MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Corporate Sustainability at a Crossroads

This report represents the conclusion of sustainability research carried out between 2009 and 2017 by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR), in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Over the course of eight years, we conducted an annual global survey on the topic of sustainability and business. Executive and management respondents came from a broad mix of industries, 118 countries, and totaled over 60,000 respondents (18,733 responses were from managers in commercial enterprises). The survey pool included MIT SMR subscribers and readers, MIT alumni, BCG clients and alumni, UN Global Compact participants, and other interested parties.

In addition to survey results, each year we interviewed practitioners, academics, and subject-matter experts from a number of industries and disciplines to further our understanding of the sustainability issues facing organizations and to refine hypotheses we were testing in the survey itself. A list of the 176 people who participated in our research through interviews (some more than once) can be found in Acknowledgments. We appreciate the generosity they demonstrated in sharing their time and insights, which contributed to the richness of our reports, including dozens of examples of sustainable business practices, many of which made their way into the final reports. Content from several reports are integrated into this report, which synthesizes and extends the findings from this eight-year research effort.

About the Author

David Kiron is the executive editor of MIT Sloan Management Review. He can be contacted at dkiron@mit.edu.

Gregory Unruh is the Arison Professor of Values Leadership at George Mason University and guest editor for MIT SMR’s Big Idea sustainability initiative. He can be contacted at gregoryunruh@gmail.com.

Nina Kruschwitz is the former senior project manager of MIT Sloan Management Review.

Martin Reeves is a senior partner and managing director in The Boston Consulting Group’s New York office and head of BCG’s Henderson Institute. He can be contacted at reeves.martin@bcg.com.

Holger Rubel is a senior partner and managing director and global sustainability lead in The Boston Consulting Group’s Frankfurt office. He can be contacted at rubel.holger@bcg.com.

Alexander Meyer Zum Felde is an expert principal for sustainability in The Boston Consulting Group’s Hamburg office. He can be contacted at meyerzumfelde.alexander@bcg.com.

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