如何通过内嵌可持续性创造商业价值+How+to+Create+Business+Value+with+Embedded+Sustainability

IBMInstituteforBusinessValue|ResearchInsights

Beyondchecking

thebox

Howtocreatebusinessvaluewith

embeddedsustainability

HowIBM

canhelp

Withdeepindustryexpertise,ecosystem

partnerships,andprovenmethods,IBMConsulting

SustainabilityServicesguidesandadvisesclients

ontheirjourneytobecomingamoresustainable

enterprise.Throughcocreationandsustainability

advisoryservices,weleadwithinnovationandimpact,

fromstrategyandimplementationtomanaged

services.IBMsoftwaresolutionssuchasIBMEnvizi™,

EnvironmentalIntelligenceSuite(EIS),IBMMaximo®,

andIBMTRIRIGA®embedsustainabilityintoan

organization’soperations,harnessingthepowerof

dataandAIforgreatertransparencyandactionable

insights.Formoreinformationpleasevisit

/sustainability

1

Key

takeaways

Organizationsthatembed

sustainabilityaremore

exacting—53%say

businessbenefitsare

essentialforjustifying

sustainabilityinvestments.

Arewehittingtargetsbut

missingthepoint?

Spendingonsustainabilityreportingexceedsspendingonsustainabilityinnovationby43%.Manyorganiza-

tionsareapproachingsustainabilityasanaccountingorreportingexerciseratherthanatransformationplay.

“Doingsustainability”doesnot

equatetobeingmoresustainable.

Butorganizationsthatembedsustainabilitythroughout

theiroperationsshowbettersustainabilityand

financialoutcomes.Theyare52%morelikelyto

outperformtheirpeersonprofitability,witha16%higherrateofrevenuegrowth.

Tyingsustainabilityto

businessvalueiskey.

53%oforganizationsthatembedsustainability

saythatbusinessbenefitsareessentialforjustifyingsustainabilityinvestments.Andonly17%say

meetingsustainabilityobjectivesisinitselfsufficienttojustifyinvestment.

2

56%

morelikelyto

outperformtheirpeersontalentattraction

Introduction

Whyisn’tsustainabilitygeneratingmoreimpactfororganizations?

Afteryears“doingsustainability,”mostenterpriseshaven’tproduced

thedesiredoutcomes.AlmosthalfofallorganizationsinarecentIBM

InstituteforBusinessValue(IBMIBV)surveystillstruggletofund

sustainabilityinvestments,andsixin10executivessaytheyhaveto

maketrade-offsbetweenfinancialandsustainabilityoutcomes.

ThehardtruthmanyC-suiteexecutivesaregrapplingwithisthat“doing

sustainability”—asmostenterpriseshave—doesnotequatetoactuallybeingmore

sustainable.Itappearswehavetoendsustainabilityasweknowit,tomakewayfora

newmodelthatdeliverspositivesustainableimpactsandpositivefinancialresults.

Basedonoursurveyof5,000C-suiteexecutivesacross22industriesand22

countries,IBM’sIBVanalysisshowsthatiforganizationsflipthewaythey

operationalizesustainability,theycansignificantlyincreasebusinessvalue.1

Thekeyistoembedsustainabilitythroughoutthebusiness—trulybakeitinto

operations—ratherthantreatitasanadd-on.

FIGURE1

Embeddersareseeing

businessvalue

75%

morelikelytoattributegreatimprovementinrevenuetotheir

sustainabilityefforts

16%

higherrateof

revenuegrowth

x2

morelikelytoattributegreatimprovementinoperatingcoststotheirsustainabilityefforts

52%

morelikelyto

outperformtheirpeersonprofitability

3

Thesustainabilitydisconnect

Executivesinourstudyseethevalueinsustainability:76%saythatsustainabilityiscentraltotheirbusiness

strategy,75%thatitdrivesbetterbusinessresults,and72%thatitcanbearevenueenablerrather

thanacostcenter.Yet,despitetheseviews,only

31%oforganizationsreporttheyareincorporatingsustainabilitydataandinsightsintooperational

improvementstoagreatextent,andamere14%

dosowithinnovationinitiatives.

Thedisconnectisunfortunate,butit’salsoan

opportunity.We’vetypicallyseenasignificantgap

betweensustainabilityambitionandaction.In

contrast,nownearlyone-third(30%)ofexecutivessaytheyhavemadesignificantprogressinexecuting

theirsustainabilitystrategy—upfromjust10%ayearago.2Whilethisisadramaticjump,itisalsoatellingindicationofhowtheremaining70%arefallingshort.

Inthisreport,we’lldiscusswhatittakestomovefrom“doingsustainability”tounlockingsustainability’s

potential.

PartOnewilloutlinetheadvantagesofembeddingsustainabilitythroughoutanorganization,and

what“Embedders”aredoingdifferentlyto

distinguishthemselves—includingthreethings

aboutEmbeddersthatmaysurpriseyou.Fortheseleadingorganizations,theideaofembeddingor

integratingsustainabilityintooperationswillnot

benew.Indeed,someofthemhavebeenpursuingthispathforyearsandaresuccessfullyconvertingtheseeffortsintobusinessvalue.Butourresearchshowsthatmostorganizationshavealotofgroundtocoverinmovingtowardanembeddedapproachtosustainability.

PartTwodelvesintothreekeysustainability

businesschallengesthatC-suiteleaderstellus

they’refacingandhowtoaddressthem,along

withreal-worldexamplesofcompaniesthathavenavigatedthetransitionsuccessfully.

6in10

executivessaytheyhave

tomaketrade-offs

betweenfinancialand

sustainableoutcomes.

4

PartOne

Whatembedding

sustainabilitylookslike

Whenyouembedsustainability,itbecomesabusinesstransformation

accelerantversuswhatitisinsomanyorganizations—areportingor

accountingexercise.

Caseinpoint:accordingtoourresearch,spendingonsustainabilityreporting

exceedsspendingonsustainabilityinnovationby43%.Amajorityoforganizations

approachsustainabilityassomethingtheyreportonforgovernmentcomplianceor

toappeaseconsumersandshareholders.Manyorganizationsarescramblingto

handlesomanyvarying,changingreportingrequirementsaroundtheglobethat

compliance,ratherthanrealbusinessvalueandresults,becomestheirfocus.

Becomingmoresustainable—ratherthanmerelydoingsustainability—entailsashift

towardembeddingsustainabilityacrosstheenterpriseandmakingitacorepartofall

theactivitiesthatadduptolong-termvaluecreation.Interestingly,Embeddersare

actuallymoreexactingthanotherorganizationsontyingsustainabilitytobusiness

value;53%oftheseorganizationssaythatbusinessbenefitsareessentialfor

justifyingsustainabilityinvestments.Andonly17%saymeetingsustainability

objectivesisinitselfsufficienttojustifyinvestment.

Embeddedsustainabilitymeansbreakingsustainabilityoutofitsfunctionalsiloand

integratingitacrosseverybusinessunit,inparticularthecorefunctionsandworkflows.

ThatwillhelpmakesustainabilitypartofthecorporateDNAandwaysofworking.

53%

Only

ofthemostembedded

33%

oftheleastembeddedsaythesame

saybusinessbenefitsare

essentialforjustifying

sustainabilityinvestments

5

Morespecifically,C-suiteteamscanachieve

embeddedsustainabilitybydrivingitdeeperinto

theenterprisethroughfourlevels,startingwith

strategythroughtoworkflowsandpeopleinthe

organizationdowntodecisions(seeFigure).The

deepersustainabilityisembeddedthroughoutthe

enterprise,themoresustainabilitybecomespartof

thecorebusinessandthegreaterthevalueachieved.Takeprocurementasanexample.Ifsustainability

metricsandcriteriaareembeddedaspartofhowyoumakeprocurementdecisions—whetherit’sthe

suppliersyouchoosetoengagewithortheproducts

andservicesyoupurchase—youcancouplegreatersustainabilitywithimprovedbusinessoutcomesinyoursupplychain.Withmoreinformationand

datafromyoursuppliersontheirsustainabilityperformanceandthechallengestheyface,youcancollaborateonjointsolutionsforefficiencyandreducedenvironmentalimpact.

Embedding

sustainabilitydeeper

intotheorganization…

Strategy

Alignsustainabilitywith

businessstrategy

Workflows

Incorporatesustainability

intocoreworkflowsand

processes

Organization

Enableactionthroughclearlydefinedrolesandresponsibilities

Decisions

Includesustainabilityconsiderations,data,andmetricsinkey

businessdecisions

…drives

greaterimpact

6

ThreethingsaboutEmbedders

thatmaysurpriseyou

1.Theydon’tspendmore“onsustainability.”

Embeddersaren’tbuoyedbybigsustainabilitybudgets.Instead,theyincorporate

sustainabilitydataandinsightsbroadly,intootherspendingandinvestmentdecisions.Infact,organizationsthatembedsustainabilityspendslightlylessondedicated

sustainabilityeffortsasashareoftheirrevenuecomparedtoorganizationsthatdon’tembed.Yettheyincorporatesustainabilityconsiderations,data,andinsightsin22%moreoftheiroperationaldecisions.

2.Theydon’t“do”moresustainability.

Embeddedsustainabilitydoesnotinvolvelargerormoreplentifulsustainability-

focusedeffortsandprograms.Rather,theseorganizationsincorporatesustainabilityintotheircoreoperationsandtransformationefforts.Infact,theyare90%morelikelytoincorporatesustainabilityfactorsintotheirinnovationactivitiesand60%more

likelytoincludetheminautomationactivities.

3.Theydon’tapproachsustainabilityassomethingspecial.

Organizationsthatembedsustainabilityarefarmorelikelytofollowthemoney,ratherthantreatsustainabilityasaspecialcasewithanelevatedpositionthatjustifiesitself.Fortheseorganizations,sustainabilityisaboutlong-termbusinessvalue.

Organizationsthatembedsustainabilitymoredeeplyintotheiroperationsperform

betterfinanciallyandonsustainability.Andtheyaremorelikelytoattributeapositiveimpactfromtheirsustainabilityeffortstoimprovedperformance.Forexample,

improvingthelifetimeofphysicalassetsthroughbetterenterpriseassetmanagement

andmaintenanceiskeytoimprovedbusinessperformanceforasset-intensiveorganizations.Butsuchoperationalimprovementsalsotranslateintobetter

sustainabilityoutcomes.(Seecasestudy,“Keepingpassengertrainsrunningefficientlywhilereducingenergyconsumption”onpage8.)

7

0D

FIGURE2

Fromdoingsustainabilityto

beingsustainable

Threewaystoapproachsustainability.

Onlyoneworksforrealbusinessvalue.

Compliancefocus

Defensiveandreactivetocompliance

requirements

–Focusonreportingandavoidingreputationalrisks

–Capacityandcompetencebottlenecksinhibitrealaction

Sustainabilityasa“project”

Initiatingsustainabilityimprovements,minimizingreputationalrisks,andcomplyingwithlegislation

–“CorporateSustainability”departmentreportstotheC-level,withataskforceincludingmembersfrombusinessunitsandcentralfunctions

–Partialintegrationintothecompany

Embeddedsustainability

Anchoringsustainabilityintheoverallstrategy,achievingbusinessandsustainabilityoutcomes

–Permanentintegrationofsustainabilityintotheexistingcorporategovernanceframework

–Centralmanagement,standardsettingandgroup-widecoordination,ensuringthatgroup-wideperspectivesarecoveredinthebusinessunits

8

8

Casestudy

Keepingpassengertrains

runningefficientlywhilereducing

energyconsumption

51%

increaseinreliabilityofthetrainfleetdueto

predictivemaintenance

MillionsoftravelersinAustraliachooselightandheavyrailsystemstogetthem

wheretheyneedtogo.Forover100years,theDownerGrouphasfocusedon

buildingthosepassengertrainsandkeepingthemmovingandinservice.Butnow,

they’veaddedthrough-lifesupporttotheirrepertoire,whichmeansconductingall

themaintenanceworkforthetrainsacrossaspanofusually25–30years.Thishas

giventhemanopportunitytoimpactsustainability,particularlywhenitcomesto

energyconsumption.3

Eachday,Downerputsseveralhundredtrainsintoserviceacrosseverymajorcity

inAustralia.Alongsideongoingmanagementofthetrains,thereisanexpectation

tohelpcreateamoresustainabletransportationnetwork.

Tohelpnotonlyimprovesustainabilitybutalsobusinessperformance,Downer

createditsTrainDNArollingstockassetmanagementplatform.Thisplatform

harnessescomplexanalyticsandnearreal-timedatatosupportpredictive

maintenanceeffortsformorethan200trainsacrossAustralia—providingnotonly

aboosttobusinessefficiencybutalsotosustainability.Forexample,they’veseen

a51%increaseinthereliabilityofthefleet.

DownerisenhancingtheabilitiesofTrainDNAtofocusonreducingenergy

consumption.Throughabetterunderstandingofwhichrailsystemsareusingthe

mostenergy—howtheyneedtorespondthroughoutthedayastheweatherand

passengerdemandschange—Downercanoptimizeuseandgetabetteroutcome

forboththebusinessandcustomers.

Thecompanyisfiguringouthowtobettermonitorandcontrolequipmentto

ascertainif,forexample,itshouldadjusttheairconditioningorbalancetheenergy

loadorthetractioncontrols—majorpowerdraws—inrealtimebasedonthe

numberofpassengers.Evensmallincrementalenergysavingsintheseareascan

haveahugeimpactonthecarbonfootprintforthewholenetwork—andforthe

wholecountry.

9

10

PartTwo

3keychallengesto

sustainablebusinessvalue

Whileembeddingsustainabilityintooperationsclearlyyieldsimprovedresults,

thatdoesn’tmakeitsimple.Aswithanytransformativeopportunity,thereare

complicationstomanage.Butbylookingatthosedoingitright—anddigginginto

whattheydodifferently—aroadmapemergesforotherstofollow.

Inthissectionwewillexplorethreekeychallengesthatorganizationsneedtoaddress

toembedsustainabilityinawaythatgeneratesbusinessvalue.Witheachchallenge,

wewillunpacktheobstacles,sharehowEmbeddersapproachthemdistinctively,and

provideanactionguideforanyorganizationtoputthelessonstowork.

1.Thedata

usabilitychallenge

Ensuringsustainabilitydatais

sourced,used,andconvertedinto

actionableinsights.

2.Thebusiness

integrationchallenge

Integratingsustainabilitydataandinsightsinto

processes,decisions,andwaysofworking.

Extendingintegrationofsustainabilityefforts

beyondtheorganizationandworkingwith

ecosystempartners.

3.Thepeople,skills,and

decision-makingchallenge

Creatingappropriategovernance

andanorganizationalstructuresothat

decisionsaremadeattherightlevels

todrivesustainabilityacrossteams

andfunctions.

11

Challenge1

Datausability

Insightsburiedindisparatedatadumps

Executivesrecognizetheimportanceofdatatoachievingsustainabilityobjectives;82%agreethathigh-qualitydataandtransparencyarenecessarytosucceed.Yet,despiterecognizingthelinkbetweendataandsustainabilitysuccess,onlyabout

fourin10organizationscanautomaticallysourcesustainabilitydatafromcore

systemssuchasERP,enterpriseassetmanagement,CRM,energymanagement,

andfacilitiesmanagement.Andasimilarshareoforganizationsareabletointegratesustainabilityinsightsfordecision-makingwhenusingthesesamecoresystems.

Theadage“ifyoucan’tmeasureit,youcan’tmanageit”appliesherebuttakenastepfurther.Meaning,ifyoucan’tevenaccessthedatathatpaintsthepictureofsustainabilitythroughouttheorganization,nocourseofactionpresentsitself

basedonreal-worldoperationsandmetrics.

Theothermainconsiderationisthatit’snotnecessarilythevolumeofdatathatishelpful—it’showthedatathatorganizationscancollectisused.Developing

sustainabilitydatainsights,incorporatingthemintooperations,andcontinuousmonitoringmakeapositivedifferenceforbusinessvalue.Inshort,it’swhatyoudowithitthatmatters.

Only4in10organizationscan

automaticallysourcesustainabilitydata

fromcoresystemssuchasERP,enterprise

assetmanagement,CRM,energy

management,andfacilitiesmanagement.

12

12

Perspective

GenerativeAI

GenerativeAIcanbeagamechangerfordata-drivensustainability,

enablingorganizationstoturntrade-offsintowin-wins,identify

improvementopportunities,anddriveinnovationatspeedandscale.

And64%ofexecutivesagreethatgenerativeAIwillbeimportantfor

theirsustainabilityefforts,while73%saytheyplantoincreasetheir

investmentingenerativeAIforsustainability.

Embedders’top5mostimportantareas

whenusinggenerativeAIforsustainability

1.Acceleratinginnovation

2.Reducingenergyconsumption

3.Reducingwaste

4.Trackinggreenhousegas(GHG)

emissions,includingscope3

5.Managingriskandresilience

13

Embeddersare191%morelikely

tohavegreatlyalignedtheirdata

andsustainabilitystrategies.

WhatdoEmbeddersdo

differentlywithdata?

Datafoundations

Organizationsthathaveembeddedsustainabilityare191%morelikelytohave

greatlyalignedtheirdataandsustainabilitystrategies.Andtheyare130%more

likelytohavesourcedsustainabilitydatafromacrosstheenterprise.Forexample,bysourcingrelevantsustainabilitydatafromcoresystemssuchasERP,CRM,

enterpriseassetmanagement,andenergymanagementsystems,organizationscanhavegreaterandmoretimelyvisibilityintowhereactionisneededand

improvementspossible.

Datagovernance

Embeddersare72%morelikelytohaveensuredthesecurityofsustainabilitydata.They’realso63%morelikelytohaveestablishedconsistentdefinitionsof

sustainabilitymetrics,whichcreatesacommonlanguagefordrivingand

communicatingsustainabilityinsights.Thesecoregovernancecapabilities

underpintrustinthedata—trustthatiscriticalforthereliableuseofthatdatainstrategicandoperationaldecisions.

Datacatalysts

You’veprobablyheardtheanalogyofdataasfuel.Justlikefuel,itrequirespowerfulsystemstooptimizeperformance.Organizationsthatembedsustainabilityare

59%morelikelytobeusinghybridcloudforsustainabilitytoagreatextent,

enablingthemtointegratedataandfacilitateinteroperabilityandcollaboration

fromacrosstheirenterprise,whetherthedataresidesinpublicclouds,private

clouds,oronpremises.Indeed,manyofthemexplicitlymakesustainabilityapart

oftheiroverallcloudanddigitalstrategies.Theyarealso80%morelikelytobe

tappingthepotentialofAItoconvertdataintoactionableinsightsandare36%

morelikelytostronglyagreethattheyhavedevelopedgenerativeAIusecasesforsustainability.Infact,AIcanbecriticalforembeddingsustainability.Forexample,infoodproduction,AI-drivenweathertechnologyisalreadyassistingsomefarmersinmakingenvironmentallyconsciousdecisionsthatincreaseyieldswhilereducingtheuseoffertilizers.Morebroadly,AIalsohasvastpotentialforresource,land,andwatermanagement.

14

Embeddersarebetteratconvertingdata

intosustainabilitybenefits

83%

44%

40%

morelikelytoachievegreat

morelikelytoachieve

morelikelytoachieve

benefitstosustainableinnovation

greatbenefitstoreduced

greatbenefitstosustainable

andproduct/servicesdevelopment

energyconsumptionfrom

supplychainsfromtheir

fromtheirdatacapabilities

theirdatacapabilities

datacapabilities

Caseinpoint:WintershallDea—oneofEurope’s

leadingindependentgasandoilcompanies

headquarteredinGermany—hasalreadystartedtoexpandtheirbusinessmodeandinvestinCCSandhydrogenprojects,whichiscentraltoreduceGHGemission.Intheirtransformationfromanoil

producertoacarbonmanagementcompany,

they’vecreatedGenerativeAI-basedtoolsfor

betterandfaster(30%–40%)evaluationofwhethercertainareascanbeusedforCarbonCapture&

Storage(CCS)projectssafelyandprofitably,andtoexpedite‘LicensetoOperate’approvals.4

15

Casestudy

Datamanagement

helpscreate

sustainabilityatscale

SteveFord,HeadofSustainabilityatGPTGroup,adiversifiedpropertygroup

listedontheAustralianSecuritiesExchange(ASX),hasbeensurprisedtoseethebroadrangeofenvironmental,social,andgovernance(ESG)datamanagement

processeswheremanycompaniescontinuetomanagedatathrough,“abunchofspreadsheets,PDFs,andunlinkeddocuments.”5

ThisisinstarkcontrasttothehighlyautomatedmechanismsFordandhisteam

havedeployedforESGdatamanagementforoveradecadenow.Butitwasn’t

alwaysthisway.Roughlyadecadeago,GPTteams’useofspreadsheetsand

manualtoolstomanagedatarelatedtoenergy,water,wasteandemissionswas

becominguntenable.Standalonelegacysystemsstonewalledthereconciliationofnon-financialsustainabilitydata.ESGreportingwasbecomingonerous.

SinceemployinganESGsuitetostreamlineESGdatamanagement,thingshavechangedforthebetter.Fordexplains:“Ihave120assetstodealwithandnot

enoughtimetogolookingforthingsthatarewrong.Mostpeoplemightonlyknowtheyhaveagapintheirdatawhensomethinggoeswrong,whereaswith[IBM]

Envizi,™IrunamissingdatareportandIknowexactlywherethegapsare”

In2021,GPTdeliveredan82%reductioninemissionsonits2005baseline.ForGPT,finance-gradedatahasn’tjustenabledsmarterdecisionsinemissions

reductionsandenergyefficiency,butalsoacrossrelateddisciplinessuchasprocurement.“IfIwaschasingdataallthetime,Iwouldnothavetimetobe

strategicinmyprocurement.Anumberofmycounterpartshavemassivecostexposurebecauseofthat,”Fordsays.

Inabidtoquantifytheseflow-oneffects,Ford’steamrecentlycrunchedsome

numbers.“Wefoundthatifyoutookawayourefficiencyimprovementsandour

procurementsavings,itwouldamounttoanearly$50millionincreaseannuallyinourenergycost.Thismeanswewouldbespendingaroundthreetimesasmuchforourenergy,andenergyisthesecondbiggestcosttoourbusiness,”saysFord.

In2021,GPTdeliveredan

82%reductioninemissions

onits2005baseline.

16

Actionguide

Datausability

Navigatingthe

datausabilitychallenge

–Startwiththedatayouhave.Ascertainwhatsustainabilitydataexistswithinyourenterprise,whereitresides,andhowitcanbeusedtoinformdecision-making.Don’tmakeinadequatedataanexcuseforinaction.

–Alignyoursustainabilityandenterprisedatastrategieswithaviewtoputinplacetherequireddatasourcing,integration,governance,andcatalyststoenableprogress.

–Worktowardasustainabilitydatafabricacrosstheenterprisetoenabledatatoflowwhereneededforinsightandaction.Itcanenableyoutooptimizethepotentialofyoursustainabilitydata,fosterdatasharing,andacceleratedatainitiatives.

–Establishdatagovernanceprincipleswithecosystempartnerstoallowforshareddataandco-creationofinnovativeinitiatives.

–Taphybridcloud,AI,andgenerativeAItoscalethevalueandimpactofyourdata,accelerateinnovation,andenableinsight-drivendecision-making.

16

Challenge2

Businessintegration

Focusingonworkflowswithgreatestimpact

Integratingsustainabilitydataandinsightsintocoreoperationscreates

afoundationforbetterbusinesssustainabilityoutcomes.Whilesome

organizationsaretakingrudimentaryorpartialstepstointegratesustainabilityintovariouspartsoftheirorganization,fullintegrationofsustainabilityintocorebusinessfunctionsandoperationsislimited.Interestingly,though,executivesexpectarapidincreaseinthelevelofintegrationoverthenextthreeyears.

FIGURE3

Today

2026

Sustainabilityintegration

intheorganization

+34%

+31%

+73%

+132%

+82%

+105%

+115%

+55%

50%

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%

20%

15%

10%

5%

0%

Finance

Supplychain

Informationtechnology

Enterprise

asset

management

Customer

engagement

Procurement

Energy

management

Operations

and

manufacturing

17

18

Embeddersare93%morelikelytobe

cocreatinggenerativeAIsustainability

capabilitieswiththeirpartners.

ITisoneofthefunctionswiththehighestlevelof

sustainabilityintegrationtoday.Thisisperhaps

unsurprisingsince“greeningIT”offersmanywin-winopportunitiesforachievingcostefficienciesand

reducedenvironmentalimpact.Forexample,withahybridcloudplatform,itispossibletoreduceenergyuseandcoststhroughoptimizedworkloadsand

dataacrossanorganization’smultiplecloud

environments—whetheritbepublicclouds,privateclouds,oronpremises.Thiscandrivereducedcostsandlowerenergyandresourceconsumption.

Eachorganizationmustunderstandwhereitcan

havethebiggestmaterialimpactforthebusiness

andtheenvironment.Andorganizationsthatembedsustainabilityexcelatthis.Infact,theyarethree

timesmorelikelytostronglyagreethattheyare

targetingsustainabilityeffortsatthefunctions,

entities,andactivitieswithgreatestimpact.

Morespecifically,sustainabilitymustbeembeddedacrosstheenterpriseintheworkflowsthathavethegreatestimpact.Organizationsthatsuccessfully

embedsustainabilitydojustthat:they’re79%

morelikelytocreatesustainableworkflowsacrosstraditionalprocesssilos.Taketheorder-to-cash

workflowasanexample.Thiscutsacrossseveral

functionsandprocesses,suchassales,distribution,inventorymanagement,andcustomerengagement.

Tomaketheworkflowmoresustainableandefficient,organizationscanleverageAI-infusedprocessminingtodiscover,analyze,andpinpointhotspotsfor

improvementacrossbusinessprocessesbasedon

eventlogsandITdata.Throughtaskmining—theanalysisofhumanactionsand“clicks”toidentifythemostfrequenttasks—theycanobtaina

comprehensivesetofinsightstostrategicallytransformoperationsanddriveautomation

strategies.Theseinsightscan,inturn,drive

sustainabilityimprovements,businessefficiencies,andincreasedROI.

ButEmbeddersdon’tstopattheirownwalls.Ratherthanworryaboutweakeningtheircompetitive

positionasaresultofbeingafirst-moveron

sustainability,theyenhancebusinessvaluethrough

sharedsustainabilityeffortswiththeirecosystem.

Theycreatecommonopensustainabilitystandards

anddefinitionstohelpensureasharedlanguagefor

cooperation.Basedonthesestandards,theycan

createasetofcommonsustainabilitycapabilities

withpartnersandtapthelatestinnovationsand

technologies.Forexample,Embeddersare93%morelikelytobecocreatinggenerativeAIsustainability

capabilitieswiththeirpartners.

19

Actionguide

Businessintegration

Navigatingthebusiness

integrationchallenge

–Extendsustainabilitybeyondthesustainabilityfunctionandplayoffenseonsustainabilityacrosstheenterprise.

–Identifyworkflows,functions,andassetswiththebiggest

sustainabilityimpactaswellaspotentialquickwins.Createaroadmapofimprovementopportuniti