Sustainability: A Competitive Advantage
Kenneth George, MBA, MSAM
Concordia University Irvine
kenneth.george@cui.edu
909-576-8375
Opportunity with Sustainability
Sustainability
 Business with Balance
 Corporate Social
Responsibility
 Sustainability is Business
Strategy
 2013 – 80% of CEO say
sustainability is a critical to
competitive advantage
Cost
Profit
 2003 – 25%
Source: SVP Survey (2003); MIT SMR and Boston Consulting (2011): UNGC – Accenture (2013)
Sustainability as Value
Creation
Value
Transfer
Sustainable
Value
Value
Destruction
Value
Transfer
Source: Laszlo, C (2008) Sustainable Value, Standard University Press
Midsize Private Company
Gojo - Private family business
Inventors of Purell
Reduce
water
usage by
30%
Reduce
solid waste
by 25%
Reduce
greenhouse
gases
(GHG) by
5%
Mid-Size Private Company
$300 Million Sales
Industrial Sands
Launched 2005
40% Annual
Growth
People
Planet
Prosperity
Public Traded Company
Tennant – Chemical Free Cleaning Company
Walmart - Mission
 FORTUNE GLOBAL TWO
COMPANY
 "We save people money so they can
live better."
 “If we work together, we’ll lower the
cost of living for everyone…we’ll
give the world an opportunity to see
what it’s like to save and have a
better life.”
 Difference they can make
Does Vision and Mission Fit
Connection
Why does mission
care?
Why does a vision
matter?
Frontline employees
Partnerships
How to think BIG
B
I
G
• Become Sustainable
• Innovation
• Growth
Paint a new future
Chose any product,
service or organization
What is the business
strategy?
How can it differentiate
itself in ways that good
for business and
society?
S&P 500 Market Value
1975
83% of the stock price
was based on tangible
assets
2009
19% of the stock price
was based on tangible
assets
Stocks today are based
off intangible assets
Source: MIT SMR and Boston Consulting (2010)
What future do you want?
Sustainability Today
Sustainability in the
future
Sustainability Tomorrow
Embedded Strategies
Radical Innovation
Net Positive Impact
Socially inclusive
Scaling system
change
Funny Ways to Sustainability
Incremental to Radical
Incremental change to radical innovation
Doing less harm
Increase profits
The Next Competitors
“The biggest threat for U.S. multinationals is not existing
competitors… It is going to be emerging market competitors.”
The Wall Street Journal
Year
1974
1984
1994
2004
2008
In Millions of Dollars
$1,300
:
$3,633
$9,395
$31,393
$61,475
Source: MIT SMR and Boston Consulting (2014)
Disruptive Innovation
Source: National Geographic 2011
BOP
New Market Capability
1 Billion
People
1 Billion People
4 Billion People
Income > 12,200
Per Year
$12,200 > Income > $4,000
Per Year
$4,000 > Income > $1,000
Per Year
Government and
Non-Profits
1 Billion People
What is missing for business
to be able to leverage sustainably
for profit and world benefit?
Regulatory
Compliance
Strategic
Environmentalism
Sustainabilit
y
Source: Andrew Hoffman, Ross School of Business
Next?
Insufficient but Change Wanted
67% of CEOs do not believe that business is
doing enough to address global sustainability
2013 survey of 1,000 CEOs
Sustainability is re-framed as flourishing
Source: The UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study on Sustainability, (2013)
Next - Personal Flourishing
Centers on the basic feeling of being
connected with one’s complete self, others,
and the world around you
“Society needs a return to spiritual values –
not to offsets the material but to make it fully
productive”
Drucker – Landmarks of Tomorrow 1959
Source: Based on research by Mitroff, I. and E. Denton, Sloan Management Review
Reason for Being
Well Being
Being Well
Connection
People who experience a greater sense of
connectedness to self- others and the
world around them are more likely to
incorporate care for others and for future
generations.
Flourishing
Inspired every day
to solve complex
business problems
that benefit society
and the business
Wisdom Workers
Source: Laszlo, C. and J Brown, et al. Flourishing Enterprise
Why Are We The Way We Are
Mental Models
What ones do we hold
today?
Which ones might
enable flourishing?
Source: Senge, Peter (1990), The fifth discipline
Foundations in Spirituality
To understand why we
hold our mental
models and to develop
the capacity to change
them we can turn to
spirituality
It reveals our deeper
assumptions about the
nature of reality
Appreciative Management
1.
2.
3.
4.
Appreciate “Best of what is”
Imagine “What might be”
Design “What should be”
Create “What will be”
Mission and value statement that you live by
New Future Together
Kenneth George, MBA, MSAM
Concordia University Irvine
kenneth.george@cui.edu
909-576-8375