Sustainability Strategy

In 2015, Gib Hedstrom spent a half day with the full Board of Directors of a major North American utility company. At the core of the workshop was a carefully designed scenario planning exercise. Board members and the executive leadership team worked through a range of plausible scenarios about future (high-impact; high-vulnerability) mega-trends impacting their business.

The Vice President of Strategic Planning of a Fortune 200 company asked Hedstrom Associates to spot profitable growth opportunities driven by global environmental trends. We compared trends in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America and analyzed key market sectors and potential markets. Based on our analysis, the client developed new growth investments.

A Fortune 500 technology company emerging from a major business transformation has a strong EHS, diversity, employee, and community story to tell. Yet the company lags in developing a sustainability strategy. We were asked to help an internal team in preparing strategy options for the COO in 2010.

For a Fortune 500 global building products firm, Hedstrom Associates developed a comprehensive corporate sustainability strategy. Our work involved competitive benchmarking, executive interviews, sustainability workshops, in-depth analysis of competitive opportunities, and a special focus in risks and opportunities associated with global warming.

Hedstrom Associates was asked to assist PEMEX, the Mexican oil company, to develop its Sustainability Strategy. We tailored the Sustainability Scorecard^TM to reflect issues most critical to Mexico, evaluated information from prior interviews with top management, and developed a presentation used at the annual PEMEX Sustainable Development Week.

ReCellular, the world’s foremost collector, reseller, and recycler of used wireless phones and accessories, asked Hedstrom Associates to assist with a market positioning, branding, and marketing strategy. The client is in the process of implementing our recommendations.

We were asked to do a Strategic Sustainability Assessment for a Fortune 100 company that was launching a new business. The assessment involved a sustainability audit of the business strategy; an Environmental Footprint Analysis of the product throughout the life cycle; and a sustainability audit in looking at a suite of environmental and social issues.

For a Fortune 500 company in the building industry, Hedstrom Associates recently completed a detailed analysis of carbon trends: regulatory and non-regulatory. We analyzed state-by-state current and pending carbon legislation, reviewed the latest corporate best practices and trends, and updated our analysis of global greenhouse gas and carbon trends. We used this information, along with competitive benchmarking, to develop a robust carbon strategy for our client. Today, despite a poor economy, our client is moving ahead aggressively with implementation of our proposed carbon (and broader sustainability) strategy.