with the concept of business sustainability or you are a sustainability leader in your industry, there are change management challenges facing every business implementation.  Our experience has shown that rush of enthusiasm at the front-end of sustainable change is somehow lost along the way.  The initial passion and momentum of the organization slows as business processes and resources are called upon to take action. 

Observed in my professional consulting experience, is continuous engagement is often the most challenging yet critical aspects of any business process change. Value capture from business sustainability will come from a successful implementation of strategies that are accepted by the business’s key stakeholders.  Keys to success often include:

•    Engaging key stakeholders (e.g. employees, investors, customers) early in the process.
•    Developing sustainable business strategies based on stakeholder feedback.
•    Clear and continuous communication of an action plan to the entire organization.
•    Shift the mind set from sustainability implementation to a sustainability culture.

At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting provides information and resources to companies seeking to build a sustainability plan which incorporates the sustainability knowledge of the entire organization.  We work with business leaders, work groups, and stakeholders to recognize the importance of business sustainability as a key value driver for the company’s growth and success.

Do you think sustainability is a passing trend?  That it doesn't apply to your business?  After all, small businesses are too small to be contributing to the problems of climate change, much less reaping the benefits of business sustainability, right?
 
Think again.
 
As a small business owner, are you looking to cut operating cost?  Increase customer retention?  How about improve your business reputation or capture new market segments?  It might be nice if there's an interest in protecting environmental resources, but business sustainability is not only about the environment.  It's about profitable businesses including the social and environmental impacts of their decisions in a way that strengthens the organization, the community, and the environment.  Did you catch that part? Profitable business. 
 
With so many small businesses still recovering from recent economic hurdles, one might wonder why sustainability is a fit for small business?  Because, small businesses are often, by design, perfectly suited for sustainability implementation.  They are more agile and able to quickly respond to changing market conditions, have lower risk than larger organizations, and reduced decision chain - all enabling them to integrate sustainability concepts into their businesses quickly and effectively.
 
Curious to know how sustainable business strategies can help your business to improve sales? Grow your business?  Differentiate your business from the competition? 
 
Reduce business cost:
Sustainable business strategies of waste reduction, energy efficiency, and other operational efficiency measures reduce costs and enable competitiveness.   By adding general eco awareness or simply incorporating a few sustainability concepts into and existing supply chain as best practices, companies can proactively address supply stability and quality issues from a different perspective.
 
Improve Sales:
Business reputation matters. Developing and delivering commercially successful products and services that build customer loyalty are essential in today’s markets. 
•    Integrate sustainability concepts into product and service development
•    Shift sustainability from a cost add-on to a value driver
•    Change perceptions to build stronger brands
The result: increase sales, new revenue streams, and improved brand loyalty.
 
Stay ahead of the curve:
The Environmental Protection Agency recently determined that greenhouse gases pose a danger to human health and the environment, paving the way for regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants, factories refineries and other major sources.   As a result, it has become critical for many companies to have comprehensive business sustainability strategies to address emissions.
 
 
While some argue that sustainability is a passing trend, profitable businesses are not.  Sustainable business strategies are designed to bring eco awareness and sustainability concepts to employees, customers, and suppliers which brings value to the organization and also broaden and expand sustainability concepts into the communities and lives of the individuals.  

Cool technology is one of the innovative solutions driven by sustainable business searching for solutions to climate change.  While not directly related to sustainable business strategies, a new, cool technological tool for going paperless is now available.  Are you familiar with Evernote?  As a green living consultant, I find it to be an environmentally friendly tool to use to minimize paper use.  Paperless is a sustainability concept that not only helps the environment, but decreases clutter, eliminates storage space and increases personal organization and productivity. 
 
If you are like many clients in our eco friendly consulting, you may find yourself jotting down websites, Facebook pages or blogs to visit later from your computer.  Additionally, lots of people move among multiple computers and devices as part of their daily routine. Evernote, a free web based service, helps to reduce paper reminders and assist with synchronization of information.
 
Evernote has the ability to collect, in one well-organized, searchable, private digital repository, all the notes you create, clips from Web pages and emails you want to recall, dictated audio memos, photos, key documents, and more.  It's also a repository that is constantly synchronized, and is accessible through a Web browser and through apps on your various computers and smart phones. 

If you are looking for ways to live a sustainable lifestyle, this is one step that can help you do just that. Incorporating sustainability concepts of reducing paper contributes to living a sustainable lifestyle that not only helps you become better organized and more productive, but also helps reduce the largest portion of our waste stream. 

2009 marked a significant shift in eco awareness and the debate on climate change.  In the world of business and finance, climate change has developed from a sidebar topic to a mainstream conversation.  While many discussions on climate change may appear debatable by some, it is becoming clearer that business sustainability is creating a bright spot of opportunity for leading businesses.
 
Within our sustainability consulting practice, we find that integrating sustainability concepts into core business functions makes companies more nimble in a fast-changing world.  It also makes a business’s brands more attractive to consumers and its executive management more respected by employees, regulators and the financial markets. In short, the drivers for improved business sustainability equate to improved performance and cost savings.
 
Following are 15 sustainable business strategies that integrate sustainability concepts into the business, positively impacting the environment and generate bright business ideas for the year ahead. 
 
    1. Office Energy Consumption – Evaluate the average energy use per square foot of office space and implementing best practices to reduce: energy consumption studies, efficiency practices, equipment modifications, etc.
    2. Employee Commuting – Offer employees incentives to ride public transportation or participate in car/van pooling.  Consider a bike commuting program.
    3. Employee Telecommuting – Reduced office space and transportation as a potential win-win-win practice for businesses, employees, and the environment.
    4. Sustainable Design – Consider materials selection, energy consumption, manufacturing, product use and operation, and final disposition, early in the product development process.
    5. Water Conservation – Manage water entering the company and look for opportunities to reuse water.
    6. Management Systems  – Raise eco awareness and company commitment through established sustainability policies, standards, metrics, and self audits.
    7. Environmental Philanthropy – Beyond just corporate volunteering efforts provide access to technology, engineering support, information and research that benefits the local community and the environment.
    8. Packaging – Focus on using as little packaging material as needed and making packaging as recyclable as possible.
    9. Pollution Prevention – Keep attention on both source control and waste reduction
    10. Recycling and Waste Reduction - Anywhere there is a trash can, there should be a recycling bin.
    11. Resource Conservation – Consider material and energy consumption across the entire value chain…reduce, reuse, recycle.
    12. Printing Less – Paper makes up about 35% of a typical company’s total waste stream
    13. Go Digital – Reduce paper use and get contracts and documents signed more quickly by using electronic signatures.
    14. Sustainable Partnering – A key aspect of business sustainability is making sure that you manage your supply chain and partner with companies with similar values.
    15. Sustainable Education and Development - There is always more you can do to make your business more sustainable.  Encourage education and innovation within the organization.
 
Through observation and working with clients, we have come to learn that the sustainable leaders of today are anticipating and taking proactive steps to address change in the business world.  At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting encourages clients to create a competitive advantage by building sustainability concepts and continuous improvement directly into the company’s business model.

With binding commitments left unresolved in Copenhagen late last year, emission reduction still remains undefined and looms heavy for US businesses.  Once direction is set, business will be able to begin evaluating business sustainability strategies to address their direct business exposure.  For now, many of the companies we interact with in our sustainability consulting are on the fence about how to address this uncertain yet real business risk.

With growing eco awareness around global climate policy, potential direction of domestic legislation and resulting business exposure, our professional consulting advice follows the path of energy management leaders who are address energy consumption from an expanded perspective.  These thought leaders are implementing energy management plans that consider sustainability concepts equally with cost. 

As an energy consultant, we have observed a recent shift by individuals and businesses to include more sustainability concepts that affect a broader business risk of climate change.   Our professional consulting finds more companies proactively addressing:
 
•    Infrastructure Risk: Dependencies on traditional energy sources
•    Financial Risk: Continued operation or switching cost for current business process
•    Reliability Risk: Potential impact to continued supply of affordable energy
•    Emission Risk: Company exposure and ability to reduce company footprint
•    Supply Risk: The long-term viability of current supply chain models

At Taiga Company, our professional consulting is already providing small business resources to companies implementing business sustainability programs to address emissions.  Many of these organizations are focusing on more than cost reduction.  By taking proactive measures, these organizations are addressing the business sustainability risks that will directly impact company profitability.

You've heard it before, "If you always do what you've always done, then you'll always get what you always got."  In other words, you can't solve the problem with the same thinking that created it.  Such is the case with climate change, carbon, water, and other pressing world concerns.   So, if doing what you have always done isn't going to cut it, then what is? 
 
A change in perspective.   The lens of business sustainability is that perspective. 
 
Business sustainability isn't about sacrificing profitability or becoming an environmental business.  Sustainable business strategies span a multitude of topics: stewardship of resources; best practices; reputation, brand management and customer service; leveraging technology and enable a business to meet goals of growth and revenue generation while simultaneously contributing innovative thought leadership to some of the world’s most complex and pressing concerns. 
 
If you think business sustainability is a passing trend, think again.  Business sustainability strategies are making their way into corporate decision making . 

•    Corporate Engagement: The ‘2009 Greening of Corporate America’ report reveals, compared to 2006, fewer companies are viewing sustainability as an obligation and more of a value opportunity.
 
•    Strategic Planning: ‘The ROI of Sustainability: Making the Business Case’ discusses how top performing organizations now view sustainability as a "must have" strategy for long term business viability and success.
 
•    Technology and Innovation: Many companies have traditionally separated sustainability from business objectives.  In the Harvard Business Review report, ‘Why Sustainability Is  Now a Key Driver of Innovation’, top executives now believe sustainable innovation to be a key to progress and early movers will develop competencies that rivals will be hard-pressed to match.
 
•    Business Operations: A recent report, ‘Sustainability: From the Boardroom to the Breakroom’, shows that consumer products companies now realize that manufacturing and distribution operations represent a major opportunity to achieve substantial gains in business sustainability.
 
  
Companies becoming more environmentally, socially and economically responsible are driving innovations in sourcing, products, and services.  Commitment to sustainability uncovers opportunities to explore, develop, collaborate, and innovate within business and industry.  All put together, change your thinking and you change the business landscape and the world in which we live.     

Synergy comes from the Greek word synergia, meaning joint work and cooperative action.   Synergy is created when things work in concert together to create an outcome that is in some way of more value than the total of what the individual inputs is.
 
Solutions to complex problems can be sparked by unusual pairings.  Consider how you can grow your business by partnering with a nonprofit, NGO, or the like to not only address business sustainability concerns but also solve and improve community issues.
 
In a report by Forum for the Future, the authors discuss the hallmarks of business sustainability leaders.  Specifically in the area of community relations, the report discusses some key business distinctions.
 

• Community activities have strong links to the core business, its brands and its products/services.
• The business measures the outcomes, rather than just inputs, of its community activities.
• A clear strategy at group level provides the framework for initiatives carried out at the local level through partnership with community groups, local businesses, regulators etc.
• Measures are in place to ensure initiatives add value both to the community and to the business.
• Initiatives are delivered via mixed investments of time, finance, knowledge and skills.

 
How can you grow your business through community building?  Match your company values with partnering organizations in the community.  Focus on:
 

• Shared interest
• Creating a win/win outcome
• Meeting commitments to the local community
• Delivering on social business targets
• Building local trust
• Improving stakeholder relations
• Developing a skilled local supplier base

 
These kinds of partnerships lead to beneficial back scratching -to affect change and get a better grounding for the corporate social responsibility programs and business sustainability strategies.  Organizations working together allow sustainability plans to synergize in a way neither organization can achieve on its own.    

In the face of increasing public eco awareness and widespread media coverage businesses can no longer ignore the opportunities, concerns and risks posed by not having a sustainable business strategy. Business sustainability is now both a top-line and bottom-line company focus.  Companies are implementing business sustainability plans that target revenue as well as cost reduction.
 
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.  The top drivers for business sustainability implementation identified in the study include:
 
•    Desire for Social and Environmental Stewardship – 56%
•    Increase or Maintain Brand Reputation – 48%
•    Need for a Competitive Advantage – 46%
•    Stakeholder Pressure – 29%
•    Rising Energy Costs – 22%
•    Present or Expected Regulatory Compliance Mandates – 22%
 
While these drivers are appealing, business sustainability is best appreciated when viewed through the lens of your business.  Consider how business sustainability programs can help your business to improve sales, grow your business and differentiate your business from the competition. 
 
Reduce business cost:
Sustainable business strategies of waste reduction, energy efficiency, and other operational efficiency measures reduce costs and enable competitiveness.   By adding general eco awareness or simply incorporating a few sustainability concepts into and existing supply chain as best practices, companies can proactively address supply stability and quality issues from a different perspective.
 
Improve Sales:
Business reputation matters. Developing and delivering commercially successful products and services that build customer loyalty are essential in today’s markets. 
•    Integrate sustainability concepts into product and service development
•    Shift sustainability from a cost add-on to a value driver
•    Change perceptions to build stronger brands
The result: increase sales, new revenue streams, improved brand loyalty.
 
Stay ahead of the curve:
The Environmental Protection Agency has stated that greenhouse gases pose a danger to human health and the environment, paving the way for regulation of carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants, factories refineries and other major sources.   As a result, it has become critical for many companies to have comprehensive business sustainability strategies to address emissions. 
 
Integrating sustainability concepts into core business functions makes companies more nimble in this fast-changing world.  It makes brands more attractive to consumers and retailers, and its management more respected by employees and the financial markets. In short, the drivers for improved business sustainability equate to improved performance.