• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • BLOG
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Emerging Markets Find Sustainability Pays Off, And Isn't Monopoly of More Developed Countries

Emerging Markets Find Sustainability Pays Off, And Isn't Monopoly of More Developed Countries

April 23, 2013
BCG Perspectives

There were other advantages to the organic approach as well: Sekem's farming techniques helped reclaim arable land from the Sahara, which had been spreading into the Nile delta. With them, the soil absorbed more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, decreasing greenhouse gases, and cotton crops needed 20 percent to 40 percent less water.

In the bargain, organic techniques lowered the farm's costs, improved average yields by almost 30 percent, and produced a raw cotton that was more elastic than its conventionally grown counterpart. So, far from being an expensive indulgence, organic cotton offered Sekem a business model that was more sustainable"”not just environmentally but financially. In recent years that model has generated healthy revenue growth: From 2006 until the disruptions of the Arab Spring in 2011, the business posted 14-percent annual increases, and Sekem is now one of Egypt's largest organic food producers.

Rapidly developing economies are often portrayed as sustainability laggards"”focused more on raising their citizens out of poverty than on protecting the environment. It's true that their regulatory bodies can be weak, hesitant to impose restrictions on newly liberalized markets, or resentful of pressure from industrialized nations. But the developed world has never had a monopoly on visionaries, as Sekem's story illustrates. And in markets where the pressures of resource depletion are felt most keenly, corporate sustainability efforts have become a wellspring of innovation.

That's what we found in 2010, when The Boston Consulting Group joined forces with the World Economic Forum to identify companies with the most effective sustainability practices in the developing world. The study involved reviews of more than 1,000 companies ranging in size from $25m to $5bn, from a wide array of markets and industry sectors, and included interviews with almost 200 executives. From the pool of companies studied, we identified more than a dozen "champions," whose sustainability practices were highly effective, innovative, and scalable.

These organizations are located in countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and the South Pacific. Some pursue sustainability out of pragmatism, some out of idealism. But regardless of their motivation, they have consistently generated above-average growth rates and profit margins.

To make their environmental efforts pay off financially, these companies have, broadly speaking, followed one or more of three main approaches. First, many, like Sekem, took a long view, investing in initially more-expensive methods of sustainable operation that eventually led to dramatically lower costs and higher yields. Others have taken a bootstrap approach to conservation: They started with small changes to their processes that generated substantial cost savings, which they then used to fund advanced technologies that made production even more efficient. Last, some have spread their sustainability efforts to the operations of their customers and suppliers, in the process devising new business models that competitors find hard to emulate.

Collectively, these companies vividly demonstrate that trade-offs between economic development and environmentalism aren't necessary. Rather, the pursuit of sustainability can be a powerful path to reinvention for all businesses facing limits on their resources and their customers' buying power.

Read Full Article


Keywords: international trade, sustainability in emerging economies, entrepreneurs and sustainability, sustainability and bottom line

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Quality & Metrics Consumer Packaged Goods
KEYWORDS BCG Perspectives Business Strategy Alignment consumer packaged goods entrepreneurs and sustainability Global Supply Chain Management international trade Quality & Metrics Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting supply chain managements: business strategy alignment sustainability sustainability and bottom line sustainability in emerging economies
  • Related Articles

    Picture of Economies in Emerging Markets Coming Into Focus, And It Isn't Pretty

    Sustainability Grows Up and Starts to Pay Off

  • Related Events

    Why IBP May Save Your Supply Chain & How to Run It By This Spring

BCG Perspectives

How Many Chinese Companies Can Leap from China to Playing on the Global Stage?

More from this author

Get regular updates!
Subscribe to our newsletter

Enjoy curated articles directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • 1115_chinarareearthminerals

    Podcast | Can China’s Monopoly on Rare Earth Minerals Be Broken?

    Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
  • 1111_makeorbreakblockchain

    The Element That Can Make or Break Blockchain for the Supply Chain

    Technology
  • 1125_themodernfactory

    The ‘Modern’ Factory Remains a Dream for Many Manufacturers

    Technology
  • 1118_howconsumerproductscompanies

    How Consumer-Products Companies Are Wasting Their Digital Spend

    Technology
  • 1122_forcedlaborinindia

    Podcast | This Campaign Is Out to Stop Forced Labor in India

    Sourcing/Procurement/SRM

Digital Edition

55746

Subscribe today and receive the latest issue

Start Your Subscription

Case Studies

  • Manufacturer Slashes Shipping Costs With AI Packaging Solution

  • Apparel Retailer Saves $45 Million With Reverse Logistics Solution

  • QuestaWeb Configures Fragrance Company’s Complex Procedures Into Its Advanced FTZ Software

  • Business Turnaround: Integrated Business Planning as a Management Tool

  • How a 3PL Reduced Rejected Deliveries Using LoadProof

Visit Our Sponsors

  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • Webinars
  • The Magazine
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • Resources
    • Newsletters
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us

All content copyright © 2016 - 2018 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing