Sustainable Strategy...or Else

Not everyone in the our globalized industry is buying into the “Green” model, it appears.

A recent study of the supply chain and logistics practices of a number of industries in South Africa has revealed that more than 40 percent of the companies surveyed nationally are not implementing environmentally sustainable business strategies - thereby jeopardizing their own long-term sustainability.

The Supply Chain Intelligence Report (SCIR) 2009, a comprehensive study into the supply chain and logistics practices of business in South Africa conducted by Terranova Research, saw over 200 senior company officials from both a strategic and chain perspective participate in the in-depth survey. All major industries in the country were represented, including the automotive, food and beverage, mining, construction, transportation and chemical sectors.

The results of the survey showed that a significant 41.3 percent of the companies that took part did not have, or had no plans to incorporate, metrics to measure their impact on the environment. The key performance indicators (KPIs) listed in the survey included energy consumption from supply chain operations; carbon emissions from supply chain operations; water consumption from manufacturing operations; infrastructure simplification and reverse logistics.

They do so at their peril, said Graham Terry, head of the Office of the Executive President at the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) and author of the recently published book Green – why corporate leaders need to embrace sustainability to ensure future profitability.

“Ultimately, SCIR 2009 indicates a shift in thinking is required by many South African companies and directors in terms of their sustainability strategies should they want to turn risk into opportunity and improve their competitive advantage in this ever-increasing global world,” he said.