Sustainable Business Fridays - Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Business Model Innovation for More Sustainable Outcomes

On November 20th, Bard MBA in Sustainability spoke with Cristiano Resende De Oliveira, Sustainability Consultant at Fibria; Rochelle March, MS/MBA '15, Analyst at SustainAbility.

Many companies that are flourishing financially today are inherently unsustainable. Despite laudable efforts to make their processes or products more sustainable, no amount of renewable energy sourcing or green product engineering, for example, can change that. There is an opportunity to do business differently, but it requires moving beyond mere product or process innovations for sustainability. 

SustainAbility’s latest research Model Behavior II: Strategies to Rewire Business outlines key forces influencing business model innovation for sustainability, the pivotal role of company culture to foster innovation, and distinct actions that internal innovators can undertake to advance the development of more sustainable business models. 

Featuring in-depth case studies about large, multinational companies, this report demonstrates how Fortune 500 companies can innovate their business models for sustainability. The first case study is that of Fibria, a multinational pulp and paper company that has successfully changed company mindsets about how to use its forest assets, and is diversifying to become a sustainable land and forest steward. 

Join the Bard MBA in Sustainability program for our twice-monthly dial-in podcast series over your lunchtime featuring sustainability leaders from the New York City area and across the planet.

Sustainable Business Fridays convenes every first and fourth Friday of the month during the semester, with special guests selected by students in the Bard MBA in Sustainability program.