What Will Be Your Defining Moment in Sustainability?

Jun 4, 2010 4:49 PM ET

Taiga Company Blog

Speaking with prospective clients and peers, I often ask: What were the defining moments in your company’s history?  You can probably boil them down to a select few.  You may recall a mountain of work leading up to and a stream of action that achieved the desired result; but the point of significance most likely came down to that simple decision to do something different. 

As a sustainability consultant, I am engaged in a quite a bit of discussion and debate about what sustainability in business is, how it can be applied, and why businesses may or may not be ready.  These conversations usually turn into an exploration of specific examples, most often implementation challenges related to a prospective client’s particular business or industry.  While execution is a critical piece of any overall process, the conversations and decisions that lead up to the point of business sustainability action are often viewed later to be the defining moments.
 
In a recent forum of discussion on the topic of sustainable procurement and supply chain management, the debate centered on defining the external characteristics of what this function looks like in action.  Redirecting the discussion slightly, I approach the conversation from a different perspective asking: What would be the defining moments in the evolution of an ideal sustainable supply chain?
 
•    The definition of corporate sustainable values.
•    The alignment of corporate sustainable values with business financial drivers.
•    The alignment of internal business practices with corporate values.
•    The alignment of product offerings with consumer expectations and corporate values.
•    The alignment of supply relationships with product quality and corporate values.
 
The defining moment when sustainable supply chain management really begins is the moment when an organization decides to include defined corporate sustainability values in its traditional process.  The product changes, material changes, and supply changes that result are all specific and unique to that organization and will be an ongoing process.  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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