Strategically embedding sustainability in business: C-Level tips

Sustainability as a strategic factor

‍In today’s business world, sustainability has become a central issue. While some companies primarily view it as an additional compliance obligation, others recognize the strategic advantages of a sustainable orientation. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) plays a particularly important role in this context. Regardless of when implementation begins or specific reporting requirements apply, companies that take a proactive and effective approach can not only improve efficiency but also strengthen their resilience and long-term competitiveness. For example, reducing resource consumption leads to cost savings and opens up new revenue streams—positively impacting the profit and loss statement. Nonetheless, sustainability remains a significant challenge for many companies and executives.

Challenges at the leadership level

Executive leadership is confronted with extensive bureaucratic requirements that demand significant resource allocation. At the same time, many organizations lack sufficient expertise in non-financial reporting and sustainability metrics, making it difficult to effectively integrate sustainability into overall business strategy. Additionally, there is often a lack of best practices for organizing sustainability management tailored to the specific size and complexity of the company. These factors can significantly hinder the implementation of sustainable initiatives.

Another challenge lies in raising awareness of sustainability requirements and reporting obligations within the organization and ensuring effective internal communication—especially during economically and politically challenging times. There is also a lack of understanding and experience in linking sustainability metrics to business objectives, which hampers strategic alignment.

Currently, insufficient transparency and a lack of industry benchmarks make it difficult for companies to realistically assess their sustainability positioning. At the same time, the importance of sustainability metrics in the supply chain—and how to communicate them to customers—is often poorly defined. In this context, implementing Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) can be seen as an opportunity, particularly in light of the future economic relevance of carbon pricing.

Finally, prioritizing various requirements and standards often proves to be a complex task, as aligning them with the specific conditions of one’s own company can be challenging.

Strategically embedding sustainability in your company with Tanso

Tanso offers a sustainability solution specifically developed for industrial companies, enabling the holistic management of sustainability topics. By centrally mapping the entire organization in one tool, corporate and product-level carbon footprints (CO₂) can be efficiently managed, and ESG reporting requirements can be seamlessly fulfilled. Developed in collaboration with auditors, the solution ensures the highest compliance standards and is verified with dual TÜV certification for both Corporate and Product Carbon Footprints (CCF and PCF).

“Tanso enables Zambelli, as a medium-sized corporate group, to establish a management system for non-financial KPIs alongside controlling. This allows us to capture not only sustainability metrics and compliance data but also additional topics and data points related to quality and environmental management in a structured way within Tanso—and to leverage this data for our certifications and business decisions.”

Andreas von Langsdorff

Managing Director at Zambelli

An integrated task management system creates transparency for employees and facilitates cross-departmental collaboration. Industry expertise and targeted expert support also help companies build internal knowledge and ensure the reliable implementation of regulatory requirements.

In addition, Tanso Analytics provides valuable insights to derive data-driven reduction measures and identify sustainable optimization potential. With automated processes, high data standards, and cross-site integration, Tanso saves valuable resources and creates synergies for future-proof corporate management.

Sustainability management requires clear leadership

‍Sustainability should be embedded into the overall corporate strategy as a key strategic success factor—regardless of regulatory requirements. A successful transformation demands a collaborative approach, where companies actively engage with external stakeholders to develop and implement innovative solutions effectively. Crucial to this are leadership commitment, active employee involvement, and a culture of continuous learning to successfully navigate the challenges of sustainable transformation.