With the best of intentions, companies experiment with isolated efforts to improve sustainability — only to encounter a long string of unanticipated consequences, often in the form of financial, social, or environmental costs. That’s partly because most firms respond in a piecemeal way to pressure from customers, shareholders, boards, employees, governments, and NGOs. In this groundbreaking research published in Harvard Business Review, Professor Hau Lee shows that it’s much more effective to take a holistic approach to sustainability and make broader structural changes. The article examines the specific strategy adopted by Hong Kong–based Esquel, one of the world’s leading producers of premium cotton shirts, in reinventing its supply chain and manufacturing processes to tackle the challenges of scale.
