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But their ability to listen, respond and be empathic did work.

n real world terms: currently 40 percent of IBM’s employees telecommute, saving the company nearly $2.9 billion in reduced office space needs since 1995 (this doesn’t even include the energy cost savings).

March 16, 2011,

We started by encouraging the organization to get out of its defensive crouch and listen to its critics. It wasn’t easy to open up to the outside, but the learning opportunity was clear. Ten NGO leaders around the table bring you 100 years of experience.

Implementing recently announced energy initiatives will eventually save $1 billion a year.

Walmart gets its story out better these days. But the reason the story resonates is that it’s a story of real change.

However, research conducted concurrently by several different firms, including the Associated Press, suggests that while Harvard might have benefited well from its oil and gas investments in the past, the marketplace, with the world’s increased focus on climate issues, was changing. “Fossil fuel free” investments now stand to earn more

In 2005, in response to increasing pressure from student and human rights groups, the university announced it would be divesting from overseas companies like PetroChina and Sinopec that allegedly had ties with Sudan. However, two years later, the student-run paper, Harvard Crimson, reported that the university still maintained investments in those overseas companies.

What President Faust’s letter didn’t address was the relationship between investment and reputation. Harvard’s reputation is shaped by what it invests in, not just in what it teaches or promotes in research. So is its brand as an impartial, but forward-thinking institution that doesn’t want to be perceived as a “political actor.” But climate change is altering not only how we harness energy but how we view the political landscape. As a poet once told me, “everything is political.” It’s how we deal with that landscape and the choices we make that shapes how others view us.

They want companies to give back to the community,  to eliminate the traditional 9 to 5 workday, collaboration instead of isolation, and to create a organization fabricated by social media.

92 percent of Millennials believe that business should be measured by more than just profit and should focus on a societal purpose.

A Cisco study shows that 70 percent of students believe it is unnecessary to be in an office regularly. Millennials will make working from home or from shared office spaces the norm — goodbye cubicles!

The reason for this focus by Walmart’s CFO, is that Walmart earns $230 million annually through their waste management efforts.

GM is generating $1 billion annually through recycling and repurposing their waste stream. They are literally turning trash into cash! This is not an isolated example. Sustainable waste management is now a competitive advantage for businesses ranging from Walmart to Dupont to small businesses like JJH Auto Body and Paint in Salt Lake City.