Integrating Sustainability into Strategy
Leverage sustainability for strategic advantage
Despite significant investments in environmentally and socially responsible products, many companies experience only modest returns and struggle to achieve profitability from their sustainability initiatives. Business leaders worldwide grow increasingly frustrated, finding it challenging to align sustainability with business strategy effectively. Why does this happen?
Many firms believe that sustainability should somehow “co-exist” with the firm’s strategy. For some, sustainability efforts focus primarily on regulatory compliance and risk mitigation. Other companies have developed “greener” products and capitalized on reputation enhancement, yet these measures often yield limited sustainability or customer value. Yet others have placed sustainability at the heart of their business philosophy, prioritizing societal and environmental interests but overlooking the need to create customer value and drive profitability.
However, a few firms have managed to truly embed sustainability into their strategies to create real customer value and renew competitive advantage. These companies have moved beyond the mere co-existence of sustainability and business strategy towards seamless integration, showcasing that sustainability and business are inseparable.
IMD’s Integrating Sustainability into Strategy program offers practical insights into leveraging sustainability as a tool to elevate your strategy, enabling you to deliver new sources of value, product innovation, competitiveness, and business resilience. Through practical case studies and examples, you will discover different pathways for integrating sustainability into your strategy – from improving product performance and revisiting your business model to expanding into new markets and deepening customer engagement.
By the end of the program, you will be equipped with a practical framework and tools to develop and execute sustainability strategies that deliver both superior business performance and significant customer-centric impact.
Join us on 16 January 2025
Embark on a comprehensive journey, combining interactive group discussions, case studies, and practical assignments for a holistic learning experience, all designed for maximum impact on your professional growth.
Detailed schedule 2024
Laying the foundation: Understanding the “What” of sustainability integration
Dates: 13 November – 4 December 2024 (liVe virtual & online)
- 13 November 2024, 12:00-13:00 CET (liVe)
- 27 November 2024, 12:00-14:00 CET (liVe)
- 4 December 2024, 12:00-14:00 CET (liVe)
- Additional video material, reading, and assignments (online, self-paced)
Exploring real-world cases: Mastering the “How” of sustainability integration
Dates: 11-13 December 2024 (on campus)
- Start time: 11 December 2024, 12:00 CET
- End time: 13 December 2024, 17:00 CET
Bringing it all together: Applying sustainability integration
Dates: 7 January – 7 February 2025 (live virtual & online)
- 7 January 2025, 12:00-14:00 CET (liVe)
- 7 February 2025, 12:00-14:00 CET (liVe)
- Additional assignments (online, self-paced)
IMD’s Integrating Sustainability into Strategy program is co-directed by Professors Goutam Challagalla and Frédéric Dalsace. Both split their time between teaching, research, and working with international companies, remaining on top of the latest management trends. Their recent Harvard Business Review articles, “Moving the Needle on Sustainability” and “How to Market Sustainable Products,” feature their expert insights on sustainability integration.
Length: 2.5 days on campus plus 15 hours liVe virtual & online