Last submitted blogs

What does it take to build a successful yoga non-profit organization committed to creating positive change in the lives of youth? Relationships and support, says Laura Sygrove, New Leaf Yoga Foundation‘s Executive Director and co-founder. In this video interview, Laura and I talk about the roots of New Leaf’s work, their Warriors for Peace fundraising [...]

Our sustainability consulting often finds even the most progressive business models and strategies can become stagnate if left unattended.  Soon a once thriving business can become a dinosaur in a rapidly evolving marketplace.  For this reason, we keep a keen eye, not only new ideas, but the business sustainability efforts that drive innovation’s successful implementation 

The Innovation Management post, How to Implement Radical Business Models, explores some of the common roadblocks and missteps in today’s new idea implementation processes.  Contrasting the exciting times of business growth before the economic downturn, the article explains the need for more aggressive management in today’s conservative business environment.

“To be successful in radical business model innovation requires companies to go beyond the traditional modeling: ideas are only one part of the innovation equation. Business model implementation requires structural changes in your organization; otherwise, you will just get stuck with a beautiful model on paper.”

As the article goes on to describe, implementing radically new ideas is quite different than implementing incremental ideas.  It requires:
Lot’s of experimenting: new business models need maturing and many times the model you designed initially, will not be the model you will implement. Dedicated human resources with different skills, different knowledge and with little attachment to the current business or business model. Unless your current business is failing, few people will want to risk their current success for an unknown future. Separated structure from your current model. Although synergy is recommendable when it benefits the new model, many times companies try to squeeze the new model into the old framework. Funding as a venture capitalist: New ventures and new business models need capital, not budgets; The yearly budget cycle will: set aside too little money for great ideas, too much for unsuccessful ideas, none for great ideas that pop up during the year.
The ability remain open to test new ideas and different strategies will often payoff in both short-term and in the long run.  By taking aggressive implementation management actions to address sustainable change, your business can stay one step ahead of the competition.  Visit with our sustainability consulting website to learn how an effective engagement and communication plan can play a key roll in managed innovation and the pursuit of overall business sustainability. 

Today, leading supply chain focused organizations define visibility as a critical first step in managing business risk and defining the tomorrow’s business sustainability opportunities. Our sustainability consulting has personally witnessed these companies taking a total-view perspective to redefine the value characteristics and performance measures of a ‘new’ sustainable supply chain. 

“Procurement can limit the amount of time it spends policing categories by providing clear guidelines to business partners and making sure they understand the benefits of following the rules.  Leading companies create processes for stakeholders to follow when making spend decisions within categories and share compelling financial data to motivate ongoing discipline.”  -Procurement Strategy Council

The next generation of sustainable category management includes a new level of responsibility across all activities. We believe successful implementation requires visibility, engagement, and stakeholder alignment with company defined sustainability objectives.   

The key to success is to encourage active stakeholder participation in an organization's strategic sourcing and spending management processes and to create stakeholder ownership in the decision-making. – EBN post

Leveraging the above insights, our sustainability consulting encourages companies to build sustainable supply chain strategies, stakeholder engagement plans, and business improvement process to address:
 Material sources: the quality of supply and manner in which it is obtained.
Supplier business practices: the ethical standards by which business partners conduct their business.
Supplier business processes: the environmental and social impacts of supplier operations.
Supplier business relations and affiliations: the quality of the category supply chain sub-tier relationships.
Building of a high value-impact and comprehensive business sustainability plan requires the incorporation of sustainability concepts in the supply chain.  Our sustainability consulting provides information and resources to clients seeking to make a step-change in their traditional business practices.

Around the beginning of August, with our bus fully functional again, and about halfway through our adventure, I had ample time to process this whole biofuel phenomenon.  As brought to my attention originally by my father, who would send me periodic articles on the topic, in addition to me personally offering explanations to curious people across the nation, I had begun to realize the downsides of biofuel as a solution to our reliance on fossil fuels for transportation.

The first disturbing issue was the massive deforestation of rainforests already occurring in order to grow crops for biofuel.  According to the United Nations Environment Programme, clearing tropical forests for biodiesel production can actually lead to an overall carbon debt compared to the savings from using biofuel as opposed to fossil fuel for transportation (Working Group on Biofuels of the International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, 2009).  Of particular concern are tropical countries where agricultural yields are high, such as Indonesia and Brazil.  “If current trends continue, in 2030 the total rainforest area of Indonesia will have been reduced by 29% as compared to 2005, and would only cover about 49% of its original area from 1990” (Working Group on Biofuels).

Another area of great concern is the Amazonia in Brazil, where in addition to its irreplaceable biodiversity, according to demand projections by 2020, the “expanding landscapes of renewable energy, in concert with a growing cattle herd, could require land in excess of what conservation policy has provided, in little over a decade” (Walker, 2011, sec. 4). Compounding other concerns about loss of biodiversity, food security, and impact on water resources, another huge environmental problem exacerbated by the increase in biofuel demand is eutrophication, caused by the leaching of excess nitrogen and phosphate from fertilizers, leading to the overproduction of plant biomass. As this biomass degrades, oxygen is depleted, leading to hypoxic zones such as that in the Gulf of Mexico.  A 6,000-7,000 square mile area at the mouth of the Mississippi in the Gulf is considered ecologically dead due to hypoxic conditions, leading to loss of biodiversity and significant changes in the food web. According to a life-cycle impact report by Susan E. Powers of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on fertilizers used for corn, soybean and stover production, “Eutrophication is considered one of the most pervasive problems affecting water quality in the United States, especially in the Midwest where fertilizers are used extensively for agriculture” (Powers).

Significant improvements must be made with regard to the efficiency of production and use of biomass, including the restoration of degraded lands, and utilization of all waste and production residues, in order for biofuel to be a more sustainable option.  Furthermore, policy measures will be increasingly important to encourage sustainable land use and assess the level of demand that can be realistically supplied, if at all.  An idea I found interesting by Robert Walker, author of “The Impact of Brazilian Biofuel Production on Amazonia” follows: “If we no longer have an Amazônia of the mind, a distinct place requiring distinct protections, it becomes that much more difficult to provide them” (Walker, 2011, sec. 6).  He compares the potential fate of Amazonia to a former forest of our own country, once a canopy stretching from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, housing the now extinct, Carolina parakeet and Eastern wood bison.  It was nearly impossible to imagine what such a vast forest would be like while driving through the Midwest, searching for waste veggie oil in many small towns where people’s entire livelihoods revolved around the production of agricultural crops like corn.