2. SOME DEFINITIONS
Sustainability:
meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs. In addition to natural resources, we
also need social and economic resources. Sustainability is not just
environmentalism.
Economic Sustainability:
ensuring organisations/products are "built to last" and are able to function
efficiently over a long period of time.
Social Entrepreneurship
companies or institutions operating with innovative solutions to society's
most pressing social problems. They are ambitious and persistent, tackling
major social issues and offering new ideas for wide-scale change.
3. SO, WHY AND WHAT FOR?
●
We need to consider that:
- We do not own the world we live in,
- We simply borrow it form the future generations
- Available resources are limited
- What gets destroyed cannot be recuperated
●
Adopting a sustainable approach ensures:
- Achieving our objectives now while
- Making sure what we do will last
- Overall, it is more beneficial than any other approach
4. THE CHALLENGE
●
Social entrepreneurship is
- not yet well understood
- perceived as not profitable
- believed to apply only to
emerging economies
- perceived as a “fashion”
Rather than a “business”
●
Sustainability is
- not yet perceived necessary
- believed as hard to achieve
- perceived as not-profitable
- perceived as necessary only
for emerging economies
What people see is just the tip of the
Iceberg, but there is much more!
5. DELOITTE's APPROACH
Sustainability strategy - Developing a road map to address sustainability
risks and opportunities in support of business growth objectives,
stakeholder engagement and communications, and brand enhancement
programs, as well as prioritizing sustainability initiatives through detailed
value quantification.
Resource productivity and risk mitigation - Identifying ways to address
energy, water, and materials risks across the value chain.
Sustainable operations and supply chain - Refining operations and the
supply chain by addressing diverse issues such as supplier engagement,
sourcing and procurement, packaging, closed loop recycling, supply chain
transparency, and human and labor rights.
Reporting and disclosure - Identifying ways to improve collection and
reporting of data in compliance with laws, regulations, and stakeholder
expectations.
Deloitte
6. INNOVATION via
SUSTAINABILITY
Viewing Compliance as Opportunity
- Most companies start with compliance. Some choose to follow voluntary, sector-
specific codes of conduct.
- Rather than viewing compliance as a burden see this as an opportunity.
- Being a first-mover provides a competitive advantage as well as efficiencies of
scale.
- Staying ahead of regulation can also put companies in a position to shape future
legislation
Witkin,J.,(2009)
7. INNOVATION via
SUSTAINABILITY
Making Value Chains Sustainable
- Keeping pace with regulation makes companies more environmentally aware
and more attentive to their resource consumption habits.
- It helps reducing consumption and waste in their operations and workplace
environments
- It forces to become more adept with new tools like life cycle assessments,
energy footprint calculators and carbon management protocols that can lead
to future innovation especially in the design of new products and businesses.
- Driving sustainability through the supply chain compounds the positive effect
by requiring suppliers to improve their environmental and labor practices.
Witkin,J.,(2009)
8. INNOVATION via
SUSTAINABILITY
Designing Sustainable Products and Services
- With an increased focus on efficiency and newly acquired skills like life cycle
assessments, companies can redesign their offerings and tap into growing
consumer demand for more eco-friendly products and packaging.
Developing New Business Models
- As companies view current business models through the lens of sustainability,
they will inevitably rethink these models, especially with the advent of new
technologies and the shifting landscape of customer expectations.
- New models have already started to emerge emphasizing the delivery of value
through services rather than products, and the combination of digital with
physical infrastructures.
Witkin,J.,(2009)
9. INNOVATION via
SUSTAINABILITY
Creating Next-Practice Platforms
- A sustainability focus also allows companies to build on their existing
competencies to develop next-practice platforms and new paradigms.
Witkin,J.,(2009)
Growing concerns over climate change, stricter government regulations,
pressures from NGOs and shifting consumer expectations are surging and
will force businesses to change.
Understanding this latent change that will be inevitable, suggests embracing
the sustainability agenda and rethinking long-held axioms.
The transformation will take committed leadership at the top and a motivated,
talented workforce in order to execute this agenda.
10. SO, WHAT IS NEEDED?
First and foremost is needed a LEADER, someone with a vision that will
will champion the transformation
Secondly, is needed a clear objective and aim that can be shared within
the organisation at all levels
Thirdly, is needed to have the “buy in” of the management and staff
Fourthly, is needed to gain the support of business partners, suppliers, and
most of all, CUSTOMERS.
Lastly, is needed a good COMMUNICATION STRATEGY that will support
in all the above-mentioned steps.
11. BUT WHAT MAKES A “LEADER”?
According to Prive (2012) it takes to be having:
Honesty, ability to Delegate, Communication, Confidence, Commitment, Positive
Attitude, Creativity, Intuition, Ability to Inspire, Approach.
According to Raymond Cattell's Leadership Potential Equation (1954) the traits
of an effective leader include the following:
Emotional stability, Dominance, Enthusiasm, Conscientiousness, Social boldness,
Tough-mindedness, Self-assurance, Compulsiveness.
These traits are further complemented by:
High energy, Intuitiveness, Maturity, Team orientation, Empathy, Charisma
The Air University (2014)
12. AN EXAMPLE
As example let's have a look at the KiiT Smart Village Living Lab (SVLL)
KiiT SVLL is a network of Open Innovation enthusiasts from academia and
business with its hub in a few villages in Odisha, a South Eastern State of
India.
The Lab’s current focus is on Education, Water, Energy, Environment and
Affordable Housing sectors.
All activities are managed through student projects, in the end user driven,
real life environment of the rural communities and processed into knowledge
through Living Lab infrastructure.
The SVLL is part of the European Network of Living Labs (EnoLL) and very
closely supported by experts from Finland, Belgium, UK and from other parts
of India
http://www.openlivinglabs.eu/livinglab/smart-village-living-lab-india
13. SO, WHAT IS A LIVING LAB?
A living lab is a research concept, a user-centred, open-innovation
ecosystem, often operating in a territorial context (e.g. city, agglomeration,
region), integrating concurrent research and innovation processes within a
public-private-people partnership.
14. SOURCES
Prive,T.,(2012), "Top 10 Qualities That Make A Great Leader", [On-line], [Last
accessed 2016-4-8], Available at:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyaprive/2012/12/19/top-10-qualities-that-make-a-great-leader/#6abf7cb73564
Deloitte, (2014), “Commitment. Stamina. Results.”, [On-line], [Last accessed
2016-4-8], Available at:
http://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/operations/solutions/about-our-sustainability-service.html
The Air University – The Intellectual and Leadership Centre of the Air Force,
(2014), “Leadership Traits”, [On-line], [Last accessed 2016-4-8], Available
at: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/sba/traits.htm
Witkin,J.,(2009), “The 5 Stages for Achieving Innovation Through
Sustainability”, [On-line], [Last accessed 2016-4-8], Available at:
http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/09/the-5-stages-for-achieving-innovation-through-sustainability/
