企业是否有可持续发展的能力？Does+Your+Business+Have+a+Talent+for+Sustainability

DoesYourBusinessHaveaTalentforSustainability?

Howdoesabusinessgetbetteratsomething?

Ifthegoalisspecific,suchasdesigningnewproducts,

youmightcarveoutagroupofexpertswhocanfocus

withoutdistractions.

Iftheambitionisbroad,suchasmakingthebusinessenvironmentallysustainable,theoppositeistrue.Improvementcomesfromspreadingskills,resources,andresponsibilityaswidelyaspossibleacrossthecompany.

Here’swhybusinessesneedtobecometalentedinsustainability:besidestheobviousworld-savingimplications,morethan60%ofrespondentstoanSAPInsights

surveyof6,669businessleadersin40countriessaythatsustainabilityhasamoderateorstrongeffectonlong-termcompetitivenessandprofitability.

>60%

Sayingthatsustainabilityistiedtothesuccessorfailureofacompanyisaprettygoodargumentforgettingbetteratit.Forthattohappen,topmanagementneedstomakesustainabilitypartofhowthebusinessdefinessuccesssothatemployeesunderstandwhytheyneedtoincorporateitintohowtheythinkandwhattheydo.

Sustainabilityhastobecomesecondnature–atalenteveryonepracticeswithoutneedingreminders.Forexample,servingcustomersandspendingthecompany’smoneywiselyareingrainedinusall;iftheyaren’t,thecompanyisinbigtrouble.

Thegoodnewsisthataccordingtothesurvey,companiesaremakingprogressonbecomingtalentedinsustainability.

Here’swhy:despiteeconomicuncertainty,businessesareinvestingmore–andmoreconsistently–insustainabilitycomparedtoayearago.

90%

Almost90%saysustainabilityinformstheirbusinessdecisions.They’realsobuildingsustainabilityintotheirbusinessprocesses.

Companiesare

makingprogress.

However,aswithanybroad-basedbusiness,talent,money,will,

andstrategicimportancearenotenoughtoguaranteesuccess.

Beinggoodatsustainabilityrequiresanenvironmentalimpact

strategy,whichmanyrespondentssaytheylack.

Italsoneedsavarietyofleaderstobeaccountableforsuccess,

whichrespondentsreportisstillnascentintheircompanies.

Andsustainabilitydependsonhigh-quality,accuratedatathat

theydon’tyethave.

Sobecominggoodatsustainabilityisn’tgoingtobeeasy.

Nosurprisethere.Butthesurveyfindingsshowhowcompanies

areimproving.

15%

FromLastYear

87%ThisYear

Sustainabilityhasbecomepartofthebusinessdecisions

thatarenotaboutsustainability.

Respondentsaresignalingastrongbeliefthatsustainability

affectstheirstrategiesanddecisionsacrossthebusiness.

87%ofrespondentssaythat

sustainabilitymeasurement

andreportingonenvironmental

issuesinformstheircompanies’

strategicandoperational

decisionstoastrongor

moderatedegree–a15%

increasefromlastyear.

Companiesarefeelingmoreheatfromcustomers.

Customerdemandasamotivationforbusinesssustainabilityeffortsincreasedsevenfoldyearoveryear.Itnowranksequallywithothertopmotivators,includingrevenueandprofitgrowth,chancestodevelopneworimprovedofferings,andstrongersocietalapprovalforthebusiness.

Sustainabilityismoreimportanttofinancialresults.

There’snobetterwaytomakeapracticesecondnaturethantoconnectitwithmakingmoremoney.Infact,morerespondentsthisyearseetheenvironmenthavingaroleintheirfinancialresults.

67%

OverLastYear

59%believeenvironmentalissuesare,orwillsoonbe,materialtobusinessresults–a67%increaseoverlastyear.

59%

ThisYear

Wecan’tsayforsure,butwethinkthatassustainabilitybecomespartofimportantprocessessuchasdevelopingnewproductsandservices,thefinancialresultwillbecomemoreapparent.

Investmentinsustainability

hashitoverdrive.

Sustainabilitymightaswellbethehotteststockonthemarketwithsomanycompaniespilingonsoquickly.Despitepersistentsupplychaindisruptions,laborshortages,andinflation,thepercentageofbusinessesinvestingintheenvironmentforthefirsttimehasquintupledsince2021.Moreimportantly,mostbusinessesthathavealreadyinvestedaren’tlettingup.

75%

40%

80%

years.

saytheywilleitherincreaseormaintaintheircurrentlevelsofinvestmentoverthenextthree

areplanningtoincrease

investments.

ofthoseplanningtoincreaseinvestmentswillboostspendingbymorethan10%.

Morepeoplehaveaccountabilityforsustainability

Anotherclearsignthatsustainabilityisbecominga

talentacrossthebusinessiswhenyoumakemore

leadersaccountableformakingsomethinghappen.

Thesurveyfoundthatthenumberofbusinesses

assigningaccountabilityforsustainabilitytomore

thanoneleaderincreased26%fromlastyear.

Meanwhile,19%fewerbusinessesthanlastyear

leftsustainabilityinthehandsofoneleader.

+26%FromLastYear

Sustainabilityeffortsshowsignsofgrowingpains.

Whathappenswhenyoutrytodoanythingofconsequence

thatrequiresparticipationfromacrossthecompany?

Youstartneedingmoreofeverything:moremoney,more

expertise,agreaterneedtoproveROI.

Noneofthesearegoodproblemstohave,buttheydo

signalthatbusinessesarethinkingaboutsustainabilityasa

company-wideproject.

Thegoodnews?

Somebarriersappeartobefalling.Respondentsthis

yearwerelesslikelytoflagmeasuringresultsonthe

environment,embeddingsustainabilityintoprocesses,and

aligningactionswiththeoverallbusinessstrategyasissues.

Thesechangessuggestthatcompaniesareprogressing

beyondtheearlieststages.

Respondentsyearnforacompany-wideenvironmental

impactstrategy.

Theabsenceofacompany-widestrategyforunderstanding

andmanagingenvironmentaleffectsbothinsideandoutside

thebusinessisnowoneofthetopbarrierspreventingaction.

Wesuspectthatattheheartofthisproblemisalackof

qualitydataanddifficultyinmeasuringallthedifferentways

thatsustainabilityaffectsthebusiness.

Anotherissue,webelieve,isthatcompaniesarestruggling

withhowtoincorporatesustainabilityintothelarger

businessstrategy.

Tobecomegoodatsustainability,companiesneeda

businessstrategywithsustainabilityatitscore.

Sustainabilitydataisgettingbetter,butit’snot

goodenough.

Improvingsustainabilityrequiresmeasurement,

whichofcoursemeansdata.Respondentsin

2022aremorelikelytobesatisfiedwiththeir

environmentalsustainabilitydatathantheywere

lastyear.Butthere’sstillalongwaytogo.

Only23%ofbusinessesarecompletelysatisfied.

Therestpointtogapsinthesources,quality,and

scopeoftheirdataastheirtopdissatisfactions.

17%

FromLastYear

Sustainabilityfeaturesinlong-termsuccess.

Foranybusinesstohaveafuture,itneedstoadapttochangingconditionsovertime.Asrespondents

tiesustainabilitymoretightlytooperationsacrossthecompany,it’snaturalthattheywouldalsoseeitbecomingmoreimportanttoprofitsandtoactivitiesthatfallundertheumbrellaofcompetitiveness,suchasdeliveringvalueandmaintainingcompetitivedifferentiation.Thesurveyfindingsillustratethepoint:

75%ofrespondentsseeastrongormoderatepositiverelationshipbetweensustainabilityandlong-termprofitability–up17%fromlastyear.

75%ThisYear

71%ThisYear

71%seeastrongormoderatepositiverelationshipbetweensustainabilityandlong-termcompetitiveness–up28%fromlastyear.

28%

FromLastYear

Talenttakestime.

Companiesareontheirwaytobecomingsustainabilitytalents.

Ifsustainabilitywereatalentshow,we’dallstillbeintheregionals.

Butrespondentsareambitious,andtheyconnecttakingactionon

sustainabilitywithapositivefuture.

Forcompaniestoachievetheirgoals,sustainabilityhastobecome

agroupactivity–everyonemustbegoodatit.

AccordingtotheSAPInsightssurvey,thinkingandacting

sustainablyarebecomingsecondnature.That’swhatitwilltakefor

them,andallofus,tosucceed.

EmilyActonisanAnalystandEditoratSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

EricAndersonisaResearchDataScientistatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

SarahDziukisHeadofResearchatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

ConnorGasparisaResearchDataScientistatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

JennyHillisSeniorMarketingSpecialistatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

DavidJonkerisVicePresidentandChiefAnalystatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

ChristopherKochisSeniorEditorialDirectoratSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

ChristineMüllerisDirectorofGlobalSustainabilityTransformationandChangeManagementatSAP.

VikramNagendraisDirectorofCorporateSustainabilityatSAP.

MichaelRanderisSeniorDirectorandHeadofOperationsatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

DanWellersisDigitalFuturesLeaderatSAPInsightsresearchcenter.

AboutThisResearch

TheSAPInsightsresearchcentercollecteddatafrom6,669respondentsacross40nationsand29industries.Respondentshadhighestknowledgeoftheirorganization’ssustainabilityobjectives

andprocesses.ThesurveyswereconductedinApril2022viaa10-minuteonlinesurvey.

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