The Incremental Path

to Sustainability
Incremental vs. Transformational Change
Transformational change requires reinventing the organization that can
prove traumatic to some people such that the outcome may turn a
productive organization to collapse.

The advice coming from sustainability consultants is to initiate an

INCREMENTAL CHANGE rather than a transformational change.
Incremental vs. Transformational Change
INCREMENTAL CHANGE
• the approach to change that is being advocated is not to pursue the
‘one best way’ but rather to identify the appropriate strategy for the
appropriate situation.
• planned and emergent, continuous and on-going and for the most
part impacts on the organization’s day-to-day processes
• includes the way people work (job redesign; teamwork; reward
systems), team building programs” are often features of this type of
organization change.
Implications of the Concept of
Sustainability Development to
Societal Growth
 Implications of the Concept of Sustainability
Development to Societal Growth
• Decades of research on environmental economics surfaced the
problems of the global economy.
 Implications of the Concept of Sustainability
Development to Societal Growth
Green Economy
(United Nations Environmental
Program)

provides analysis and policy support

for investment in green sectors and
for greening environmentally
unfriendly sectors.
 Implications of the Concept of Sustainability
Development to Societal Growth
Green Economy
(United Nations Environmental Program)

In 2008, UNEP launched the Green Economy Initiative (GEI), a

program of global research and country-level assistance
designed to motivate policymakers to support environmental
investments. At the UN General Assembly 2015, UNEP
published “Uncovering pathways towards an inclusive green
economy”. The document stresses concepts such as sharing,
circularity, collaboration, solidarity, resilience, opportunity,
and interdependence.
Global Green New Deal (GGND)
Objectives:
(i) economic recovery;
(ii) poverty eradication;
(iii) reduced carbon emissions and
ecosystem degradation together
with a framework for green
stimulus programs with
supportive domestic and
international policies
The Green Economy Coalition
• a group of NGOs, trade union
groups and others doing
grassroots work on a green
economy
• defined GREEN ECONOMY as “a
resilient economy that provide a
better quality of life for all within
the ecological limits of the planet.”
 SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER FOR
CORPORATE ECONOMIC SUCCESS
• Sustainability issues create opportunities
and threats to business success
• Strategic management and information
management are thus challenged to take
into account sustainability information.
 SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER FOR
CORPORATE ECONOMIC SUCCESS
• MARKET AND NON-MARKET CHARACTER
OF STRATEGICALLY RELEVANT SOCIAL AND
ENVIRONMENTAL TOPICS
• Environmental & social topics offer both
corporate risks and business opportunities
• As a contrast to market driven
sustainability issues, many environmental
and social topics develop outside of
markets in the regulatory and societal
business environment
 SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER FOR
CORPORATE ECONOMIC SUCCESS
• THE TYPE OF MANAGEMENT INFLUENCES
THE RELEVANCE OF SUSTAINABILITY TO
CORPORATE SUCCESS
• Depending on the organization of
management, voluntary environmental
and social activities will have either a
positive or a negative effect on business
success
 SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER FOR
CORPORATE ECONOMIC SUCCESS
• DRIVERS FOR BUSINESS CASES OF
CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY
• The economic effect of sustainability
activities can lead to either improvement
or deterioration in the following economic
performance drivers:
 SUSTAINABILITY AS A DRIVER FOR
CORPORATE ECONOMIC SUCCESS

Given the set of values, what do you think are

the roles of the corporations in achieving
ecological sustainability?
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
GRI (Global Reporting Initiative)
 In Summary
• The emerging trend in business today is to report on their
sustainability performance.

• The UN Environmental Program works with countries and

organizations to promote stronger institutions and partnerships and
to strengthen the law as a foundation to promote citizen’s
environmental rights and to combat environmental crime.