Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World

As one of the world’s great technology companies, Siemens needs no introduction, but is notable for not only a holistic approach to sustainability but, in particular, for the way sustainability has been integrated into the heart of the business model. But how do they drive the sustainability agenda with more than 300,000 people? How do they innovate at such a scale? How do they bring technology an...

Amy Schumacher is the chief executive officer of The Heritage Group , overseeing the company’s portfolio of more than 30 businesses and 5,000 employees. Amy has been part of The Heritage Group family of businesses for over 13 years. In 2008, she founded Monument Chemical, the group’s specialty chemicals business, and served as president and CEO for eight years, marking the fourth generation of Feh...

Dr. Chris Killian is Senior Vice President, Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer for Eastman’s global technology, innovation, and sustainability organizations. Chris leads Eastman’s innovation-driven growth strategy to deliver sustainable material solutions to customer and societal needs. Prior to his current position, Chris served as senior vice president and chief technology officer. Chri...

J. Doyne Farmer is director of the Complexity Economics program at the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, Baillie Gifford Professor in the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford, and an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is a renowned physicist and complex systems scientist with a career spanning more than four decades. As a pioneer in chaos...

Tomohiro (Tomo) Ishikawa is a financial executive with more than 25 years of experience in investment banking, regulatory affairs, and sustainable finance. Currently serving as the chief regulatory engagement Officer at MUFG and head of the corporate planning division, Tomo also holds key positions in global sustainability initiatives, including membership in the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapo...

Judy Samuelson is a seasoned leader with more than four decades of experience spanning public policy, philanthropy, and business education. As the founder and executive director of the Aspen Business and Society Program at the Aspen Institute for the past 26 years, she has been driving change to align business decisions with societal well-being. Her diverse career includes roles as director at the...

Today’s guests are Janine Guillot, Judy Samuelson, Gary Knell, and Ron Soonieus. Janine is the former CEO of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Judy is the founder and executive director of the Aspen Business and Society Program. Gary is the former CEO at National Geographic, and Ron is a director in residence at INSEAD. Janine, Gary, and Ron are senior advisors to BCG. In this...

Today’s guests are Wendy Woods, Robert (Hutch) Hutchinson, and Richard Kidd. Wendy is BCG’s Vice Chair of the Social Impact, Climate & Sustainability practice, Robert is a Senior Advisor to BCG and Senior Fellow at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and Richard is a Senior Advisor to BCG and Former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment & Energy Resilience. In this conversatio...

Sameer Bharadwaj received a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and an MBA from Harvard University. He started his career as a research engineer at Dow Chemical Company before progressing into multiple executive roles at Cabot Corporation. Today, as the CEO of Orbia, he leads a purpose-driven company that is addressing critical global challenges spanning water & food s...

In this episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Tony Goldner, Executive Director of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures. Together, they discuss the urgent need to address businesses’ impact on nature and the opportunities and risks that...

In the latest episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews David Stanton, CEO of UGSI Solutions , an infrastructure technology supplier to water, wastewater, and energy industries. Together, they discuss the challenges and values of helping companies enhance...

In the newest episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Art and Annin Peck. Art is the former CEO of GAP Inc. and Executive Chair and Partner at fashion start-up The Great as well as a Boston Consulting Group alum. Annin leads sustainability at GAP Inc. as...

In the newest episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — is joined by BCG Senior Advisors Peter Tollman and Ron Soonieus.  They discuss how CEOs and Boards partner to create strategic advantage through sustainability, the evolution of corporations’ roles in socie...

In this episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Tony Thene, President and CEO of Carpenter Technology, a global leader in high-performance specialty alloy materials. They discuss how Carpenter Technology has applied their learnings from their CPI experti...

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Antoine Giros — Vice President of Certification Global Service Line for Bureau Veritas Group, a leader in testing, inspection and certification services. They discuss how Bureau Veritas Group has shaped...

In the latest episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Nili Gilbert — Vice-chairwoman of Carbon Direct, Chair of the Investment Committee for the David Rockefeller Fund, Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero Advisory Panel, and Chair for U....

In this episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Mark Preston, Executive Trustee and Chief Executive at Grosvenor. Grosvenor is a global privately held trustee-owned organization whose operations span urban property, food and AgTech, rural estate manageme...

In the first episode of season 2 of Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Gary Knell — former Chairman of National Geographic Partners, former CEO of Sesame Street, and former CEO of National Public Radio. Together, they discuss how National Geographic, Sesame Street...

In the newest episode of our  Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World  podcast, David Young—a BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation—continues his interview with Schneider Electric’s Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Olivier Blum. Together, they discuss the importance of innovation to reframe and unlock sustainability as...

In this episode of our Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — a BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Schneider Electric’s Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Olivier Blum. Schneider Electric was recently named the world’s most sustainable company by Corporate Knights, a leading global sustainabl...

In our next episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young, our BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation, interviews BrightHouse CEO Ashley Grice. Ashley discusses how Purpose helps companies articulate how they differentially and authentically solve a need in the world, bringing the ideas of environmental and socie...

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Vicki Escarra, Former Global CEO, Opportunity International; Former President & CEO, Feeding America; and Former CMO, Delta Airlines. Vicki shares her inspiring journey across the private and social...

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation and Heitor Carrera — BCG Senior Partner in Sao Paolo, Brazil — interview Pedro Zinner, CEO of Eneva, a major Brazilian energy company. Together, they discuss the evolving context in Brazil, underscoring the increasin...

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Christine Rodwell — former Vice President, Social & Sustainable Impact at Renault and Former Vice President, Business Development Cities at Veolia. Together, they discuss how the role of sustainabili...

In the new episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Mark Wiseman — Former Global Head of Active Equities and Chair Global Investment Committee, BlackRock; Former President & CEO, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) Mark shares his perspective...