Edison in the Boardroom Revisited: How Leading Companies Realize Value from Their Intellectual Property, Second Edition

The Characteristics of Sustainable Corporations

Sustainability for business organizations does not mean preservation or permanence; rather, sustainability for businesses must be thought of in terms of adaptability, flexibility, and persistence; some even describe sustainability as organizational Darwinism. Sustainable corporations have a number of characteristics in common. For example, sustainable corporations:

• Manage themselves for continuous economic growth. This dimension of management activity has two very strong elements. First, the sustainable corporation manages itself internally so as to improve and enhance its innovation and productivity continually. On the external front, sustainable corporations constantly review and seek to enhance their market relevance as well as their relevance and importance to the firm’s external shareholders.
• Control and influence their destiny. Sustainable firms recognize that they have the ability to control their own futures and exhibit a willingness to do so. These firms are quick to adapt to changes in their external environment. They have a culture of organizational change and a willingness to depart from the familiar. Their organizations lack complacency and exhibit a drive for continual renewal. They demonstrate a corporate capability for foresight and an ability as required to create their own future.
• Demonstrate a sense of longevity. Sustainable firms focus on dynamism and movement, not on preservation. Their view of the future extends ...