Developing a Business Strategy for Sustainable Value Creation
The fundamental purpose of every business enterprise is to create value for its shareholders. There is really only one bottom line, and efforts to pursue sustainability goals will be most successful if they are aligned with business value creation. Leading corporations have demonstrated that value can be realized by:
Designing environmentally responsible products that improve market positioning and brand differentiation.
Developing inherently safe, eco-efficient production facilities that reduce capital and operating costs.
Securing their right to operate and grow, thus minimizing costly delays and business interruptions.
Gaining the respect and confidence of important stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, lenders, regulators, neighboring communities, and advocacy groups.
Eco-Nomics LLC is positioned to help you understand the available pathways to value for each of your businesses. Through a simple mapping technique, we can uncover the strongest linkages between sustainability objectives and value creation. We have performed such analyses for companies in a variety of different industries, from chemicals to automobiles.
Once you decide on the pathways that you wish to pursue, we can help you to develop a defensible business case that supports investment decisions. Developing sustainable strategies may involve challenging trade-offs – for example, balancing job creation and economic development against community concerns about industrial pollution and environmental justice. There is no universal formula for success. We can help you design a tailored strategy, based on our experience in supporting sustainable business strategy initiatives for many U.S. corporations. References are available upon request.
Example: Diane Fiksel led a worldwide survey of business case development methods for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. The result was a Sustainable Business Decision Framework, validated through applications in the global cement industry, and easily adaptable to the needs of companies in any industry.
WBCSD Report
Download a recent article by Joseph Fiksel: "Linking Sustainability to Shareholder Value"
.
Eco-Nomics™ is a trademark of Eco-Nomics LLC since 2002
