Business Sustainability: Airbag for Business Risk

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Oct 28, 2010 3:55 PM ET

Taiga Company Blog

The report, The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms, assessed the overall cost of federal regulation on small businesses in five major sectors of the U.S. economy.  According to the post, Small Businesses Are Hit Harder by Regulations, “the report showed that costs are particularly disproportionate in the manufacturing sector. Small manufacturers’ compliance costs per employee are more than double the costs for midsized and large firms.  What specific types of regulations are the most costly? Compliance with environmental regulations costs nearly four times as much in small businesses than in large ones, while the cost of tax compliance is more than twice as high in small firms than in large ones." 

While those are known cost, within our sustainability consulting, it is not uncommon to interface with business leaders who are unaware of the potential cost and business risk they may be incurring though misunderstanding or inactivity related to business sustainability.   The post, Supplies in the Hot Sear: Are you One of them addresses the extended responsibilities of water, carbon, environment management to suppliers in larger supply chains.
 
While many organizations recognize the ‘softer’ value of sustainability generated by some of the more well known leading companies, few fail to acknowledge the risk of their own inactivity to the bottom line:
 
•    Increase cost from uncontrolled emissions.
•    Increase cost from measure waste streams.
•    Increase cost from rising energy and uncontrolled consumption. 
•    Increased cost in supply and distribution.
•    Increased cost in from the use of unsustainable materials.
•    Increase cost from tax or regulatory changes.
•    Increase in cost from reactive design, engineering and manufacturing changes.
•    Increased cost from obsolete supply or product.
 
Business sustainability is often reduced to environmental or social action.  While certainly two very important areas of focus, business sustainability is really about taking action to maintain the on-going health and profitability of the company as a business strategy.  Click here to continue reading.
 

Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business". 

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