Five Imperatives for Corporate CEOs
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"Business at its Best: Driving Sustainable Value Creation" is a June 2011 report co-authored by CECP and Accenture which provides practical guidance from CEOs on how to implement a Sustainable Value Creation strategy.

Sustainable Value Creation is a new mode of business that addresses fundamental societal issues by identifying new, scalable sources of competitive advantage that generate measurable profit and community benefit.

Business at its Best is organized around five implementation imperatives for planning, managing and scaling a Sustainable Value Creation strategy. These imperatives are:

1. Recognize the Opportunity: Analyze the root causes of existing core business challenges to uncover underlying societal problems that, if addressed, may lead to new sources of competitive advantage.
2. Recalibrate Your Radar: Pinpoint the optimal role the company can play in helping to address those issues by expanding internal and external networks to tap into trends. Improve the company’s ability to screen ideas based on need, uniqueness, strategic fit, and core competencies.
3. Research, Develop, Repeat: Plan and manage Sustainable Value Creation initiatives as R&D projects and subject them to the same rigor as any corporate initiative, accommodating an iterative development cycle and being prepared to learn from setbacks.
4. Rewire the Organization: When bringing a project to scale, embed new governance structures, communications, incentives, and metrics across the organization to sustain new behaviors and attitudes.
5. Reinforce the Value: CEOs will need to assume leadership to ensure the entire company remains focused and motivated, and its stakeholders committed. This requires courageous conversations with employees, consumers, investors, and partners.

Along with these five imperatives, the report presents company case studies and practical insights that businesses can use to implement the concept of Sustainable Value Creation. Insights were gathered based on CEO interviews and polling—as well as analysis and experience from Accenture and CECP.

VIDEO: Watch a presentation of the report findings from the 2011 CECP Summit.


Download the executive summary » (4 pages)
Download the full report » (60 pages)

View related Webinar, "Envisioning Business at its Best: Reflections on the Trajectory of Community Engagement" » (November 2011)