Market Movers: Lessons from a Frontier of Innovation - IFC

12Market MoversIn closingThere is no decree that industrialprogress in emerging economies hasto follow the path it has followedelsewhere. Globalisation – the everfaster and farther movement ofpeople, products, ideas andinformation – is helping businessto leapfrog over stages in theprocess in remarkable (andunpredictable) ways. Places likeBangalore and Shanghai are flyingthrough a totally new trajectory ofdevelopment from that followedby Manchester or Tokyo.Similarly, there are companiesin emerging economies that areintegrating sustainability intotheir business strategies in unlikelyways, thus creating value both forthemselves and for the societiesin which they operate. Thosecompanies are led by people whoappreciate that business needs agood society as much as societyneeds good business. MarketMovers tells the stories of aselected few of them.The four companies we profile arevery different from each other,ranging from some which startedoff with an explicit sustainabilityagenda to those which came torealise that sustainability simplymade sound business sense forthem at a particular time in theirdevelopment. In all cases, though,their focus has been on managingissues material to core business,as part of the overall businessapproach. Small, discreet actionsto tackle specific concerns can addvalue – but significant results aremost likely to arise from strategicventures.As market interest and expectationsgrow, robust sustainability performanceis being viewed as a markof quality management and oftena precondition for doing businessin the eyes of a growing range ofinvestors, business partners andcustomers. By understanding,measuring, managing and thendiscussing the business value ofsustainability with these stakeholders,in terms that are relevant tothem, firms in emerging economiescan be competitive with the verybest anywhere in the world.There are companies in emergingeconomies that are integratingsustainability into their businessstrategies in unlikely ways.Small, discreet actions to tacklespecific concerns can add value– but significant results are mostlikely to arise from strategicventures.Mark Fallander