1、How to Ace the Sustainability Learning CurveTop heavy is not good.Not for vehicles(they have a nasty tendency to tip over at speed).Not for wedding cakes(unless you catch the spill on video).And not for businesses.In business,top heavy means lots of high-salaried people making decisions without much

2、 visibility into what is happening with customers,or employees,day by day.When it comes to sustainability,boards and CEOs are invaluable to figuring out strategy and championing change.Big,enterprise efforts like thiswould go nowhere without their vigor.But when the confetti settles and the sustaina

3、bility ship has been launched,everyone needs to help steer.Those carbon targets and pledges to investors wont achieve themselves.In fact,the longer a company has been measuring sustainability,the more likely its sustainability strategy is set by the chief sustainability officer rather than the board

4、 or the CEO,according to a survey by SAP Insights.But the person in charge isnt the only characteristic that distinguishes companies that are progressing from the beginners.Respondents show other signs that form a pattern,including whether theyre using sustainability data in their business strategy

5、and operational decisions,whether theyre holding more leaders accountable for results,and whether sustainability is material to their financial results.Heres what we know about what the learning curve for sustainability looks like and how any company can accelerate its efforts.ProgressingEarly Stage

6、Decision-MakingFinancial MaterialitySustainability Progress Model The board or the CEO sets strategy for sustainability The sustainability strategy is focused at the business level rather than globally Leaders are more concerned that government regulations will negatively affect their business The b