Business Model Innovation
Traceability: The Path towards More Sustainable Supply Chains
In the improvement of sustainability practices, there is still massive potential in the supply chain. For example, according to CDP, if suppliers to 125 multinationals were to increase their renewable electricity consumption by 20%, over a billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved: equivalent to the combined emissions of Brazil and Mexico. Nevertheless, only 23% of tier-1 suppliers are engaging on emission reduction activities with their own suppliers. Evidently, business processes such as planning, sourcing, producing, and logistics require restructuring and redesigning. One of the factors that can play a major role on enhancing efficiency and optimization in the supply chain is improving traceability: the ability to track and monitor all steps involved in the development of a finished good, from the procurement stage of raw materials to production, consumption all the way to the disposal of goods.
Building Back Better: A Positive Outlook on the Post-Covid Economy
The World Economic Forum kicked off 2021 with its Annual Meeting - the year in which we hope to leave COVID-19 behind us. It is clear that we are not out of the woods yet, but the pandemic crisis has also revealed other underlying issues. It has amplified existing inequalities – there are those who have access to work, healthcare, education and digital technologies and those who have not – and has particularly exposed the many shortcomings of our current systems. The more reason for countries and companies to look into opportunities to emerge stronger and more sustainably. The pandemic has hastened the need for transformations and to #BuildBackBetter.
Sign up for IMD’s Winning Sustainability Strategies online program
Designed to integrate ESG in your corporate strategy, the Winning Sustainability Strategies online program from IMD Business School in Lausanne teaches how to build a strong business case for sustainability and how to develop opportunities for innovation. Due to its practical approach, the program has proven to be highly appreciated by executive and senior management level participants. Moreover, it is suitable for larger groups of corporate participants to obtain a more thorough understanding of doing well by doing good.
Algramo Develops Refill Business with Unilever
In the outskirts of Santiago, inexpensive food is very hard to come by. There are only few supermarkets, and the food at local stores is typically priced 30-40% more expensive than normal. Chilean based startup Algramo has developed a solution to address this challenge. Founded in 2012, the company is solving economic and environmental issues through its vending machines. Algramo dispenses staple products, like grains, rice, beans, lentils, and sugar “by the gram” (al gramo) to low-income customers. Now partnering with Unilever and others, the company has developed a reusable packaging solution for household cleaners and detergents.
Getting Around in the Circular Economy
Sustainable mobility is one of today’s biggest challenges and the increase in introductions of electric vehicles has proven this. According to Bloomberg’s 2019 outlook on the Electric Vehicle market, it is expected that 57% of all passenger vehicle sales will be electric by 2040, and 80% of shared mobility will be electric with companies as Uber and Lyft gaining market share.
Innovation Summit 2019: London
This year's Innovation Summit takes place at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London and focuses on the role of culture in innovation. Business leaders, policymakers, academics, corporate entrepreneurs, innovation directors and business development executives come together to discuss and share insights on integrating innovation in the day-to-day work life.
Give Your Business More than a Sustainable Twist
Many firms fail to successfully implement their sustainability strategies, not because they lack the desire, the willingness or even the belief in the impact of sustainability on their businesses, but because they fail to identify proper objectives for their efforts. Setting a clear and meaningful purpose can help an organization to coalesce various efforts and goodwill and gives a shared sense of direction. Practice the creation of a purpose-based business with The Cover Story tool and the Bob’s Burgers Workshop.
Selecting Circular Economy Strategies
The circular economy is a concept in direct opposition to the more traditional linear way of thinking, i.e. take-make-dispose. To help teams get more comfortable with the notion of developing Many Alternative Sustainable Solutions (MASS) by identifying sustainability challenges and selecting circular economy strategies, experimentation is recommendable. This Business Model Canvas team training exercise is aimed at experimenting with the development of circular economy solutions based on the value proposition of the BMW i3.
Vale Takes Mining into the Circular Economy
A first of its kind circular project was announced in June 2018, originating from the research from an engineer and executive MBA graduate at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL). The project aims to help Vale, the world’s largest iron-ore mining company, transform residue into resource. It does that by extracting untapped value from its mine tailings by transforming it into new products. Concurrently, sand consumption around the world is increasing faster than supplies are naturally able to replenish, making it one of the most coveted resources behind fresh water. This forms a great opportunity for Vale as its mine tailings high in quartz can be used in many sand-based products. In a conversation with Finch & Beak, project initiator and leader Emile Scheepers explains how thinking differently about the product life cycle allowed him to uncover this new opportunity.
