How Companies That Aggressively Pursue Sustainability Reap Rewards

Green Biz (Kropp) - Launched in 2008, the Sustainability Initiative is a collaboration of the MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The Initiative, which studies the impact of sustainability on business management, recently completed the first of what is projected to be an annual series of reports on sustainable business, based on its survey of business leaders.

The report, entitled The Business of Sustainability, found that while a vast majority of respondents described their companies as addressing sustainability in some way, relatively few had as yet developed a business case for sustainability. Especially among respondents with less expertise on the subject, sustainability was most often viewed as an obligatory response to legislative or regulatory pressure. However, the report found, the few companies that are aggressively pursuing sustainability are finding significant opportunities for profitability and competitive advantage.