Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World – Détails, épisodes et analyse

J. Doyne Farmer is director of the Complexity Economics program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, Baillie Gifford Professor in the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford, and an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is a renowned physicist and complex systems scientist with a career spanning more than four decades. As a pioneer in chaos theory and complexity science, he has made significant contributions to understanding dynamic systems and their applications in various fields, including economics and financial markets.

In this conversation with Dave Young, the Global Leader of the BCG Henderson Institute’s Center for Climate & Sustainability, Doyne discusses his journey from astrophysics to pioneering work in chaos theory and complex systems. He explains how modern computational power and big data are revolutionizing economic modeling, sharing insights from his team’s accurate prediction of COVID-19’s economic impact in the U.K. Farmer argues for a shift from traditional macroeconomic models to more dynamic, data-driven approaches that can capture the intricacies of our complex economic systems.

Tomohiro (Tomo) Ishikawa is a financial executive with more than 25 years of experience in investment banking, regulatory affairs, and sustainable finance. Currently serving as the chief regulatory engagement Officer at MUFG and head of the corporate planning division, Tomo also holds key positions in global sustainability initiatives, including membership in the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) Sustainable Finance Advisory Panel and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative.

As one of Japan’s largest financial institutions, MUFG has committed to achieving net-zero emissions in its finance portfolio by 2050 and has pledged to provide ¥100 trillion (approximately US$660 billion) in sustainable finance by 2030.

In this conversation with Dave Young, the global leader of BCG Henderson Institute’s Center for Climate & Sustainability, Tomo highlights MUFG’s role as its clients’ partner in achieving net-zero targets and underscores the necessity of balancing energy security, affordability, and CO2 reduction in the transition process.

In this episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Tony Thene, President and CEO of Carpenter Technology, a global leader in high-performance specialty alloy materials.

They discuss how Carpenter Technology has applied their learnings from their CPI expertise in materials, manufacturing, and processes to develop their sustainability initiatives as well as diversity, inclusion, and safety among their labor force.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Antoine Giros — Vice President of Certification Global Service Line for Bureau Veritas Group, a leader in testing, inspection and certification services.

They discuss how Bureau Veritas Group has shaped its strategy and innovation agenda to create a competitive advantage for itself and for its clients by creating transparency of high-quality, trustworthy sustainability data. Antoine shares how important it is to build the right digital systems to bring sustainability data to senior decision-makers to enable sustainability strategies and demonstrate credibility to external stakeholders on ESG commitments.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In the latest episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Nili Gilbert — Vice-chairwoman of Carbon Direct, Chair of the Investment Committee for the David Rockefeller Fund, Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Advisory Panel, and Chair for U.S. Policy for the UN Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance.

Together, they discuss how asset owners and asset managers are taking collective action to reshape the financial ecosystem and use finance to shape the global economic system, while at the same time creating a unique competitive advantage for themselves. Nili also shares how companies need to go beyond their net-zero pledges by disclosing high-quality interim targets at 5 and 10-year horizons, consistently reporting progress against targets, and demonstrate action towards decarbonization.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In this episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Mark Preston, Executive Trustee and Chief Executive at Grosvenor.

Grosvenor is a global privately held trustee-owned organization whose operations span urban property, food and AgTech, rural estate management, and support for philanthropic initiatives. The firm’s history dates back over 340 years and currently manages over £11 billion in assets under management across its portfolios. Beneficial ownership of the firm remains with the Grosvenor family, the Duke of Westminster being the primary beneficiary.

Mark’s three-decade-long career at Grosvenor has spanned continents, taking him from the UK to Hong Kong and San Francisco, before returning to the UK in 2006 to head up Grosvenor’s property business as Chief Executive.

David and Mark discuss how Grosvenor’s unique legacy and governance structure has facilitated managerial decision-making from a long-term perspective on not only financial returns but sustainability and stakeholders as well. In the latter half, they discuss how Grosvenor made the pivot to new lines of business beyond real estate, and where the frontier of sustainable business model innovation is today.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In the first episode of season 2 of Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Gary Knell — former Chairman of National Geographic Partners, former CEO of Sesame Street, and former CEO of National Public Radio.

Together, they discuss how National Geographic, Sesame Street, and NPR staked out their competitive advantage by anchoring themselves in purpose-driven media and how purpose can serve companies to navigate this period of disinformation and distrust. Gary shares his perspective on the role of media in shaping the context for sustainability and how companies can tap into the power of story-telling to engender trust and empower their brands by seeking out new non-traditional partners in the social sector.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In the newest episode of our Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young—a BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation—continues his interview with Schneider Electric’s Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Olivier Blum.

Together, they discuss the importance of innovation to reframe and unlock sustainability as a source of advantage.  In these efforts, it is critical to engage customers and empower employees to drive sustainable innovations. Olivier explains how Schneider created a culture around sustainability that belongs to all their associates, allowing them to deliver on their bold ambitions across both environmental and social objectives.

Looking to the future of sustainability, Olivier discusses the limitations of seeing sustainability as only an issue of compliance.  For him and for Schneider, there is no finish line for innovating to make sustainability a source of business advantage.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In this episode of our Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — a BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Schneider Electric’s Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Olivier Blum.

Schneider Electric was recently named the world’s most sustainable company by Corporate Knights, a leading global sustainable business publication. David and Olivier discuss how the company achieved this, by transitioning from having Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives that were separate from the business to making sustainability a core source of business advantage.

Olivier has a unique perspective on this transformation, having held a range of positions at Schneider over the course of almost three decades. Olivier has led various global business units and served as Chief Human Resources Officer in this time. He says companies looking to make sustainability core to their business strategy should embed sustainability into corporate purpose, make bold bets, translate those bets into clear long-term direction, define measurable short-term targets and milestones, and wire sustainability performance into compensation and promotion.

Throughout all of this, Olivier speaks to the critical importance of senior leaders’ commitment to making Schneider a progressive company that constantly raises the bar on sustainability — from the environment to gender equity and broader societal issues.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In our next episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young, our BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation, interviews BrightHouse CEO Ashley Grice.

Ashley discusses how Purpose helps companies articulate how they differentially and authentically solve a need in the world, bringing the ideas of environmental and societal sustainability and sustainable business together.

Following the proliferation of the concept for corporate Purpose in the last few years, Ashley anticipates Purpose will become even more relevant as societies work to recover from the series of crises that occurred in 2020. Boards, employees, customers, and even regulators will all demand more Purposeful businesses.

While digging deep into Purpose will be uncomfortable initially, companies that harness it will find a powerful lever to help transform their culture, align people, stimulate innovation, accelerate growth, and infuse true meaning into their business for the long-term.

***

About the BCG Henderson Institute

The BCG Henderson Institute is the Boston Consulting Group’s think tank, dedicated to exploring and developing valuable new insights from business, technology, economics, and science by embracing the powerful technology of ideas. The Institute engages leaders in provocative discussion and experimentation to expand the boundaries of business theory and practice and to translate innovative ideas from within and beyond business. For more ideas and inspiration, sign up to receive BHI INSIGHTS, our monthly newsletter, and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.