The 'New Normal': How Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship is Changing Corporate Competitiveness
May , 2010
Three interlocking trends are the primary shapers of a new competitive context, a New Normal that dramatically changes the way consumers behave, the conditions regulators set for enterprises and the strategic choices businesses must make to succeed. First, the pendulum of regulation is swinging toward greater societal intervention as the world's major industrial nations seek to address economic, political and social challenges. Second, international consensus is coalescing around the need to impose genuine limits on (CO2) emissions of sufficient magnitude to change the course of climate change. Finally, the increasing urbanization of populations in developing countries is leading to periodic, recurring scarcity and volatility in many raw materials.
After decades of debate about climate change, business, government and civic leaders have shifted to talking about actions that will involve carbon taxation in one form or another.
The New Normal business environment will create a different competitive context – radically changed from conditions of just a few years ago. To succeed and thrive in this new environment, companies must reevaluate their core strategic choices, rethink their critical sources of competitive advantage and purposefully invest in new capabilities. Only then will they be able to survive and navigate the complex and shifting terrain of the New Normal business landscape where suppliers expect sustainable practices, customers demand transparency and even carbon dioxide has an explicit and material cost.