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Friday, 26 February 2010
The Opportunities Pyramid
I've developed the above model to communicate the levels of benefit that "going green" can deliver. Underpinning the whole thing is compliance - if you don't get this right then the whole thing can come tumbling down. One level above that is direct economic benefits - in particular cost cutting but also retaining value in assets and reducing the risk of non-compliance by providing a margin of error.If you raise you sights above this level then you are in a minority, but a very wise minority. The first set of benefits in this rarified atmosphere are internal but intangible - recruiting, retaining and motivating the best staff for the business. Above that is all the new business you will win through beating the competition - as we have seen, companies who focus too much on the cost level (ie expecting a good direct ROI) could miss out on this level of benefits. The business people who understand this will be at a considerable advantage over their less enlightened competitors.
And lastly, at the very top, for a minority of businesses there are some rather large new and emerging markets to exploit.
BTW, in Tuesday's webinar, Deborah was explaining the cost and staff levels and I covered the branding/differentiation and new markets.
Labels: benefits, costs, low carbon economy, markets
# posted by Gareth Kane : 07:00
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Monday, 25 January 2010
Indirect benefits outweigh cost savings for BT by a long, long way
I was doing some background research on BT's sustainability activity for the Green Executive and the Service Network talk I'm giving in two week's time. Their sustainability report says they've saved £400m between 2005 and 2009 and supported bids worth a potential £1.9bn in 2009. Which means:• direct cost savings: £100m per annum
• indirect business benefit: £1,900m per annum
= indirect benefits are worth 19 times as much as direct cost benefits
So, please, don't be taken in by by the old "go green and save money" line - BT could have lost out on direct economic costs and still made a handsome profit on their sustainability programme. The prize is much, much bigger than just a few bob's worth of energy savings. The best of the best have their sights set much, much higher. Have you?
Labels: costs, environmental strategy, green business, savings
# posted by Gareth Kane : 10:22
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Monday, 7 September 2009
There's more to it than money...
Last Friday I was editing the nine interviews I have carried out with CSR/environment executives for book#2, The Green Executive. Reading through all nine in quick succession, it struck me how few of them were driven primarily by cost savings. While cost is a factor, the majority say that an overriding factor is company image. Building a trustworthy, progressive and friendly image will enhance sales, win contracts and attract and retain good staff. All of this will improve the bottom line. But there's more than this - the interviewees talk about bringing their values to the workplace and greater personal satisfaction that they are doing something for the greater good.So we have to remember two points:
1. The financial benefits to going green are much wider and greater than cutting utility and raw material costs. This has to be understood and factored into investment decisions (the next edition of The Low Carbon Agenda will address this in more detail).
2. We should not forget the deeper, philosophical questions about who we are and why we do what we do as soon as we enter our workplaces. We should not feel, or be made to feel, guilty for doing the right thing.
Labels: costs, economics, ethics, green executive
# posted by Gareth Kane : 08:26
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A highly accessible, practical guide to those who want to introduce sustainability into their business or organization quickly and effectively.
