Knut Haanaes

Education will change significantly over the next decade as competitiveness becomes increasingly driven by learning. Many higher education systems were designed for the needs of the past century an...

Emerging economies are often thought of as environmental laggards; they're perceived to be focused more on addressing poverty than on protecting the planet. But when the Boston Consulting Group and...

This is the third year that MIT Sloan Management Review has teamed up with the Boston Consulting Group on their Sustainability and Innovation Global Executive survey, to which more than 4,700 execu...

Most corporations now view sustainability as a key requirement for competitive advantage, but few claim to have achieved it. One of the key obstacles separating intention from execution is that the...

MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group recently conducted their third annual sustainability survey of executives and managers worldwide. The survey results indicate that an inc...

Despite the economic downturn and tenuous recovery, more than two-thirds of businesses are strengthening their commitment to sustainability, according to a new global study by MIT Sloan Management ...

Moving toward sustainability is a daunting task. There’s so much your company could do, from reducing harms from its operations to bettering the lives of customers, employees, and local communities...

Sustainability practices require good governance. Unlike other corporate initiatives, these usually involve a change in the company’s overall direction, including its strategy. That makes sustainab...

In a world where change is the only constant, the strategic imperative for sustainability is not just a theoretical construct – it’s a call to action. This section of the book delves into the core ...

As you have explored throughout this book, the journey toward sustainability requires a delicate balance of strategy, leadership, and action – a synergy of the head, heart, and hands. The strategic...

Sustainable business transformation requires more than just a solid strategy – it demands leadership that is visionary, courageous, and deeply committed to change. This third section of the book fo...

In the past, many business leaders could operate much like the generic merchants in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. They could pursue their own personal and corporate ends, while resting assu...

In today’s complex and fast-paced business environment, sustainability has evolved from a buzzword into an essential element of long-term success. Yet the concept is often misunderstood or over...

As any executive will tell you, moral suasion will not convince most companies to commit to sustainability. Even major long-term threats will not do it. Companies need positive reasons to undertake...

In late 2020, as the world began to emerge from the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wärtsilä, a Finnish corporation specializing in power systems, made a bold decision. Despite being a well-e...

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) is a network of 250 multinational companies collaborating to achieve Vision2050 ¬– a plan for a world where nine billion people can li...

Companies are now aiming to decarbonize their supply chains by tackling scope 3 emissions (indirect emissions along the value chain). Scope 3 emissions are difficult for companies to manage because...

At the turn of the century, Umicore was a mining company far from being sustainable – a business of extracting finite resources from the ground combined with high CO2 intensity. Today, Umicore pivo...

Until 2009, the Danish oil and gas company Orsted was a worldwide leader in energy production from fossil fuels. Spurred by the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit, Orsted decided to turn around into wi...

DSM was incorporated in the beginning of the 20th century as a mining company. With the depletion of Netherland’s coal resources, the company pivoted in the 1960s into a chemical company, producing...

Over the last 30 years, executive education has been in a long period of ongoing adaptation, mainly driven by established players in the realms of business and finance. That is now over. Executive ...

Shining today, gone tomorrow? For every Apple, there is an Atari, for every Fujia Polaroid, and for every Netflix a Blockbuster. It’s harder to stay on top than to get there. How can you avoid the ...

Very few companies can excel at innovation and efficiency at the same time. Of the 2,500 public companies we analyzed, just 2% consistently outperform their peers on both growth and profitability d...

Managers today face an apparent contradiction. On one hand, austerity in the developed world and intense competition push them to cut costs and drive efficiencies. On the other, the increasing pace...

Leaders of all enterprises today need to look beyond short-term financial performance, watch for potential disruptions and shifts, and then preemptively address them. They need to be prepared to di...

When we reflect on the quality of future leaders, we see the glass as much more than half full. We are optimistic. One reason for this is that, for the last five years, when seeking input on potent...

Businesses are increasingly joining together as part of climate alliances to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. But these alliances raise antitrust issues: When competitors collabora...

In 2015, the United Nations General Assembly established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of 17 ambitious objectives to promote peace, prosperity, and sustainability around the globe...

What do Covid-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the climate crisis have in common? All three challenge our sense of safety and illuminate the interconnected nature of the modern world. Each ...

For over half a century, evidence about climate change has been mounting. Growing numbers of citizens, governments, civil society organisations and companies have come around to embrace their respo...

Business schools have much to contribute to the fight against climate change. They are experts in organizational transformation, performance measurement, operations, marketing, leadership, and gove...

CHAPTER 5 (IMD contribution) Climate change and Business Transformation: As we act to mitigate and adapt to climate change, we are undergoing the biggest business transformation the world has ever ...

Education will change significantly over the next decade as competitiveness becomes increasingly driven by learning. Many higher education systems were designed for the needs of the past century an...

Although greenwashing is far too common, recently there have been two powerful “green shots,” which show that business is finally taking sustainability a lot more seriously. These are, in our opini...