Another resource I’ve found interesting, insightful, and helpful for learning how to think about sustainability is the “Sustainability. Good for Business. Executive Playbook”. The “Sustainability. Good for Business. Executive playbook” is a blueprint for how business leaders can approach sustainable transformation to create long-term value for their organizations, providing:
- Guides for six positions across C-suite looking at sustainability priorities, best practices, latest insights and actionable guides for roles in strategy, finance, commercial, operations, HR and technology.
- Most significant sustainability topics and key carbon emission contributing activities per industry – Manufacturing, Financial, Retail, Energy, and Public.
- Inspiring case studies that showcase how businesses across a range of industries are using technology to introduce more sustainable ways of working.
You can grab the Microsoft Executive Playbook for Sustainability for free by signing up at:
http://aka.ms/weSustainableTransformation
Exec Sustainability Playbook Table of Contents as a Glance
Here is a snapshot of the table of contents at a glance:
Strategic Sustainability Priorities
One of the sections I found most helpful in the Sustainability Executive Playbook is the Strategic Sustainability Priorities section:
- Making Sustainability Transformational – Articulating a shared net zero vision that follows a science-based approach and anchors how sustainability is good for business- and vice versa – and how this materializes into a true corporate transformation with sustainability as a core business value and standing agenda item at executive level.
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Positive Contribution Vision
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Executive Sustainability Mandate
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Core Governance
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Identifying New Areas of Value Creation – Determining future sources of growth arising from long-horizon sustainability trends by fostering selective internal disruption and making strategic capital prioritizations.
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Sustainability Trend Radar
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Future Market Definition
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Strategic Resource Allocation
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Manage Stakeholders Holistically – Transparently engaging the stakeholder ecosystem of investors, customers, employees, and the broader public around sustainability goals. Building an external stakeholder network where relevant.
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Sustainability Growth-Mindset
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Ecosystem Engagement
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Transparent Communication
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Key Sustainability Priorities for the C-Suite
Another section I found very useful in the Sustainability Executive Playbook is the Key CxO Sustainability Priorities section.
Here is a snapshot of priorities by CxO/function:
Agenda | Priorities | |
CEO | Strategic | Evaluates strategic threats and opportunities arising from sustainability trends and defines future visions, gols and positioning of the company. |
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CFO | Financial | Understands how sustainability topics impact financial planning and reporting, as well as compliance and capital allocation decisions. |
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CHRO | People | Bakes sustainability preferences into company culture, training and talent interactions to create engagement. |
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COO | Operations | Prepares for impact of sustainability trends on sourcing requirements and demands to reduce carbon emissions and costs simultaneously. |
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CTO | Tech | Looks at how sustainability trends can be baked into processes related to data and hardware and drive innovative products or services. |
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CCO | Commercial | Recognizes how sustainability trends affect customer behavior and re-thinks sales processes, branding, marketing, and public relations accordingly. |
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How CEOs Can Drive Sustainability
Initiatives | Steps |
Make Sustainability Transformational | Basic Steps
Advanced Practice
Emerging Solutions
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Identify New Areas of Value Creation | Basic Steps
Advanced Practice
Emerging Solutions
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Manage Stakeholders Holistically | Basic Steps
Advanced Practice
Emerging Solutions
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