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Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World
HOW THE WORLD’S MOST INFLUENTIAL COMPANIES ARE BUILDING BUSINESS STRATEGIES THAT TACKLE THE BIGGEST GLOBAL CHALLENGES
Today’s business landscape is changing in fundamental Natural resources are growing ever more scarce and expensive. Technology and changing consumer expectations are making transparency a fact of life. The rise of emerging economies creates vast market opportunities for companies—and better living standards for hundreds of millions. In Sustainable Excellence, Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell tell the stories of the companies who are transforming themselves by responding to these paradigm shifts and in the process shaping the future. From their work with these Global 1000 companies, Cramer and Karabell know firsthand how business can successfully grapple with big-picture issues like resource scarcity, supply chain complexities, and the diverse expectations of government and the public. In Sustainable Excellence, they tell the story of how Coca-Cola and Greenpeace collaborated on a refrigerator that fights climate change. They show how companies like Best Buy and Nike are transforming the very products they sell to deliver more value to consumers with less waste. They recount how GE and Google created an innovative partnership that is developing “smart grids” that radically reduce energy use. And they show how business leaders like Starbucks’ founder and CEO Howard Schultz put sustainable excellence at the center of his company’s business strategy. Through these and other fascinating stories, Sustainable Excellence makes the case for a different way of doing business—one that will define both business success and economic vitality in the 21st century.
Today’s business landscape is changing in fundamental Natural resources are growing ever more scarce and expensive. Technology and changing consumer expectations are making transparency a fact of life. The rise of emerging economies creates vast market opportunities for companies—and better living standards for hundreds of millions. In Sustainable Excellence, Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell tell the stories of the companies who are transforming themselves by responding to these paradigm shifts and in the process shaping the future. From their work with these Global 1000 companies, Cramer and Karabell know firsthand how business can successfully grapple with big-picture issues like resource scarcity, supply chain complexities, and the diverse expectations of government and the public. In Sustainable Excellence, they tell the story of how Coca-Cola and Greenpeace collaborated on a refrigerator that fights climate change. They show how companies like Best Buy and Nike are transforming the very products they sell to deliver more value to consumers with less waste. They recount how GE and Google created an innovative partnership that is developing “smart grids” that radically reduce energy use. And they show how business leaders like Starbucks’ founder and CEO Howard Schultz put sustainable excellence at the center of his company’s business strategy. Through these and other fascinating stories, Sustainable Excellence makes the case for a different way of doing business—one that will define both business success and economic vitality in the 21st century.
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 11, 2024
Although this book was written more than 10 years ago now, the concepts and insights are still relevant today. Is that because nothing has changed much? I'm not sure, but I hope, moving forward, sustainable excellence will become a norm so we can 'sustain' the planet.
This book has examples of sustainable excellent companies and I wish it had gone more into the details and frameworks in depth rather than focusing too much on what has happened politically, especially in the second half of the book.
This book has examples of sustainable excellent companies and I wish it had gone more into the details and frameworks in depth rather than focusing too much on what has happened politically, especially in the second half of the book.
March 7, 2020
An interesting and well-written book, though I'm sure that the authors will be disappointed that more progress has not been made in the decade since its publication.
April 15, 2020
Considering this book was written in 2010, if you read this in 2020, the views are futurely relevant and surely the future of business
September 14, 2010
In this book, authors Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell present their readers with a glimpse into the rarefied air of the business world. Their created concept of “sustainable excellence” refers to an emerging business model in which the business “delivers value for investors, customers, and employees; improves the living standards of its employees and the communities it touches; makes wise use of natural resources; and treats people fairly.” Simply put, it is the model of a business with a social and moral conscience. According to the authors, this concept is not simply a goal for businesses to strive toward, but a bottom line necessity for survival in tomorrow’s business atmosphere.
The book describes the recent events that brought businesses to this need for sustainable excellence. They point to the emergence of activists in the 1970’s and 80’s, the effective end of the Cold War, the fall of the World Trade Center, the beginning of globalization, the blossoming of the internet, the growing concern about global warming and environmental concerns, the emergence of third world countries into viable business communities, and the recent Great Recession. Companies began to feel strong pressure to react to these events. The pressure was coming not just from their boards of directors, but from non-government groups like Greenpeace and PETA and also from grassroots groups made up of concerned people armed with the power of the internet and social networking. The atmosphere that confronted businesses dictated that they “do the right thing” in their impact on the world stage—environmentally, socially, and innovatively.
The bulk of the book goes on to describe successful companies that are adjusting their focus and structure to respond to social and environmental issues of today. Some are creating new approaches to old products; some are creating new products that will be innovative metamorphoses of their old products; while some are moving in all new directions, creating products in vastly different arenas. Business strategies are being redefined with sustainability at their core. And these redefined businesses are becoming more and more common. The old way of doing things is becoming just that—an outdated way of doing business. There are fewer and fewer old-school businesses that are still viable because, say Cramer and Karabell, “…the model that propelled these companies to success in the twentieth century will not survive long in the twenty-first.”
This thought-provoking book will appeal to readers who enjoyed Thomas Friedman’s books on the economy. Though not altogether an “easy read,” this is not an easy subject. The book does a good job of educating those who are not mired in the business world on this vital new concept of corporate responsibility. I would definitely recommend it!
The book describes the recent events that brought businesses to this need for sustainable excellence. They point to the emergence of activists in the 1970’s and 80’s, the effective end of the Cold War, the fall of the World Trade Center, the beginning of globalization, the blossoming of the internet, the growing concern about global warming and environmental concerns, the emergence of third world countries into viable business communities, and the recent Great Recession. Companies began to feel strong pressure to react to these events. The pressure was coming not just from their boards of directors, but from non-government groups like Greenpeace and PETA and also from grassroots groups made up of concerned people armed with the power of the internet and social networking. The atmosphere that confronted businesses dictated that they “do the right thing” in their impact on the world stage—environmentally, socially, and innovatively.
The bulk of the book goes on to describe successful companies that are adjusting their focus and structure to respond to social and environmental issues of today. Some are creating new approaches to old products; some are creating new products that will be innovative metamorphoses of their old products; while some are moving in all new directions, creating products in vastly different arenas. Business strategies are being redefined with sustainability at their core. And these redefined businesses are becoming more and more common. The old way of doing things is becoming just that—an outdated way of doing business. There are fewer and fewer old-school businesses that are still viable because, say Cramer and Karabell, “…the model that propelled these companies to success in the twentieth century will not survive long in the twenty-first.”
This thought-provoking book will appeal to readers who enjoyed Thomas Friedman’s books on the economy. Though not altogether an “easy read,” this is not an easy subject. The book does a good job of educating those who are not mired in the business world on this vital new concept of corporate responsibility. I would definitely recommend it!
December 27, 2010
Some good, insightful stories about companies that are making sustainability part of their business models--and brands. This is a genre I've been following for years, yet many of these stories were new to me.
I love that this book (1) gives a pretty nice taste of what Chinese companies are doing (or not), and the role that the Chinese government plays, rather than act as if all of the action is coming from the US; and (2) acknowledges that those endlessly repeated surveys about how Americans will pay more for environmentally friendly products are much more about what people SAY than what they DO.
These are two main reasons that the book comes together as a pretty well-rounded, fully considered picture of where sustainability is and where it might be going. Though I'm not too sure that the world is all that "fast-changing," unfortunately. Changing? Yes. Fast? In SOME quarters. But, as the authors acknowledge, there's an awful lot of "greenwashing" going on, too.
The book raises many, many questions. It doesn't answer them all. But that's the case with almost any really good book. Well-written, engaging. Well worth reading.
I love that this book (1) gives a pretty nice taste of what Chinese companies are doing (or not), and the role that the Chinese government plays, rather than act as if all of the action is coming from the US; and (2) acknowledges that those endlessly repeated surveys about how Americans will pay more for environmentally friendly products are much more about what people SAY than what they DO.
These are two main reasons that the book comes together as a pretty well-rounded, fully considered picture of where sustainability is and where it might be going. Though I'm not too sure that the world is all that "fast-changing," unfortunately. Changing? Yes. Fast? In SOME quarters. But, as the authors acknowledge, there's an awful lot of "greenwashing" going on, too.
The book raises many, many questions. It doesn't answer them all. But that's the case with almost any really good book. Well-written, engaging. Well worth reading.
August 20, 2010
This was a very well-written book. It's easy to read and gives plenty of examples to describe the various facets of "sustainable excellence". It covers the myriad of issues that the phrase sustainable excellence conjures up. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this topic. It would be especially useful for business students needing a book to use as a starting point for a research paper or presentation on the various aspects of sustainability.
September 24, 2010
This is an extremely well-written book on an important topic. While not in the business world myself, my brother read it also and was intrigued by many of the ideas.
April 1, 2011
Great studies on best practices and how thorough you have to be. Want to keep this as a reference guide.
April 12, 2014
An essential read for anyone interested in sustainability, by two of the world's leading experts.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews