INSEAD researcher’s book identifies how organisations can invest in sustainability to generate business opportunities
Corporate environmentalism is driving the agenda of today’s organisations, but how can managers transform sustainability issues into business opportunities? In his book, ‘Sustainability Strategies: When Does it Pay to be Green?,’ Dr. Renato Orsato, a Senior Research Fellow at INSEAD’s Social Innovation Centre, outlines the elements involved in the formation and evaluation of sustainability strategies in organisations. By helping managers prioritise eco-investments, Orsato explains how businesses can transform them into sources of competitive advantage and new market spaces.
Based on solid theoretical foundations and empirical research, the book examines how companies can create competitive advantage in existing markets by exploring eco-differentiation and cost-driven sustainability strategies. The book also analyses empirical examples of firms that went beyond competition and created new - and more sustainable - market spaces. By exploring Sustainable Value Innovation (SVI) strategies, some enterprises have been able to create value for consumers and society at both lower costs and environmental impacts. Orsato examines how SVI is emerging as a key strategy for the global auto industry, as it faces a pivotal time from both economic and environmental perspectives.
‘This book presents a clear and comprehensive analysis of the business challenges of using environmentalism as a source of competitive advantage. Orsato has made a sophisticated contribution to our understanding of the strengths and limitations of sustainable business strategies. It can be read with profit by both managers and scholars who want to better understand the dynamics of corporate environmentalism,’ said Professor David Vogel, University of California, Berkeley.
Orsato is involved with INSEAD’s Social Innovation Centre, which focuses on six key initiatives - Africa, Corporate Social Responsibility & Ethics, Healthcare Management, Humanitarian Research, Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainability – to develop new business models and market-based mechanisms that deliver sustainable economic, environmental and social prosperity. INSEAD’s Sustainability Group works with and encourages companies to transform environmental and social demands into sustainable value innovation.
‘The financial crisis only emphasised the importance of using business rationales to guide eco-investments,’ said Renato Orsato. ‘This book helps corporations to increase their competitiveness and create new market spaces while striving to become environmental and social responsibility leaders.’
About the Book
Title: Sustainability Strategies
Subtitle: When Does it Pay to be Green?
Author: Dr. Renato J. Orsato
Published by: Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date: 3 April, 2009
Price: £ 25.00 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-230-21298-5
About the Author
Renato J. Orsato is Senior Research Fellow at the INSEAD Social Innovation Centre, Fontainebleau, France. He has been a Visiting Professor at several universities worldwide, including the University of Amsterdam (Holland), Lund University (Sweden) and the Universities of Technology, Sydney and Melbourne (Australia). Renato holds a PhD in Management, a Masters (Honors) in Organisation Studies and BA (Honors) in Civil Engineering and Business Administration. He has written several teaching cases and book chapters, and published in academic journals such as California Management Review, Journal of Industrial Ecology and Organization Studies. In addition to his academic work, Dr. Orsato has extensive experience in management and consulting.
