Collaboration and ecosystems reimagined

Switching to a collaborative mindset

Recognising that we are all embedded in value networks relying on upstream and downstream partners acknowledges that the potential harmful impact of an unsustainable value chain is much greater than a single company. Scope 3 carbon emissions generated within your value chain are almost always significantly greater than the emissions you control yourself. In other words, any business seeking sustainability must act decisively to improve performance across its whole value chain. If going for “green” in a small part of the puzzle fades to “black” when looking at the big picture, you might as well be asking for harsh scrutiny and negative pushback from stakeholders. Full value chain transparency, data-driven decisions and comprehensive minimum requirements in line with reliable scientific standards are an obvious starting point. And this has to involve more than just pushing requirements on to other organisations in your value chain.

While a transactional approach to setting requirements might be an efficient approach to handling the multitude of value chain partners, some partners are more important and strategic than others. Stepping closer to a relational approach means collaborating to make the transition from black to green a shared reality faster than when trying to do it on your own. Exchanging best practices and solving sustainability issues collaboratively based on mutual trust, shared interests and long-term commitments often turns out to be a superior approach than offering either a carrot or stick. Leading companies intentionally forego short-term profits at the expense of long-term value creation when engaging, for instance, in sustainable supplier development programmes.

Both the transactional and relational approach to making the sustainability shift across the value chain could still be characterised as reactive damage control; an attempt to eliminate negative impact across the value chain. Increasing efforts would require organisations to move into delivering broader positive impacts to foster well-being or restore the environment. This happens when value chain networks or ecosystem partners rally around huge problems that are unsolvable by a single company but solvable by connecting the unique capabilities of the network. This happens not only vertically but also horizontally when the companies that previously believed they were fighting each other on a winner-takes-all battlefield raise the bar and define new standards.

While protecting everything you have and excluding access to others may seem sensible in a world of pure profit maximisation, it may limit scalability and reduce speed. Solving global pandemics, scaling digital platforms, designing operating systems and tackling climate change are more easily achieved when we open up, share knowledge freely and remove restricted access to critical capabilities. The name of the game is not protection but your ability to put these things to work faster than those protecting it.

So, words do matter. If we cling on to the old metaphors, the chances are that sustainability efforts remain distant from core business. That is what our current vocabulary tells us to do. However, if we dare to rethink and bring the sustainability agenda into the core of the organisation, we will have new conversations and we might take the lead to combine the superpowers of the ecosystems in which we operate to solve what is as yet unsolvable.

Questions worth considering

Do you have reliable upstream and downstream transparency on the sustainability performance of the value chains in which you operate?

How have you acted decisively to collaborate across the value chain to eliminate harmful impacts and move towards positive pursuits?

How can you frame a different conversation in your organisation about collaboration and partnerships?

What unique opportunities to solve major societal problems might arise if you combined the superpowers embedded in your ecosystems?