From Sustainability Strategy to Sustainable Business Practices

An Interesting write up  that says

Indicating a wide disconnect between the perceived importance of environmental, social and corporate governance and how they play in business strategy, the 2010 report pointed out that “while the belief in the strategic importance of sustainability issues is widespread among CEOs, executives continue to struggle to approach them as part and parcel of core business strategy.”

The new follow-up report adds teeth to this initial observation by showing a disparate practice of sustainable business practices across industries.

While 80% of utility industries report embedding sustainability metrics to track performance, 83% of CEOs in energy and 81% in infrastructure say their “company measures both positive and negative impacts of their activities on sustainability outcomes.”

Is sustainability measurement finally becoming accepted standard practice?

This aggregated data might indicate so, but the reality, according to Accenture’s Managing Director for Sustainability Services for Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, Peter Lacy, is that there remain “major gaps remain between CEO ambition and execution.” As evidence, the report says of the automotive industry:

Ninety-five percent of automotive executives believe that companies should invest in enhanced training of managers to integrate sustainability into strategy and operations, but just 52% report that their company already does so.

 Reference:

http://blogs.forbes.com/csr/