Business Strategies for SustainabilityExecutive MBA Session 6

Global megatrends highlighting the long term business importance of

sustainability related issues and the potential career implications

Content developed and presented by Howard Connell

December 3, 2015

The increasing business importance of sustainability is

part of a decades long continuum

1960s – 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Silent Spring

(R. Carson – ‘62)

World Climate

Conference (‘79)

Nike sweatshop boycotts

& public commitment to

change (‘92 – ’98)

Ray Anderson &

Interface

commitment (‘94)

Copenhagen

World Summit

UN Commission for

Sustainable

Development

UN Millennium

Development Goals

UN Sustainable

Development Goals

U.S. Clean Air (’70) &

Clean Water (‘72) Acts

Brundtland

Report

Rio Agenda 21

Ecology of

Commerce

(‘93)

Rio +10 Rio +20 COP21

Kyoto Protocol

Dow Jones Sustainability

Index (‘99)

Post-WW II increases

in industrial growth,

environmental

damage, and cultural

awareness

Nixon creates

US EPA (‘70)

US Resource

Conservation and

Recovery Act

Greenpeace & Friends

of the Earth enviro

NGOs formed – ’69 – ‘71

Porter & Kramer

Creating Shared

Value (HBS ‘06)

CalPERS

shareholder

activism begins

Sustainability

Accounting

Standards Board

Consulting firms

increasing focus

(McKinsey, Deloitte,

Accenture, EY, PwC)

Walmart

sustainability

commitment (‘05)

That continuum highlights the tip of mounting

pressures that began as population growth exploded

in the past 100 years

Source: http://www.paulchefurka.ca/Population.html

Source: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/8936

Energy, used here as a proxy for overall consumption

and resource demand, shows the impact of population

growth combined with the industrial revolution

Population will increase ~15% but global consumption

will increase by over two-thirds as an ever growing

consumer class drives resources demand ever higher

Source: http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/winning_the_30_trillion_decathlon_going_for_gold_in_emerging_markets

+16%+68%

Increasingly interconnected global supply chains, environmental

strains, and unrelenting demand lead to food price volatility;

potentially driving further geo-political instability

Decreasing land available for agriculture due to

competing demands of development exacerbate the

issue

The increasing demand on resources will continue

upward for the next several decades driven primarily

by developing countries

Global water supply is currently forecasted to meet

barely more than half of forecasted demand

Both the population and consumption pressures will

be driven by Asia and Africa….

Cumulative energy-related CO2 emissions

…driving the non-OECD led carbon emissions now

predicted that will far outstrip is needed to keep global

temperature within acceptable limits

These converging global megatrends will continue to put

mounting pressure on resources, supply chains,

ecosystems, and institutions in the decades to come

What does this mean for

businesses, entrepreneurs,

and those seeking to build

their careers over the coming

years and decades?

Notes: Companies represented announced with at least one of the following, specifically in advance of COP21: Joined RE100 (the Climate Group and the Carbon Disclosure Project), pledging to source 100% of their electricity from renewable energy to reduce CO2

emissions and seize the business benefits

Signed the American Business Act on Climate Pledge to demonstrate their support for action

Committed to specific action through the We Mean Business Coalition

• AGL Energy

• Air France KLM

• AkzoNobel

• Asia Pulp & Paper

• BT Group

• Caesars Entertainment

• Carrefour

• Cemex

• China Steel

• Coca-Cola Enterprises

• Daimler

• Deutsche Post DHL

• Diageo Plc

• DuPont

• General Mills

• Hewlett-Packard

• H&M

• Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd.

• Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd.

• ING Group

• Innovation Group

• InterCement

• Kellogg Company

• L'Oréal

• Mars

• Monsanto Company

• PepsiCo

• Philip Morris International

• Royal Dutch Shell

• Siemens

• The Coca Cola Company

• United Technologies

• United Utilities

• West China Cement

• Weyerhaeuser Company

Small sample of companies announcing commitments and/or support for COP21

Representative

functionExample issues

Product Development

& Innovation

Strategy

Marketing & Brands

Manufacturing,

Operations, & Supply

Finance, Accounting,

& Investor Relations

Risk Management &

Legal

HR & Organization

Start ups &

Entrepreneurship

• Design incorporating more sustainable raw materials or increasing opportunities for end-of-life

remanufacturing, recyclability, reuse, or secondary use

• New technologies, products, services, or business models solving sustainability-related challenges

• Risks and opportunities for firm vs. competitors / substitutes based on current and future consumer

trends, regulatory landscapes, commodity and material pressures, etc. across different geographies

• Understanding risks and opportunities of brands, products, and parent company based on various

sustainability-related dimensions and how incorporate into marketing function if/as appropriate

• Reducing energy, water, waste across facilities, manufacturing, suppliers, logistics, and even

consumer use and post-consumer opportunities

• Aligning operations to support sustainability commitments and goals

• Capital allocation and budgeting processes for sustainability related opportunities or commitments

• Accounting for environmental risks, valuing natural capital and ecosystem services

• Sustainability reporting, integrated reporting, Global Reporting Initiative, Sustainability Accounting

Standards Board, and responding to SRI investment community and stakeholder requests

• Enterprise risk management implications of climate change, pricing carbon, and access to materials

• Labor standards, laws, and social right to operate across different geographies

• Employee engagement and talent management

• Organizational structure to incorporate sustainability-related goals, metrics, and commitments

• New opportunities to solve local or global challenges related to sustainability

• Impact investors and new capital sources based on impact area or mission

• Investors considering social and environmental impact in addition to financial return including Benefit

Corp legal structure

Minimal Significant

Traditional+ Lane Hybrid Lane Focused Lane

Positions more focused on

sustainability related

competencies and

initiatives; deep and/or

broad capabilities are

required

Some degree of direct

responsibilities or

projects; related

capabilities required but

are not main focus

Sustainability-specific

competencies and activities

not required – yet they

support innovative,

strategic thinking and ability

to “ask the right questions”

Degree of Sustainability-Related Focus

Professionals may move in and out of different lanes at different times. Each lane

may offer different experiences and opportunities at different career levels depending

on a candidate’s long-term career goals.

A selection of representative positions using the career

lanes approach

Traditional+ Hybrid Focused

Minimal Significant

Job Titles &

Company

ILLUSTRATIVE

Director, Product

Sustainability, Walmart

SVP Business

Development, Opower

Category manager,

Walmart

Chief Sustainability

Officer, Coca-Cola Co.Practice Area Director,

Slalom Consulting

Finance Manager, Supply

Chain, General Mills

GM Vendor Compliance &

Sustainability, Li & Fung

Director, Manufacturing

Waste Stream

Optimization, Nike

VP, Social

Responsibility and

Vendor Compliance,

The Children’s Place

Director of Merchandising,

Home Depot

CFO, Seventh Generation

VP Market Development,

Hannah Solar

Director, Risk Assurance

& Governance, PwC

Automotive Segment

Director, Aloca

Director of Marketing,

Local Roots

Degree of Sustainability-Related Focus

To simplify the discussion, we suggest three major

career phases where expectations and capabilities are

can be decidedly different

Phase Time-frame Potential Expectations (varies by type of roles and industry)

Advanced

“Pinnacle” of

career; e.g., MBA

+ 20 years and

beyond

• Broad, strategic insights across industry

• Diverse and/or deep experience supports clarity in

complexity and systems

• Delegation, influence, leadership mentoring

• High-level relationship and business development

• Technical and subject matter expertise drawn from others

MidPhases between

early and

advanced

• P&L management

• Team management & mentoring

• Greater value creation

• Strategic decision making

• Connecting dots and creating relationships

Early2 – 10 years after

graduation

• Individual contributor

• Analytical, technical, potentially thin-slice expertise

• Structure and execution

By combining these career phases with our Career

Lanes framework, a career matrix emerges

T+ Hybrid Focused

Ph

ase o

f C

are

er

Earlier

Advanced

Career Lanes

This matrix can illustrate different potential career

pathways to consider

T+ Hybrid Focused

Ph

ase o

f C

are

er

Earlier

Advanced

Career Lanes

Example Observations

• Traditional to Traditional+

position(s) post-graduation

• Continual advancement

over many years without

significant responsibilities

related to sustainability

• Late-career promotion to

role focused in

sustainability-relevant area

Example Pathway (blue line)

To better inform your planning and development goals,

seek to understand likely requirements across different

lanes, phases, and roles you may consider

What are the likely knowledge, skills, and

capabilities needed at different phases of

a career?

What does excellence look like?

What development needs would you have

and how would you approach them?

T+ Hybrid Focused

Ph

ase

of

Care

er

Earlier

Advanced

Career Lanes

What are the various sustainability-

related risks and opportunities?

How will these likely change?

How can you best understand them?

Questions to ask

across the different

career opportunities

you consider

FoHyT+

Adv

Mid

EarlyBea Perez

Chief Sustainability Officer

The Coca-Cola Company

Atlanta, GA

Previous Roles

Coca-Cola Co.

Chief Marketing Officer

North American Division‘10 – ‘11

Senior Vice President

Integrated Marketing‘07 – ‘10

Coca-Cola

North America

Brand management and field

operations roles:

• Vice President, Sports and

Entertainment

• Director, NASCAR

• Associate Brand Manager

‘96 – ‘07

Education

University of Maryland BS, Marketing

Insights and Observations

• Strong record of positions of increasing

responsibility

• Exposed to diverse opportunities developing

broad skills but with core expertise focus in

brands and marketing

• CEO chose marketing leader due to skills

around strategy and consumer insights.

• “Worked with our scientists, bottlers and

global team to create and embed rigor

around” sustainability

• “The millennial generation is growing up!

Companies and brands will not survive

without” a sustainability perspective

One of the most senior C-suite sustainability leaders

globally previous led a traditional marketing career

FoHyT+

Adv

Mid

EarlyNadeem Sheikh

SVP & GM, International

OPower

London, UK

Previous Roles

Opower • VP of Biz Dev - Asia ’12 – ‘14

Opower• Office launch & biz dev on

West coast + Aus & NZ‘10 – ‘12

Mission Motors • Adviser ‘10.

McKinsey & Co.• Senior Engagement

Manager‘06 – ‘’10

Robert Bosch

Foundation• Transatlantic Fellow ‘05 – ‘06

Form+Function

Consulting• Senior Consultant ‘02 – ‘03

Accenture• Consultant

‘99 – ‘02

Education

University of California, Berkeley MBA ‘05

University of Wisconsin-MadisonBS, Industrial

Engineering‘99

Trends in utilities, technology, customer engagement,

and sustainability combined in a fast track career path

FoHyT+

Insights and Observations

• Never planned on career related to

sustainability until the opportunity arose

• While at McKinsey, saw opportunity to

combine professional aspiration (build

something new and big) with personal

interest (Sustainability & Resource

Productivity practice and doing something

out of the box)

• Know your basic requirements (income,

opportunity, lifestyle, risk) and don’t waste

time considering paths that don’t fit them

• Lots of emerging opportunities at intersection

of solutions to sustainability challenges and

profitable new business models

FoHyT+

Adv

Mid

Early

Dan

Fukushima

Strategy & Operations Practice Director

Slalom Consulting

Atlanta, GA

Previous Roles

North Highland &

Sparks Grove

Increasing promotions

culminating with VP of Sparks

Grove (marketing division)

’99 – ‘14

Radiant Systems • Senior Manager ‘97 – ‘99

Northern Trust • Account Manager ’96 – ‘97

Delta Airlines • Project manager ‘87 – ‘95

Education

Georgia TechBS, Management

(now Scheller)‘87

Insights and Observations

• Companies are getting more serious about

sustainability. It’s becoming a huge factor in

their innovation work

• You need to understand the whole

ecosystem and how your expertise fits

• Sustainability is becoming a component of

good business practices

• On the customer-facing side of the business

it run from product ingredients to how they’re

delivering their services and more.

Sustainability is becoming more ingrained

into product definitions.

A mainstream management consultant with customer

and marketing focus sees increasing importance and

value related to sustainability

FoHyT+

Adv

Mid

Early

Eileen

Andersen

Finance Manager

Supply Chain Business Partners

General Mills

Minneapolis, MN

Previous Roles

General Mills. Inc.

Finance Manager, Small

Planet Foods‘11 – ‘14

C.I. Leader, GBS ’11

Finance Manager, GBS ’10 – ’11

Cereal Partners

Worldwide S.A.Financial Controller ‘07 – ’10

General Mills. Inc.

Financial Operations Manager ‘05 – ‘07

Senior Financial Analyst (2

positions, increasing respon.)‘00 – ‘04

MBA Enterprise CorpsInternational Consultant -

Ukraine‘97 – ‘99

Coca-Cola Co. Risk Analyst ‘93 – ‘97

Education

Harvard Extension Sustainability Certificate ‘15 – ‘16

Emory MBA ‘97

Communicating her interest in sustainability helped

this finance focused MBA capitalize on relevant career

pivots when opportunities arose

Insights and Observations

• Suggests traditional MBAs “get the

leadership development program experience

first”

• Had a personal interest early but focused

creating value in her roles, gaining credibility,

learning the “secret handshake” in culture

• Once established, clearly communicated

interest when a project opportunity arose

• Since then a pivot towards the organics

businesses only due to an intentional focus

but within company culture

• Roles and value still predominantly driven by

finance acumen and experience. Doing so in

business area aligned with passions.

There may be starkly different paths that nevertheless

lead to similar opportunities, illustrated here

FoHyT+

Adv

Mid

Early

Lisa

Morden

Senior Director,,

Global Sustainability

Kimberly-Clark

Profile and Current Role

FoHyT+

Adv

Mid

Early

Howard

Connell

Managing Director,

GA Tech Center for

Sustainable Business

Career Path

• Chemistry Undergrad

• Mill Enviro Scientist

• Regional Enviro Leader

• National Enviro Leader

• EHS Leader North America

• EHS Leader Global

• K-C Sustainability Lead B2B

• Bath Tissue Category Manger

• Sr Director, Global Sustainability

• Business Undergrad

• Private Wealth Management

• Analyst and Trader

• Portfolio Manager & SRI1 lead

• Full-time MBA; sustainability track

• Associate, management consulting

• Manager, management consulting2

• K-C Sustainability Lead B2B

• Managing Director, Center for

Sustainable Business & Professor

Notes: 1) SRI = Socially Responsible Investing, which is included in our definition of sustainability

2) Core team member developing emerging North American sustainability practice

Insights

• Deep technical expertise and

promotions early on

• Broader responsibilities and

promotions along same

vertical speciality area

• Leadership guided shift to

mainstream business role for

2 years before last promotion

• Investment background included

sustainability-relevant work

• Post-MBA focused on consulting

experience but with intent to shift

toward increase sustainability

related focus over time

• During career path, regardless of

role, maximized exposure to

emerging sustainability field via

conferences, books, networking

A three-step approach can help identify if, how, and where

sustainability-related issues might be valuable in your

career progression and planning

1

2

Conduct introspective career exploration. Identify multiple

career trajectories that may be a good fit and attractive

Add a sustainability variable by asking: Along these

paths, will sustainability-related trends become

increasingly important in the years ahead?

• Where have you been? What do you excel at? What are your assets?

(e.g., resume, skills, network, relationships)

• What do you value? (e.g., lifestyle, location, income, work environment?

• What are you most passionate about? What risks do you want to take?

• Consider the global megatrends and industry dynamics. What challenges will

these bring? What solutions will be needed?

• Seek out information sources at the intersection of sustainability and these paths

• How can your answers in #1 above bring differentiated value related to

sustainability? “Skate to

where the puck is going

to be.”

3 Use your answers to identify any potential next steps

• Do you want to learn or understand something better? How can you?

• Do you want to develop relationships with people or companies?

• Are there capabilities you want to build? How might you?

• Are there new opportunities (professional, volunteer, pro bono, personal) that

combine your passions, career goals, and the trends you identified?