Indian companies are doing to put themselves on a path toward sustainable growth. A significant number of India-based businesses do have sophisticated sustainability efforts.
Going Green
Many business people hold on to an outdated view of green, and the misconception that environmental practices always cost a lot of money. But green doesn’t raise costs; it lowers them quite often in the short run, and definitely in the long run. Although a person’s instinct may be to retreat from green initiatives in hard times, that would be shortsighted and a huge mistake. In tight times, most companies need to focus on their bottom lines, cut costs, and conserve cash. And they need to do it fast. Reducing energy use and waste, two pillars of green, can save a great deal of money.
But as they say, nothing in life is free. Yes, some projects will save money immediately at virtually no expense, but greater rewards often require some commitment. So if you want to reduce energy costs, asking people to turn off lights won’t cost anything. But changing light bulbs and installing motion detectors to get larger savings will clearly take some capital. The return on investment will be high and the payoff fast, but it still requires some up-front expense.
So the critical distinction here is between costs and investments. Let me be blunt: If your business is unable to allocate any human or financial capital for investment in R&D, customer relationships, people, process changes, or anything whatsoever then no strategy, including a green one, will matter right now. Survival will be the only priority, and that means conserving cash above all. But most companies, even in these hard times, are still making decisions about where to put their attention, people, and money every day.
For those companies that are navigating these tricky waters but also want to position themselves for dominance in the future, green thinking can make all the difference. The logic for going green is no different from the logic for pursuing other business strategies. Companies look to drive profitability, innovation, customer loyalty, employee engagement, and so on. But unlike with most other strategies, the external forces driving green thinking make this topic unique and unavoidable.
Summary
For the past few years, the business world has been swept up in a green wave, a rising tide of interest and concern about environmental issues. Pressures from both natural forces and key stakeholders have made going green somewhat unavoidable.
