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The goal of the Guide is to provide an aspirational and inspirational roadmap for companies to scale up their corporate social responsibility and sustainability efforts. It offers insights into the essential qualities required of companies to ensure business and societal success.

The Transformational Company Qualities are the definitive go-to resource, benchmark and checklist for anyone interested in the essential requirements of CSR or sustainability leadership. They are based on global research into ‘next practices’ in CSR and sustainability.

The nineteen qualities listed below include business cases, case studies and action steps businesses can use to understand and prioritize initiatives that will enhance both business and societal prospects and build a better world for all.

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How to Use the Guide

Save yourself time and resources by using the Guide to develop or inform your CSR or sustainability priorities. You can:

  • Use the TCQ to understand leading CSR practices around the world
  • Benchmark your company against the qualities and address gaps
  • Use the TCQ to inform your stakeholder consultations
  • Conduct gap and opportunity assessments
  • Include the TCQ in board and leader education and strategy sessions
  • Reference the TCQ when designing or updating your sustainability or CSR strategy
  • Work with your industry or professional association to develop a transformational sector roadmap

19 Transformational Company Qualities

Click any of the links below to access a short 4 – 5 page summary of each quality, including why the quality is important, what is the business case, how to implement the quality, best practice case studies of the quality, strategy tools and further resources.

Sustainable Purpose

Sustainable Purpose

Aim to align overall corporate purpose with sustainability principles where sustainability drives value, where what the company does is a benefit to society, and where profits enable fair and equitable compensation for natural and societal resources.

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Sustainable Customer Offerings

Sustainable Customer Offerings

Integrate sustainability into the full life-cycle of product and service design, use and disposal, and advance sustainability through continuous improvement of core products and services.

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Solutions-Oriented

Solutions-Oriented

Working with key stakeholders, adopt business models and strategies that address systemic social, economic and environmental problems; scale solutions with customers and suppliers.

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Restorative

Restorative

Generate net positive benefits for society, the environment, the company and shareholders, advancing local and global resilience.

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Long-Term Vision

Long-Term Vision

Commit to an ambitious long-term multigenerational sustainability vision that includes bold goals and precautionary approach that takes into account the needs of present and future generations, as well as the natural systems on which they rely.

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Sustainability Governance and Culture

Sustainability Governance and Culture

Embed sustainability into governance, business processes, operations, investments, culture and competencies; incentivize sustainable decisions and enable sustainable innovation.

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Enlightened Leadership

Enlightened Leadership

Have committed, values-based executive leaders who position the business for short and long-term success by driving the company to adapt to – and influence – structural social, economic and environmental trends, and who foster organizational capacity for change and innovation to create sustainable business models and solutions for the future.

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Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement

Have diverse, equitable, thriving, participatory workforces where employees are champions of sustainability at work, at home and in the broader community.

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Inclusive Business

Inclusive Business

Expand opportunities for all populations as employees, suppliers, distributors and customers.

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Closed-Loop

Closed-Loop

Implement closed-loop production and advance a closed-loop economy.

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Resource Productivity

Resource Productivity

Achieve a major improvement in the use of resources and materials and become a zero carbon company with respect to energy use.

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Value-Chain Influence

Value-Chain Influence

Take responsibility for sustainability outcomes of their value chain, both up and downstream of their operations, and across regions and sectors.

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Stakeholder Accountability and Transparency

Stakeholder Accountability and Transparency

Actively engage and are accountable to all stakeholders, disclosing their sustainability performance, impacts and dependencies.

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Customer Engagement

Customer Engagement

Enable customers to make informed choices, reduce their lifestyle impacts and make a positive difference through education, engagement and innovative products and business models.

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Industry Standards

Industry Standards

Collaborate within their industry – including with competitors – as well as across sectors to encourage systemic industrial change.

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Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration

Lead and participate in multi-stakeholder collaborations to address and overcome systemic barriers and challenges.

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Finance Community

Finance Community

Engage the financial community, including investor shareholders, bankers, insurers and accountants, on the opportunities and benefits of sustainable business models.

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Public Engagement

Public Engagement

Promote sustainability and sustainable lifestyles to the public.

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Public Policy Advocacy

Public Policy Advocacy

Advocate for public policy that advances sustainability.

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