The Eco-Advantage Bottom Line

To build an Eco-Advantage culture, leading companies use many approaches:

* Stretch goals.
* Decisionmaking that expressly accommodates environmental issues.
* "Pairing" environment-related projects or adjusting hurdle rates to reflect undercounted intangible value gains.
* Internal markets to highlight hidden environmental costs.
* Stewardship committees to promote executive engagement.
* Placing environmental ownership on operational officials.
* Environmental performance reviews and clear accountability for results.
* Cross-fertilization between environmental officials and those with responsibilities.
* Eco-based bonuses and awards.
* Including environmental elements among key performance indicators.
* Environmental or sustainability reports.
* Real-time eco-information websites.
* Employee authorization to question actions inconsistent with mental commitment.
* Eco-training and deep employee engagement.
Copyright © 2009 Daniel C. Esty and Andrew S. Winston

Author Bio
Daniel C. Esty, co-author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage (Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 978-0-470-39374-1), is the Hillhouse Professor at Yale University and Director of the Center for Business and the Environment at Yale (www.yale.edu/CBEY). Author and editor of nine books and dozens of articles, Dan is one of the world's leading corporate environmental strategy experts with twenty years of experience working with companies of all sizes and across many industries worldwide. He served as senior official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the early 1990s and is presently Chairman of Esty Environmental Partners (www.EstyEP.com).

Andrew S. Winston, co-author of Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage (Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; 978-0-470-39374-1), advises some of the world's leading companies on how to profit from environmental thinking. He is also a highly respected and dynamic speaker, exploring the business benefits of going green with audiences around the world. Andrew's earlier career included corporate strategy at Boston Consulting Group and management positions in marketing and business development at Time Warner and MTV. See www.andrewwinston.com for more information.

www.EstyEP.com
www.andrewwinston.com