Sustainability as a guiding framework
And while most companies move on as if nothing has happened, the door is open to do more for one’s own future viability than others do. I do not want to understand the idea of sustainability as an option for action, but as a guiding framework—one that Erhard already used in a different context.
This is precisely where the difference lies between legal requirements and entrepreneurial orientation. When legislators roll back sustainability requirements, they change the regulatory framework within which companies operate. However, this does not relieve companies of the task of deciding for themselves what is necessary for their long-term future viability. Less regulation ultimately does not mean that ecological, social or economic challenges disappear.
The three perspectives of sustainability—economic, environmental and social—cannot be separated from one another. They influence each other. At the lower end of the economic perspective is simply “to stay in business”, as an English friend once aptly put it: to stay in business.
However, anyone who already sees that as their future goal has little room for manoeuvre. The Darwinian principle applies: under difficult conditions, the weakest are hit first. Entrepreneurs therefore look not only for ways to survive, but for ways to achieve long-term success.
Entrepreneurial responsibility as an opportunity
The stepping stones along this path always have three coordinates today: an economic one, an environmental one and a social one. None of them is an end in itself. The legal framework specifies what must be done at a minimum. Entrepreneurial future viability, however, emerges where companies themselves decide what is necessary beyond that for their lasting success.
When we ask winners of the Ludwig Erhard Prize why they work so intensively on the structure and direction of their organisation, we often hear that they are following a clear picture of what a future looks like that supports the organisation’s lasting success.
An important insight from this is that many prerequisites for this success develop only over years. The effects across the three perspectives of sustainability are cumulative: they build on one another and cannot be achieved ad hoc. Anyone who only works on their attractiveness as an employer once the effects of demographic change become noticeable has lost valuable time. Equally, a company’s environmental performance cannot be brought to an optimal level overnight.
I am thinking of the exemplary hydrogen strategy of our award winner, BMW Group Plant Leipzig. From the initiative to work with hydrogen to the completion of the hydrogen network in the region, years pass. Those who do not get involved early enough will see doors to opportunities close again.
Taking a rational view of the sustainability perspective
Therefore, a future-oriented direction is crucial if you want to translate your understanding of sustainability into tangible success.
Many of the classic sustainability approaches are very demanding for smaller companies. For an SME, Excellence Framework Europe can therefore be an option for action to assess the maturity of its own company across the perspectives of sustainability using a simple five-level maturity matrix.
Excellence Framework Europe is available for you to download free of charge HERE. If you have any questions about its application, please feel free to contact us by email at kontakt@excellence-framework.eu.
Kind regards,
Yours sincerely, André Moll
Expert and author
Dr. André Moll
Managing Board Member
Initiative Ludwig-Erhard-Preis e.V.
T +49 6171 – 88 76 88-1
Email am@ilep.de
www.ilep.de
