Success Strategy Revealed: How Do Industry Leaders Successfully Adopt a Sustainable Business Growth Model?

Blog by Pat Sathi , CEO

I want to start off by wishing everyone a happy Earth Day! We take great pride in helping today’s business leaders achieve their sustainability goals. Here’s more on how industry leaders can successfully adopt a sustainable business growth model.

Introduction

Sustainability is a key strategic priority in the modern economic landscape. As climate change continues to be a growing concern, businesses are striving to reduce their carbon footprint and aim for carbon neutrality. This means finding ways to reduce emissions, offsetting the ones that cannot be avoided, and investing in renewable energy sources.

Building sustainable supply chains to contribute to a circular economy with renewable energy and zero waste is at the crux of most business growth plans. But how can a company transition to a sustainable business model? How does it help in creating a competitive advantage? Let’s dive in!

Why switch to a sustainable growth strategy?

Although the pace of change is inconsistent, it is undeniable that businesses in various sectors have already begun transforming to offer more sustainable products and services. A shift from fossil-fuel-based vehicles to electric vehicles is a notable example. It is evident that similar transformations will need to occur in all industries with varied priorities and the speed of implementation.

Adapting to Consumer Behavior

As consumers shift towards more sustainable products and services, businesses must adapt their models to remain relevant. Whether driven by external pressures such as increasing regulations on a global scale, or by an internal desire to make a positive impact on the world, companies face a daunting challenge of transformation while optimizing their triple bottom line.

While this move towards sustainability has not always been without its challenges, catering to customer demands for "green" products can also increase sales and profits. Moreover, adopting waste reduction and more efficient operating methods can help reduce costs and boost profitability.

Building Transparency

With a growing awareness of the need to “Go Green”, businesses are being held accountable for their social impact, including issues such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, labor practices, and community engagement. Stakeholders, including customers, investors, and regulators, are demanding more transparency and accountability from businesses when it comes to their sustainability efforts. This includes reporting on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance.

But no business changes their ways just for the sake of being sustainable. What’s in it for them?

Gaining Competitive Advantage

Leading businesses and industry giants have adopted a sustainable growth model to not only be in the good books of their customers but gain a competitive edge over those who fail to communicate their sustainability efforts to the stakeholders. In response to the shift in consumer trends, many corporations have launched advertising campaigns that seek to assure consumers of their commitment to sustainable policies.

The aim is to future-proof your business and create long-term value for the stakeholders by supporting a circular economy. Ultimately, striking a balance between sustainability and profitability benefits both businesses and the environment.

How can a company transition to a sustainable business model?

Tesla, Unilever, Interface are some examples of industry giants who have successfully adopted sustainability across all products and services. In building a sustainable growth model, these businesses focused on three questions:

1. Do our products and services embody sustainability?
2. Are their lifecycles, from sourcing materials to consumption, designed to be sustainable?
3. What do our customers and prospects expect to see in terms of sustainability?

Advances in green technology, such as renewable energy, energy-efficient buildings, and electric vehicles, are making it easier for businesses to reduce waste and carbon footprint across supply chains. At the same time, it is also essential to consider the customer perspective when developing new sustainable business models. This is where SAP Sustainability solutions such as Business Process Intelligence (BPI) can be particularly valuable.

BPI can help organizations to visualize their customers' sustainability journeys and assess how their current business processes support these journeys, as well as identifying areas that require improvement. By leveraging BPI, businesses can gain insight into their customers' needs and preferences and ensure that their sustainable business model aligns with these expectations. This, in turn, can help to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty, while also contributing to a more sustainable future for all.

GROW with SAP is another move aimed towards empowering businesses to scale their operations while maintaining sustainability. By adopting innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things and blockchain, businesses can gain greater visibility into their supply chains, reduce their carbon footprint, and create more sustainable products and services.

By leveraging the capabilities of SAP and Cognitus, you can ensure that your business objectives are in sync with the sustainable development goals to make the most of a positive brand identity.

How does Cognitus help build a greener tomorrow?

Cognitus helps clients across a range of industries to achieve their sustainability goals by implementing SAP sustainability solutions across their value chains which support circular economy and carbon footprint reduction. But that’s not all we do!

1. Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Cognitus helps companies adopt circular supply chain management practices that reduce waste, conserve resources, and minimize the environmental impact of their operations. This includes identifying opportunities for reuse, repair, and recycling of materials and products, and designing closed-loop systems that minimize waste and support circularity.
2. Sustainable Product Design: Cognitus helps companies design products using sustainable materials and production methods that reduce waste and support long-term use. This includes identifying opportunities for product redesign, developing eco-design guidelines, and evaluating the environmental impact of products throughout their lifecycle.
3. Green Technology for Business Models: Cognitus helps companies develop business models that support sustainability and circularity. This includes developing strategies for product-as-a-service models, leasing and sharing schemes, and other innovative approaches that support reduction of waste.
4. ESG Reporting and Management: We help companies develop and implement ESG reporting and management practices that enable them to track their sustainability performance and identify areas for improvement. This includes developing sustainability frameworks, setting sustainability targets and KPIs, and reporting on progress against these targets.
5. Power of Partnership: Together with SAP, Cognitus empowers your business with a comprehensive suite of tools and technologies to help achieve growth objectives while ensuring that sustainability remains at the forefront of our operations. By optimizing resource utilization, reducing waste, and leveraging intelligent technologies we ensure that your business creates a more sustainable growth model that benefits both the bottom line and the planet.

Businesses today are faced with a monumental task to make the switch to sustainable practices. Adopting Green technology and reducing Carbon footprint are some of the ways in which the economic landscape has taken a shift towards a greener tomorrow.

A sustainable business growth model can positively impact your business as it sets for scalability. Reach out to us and see how we help our customers incorporate circular economy principles into their business models to make them thrive. GROW Green!