What is Sustainability's Role in the Decision Making Process?

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company
Jan 5, 2011 12:29 PM ET

Blog by Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company

Business leaders are faced with an endless number of decisions in daily operations and in the long-term strategic direction of a company.  From the outside, stakeholders often only see and typically focus their attention on the ultimate decision and the actions that follow.  While the outcome can be a tangible point of improvement, the process that led to the result is more often the area of greatest business sustainability opportunity.  

A common sustainability misconception is that business sustainability is a single decision.  As in: Are we going embrace sustainability concepts, or is sustainability not a fit for our company?  The reality is that every decision, whether big or small, offers executives the opportunity to make an alternative choice and define a continuously evolving path.   Not to say that every decision must be directly aligned with sustainable values; however, the inclusion of sustainability as criteria can greatly improve the evaluation.  By incorporating sustainability as criteria in decision processes, individuals or operating units can make alternative choices.  What are some common factors that lead business judgment down one path versus another?  Based upon business sustainability value drivers, considerations  include: click here to continue reading.  

Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".

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