Corporate Change

How companies think about climate change: A McKinsey Global Survey

A McKinsey Quarterly survey finds that most executives think climate change matters for their companies. Although few have taken action, they are optimistic about the possibilities.

February 2008
Against a backdrop of rising global concern about the environment and climate change, a McKinsey Quarterly survey finds that executives view climate change issues as important for their companies, seeing both opportunity and risk.

The survey,1 which included respondents from a range of industries (some 40 percent of whom are evenly split between finance and manufacturing, with another 8 percent in energy, transport, or mining), finds that fully 60 percent of global executives view climate change as important to consider within their companies’ overall strategy.

Further, nearly 70 percent see it as an important consideration for managing corporate reputation and brands, and over half say it’s important to account for climate change in such varied areas as product development, investment planning, and purchasing and supply management. About one-third of respondents say their companies places more emphasis on climate change than on most other global trends.

Relatively few companies, however, currently appear to be translating the importance they place on climate change into corporate action. Fully 44 percent of CEOs, for example, note that climate change isn’t a significant item on their agendas.

Further, many respondents report their companies consider climate change only occasionally at best when managing corporate reputation and brands, developing new products, or even managing environmental issues. And more than one-third of global executives say their companies seldom or never factor climate change into their companies’ overall strategy. When asked how well their companies do take climate change into consideration in strategy, more than half of CEOs say somewhat well at best.

Executives are relatively optimistic when anticipating the business prospects that climate change could present. About one-third view climate change as representing an equal balance of opportunities and risks (more than the amount who see either a preponderance of risk or of opportunity). And 61 percent of respondents view the issues associated with climate change as having a positive effect on profits if managed well.

Given the considerable uncertainties around climate change regulation, it is noteworthy that more than 80 percent of global executives expect some form of climate change regulation to come to their companies’ home country within five years. Relatively few executives say their companies are likely to respond to new regulations in geographies where they operate.

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(From ; The McKinsey Quarterly , 5 March 2008)

Are You a Thought Leader?

You may have heard the phrase thought leader bandied about. It means someone who is a trusted resource in his or her field of expertise. Although some thought leaders contribute ideas to the community without any specific goal, many see the process as a great way to attract new clients. It's a method you should consider.

Anyone with specialized knowledge has the potential to become a thought leader. You can use a medium as informal as a blog that dispenses helpful tips; or on the other end of the spectrum you might want to offer white papers and survey results. But whatever your media strategy, David Meerman Scott has some solid advice for aspiring thought leaders:

Understand the purpose of thought leadership. You want to educate and entertain, not sell. "This type of marketing and PR technique is not a brochure or sales pitch," writes Scott. "Thought leadership is not advertising." So it's important that you don't write about your company—at all.

Cater to your audience. Address issues of interest to prospective customers. And present the information in an engaging fashion. Remember: This is about your readers, not you.

Promote, promote, promote. Alert carefully chosen bloggers, reporters and analysts with links to your material. Also, place easy-to-find links in online venues you control—even in your staff's email signatures.

The Po!nt: "Thought leadership content is designed to solve buyer problems or answer questions," writes Scott, "and to show that you and your organization are smart and worth doing business with."

Source: MarketingProfs. Vol. 1, No. 70 September 17, 2007
Click here to read the full-length article.
(http://www.marketingprofs.com/small-business/index.asp?nlid=118&cd=dmo121)