We all know sustainability is a journey.  And each company has to forge its own path.  But all of us would much rather have that journey resemble a 200 meter dash than a Sunday afternoon stroll. To set the most direct path, we have plenty of positive examples to emulate – and more than a few stumbles to point to as well, particularly in the areas of company position and alignment. By Tim Griener

---

“If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll

To chart a successful sustainability strategy, everyone in the company needs to know what path they’re supposed to follow – there needs to be a clear goal.  I’ve seen too many sustainability efforts that are ad-hoc and lack a cohesive strategy,resulting in missed opportunities and ineffective initiatives. Alignment around a shared vision of the future is critical to a successful effort.

Start by defining where you want to go.

The impetus to become more sustainable can come from any number of sources and understanding this motivation will help clarify company thinking around goals. Perhaps the competition is going green or customers are asking about the company’s sustainability. Marketing may be looking for a green story or R & D may see some product improvement opportunities. Maybe sustainability has a moral and ethical underpinning within the company.

All too often the response to any of these is scattershot.  Operations may do some energy conservation work or R & D and product development might release a peripheral green product. In a large company, ad-hoc green undertakings may be going on in every corner of the business. How do you make the most of these actions?  How do you channel these efforts toward a goal that is meaningful for your company?

To work towards a goal, you have to set one first.

We can think about defining a company’s position somewhere along a spectrum ranging from least commitment (compliance) to greatest (leading the future). Think about where your company’s sustainability goals place you along this spectrum and about where you want your business to be in the future.

Compliance.  The most basic position is a focus on compliance and meeting legal requirements. Until a few years ago, this was where many companies were. As regulatory requirements evolve (such as the new SEC requirements regarding climate risk), there are new demands companies must meet. Companies choosing this approach will require little integration of sustainability into core functions such as product design and manufacturing.   

Meet customer needs.The playing field is certainly changing for suppliers to companies like Walmart, P&G, and IBM - all of whom have instituted supply chain sustainability initiatives. It’s no longer enough to make a good product, price it competitively, and deliver adequate supplies on time. Now, customers are demanding that suppliers provide data on energy and water use, waste and emissions – information that many companies have to scramble to compile.  Meeting customer needs may be sufficient positioning for a company, but it’s hardly a leadership position.  Still, customer signals can be famously feint and fickle -- making the business case for greater commitment difficult to make.  

Anticipate market needs.Anticipating your customer needs is one way to develop a closer relationship with them – to act as an innovator, problem solver, and a partner who brings solutions to the table. You will need to adopt strategies that place a premium on listening to stakeholders and being quick to innovate as market signals become clear. Companies with this position will invest greater resources but stand to reap benefits for outpacing their competition.

Lead the future. Only a few companies have the vision and the commitment to lead their industry toward a sustainable future. Seventh Generation is an iconic green brand that has made a deep-seated commitment to lead. Companies at this highest point on the spectrum must embed their sustainability targets in all their functional areas from product design to communication with consumers.

Align executive leadership around your goal

This may sound obvious. But it is much easier to get managers together in a room to agree on some energy use reduction measures than it is to get executive leadership to commit to an over-arching sustainability goal and supporting strategies. One way to begin is to get everyone together off-site to talk about possible sustainability approaches and to engage in some goal-setting exercises.  Build the business case for your company’s sustainability positioning. Describe the top line benefits for your brand and for your customers as well as bottom line risk reduction opportunities. Chief among the latter are reduced risks around energy, waste and water costs.

Agreement on broad goals is only the first step. Support these goals with key targets that will guide your way forward. Then you must institutionalize commitment to these sustainability targets throughout your business. Once you have educated your employees on the company’s strategy and its benefits, establish accountability by inserting sustainability targets in managers’ job descriptions, and defining the function and reporting responsibilities for your sustainability team. Track results and communicate goals, strategies and successes both within the company and to customers and other stakeholders.

Where are you?   Think about where your company is on this journey. If you’ve done the necessary legwork and are actively pursuing a defined set of targets, then take a moment to pat yourself on the back. And, I  hate to say this, but you need to do it all over again. Revisit your goals every year or two to see if they are still appropriate for your business. Look at the competition, technological innovations, and the economic climate to see if you need to innovate faster or, perhaps, downgrade your level of commitment due to recessionary constraints.

Most of us are familiar with Walmart’s path to sustainability – a fascinating case study of the power of establishing a goal in creating institutional change.  A few years ago, Walmart was the big box store every environmentalist loved to hate. On the defensive, Walmart, like many companies, probably just wanted to meet its regulatory requirements. Then they entered an opportunistic phase where they realized some cost savings from a handful of initiatives. This cleared the way for them to jump on the eco-bandwagon and evolve into the Walmart of today – positioned as a leader on supply chain sustainability.

The Walmart case proves that you don’t just set goals once. You can outline some practical goals to start. Success with these helps sustainability ideas gain traction at a company and build support for the next series of more far-reaching goals. It’s a journey and at each stage, it’s necessary to define your new position, align your leadership, craft a strategy and delineate responsibilities to get you where you want to go. 

 Tim shared more at Sustainable Brands '10 on tactics for engaging senior managment in positioning conversations and why positioning should dictate company investment in product-focused studies such as life cycle assesments.

---

Tim Greiner is a partner in Pure Strategies, a consulting firm that specializes in building environmental and social integrity into products, brands, and businesses. Mr. Greiner consults with domestic and oversees manufacturers, socially responsible business, and environmental advocacy groups. Tim is currently assessing product sustainability for several consumer brands and advising progressive businesses on deepening corporate responsibility efforts. Current and former clients include Seventh Generation, Timberland, Stonyfield Farm, Dell, The North Face, US EPA, and NRDC. Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in Materials Science Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and masters degrees in Environmental Policy and Business from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mr. Greiner is a founding member of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Planners Association and a former Board member and President. He is also founder of the Cape Ann Climate Change Network and is a Research Associate at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production.