業(yè)務(wù)重塑：可持續(xù)發(fā)展作為增長(zhǎng)戰(zhàn)略+Business+Reimagined：Sustainability+as+Strategy+for+Growth

BusinessReimagined:

SustainabilityasStrategyforGrowth

BusinessReimagined:

SustainabilityasStrategyforGrowth

ArecentSAPInsightsglobalresearchstudyrevealsthatmostcompaniesaretakingatleastsomestepstowardgreaterenvironmentalsustainability–andthatthemoreefforttheyputtowardthatgoal,themorecompetitiveand

profitable

theyexpecttobe.Morethanathirdofmidsizecompaniesbelievethatenvironmentalissuesarealreadyfinanciallymaterialtotheirbusinessresultsorwillbewithinfiveyears.

SAPInsightssurveyedmidmarketexecutivestofindouthowtheircompaniesareincorporatingsustainabilityintotheirbusinessstrategies,howtheymightuseittodrivegrowth,andwhattechnology’svalueisinsupportingsustainability.WebrokeoutsurveyrespondentswithannualrevenuesoflessthanUS$1billion,thendividedthemintothreedistinctgroupsbyrevenuefromsmallesttolargest.(Seesidebar,AbouttheSurvey).

Beginningtofollowthemoney

Theresearchshowsthatmidsizecompanieshavebothexternalandinternalmotivationstotakeactiontoimprovetheenvironment.Acrossallthreegroups,thetopdriversaregovernmentregulations,commitmenttotheSustainableDevelopmentGoalsoftheUnitedNations,andcommitmentoftheboardofdirectorsandCEO.Amongthesmallestmidsizecompanies,thetop

motivationisregulatorypressure,whilethetwohigher-revenuecontingentsciteboardandCEOcommitment.Interestingly,thefourth-highestmotivatoracrossallgroupsisrevenueandprofitgrowthopportunities,suggestingthatcompaniesarebeginningtoperceivefinancialbenefitsinpursuingsustainability.(SeeFigure1and

full

surveydata.

)

AbouttheSurvey

TheSAPInsightsSustainabilitysurveycollecteddatafrom7,423respondents,ofwhich4,537werecompanieswithannualrevenuesoflessthanUS$1billion.Tounderstandhowthesustainabilityfocusevolvesasacompanygrows,wesegmentedthesecompaniesbyrevenue.

Readallofour

surveyresultshere.

Smallmidsize

$50Mto$249M

Mediummidsize

$250Mto$749M

Largemidsize

$750Mto$999M

Thesmallestcompaniesaccountforabout40%ofallmidsizerespondents.Thoseinthemiddleareroughlyanother40%.Andthelargestaretheremaining20%.

Figure1

Maynotaddupto100%duetorounding.

TopBoxMotivatorsinTakingEnvironmentalAction

Whatforcesmotivateyourcompanytotakeactiontoimprovetheplanet’senvironment?

Governmentalregulations

15%

10%

10%

Board/CEOenvironmentalcommitment

12%

13%

15%

CommitmenttotheUN

SustainableDevelopmentGoals

10%

11%

12%

Revenueandprofitgrowth

opportunities

12%

11%

11%

Yourcompany’sstatedpurpose

10%

10%

9%

$50mto<$249m$250mto<$749m$750mto<$1b

Source:SAPInsights

2

12%

9%

12%

8%

10%

10%

9%

10%

8%

6%

7%

9%

9%

BusinessReimagined:

SustainabilityasStrategyforGrowth

Thesilence

ofthesupply

chain

Figure2

TopBoxBarriersinTakingEnvironmentalAction

Whatarethemainbarriersinyourcompanyfortakingactiontoimprovetheplanet’senvironment?

Thebarrierstoactiononimprovingthe

environmentvarybysegment.Allofthe

midsizecompaniesexpressuncertainty

abouthowtoembedsustainabilityinto

businessprocessesandITsystemsandhow

toprovereturnonsustainabilityinvestments.

Butthelargestcompaniesarenotablymore

likelytosaythattheirpartnersarenotasking

themtoact–asurprisingresponse.Butthat

willchangeassustainabilityincreasingly

becomesastrategicimperativethroughout

thesupplychain.Thesmallestcompanies,

bycomparison,aresignificantlymorelikely

tosaythatlackoffundingistheirbiggest

barriertoaction.(SeeFigure2and

full

surveydata.

)

Wehavehadnospecificbarriers

UnclearhowtoembedsustainabilityintobusinessprocessesandITsystems

Difficultyprovingreturnoninvestment

Lackoffunding

10%

8%

Doubtfulaboutability

tomeasureimpacton

environment

Tryingtodoitall

Whenaskedtoranktheirtoppriority

forinvestmentsacrossavarietyof

environmentalissues,midsizerespondents

ratethemallofroughlyequalimportance.

Interestingly,thelargeracompanyis,the

morelikelyitistoconsidereveryissuea

highinvestmentpriority.Aswithbarriers

toaction,thislikelyreflectsthereality

thatlargercompaniessimplyhavemore

revenuestoinvest.

(Seeourfullsurveydata

forresults.)

$50mto<$249m$250mto<$749m$750mto<$1b

Source:SAPInsightsMaynotaddupto100%duetorounding.

3

23%

28%

31%

26%

31%

28%

27%

29%

27%

23%

27%

24%

BusinessReimagined:

SustainabilityasStrategyforGrowth

Dataiscrucial–butlacking

Dataisatthecenterofanysustainabilityeffort.It’spartoftheroadmapforincorporatingsustainabilityintooperationsandprovingROI.Itisusedtoidentifyandtrackenvironmentalimpacts,suchasCO2emissionsorenergyconsumption.Thesignalsfromdatabreakdownbarrierstoaction.Indeed,themoreenvironmentalimpactdataacompanyhasandthemoresatisfieditiswiththequalityofthatdata,themorelikelyitistorecognizethatsustainabilitydatahasvalueindrivingstrategicandoperationaldecisions.

However,it’sclearfrommidmarketrespondentsthattheydon’tyethaveallthedatatheyneed–norisitthequalitytheydesire.Theresearchshowsthatsmallestcompaniesarethemostdissatisfiedwiththequalityoftheirsustainabilitydata.Boththesmallerandmedium-sizegroupsarethemostconcernedwhenitcomestowhetherthedataiscollectedfrequentlyenough.Theyalsolackconfidenceinitscompleteness.Largercompaniesarelesslikelytobedissatisfiedwiththeamountandqualityoftheirsustainabilitydata.Their

dissatisfactionisfocusedonhowquicklytheycanaccessit,whichsuggeststhattheyareeagertousethedatatodrivestrategy.(SeeFigure3and

fullsurveydata.

)

Thesignalsfromdatabreakdownbarrierstoaction.

Sustainability

Figure3

ReasonsforBeingDissatisfiedwithDataQuality

Fortheenvironmentalissueareaswhosedataqualityyou’renotfullysatisfiedwith,whichreasonsapply?

datawillget

better

Oncecollected,the

dataisnotaccessible

soonenough

Lackofconfidence

thatdataiscomplete

andcoversthe

requiredscope

Thedataisnotcollectedfrequentlyenough

Lackoftransparency

incalculationsor

assumptionsusedto

estimatedata

Lackofconfidencein

thesensorormeter

technologyusedto

collectthedata

15%

21%

18%

Despitethecurrentproblemswithdata,therearesignsthattheywillimprove.That’sbecausethemajorityofmidmarketcompaniessaythatsustainabilitywill

playastrongroleintheirlong-termcompetitivenessandprofitability.Infact,nearlyhalfoflargemidsizecompaniesarealreadyincorporatingsustainabilitydataintotheiroperationalandstrategicdecision-makingtoastrongdegree.(SeeFigure4.)

$50mto<$249m$250mto<$749m$750mto<$1b

Source:SAPInsightsMaynotaddupto100%duetorounding.

4

5

Figure4

Profitability

Howdoyouperceivetherelationshipbetweenyourcompany’slong-termprofitabilityandenvironmentalsustainability?

28%

11%

4%6%

6%23%

20%

23%

37%

6%9%

37%

27%

17%

45%

$50mto

<$249m

1%4%

$250mto

<$749m

2%4%

$750mto

<$1b

2%3%

Strongnegative

relationship

Moderatenegative

relationship

Weaknegative

relationship

Thereisno

relationship

Weakpositive

relationship

Moderatepositive

relationship

Strongpositive

relationship

Source:SAPInsights

BusinessReimagined:

SustainabilityasStrategyforGrowth

Signalsfromthefuture

Sustainabilityisn’tjustanethicaldemand,althoughit’shardertodobusinesswhentheplanetisincrisis.Italsohasadirectimpactonthebottomline.TheSAPInsightsresearchshowsthatthelargeracompanyis,themorelikelyitistopayattentiontosustainability.Thatshouldbeasignalforcompanieslookingtogrow.

Whilethedatadoesn’tdrawadirectlinefromattentiontotheenvironmentandbusinesssuccess,itsuggeststakingactionsoonerratherthanlater.Withenvironmentalsustainabilitybecomingatopconcernforregulators,consumers,andinvestors,companiesofallsizeswillexperiencemorepressureinmorewaystotakeresponsibilityandaction.Iftheseactionsmakethemcompliantbeforecomplianceisrequired,

theycanavoidpotentiallydamaging

penalties.Andascustomersincreasingly

demandthatcompaniesdemonstrate

concreteactiononenvironmental

stewardship,businessesthatprovide

greatertransparencyintotheireffortsare

betterpositionedtogrow.

Knowwhereyoustand

Topursuesustainabilityaspartofabusinessstrategy,midsizecompaniesshouldfirstknowwheretheystandintermsofenvironmentalimpact.Withthisunderstanding,theycanidentifywheretheycanmakethemostmeaningfulchangestomitigatenegativesandfosterpositives.Theyalsoneedtobeabletoreportontheirstatusandprogress,toboththepublicandtoupstreamanddownstreambusinesspartnerswhomustthenreportontheirownsupplychains.Sinceyoucan’tmanagewhatyoudon’tmeasure,midsizecompaniesmusttakethecriticalstepofidentifyingwhichmetricsaremostimmediatelyrelevant,suchaswaterand

materialsusage

.

Technologycanplayacriticalroleinhelpingcompaniesdecidehowtobecomemoresustainablebyprovidingthetoolstogather,measure,andanalyzerelevant

data.Ifyou’realreadycapturingdataonfinancialinputsandoutputs,youcanbroadenthescopeofthosesystemstoincludesustainabilitymetrics,suchaspowerconsumptionacrossfacilitiesorthecarbonfootprintofdifferentmethodsofshipping,andlinkthemtothebottomline.Existingtechnologiesechnologiescanhelpcompaniesperformtaskssuchasmonitoringoverallcarbonoutput,calculatingthecarbonfootprintandcomplianceofproducts,andfacilitatingwastemanagementandrecycling.

Thoughtheresearchshowsthatpursuingasustainabilitystrategywillbecomplex,thereisnoquestioningtheurgencyofaction.Alargemajorityofmidmarketrespondentssaythatsustainabilityisacriticalpartoftheirfuturecompetitivenessandprofitability.Midsizecompanieswillneedthetechnologyandpartnersto

helpthemunderstandtheirimpactsandincorporatesustainabilitydataintotheirstrategicdecision-making.Manyarealreadyworkingtogatherthedataandspecifythemetricsthatwillmattertodayandintothefuture.Andaspressurebuildsoncompaniestodomore,thosewhoviewsustainabilityasalreadyfinanciallymaterialtotheirperformancepredictthattheywillperformbetterandbemoreprofitablethantheirpeers.

Theraceison.

Forourfullsurveyresults,read

ApproachingEnvironmental

↓

MidsizeCompanies

Sustainability:AViewfrom

Gettipstodevelopasustainability

↓

strategyforyourbusiness.Listento

thison-demandwebinar

AboutThisResearch

TheSAPInsightsresearchcenterconductedthissurveytomeasure

thechallengescompaniesfaceinfightingandreversingenvironmental

degradationandwhentheybelieveenvironmentalissueswillaffect

theirfinancialconditionoroperatingperformance.Thestudytook

placebetweenNovember2020andJanuary2021,and7,423responses

(5,621usable)werecollectedacross16industries,19countries,andfour

continents.

?2021SAPSEoranSAPaffiliatecompany.Allrightsreserved.

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Theinformationcontainedhereinmaybechangedwithoutpriornotice.

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ThesematerialsareprovidedbySAPSEoranSAPaffiliatecompanyfor

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