Companies reporting a profit from their sustainability efforts rose 23 percent last year, to 37 percent of the total, according to a new global study by the MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The study is being released today in a report titled The Innovation Bottom Line.

The study, which is based on a survey of 2,600 executives and managers from companies around the world, also found that nearly half of respondents said their companies had changed their business model as a result of sustainability opportunities, a 20 percent jump over the previous year. The report calls these companies that have made business-model innovations « Sustainability-Driven Innovators. »

Interestingly, the study found that companies in emerging markets change their business models as a result of sustainability at a far higher rate than those based in North America, which has the lowest rate of sustainability-driven business-model innovation and the fewest business-model innovators.

« Sustainability-Driven Innovators see the opportunity differently than do companies that haven’t gleaned sustainability’s financial rewards, » explained David Kiron, executive editor at MIT SMR and a coauthor of the report.

They don’t dwell on it as a cost issue. They focus on how their efforts can increase market share, boost energy efficiency, and build competitive advantage.

Read more on marketwire.com

 
(Photo from http://lit.mit.edu/)