Accenture and the World Economic Forum Decode the “Sustainability DNA” for Companies Seeking to Deliver Value and Impact for All Stakeholders - Seite 2

According to the report, embedding Sustainability DNA drives behavioral changes throughout organizations in three ways — by fostering human connections, boosting collective intelligence and driving accountability at all levels. Overall, companies tend to score higher on enablers that deepen “human connections” (average SOI score = 57), reflecting their ability to engage stakeholders, but are weaker on enablers that build “collective intelligence” (47), suggesting a struggle from leadership teams to build stakeholder-centricity.

Overall, the average score across all companies in the SOI was only 52/100, suggesting that most have significant room to strengthen their Sustainability DNA. The report advocates three steps organizations should take to create a cycle of change that generates value for all stakeholders:

• Diagnose: Conduct a high-level assessment using diagnostic tools that uncover areas of the business where the Sustainability DNA is stronger and where more work is needed.
• Define: Identify key interventions needed to meet the organization's sustainability goals using a variety of different inputs.
• Develop: Build a roadmap based on the organization’s vision for change with a clear set of KPIs to measure success in strengthening Sustainability DNA on an ongoing basis.

“The all-encompassing impact of COVID-19 made us understand that businesses need to address the needs of all stakeholders,” said Professor Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum. “By investing in organizational practices that stick, businesses will be better placed to achieve their financial goals while contributing to social welfare and the common good.”

For more information on Shaping the Sustainable Organization, please visit www.accenture.com/sustainableorg.

About the Research

The Sustainability DNA model was developed through business leader, consumer and employee surveys and interviews. To validate the model, we worked with Arabesque S-Ray, an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data provider, to build the Sustainable Organization Index (SOI) which grades nearly 4,000 companies according to market-facing evidence of ESG-supporting practices in 146 areas. We then used econometric analysis to test the relationship of SOI scores with financial and sustainability performance.