Boston, MA, February 10, 2011 - A new study released by the MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group suggests there are two distinct camps of companies: "embracers" - those who place sustainability high on their agenda - and "cautious adopters," those who have yet to focus on more than energy cost savings, material efficiency, and risk mitigation.

The report - the Second Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study - identifies seven specific practices exhibited by embracer companies, which together begin to define sustainability-driven management.

These include the need to move early, even if you don't have complete information; to be authentic and transparent both internally and with the external stakeholders; and to work aggressively to "de-silo" sustainability, integrating it throughout company operations.

Key findings of the study are:

• Improved brand reputation is perceived as the biggest benefit of addressing sustainability.
  
  
• Automotive is seen as the industry for which sustainability is most critical now.
  
  
• The commitment of the cautious adopters to sustainability is increasing at a far faster rate than that of the embracers.
  
  
• Most companies - whether currently embracers or not - are looking toward a world where sustainability is becoming a mainstream, if not required, part of the business strategy.

Other key findings:

Business Is Investing More in Competing on Sustainability - while many wondered whether the economic downturn would push sustainability off the corporate agenda, our survey results indicate that the exact opposite is true. In fact, a growing number of companies are now increasing their investments in sustainability, i.e. in waste reduction and resource efficiencies.

Who Are the Embracers? Embracers are top performers who conceive of sustainability advantages more broadly and are progressive in managing change. For growing companies in growth markets, sustainability investments come easily.

The World Is Tilting Toward Embracers - External forces are pushing business toward the adoption of sustainability measures. Even cautious adopters are aiming to catch up.

Follow the Leaders - How to do what the embracers do. Seven emerging practices that are worth following include:

1. Move early - even if information is incomplete.
2. Balance broad, long-term vision with projects offering concrete, near-term "wins."
3. Drive sustainability top-down and bottom-up.
4. Aggressively de-silo sustainability - integrating it throughout company operations. 
5. Measure everything (and if ways of measuring something don't exist, start inventing them.
6. Value intangible benefits seriously
7. Try to be authentic and transparent - internally and externally.

  Download the full report from here.