Customer Reviews

Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World

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Sustainable Excellence holds the promise of providing a business-focused discussion of raising company sustainability. Cramer and Karabell start the book off strong with the following definition of sustainability: a business that delivers value for investors, customers and employees; improves the living standards of its employees and the communities it touches; makes wise use of natural resources; and treats people fairly.

Based on that definition I was looking forward to reading about how a company accomplishes each of these goals. I am reviewing this book from that perspective a business person who gets the sustainability message and is interested in what excellence looks like and how I might be able bring that to my company.

Unfortunately rather than a book that looks to explain how companies are sustainable and profitable, the book quickly becomes more of an extended press release engaging in name dropping and high level descriptions that offer little value to the reader looking to understand how to achieve sustainable excellence. Cramer and Karabell call this parlor games when companies do it, so without being disrespectful I have to say that they do the same with this book when viewed from a business perspective.

This book may be well received by the sustainability community, but its impact will remain within this community as there is little here to educate and encourage executives and managers to go much beyond the `parlor games' of press announcements, incremental improvement and differed structural change.

This book could have been the seminal call for serious business change playing a role similar to Hammer and Champy's Re-engineering the Corporation. However, Sustainable Excellence does not provide the principles, practices and tools needed by executives to take the next step and incorporate the type of sustainability the authors define at the heart of strategy or management.

It is almost as if the author's believe that their target audience - the sustainability community - cannot handle the details and operational lessons that are normally found in a business oriented book. Those lesions learned, case studies and results are what is needed to mobilize the business audience who will make the changes necessary to achieve the

I cannot recommend this book as a business relevant look at sustainability issues and the techniques required to achieve them. The absence of detail will leave the business leader with the impression that sustainability, while important, is not the significant external force it should be in shaping organizational strategy, action or improvement.

It is possible that the lens applied to this review is not what the author's intended, but sustainability is something that the world needs if it is to evolve corporate, commercial, customer and national behavior. This book does not deliver that support in my opinion.


Strengths

The book recognizes the importance to get beyond sustainability pronouncements to look into changes in an organization's supply chain, commodity inputs, information and capital. There are chapters on each of these subjects which highlights the authors understanding of the importance of these fundamental issues, however their treatment more descriptive than prescriptive.

The book concentrates on specific companies and specific events in the sustainability movement. The authors discuss companies like Wal-Mart, Marks & Spenser, BP, NIKE, IBM, GE and others in terms of specifics and their progress against these specifics. These discussions are more at the press release and public interview level than an examination of specific actions or changes.

The book recognizes a number of trends that provide insight on the evolving sustainability world. These include the observation that companies are able to act faster and with greater effect than national or international government bodies.

Challenges

The book provides a rather high-level treatment throughout its chapters. The authors choose to spend more time documenting executive pronouncements and criticizing their progress rather than trying to understand what these companies were doing. While the discussion is accurate and well supported, it is too high level for the reader to understand

The authors have an outsider perspective as it becomes clear early on that the authors are recounting public statements rather than performing deep analysis of the issues and actions. While its possible that the authors have met with a company's sustainability executive, they definitely did not get onto the production floor to understand what people were doing to create sustainable excellence.

The two previous points create a book that drops more names than it discusses practices and actions. While name-dropping is an effective way to put an issue in the public forum, I had thought that sustainability had already gone through that phase and was ready for a greater focus on practice.

This is an insightful, provocative, and terrifically readable book, which provides a window onto the environmental and social challenges faced by both business leaders and citizens in the 21st century. It is not just a guide on how to do business responsibly in the new century, though it is surely that. In Sustainable Excellence, Cramer and Karabell intelligently consider the forces that are transforming the global landscape for the world's businesses and for the multitudes they serve. One can read the book as something of a primer for entrepreneurs on how to respond--responsibly and intelligently--to the difficult and complex challenges created by an increasingly interconnected global economy. But Sustainable Excellence does much more. In the end, this striking volume offers both guidance and insight for anyone who takes the time to read it--whether you own a business, work for one, invest in one, or merely purchase and consume what is being produced. As businesses and citizens reflect upon the promise and perils of the 21st century, this illuminating study has much to tell us about precisely what it will take to move forward in an environmentally and socially conscious way.

"Sustainable Excellence" by Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell is a good primer for those new to the concept of sustainability as it relates to business. The authors define sustainability on the first page so the reader is clear about the subject being discussed. The first chapter outlines the five core elements for achieving sustainable excellence in business. These include think big, use sustainability to drive innovation, set the right incentives, embrace transparency and collaboration, and partner with consumers. The remainder of the book provides examples of corporate successes and failures to embrace and achieve sustainable excellence.

The authors contend that sustainability has become the defining factor in business success. This does not negate the necessity for excellence in other business practices. And profit is still a necessary goal of business. However, in today's business environment of rapid change, corporations need to commit to sustainability. This means delivering value to a wider circle of stakeholders, using natural resources wisely, and treating people fairly. Business leaders need to transform the way they think about the purpose of business and how it is conducted.

Transformation is not easy as illustrated by the examples throughout the book. The authors do not minimize the challenges. Corporate failures as well as successes are discussed. The lessons to be learned in either case are highlighted.

This book is a great place to start for an introduction about the role of business in ensuring environmental sustainability. It provides an overview of what needs to be done and what companies are currently doing or not doing to achieve sustainable excellence. Readers seeking a detailed how-to manual will be disappointed. Start your journey here to achieve sustainable excellence. The authors point you in the direction you need to go, identify potential potholes, and introduce you to fellow travelers that can guide you on the road to sustainable excellence.

What is sustainability? How do businesses define it? How does one integrate sustainable business practices into traditional measures of business performance? How can one identify opportunities in sustainability? These are the questions that will point businesses toward operating on a genuine stewardship model.

Aron Cramer and Zachary Karabell provide an interesting exploration of companies who have embraced a culture of sustainability. The examples are interesting and to a certain extent, it fosters the idea that sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive.

While the book has its moments, it has several key weaknesses:

1) The authors focus on businesses that have already "drunk the sustainability Kool-Aid." This is not a criticism of the concept, but rather a desire to have seen more focus on how companies which have hitherto not acted under the sustainable model, can begin the process. Many companies find the notion of sustainability so overwhelming that they are discouraged from even beginning the process.

2) There is a judgmental "all or nothing," "success or failure," "black or white" approach. I have worked with businesses who wish to act as good corporate citizens, but feel as if the "sustainability advocacy" has no room for the realities of business. Recognizing that sustainability is both a goal and a process is something that needs to be promoted in order to reduce the often adversarial pressures existing as businesses seek to evolve.

That being said, the book provides a good introduction to an understanding of the "sustainable" side and what constitutes good social responsibility. If only it provided more guidance to those earnestly seeking the means to sustainable excellence in measures consistent with often diverse corporate objectives.

I found Sustainable Excellence an excellent overview of many of the innovators in thinking about the challenges facing their industry and the planet. The authors provide a strong case for holistic thinking engaging all stakeholders, and many examples and references to support the story.

I have learned a number of new insights from a global perspective and the book has helped me reflect on the momentum that is continuing to build.

This book is inspiring further thinking impacting my business and those we work with.

Bernie Kelly
Intelog Healthcare Performance Group

This is a must read for anyone who wants to know where business is headed--and how to be at the forefront of innovation. The authors show how sustainability has become an indespensible element of business strategy and success, and in doing so they define an important paradigm for the future: "sustainable excellence."

THIS BOOK NOT ONLY OFFERS VALUABLE INSIGHT TO THE WORKINGS OF THE CORPORATE WORLD, IT ALSO OFFERS HOPE FOR THE FUTURE. THE HOPE COMES FROM THE EVER INCREASING STEPS TAKEN BY MANY CORPORATIONS TO BE BETTER LABOR AND ENVIRONMENTAL CITIZENS.

A typical example of Sustainable excellence... ONLY HARDCOVER VERSION available???? 288 pages of paper... OMG this is sooooo sustainable