A proactive company is a sustainable one

What makes for a successful company? Some entrepreneurs might say innovation, others the ability to make consistent profits. Others still may suggest cut-throat leadership. While any one of those could be true, Sustainable Plant suggests a new standard for success may be sustainability.

As the news source notes, sustainable initiatives have been linked to outstanding environmental, social and financial performance at many businesses. However, there is still a number of companies that haven't integrated sustainable and green practices yet. These businesses are missing out on the opportunity to reduce business risk and improve their financial performance and strategic positions within their industries as a result.

“The companies that are leading the way in obtaining the greatest business value from their sustainability programs are those that recognize that, for the 21st century company, sustainability is just as mission-critical as any other vital function, such as quality, customer service or employee safety,” Sustainable Plant explains.

“The function and practice that sustainability has the most in common with is quality, and in many ways, the phrase, 'sustainability is the new quality' captures the importance of sustainability for the company that wants to thrive in the 21st century,” the website adds.

Why Sustainable Companies are Successful

So what's the key factor that puts many sustainable companies ahead of non-green businesses? One possible reason could be that they tend to be proactive rather than reactive. Often companies operate with a conservative mindset – they don't want to change practices out of fear of making things worse. This means business operations from years ago are still being used as the standard.

Because sustainability and the transition to green operations are relatively recent trends, a number of organizations still haven't caught on because they tend to be reactive. However, those businesses that are proactive are more willing to change things up, whether it's a product line or sustainable operations.

Using the concept of “quality,” a progressive company may have transitioned from reactive inspection to defect prevention to quality control and then continuous improvement – a core tenet of Kaizen philosophy and practices. In that sense, Kaizen and Lean are crucial to achieving a sustainable and green company.

This process is a form of business evolution in which businesses transition from no action to reactive action and then eventually integrated, proactive sustainability. By being willing to try new practices and integrate Kaizen, companies can improve their positions both financially and socially.