October 31, 2013 — What are the biggest challenges facing corporate sustainability experts today? According to the just released BSR/GlobeScan State of Sustainable Business Survey 2013, 62 percent of respondents listed the integration of sustainability into core business operations as their primary concern. Coming in a distant second at 28 percent was convincing investors about the value of sustainability.
When asked about the extent to which sustainability is integrated into the core of their business, only one in five companies reported that they were close to achieving this goal. Perhaps of bigger concern, sustainability executives noted a lower level, and decreasing, engagement between sustainability and corporate functions such as investor relations, human resources, R&D, marketing and finance (a mere 16 percent said they engage with the finance side of the operation). On a positive note, the survey revealed ongoing high levels of interaction with corporate communications, public affairs, supply chain and the CEO’s office. Photo by epSos (Flickr | Creative Commons)
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