Accenture helps companies unlock the business and environmental value of organizational sustainability by strengthening their sustainability DNA. Read more.

1. From insights to action, the path to extraordinary value starts here.
Shaping the
Sustainable
Organization
How responsible leaders create
lasting value and equitable impact
for all stakeholders
In collaboration with the
World Economic Forum

2. Operating sustainably is not an option.
It’s a business imperative.
Leaders are under intense pressure to build sustainable organizations that deliver
financial value and societal and equitable impact for all stakeholders.
The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the challenge.
Sources: Accenture Future of Work Study; Accenture Covid-19 Consumer Pulse Study; Principles for Responsible Investment.
Employees Consumers Investors
65% 66% 28%
believe organizations should
be responsible for leaving
their people "net better off"
through work
plan to make more sustainable
or ethical purchases over the
next six months
increase in investor signatories
in 2020 to the UN’s Principles
for Responsible Investment
Stakeholders
are more
demanding:

3. Overconfident
leadership
teams drive a
sustainability
consensus gap
The apparent overconfidence of leadership
teams is evident in how they grade their
organizations’ overall sustainability
performance.
The further stakeholders are from the
management core, the more their
perspectives diverge, and the less able
organizations are to use their insights to
shape decision-making.
Executives rate the sustainability
performance of their organizations
higher than other stakeholders
Sustainability performance perception score (Max=100)
Source: Accenture analysis of executive and employee/consumer/citizen surveys.
Note: Respondents were asked a series of questions relating to the 21 practices and 10 enablers from our Sustainability DNA model.
Executive and employee scores were calculated from 23 questions; consumer and citizen scores from 10 questions.
71
67
65
57
56
Executives
Employees (all)
Employees (below management)
Consumers
Citizens
Figure 2

4. Our research shows that relatively few
stakeholders have full faith in the sustainability
promises that leadership teams make.
The credibility and authenticity of company
sustainability commitments should concern
leadership teams. These consensus gaps are
leading to an erosion of trust that can be felt
across the entire enterprise and stymie efforts
to shape sustainable organizations that deliver
value and impact.
Employees don’t
trust senior
leaders to
“walk the talk”
Stakeholder trust in business
sustainability commitments is low
How often do the companies you work for / buy from / interact with locally translate
sustainability commitments into positive social and environmental action?
Source: Employee/customer/citizen survey (N=2,408); excludes “Don’t know/Not applicable” responses.
Note: Respondents to the employee survey were randomly assigned to answer questions as consumers and citizens.
See “About the research” for further detail.
Figure 3
4% 13% 43% 31% 9%
Consumers
4% 12% 35% 37% 12%
Employees
Never Rarely Sometimes Often Always
Citizens 4% 15% 43% 30% 8%

5. Sustainability
remains a second-
tier priority for
executives
Shaping more sustainable and equitable
organizations presents a major challenge to
many leadership teams.
Most executives recognize the benefits, but
58% believe operating more sustainably
involves a trade-off with growth.
When forced to
choose, executives
show a clear
preference for
more traditional
concerns.
Sustainability trails other
organizational priorities
Top business priorities (percentage of executives):
Source: Executive survey (N=1,496).
Note: Respondents were presented with 17 priorities which we then assigned to five buckets.
Graph shows the weighted average for each bucket. See “About the research” for further detail.
Figure 5
Financial performance
Brand reputation
Talent management
Sustainability
Offering development 24%
21%
20%
19%
15%

6. The lack of leadership focus on sustainability—
and on nurturing the stakeholder relationships
underpinning it—is and opportunity cost that
not only prevents progress but carries a
financial risk.
The cost of
persistent
consensus gaps
Stronger consensus on sustainability
performance is associated with better
financial performance
Positive sustainability consensus vs financial performance:
Figure 7
Stronger consensus on sustainability performance
Stronger
financial
performance
Average
Average

7. Change starts with the Five Elements
of Responsible Leadership
In our previous report, Seeking New Leadership, we identified five leadership qualities that executives need to guide
their companies in the decade ahead. However, these five elements are only the start.
Emotion
& Intuition
Instinct
Humility
Compassion
Intellect
& Insight
Data-to-knowledge
Critical thinking
Continuous learning
Mission
& Purpose
Integrity
System thinking
Sensemaking
Stakeholder
Inclusion
Trust
Accountability
Impact
Technology
& Innovation
Tech vision
Responsive innovation
Creativity

8. Shaping change
through
Sustainability
DNA
Comprised of 21 practices,
categorized into 10 enablers,
Sustainability DNA drives
human connections,
collective intelligence and
accountability at all levels
Stakeholder
Inclusion
Emotion
& Intuition
Mission
& Purpose
Technology
& Innovation
Intellect
& Insight
Analyzes inputs, impacts and risks
across multiple time horizons
→ Performance & Reporting
→ Risk Management
Champions inclusion,
diversity & equality inside the
organization and beyond
→ Equal Workplace
Opportunity
→ Human Development
Prepares people for the future
world of work through targeted
learning and development
→ Employee Growth
→ Ecosystem Development
Harnesses emerging tech to
solve problems without
creating harmful side effects
→ Data Privacy & Consumer
Protection
→ Environmental & Social
Innovation
Elevates good citizenship of
Earth's natural and human
environment
→ Sustainability Stewardship
→ Sustainable Operations
Takes a systematic approach to
upholding and enhancing
business ethics
→ Environmental & Quality
Standards
→ Competition & Conduct
→ Labor Standards
Upholds the rights and
responsibilities of all
stakeholders
→ Stakeholder Welfare
→ Environmental Targets
Is consultative and
listening by default
→ Feedback
Mechanisms
→ Comprehensive
Communication
Shapes workplaces and
stakeholder experience
to build mental and
physical resilience
→ Progressive
Working Practices
→ Health & Well-being
Embeds the organization’s
purpose in all activity
→ Executive Compensation
→ Transparency &
Accountability
Accountability at All Levels → Practices
Collective Intelligence
Human Connections
Click to see the enablers in action
at accenture.com

9. Sustainability
DNA addresses
barriers to
creating
stakeholder
value
Sensing and championing
the values and needs of
diverse stakeholders
across the business
ecosystem.
Decision-making
mechanisms that help
organizations make
better stakeholder-
centric decisions.
Making stakeholder value
creation a requirement at
all levels of the
organization.
01.
Human
Connections 02.
Collective
Intelligence
03.
Accountability
at All Levels

10. Strong
Sustainability
DNA is
associated with
higher value and
a lasting positive
impact on
society and the
environment
Source: Accenture analysis; Arabesque S-Ray; S&P Capital IQ
Organizations with the most
deeply embedded
Sustainability DNA
outperform peers by 21% on
both profitability, and
positive environmental and
societal outcomes
21%
higher EBITDA margin
(+3.4 percentage points)
21%
higher sustainability performance
(+9.2 index points)

11. AB InBev:
Innovating to close the loop
Challenge:
Reducing waste throughout the supply chain
Sustainability DNA in action:
• Planetary Boundaries
• Tangible Empathy
• Progressive Technology
Solution:
AB InBev has set a goal of 100% of primary
packaging to be returnable or made from
majority-recycled content by 2025. Enhanced
collaboration with suppliers, as well as with
start-ups, inventors and suppliers on a range
of innovations, is central to efforts to building
a more sustainable and inclusive value chain.

12. Cisco:
Offering a seat at the virtual table
Challenge:
Creating a more inclusive virtual communication and
collaboration experience for customers
Solution:
Cisco harnessed the power of AI to solve specific
inclusion challenges—such as unequal talk time and
differing levels of linguistic fluency. As a result, WebEx
now allows a meeting host to see who has yet to
contribute to a conversation and provides real-time
translation in 15 languages
Sustainability DNA in action:
• Animated Purpose
• Human Dignity
• Progressive Technology

13. Ecoware:
Championing a gender balanced workforce
Challenge:
Trying to create a more gender equal workforce
in the face of strong cultural resistance
Solution:
Indian food packaging manufacturer Ecoware
clearly prioritized bringing more women into the
workforce. They engaged in open conversations
with managers to understand and mitigate
concerns, and they then developed a set of flexible
practices to help women thrive in the workplace
Sustainability DNA in action:
• Animated Purpose
• Open Dialogue
• Active Resilience

14. Most companies need to
strengthen their
Sustainability DNA
*Based on data of 4,000 companies
Collective Intelligence
Human Connections
Average
score
Human
Connections
score
Collective
Intelligence
score
52/100 57/100 47/100
On average,
companies score 52
out of 100 on the
Sustainable
Organization Index
Companies perform
better at listening to
their stakeholders
They are weaker
at turning insights
into action
Stakeholder
Inclusion
Emotion
& Intuition
Mission
& Purpose
Technology
& Innovation
Intellect
& Insight

15. Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved.
A continuous cycle of change to generate value
for all stakeholders
Sustainable leaders can take
actions to strengthen their
Sustainability DNA
15
Diagnose Define Develop
the strength of your
organization’s
Sustainability DNA
interventions to
address areas for
development
your roadmap to
create value while
leading with values

16. Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 16
Take the Sustainable Organization
Rapid Diagnostic to measure your
progress and benchmark against peers
How strong is your
Sustainability DNA?
Sustainable Organization Rapid Diagnostic

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By embedding stakeholder-centricity at the
heart of an organizational transformation,
leaders can deliver multi-dimensional value
and realize the promise of stakeholder
capitalism.
Turn responsible
values into
sustainable outcomes.

18. Copyright © 2021 Accenture. All rights reserved. 18
Shaping the
Sustainable Organization
Read the report:
accenture.com/sustainableorganization