In virtually every industry, the focus of green competition is shifting from a race to launch new eco-friendly products to a battle over what constitutes a “green” product in the first place. The definition can vary from one sector or product to the next, but whatever your business, if you’re not engaged in the debate…

Most companies know that they need to be greening their offerings-if not to gain advantage, then simply to keep up. In this article the authors offer a framework for embarking on the green-product development process, introducing three broad strategies that companies can use to align their green goals and capabilities. An “accentuate” strategy involves evaluating…

Sustainability—which natural scientists define as the capacity of healthy ecosystems to continue functioning indefinitely—has become a clarion call for business. Consider General Electric’s ambitious Ecomagination project, Coca-Cola’s efforts to protect water quality, Wal-Mart’s attempt to reduce packaging waste, and Nike’s removal of toxic chemicals from its shoes. These and other laudable efforts are steps on…

Globalization his shaken up traditional leadership development. Language immersion, cultural etiquette tips and the like are wildly insufficient to prepare managers for the demands of today’s global marketplace. Likewise worrying about ex-pat culture shock or the risk that employees “go native” are concerns of a past era. Today’s global business needs truly global leaders. They…

Monday morning, Tianjin, China and it’s the first session of the World Economic Forum’s “Summer Davos 2010” event. Ironically, after a filling breakfast in opulent surroundings, my panel colleagues and I are discussing scarcity. With concerns about peak oil, peak water, peak real estate, peak financial markets – and just about peak everything else –…