Corporate Sustainability

Confronted with the prospects of non-availability of fossil fuel within a foreseeable future, scarcity of natural resources, an increasing frequency of natural calamities as a result of global weirding and the worst economic downturn in nearly a century, the corporate sustainability landscape has changed drastically in last five years. In the largest study ever undertaken to evaluate the role and viability of corporate sustainability as a component of business strategy, conducted jointly by the UN Global Compact and Accenture (2010) involving 100 in-depth interviews with global business leaders/executives drawn from 27 countries and 766 Global Compact member CEOs drawn from 100 countries, the pro-sustainability message was abundantly clear: 93 % corporate executives view sustainability as a compelling source of growth and strategic success, 91% believe that the sustainability practices should be embedded throughout their subsidiaries, 88% would like to see their supply chains redesigned to support sustainability practices, and 81% view building sustainability into operations crucial to brand reputation. In another joint report on the state of corporate sustainability (2011), KPMG International and The Economist observed similar trends in corporate strategic thinking; 62% of the corporate executives of 378 companies identified sustainability as a core strategic consideration and 79% view sustainability as a dominant source of growth through sustainability-focused innovations. Yet another research note (2009) issued by Accenture s Institute for Performance underscores corporate sustainability initiatives as effective promoters of behaviors consistent with the five dimensions of business performance: growth; profitability; positioning for the future; longevity; and consistency