5 practices of visionary companies

5 practices of visionary companies

A tire company, a yogurt company and a producer of luxury purses, perfumes and wines. What do they have in common? Five visionary practices related to sustainable development that reduce waste, improve reputation and increase revenues.

Christine Angelini, Evelyne Lombardo and Isabelle Pignatel (all of Euromed Management) studied the activity and sustainability reports of France’s 40 largest companies according to market capitalization. This group is known as the CAC 40 and is France’s main stock index. The researchers analyzed how these large companies managed their sustainable development strategies to meet new international standards regarding greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).

The authors found every CAC 40 company had adopted some form of GHG management strategy as a result of significant media exposure and resulting public pressure. The extent to which the companies embraced sustainability, however, varied significantly. The authors categorized the 40 companies into three levels reflecting their commitment to sustainability: Conformist, Engaged, and Visionary.

Conformists, Engaged Firms and Visionaries

Conformists  Conformist companies implement basic environmental practices in order to comply. They meet legal requirements for GHG emissions but that’s all.

“Conformists”   Accor, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole

Engaged Firms  Engaged companies undertake sustainable development more proactively and actively seek to reduce their GHG emissions. They voluntarily implement management systems such as ISO 26000 or participate in sustainability awards and indices such as the UN Global Compact.

“Engaged” Companies  Air France-KLM, Air Liquide, Alcatel-Lucent, Alstom, ArcelorMittal, Axa, Bouygues, Carrefour, Dexia, EADS, Essilor International, France Télécom, L’Oréal, Lagardère, Peugeot, Renault, Sanofi-Aventis, Total, Unibail-Rodamco, Vallourec, Vinci, Vivendi.

Visionaries  Visionary companies are unsatisfied with simple environmental metrics or reports. They go beyond laws and voluntary standards to implement innovative practices that create value for the company and benefit people and the environment. This way of viewing the business involves new methods and processes that produce little or no GHG emissions.

Visionary Companies  Capgemini, Danone, EDF, GDF Suez, Lafarge, LVMH, Michelin, Pernod Ricard, PPR, Saint-Gobain, Schneider Electric, Société Générale, STMicrolectronics, Suez Environnement, Veolia Environnement.

Visionary companies have stronger overall reputations than Engaged or Conformist firms. A 2012 study from the Reputation Institute and i&e ranked the CAC 40 companies with the best reputation. Sustainable development visionaries Danone, Michelin and LVMH ranked first, second and third, respectively.




2012 Ranking of Reputation for CAC 40 Firms

2012 Ranking of Reputation for CAC 40 Firms by Metric

Danone is ranked first in Citizenship (71.4/80) and Michelin second (67.0/80) 


The researchers identified five exemplary practices common to visionary companies:

1. Self-Regulation

Visionary companies develop their own systems for setting and measuring sustainable development goals. Danone, for example, created its own management tool called the Danone Way. The Danone Way is at once a charter, code of conduct and self-assessment tool that integrates CSR into every business unit. It enables business units to assess performance in the areas of quality, ethics, management and environment to identify how improvements can be made and to draw up relevant action plans. It is not just a reporting mechanism for corporate headquarters (although it serves that purpose, too). Conceived in 2001 to help engage Danone’s 90,000 employees (including 28,000 in China) around a common culture, the Danone Way is now evolving into the Danone Way Ahead.

2. Eco-Design and Biomimetic Design

Eco- (or Green) Design refers to the practice of designing products and services to meet higher environmental standards. Luxury brand LVMH, for example, established eco-refills for its perfumes, saving nearly 60 percent of its energy and resource consumption compared to a standard bottle.

LVMH was also one of the few companies to implement biomimetic design, or design based on natural processes. Their luxury yacht, Breathe, takes inspiration from whale fins to increase the boat’s stability.

3. Service Economy

Service economy (sometimes referred to as “functionality economy”) refers to providing customers with a service, not necessarily a product. Global tire producer Michelin created a program called Michelin Fleet Solutions to serve large fleets of at least 200 trucks or buses. Based on a new business model, the program transfers responsibility for tire maintenance from the customer to Michelin. Customers do not buy tires from Michelin: They pay a fee for use and maintenance of the tires and are billed according to distance traveled.

Once the contract is signed, Michelin takes care of everything: selection and provision of tires, inventory management and maintenance, as well as replacement and management of the tires at the end of their useful life. For billing, Michelin invoices based on the number of kilometers traveled, and the two parties commit to a long-term contract -- typically three to six years.

With this new business model, the interests of all parties converge towards increasing the life of the product. The value for the customer lies in the company’s expertise and service rather than in a disposable commodity. The program, however, requires a high degree of coordination. Michelin manages the tires of more than 300,000 vehicles and coordinates activity among 800 in-house and 3,500 external stakeholders.

4. Dematerialization

Dematerialization refers to the practice of replacing a product with a substitute that fulfills the same need. For example, some companies manage “Green IT” programs that reduce paper use by replacing paper documents with electronic ones. Companies can reduce the amount of energy they consume and greenhouse gases they produce by traveling less and prioritizing videoconferencing.

5. Circular Economy

Creating a “circular economy” refers to keeping waste out of landfill and finding ways to use it as inputs for future business processes. Since 2010, LVMH has used a platform developed by Cedre (the Center for Documentation, Research and Experimentation on Accidental Water Pollution) to sort, recycle and recover waste. This platform deconditioned obsolete packaging articles, outdated alcoholic products, advertising materials and testers used in stores. In 2011, the platform processed 1,300 tons of waste, a volume increase of 30 percent compared to 1,000 tonnes in 2010. It was also able to give glass, cardboard, wood, metal, plastic, alcohol and cellophane to a network of specialized recyclers.

Guerlain, one of LVMH’s brands, invites its customers to bring their empty products into shops in Paris for sorting and recycling. This eco-friendly action is facilitated in the shops through a dedicated display stand and client communication.

Are You Conformist, Engaged or Visionary?

What’s your company’s approach to sustainable development? Consider taking a more proactive, innovative approach to sustainable development and you could find great opportunities to grow your top and bottom lines.

For Researchers

Future research could examine the visionary practices of French companies regardless of whether they are listed on the stock exchange. It could also compare sustainability practices between different countries or geographical areas.


Source  Angelini, C., Lombardo, E., & Pignatel, I. 2012. Les pratiques environnementales au sein du CAC 40 : un regard sur les entreprises visionnaires. Revue Française de Gestion, 222(3), 35-54.

This article is reprinted with permission from the website of the Network for Business Sustainability.

Photograph of buildings and trees provided by Artens via Shutterstock.