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#17. Professor Ioannis Ioannou: Kodak, Blockbuster and Creating Businesses That Last
Ioannis Ioannou is one of the world’s leading experts on Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School. Professor Ioannou regularly publishes in top-tier peer-reviewed academic journals, including Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Management Science, and Organization Science. Professor Ioannou is also the co-Chair of the Sustainability Advisory Panel of Merck, a member of the ESG Advisory Board of the DWS Group, a member of the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Risk Assessment Framework (SRAF), the Board of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS), serves as an Advisor to TreeApp, and a member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network. Learn more here: www.ioannou.us
Summary
Professor Ioannou discusses the need for sustainability and corporate social responsibility to be central to the strategies of organisations. He explores the fall of Kodak and Blockbuster as analogies for organizations that fail to adapt to these new demands. Professor Ioannou defines sustainability and corporate social responsibility as integrating environmental and social issues into business. He emphasises the importance of understanding the evolving nature of these challenges. Professor Ioannou also discusses the connection between corporate strategy and sustainability, the trade-offs and opportunities of sustainability, and the challenges of transitioning to a sustainable business model. He highlights the role of disruptive innovation and the clashing capabilities and competencies that organizations may face. Ioannou addresses the balance between short-term results and long-term transformation and the role of investors in the transition to sustainability. He concludes by providing advice for business leaders on how to approach sustainability.
Key Moments
04:21 Defining Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility
05:17 The Conceptual Level of Sustainability
06:14 The Evolving Nature of Sustainability Challenges
09:28 The Connection Between Corporate Strategy and Sustainability
10:22 The Goal of Shareholder Value and Sustainability
11:16 The Two Stories of Sustainability
12:39 The Trade-offs and Opportunities of Sustainability
14:29 Disruption and Clashing Capabilities
20:34 Navigating the Disruption of Sustainability
21:32 Disruption by Sustainability and Ethics
22:27 Technological Innovation and Sustainability
23:23 Customer Changes and Sustainability
24:18 Clashing Capabilities and Competencies
27:37 Structural Inertia and Transitioning to Renewables
28:32 The Challenge of Competing with Two Business Models
31:15 The Rate of Change in Sustainability
33:37 Balancing Short-Term Results and Long-Term Transformation
36:27 The Role of Investors in the Transition to Sustainability
47:28 Advice for Business Leaders
Music credit: David Cutter Music / @dcuttermusic
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