2009 Annual Conference
Planning for a Sustainable Future

Unleashing Your KOR Strengths: Strategy and Design for Sustainable Products

Ravi Sawhney
Founder, RKS Design

Deepa Prahald
Strategy Consultants

Sustainability is an important theme, but it must be made compelling and credible in order to succeed. By clearly defining and creating segments that address green concerns and design that appeals to a diverse audience (some of whom may not be environmentally conscious), adoption can be created through viral demand. The green aspect can be a desirable by-product or the key attractor, depending on the consumer. This type of positioning creates the opportunity for continuing dialog and personalization while addressing the core issue of sustainability. Also, the company itself must be profitable to be sustainable and business and environmental objectives must be addressed in tandem.

This case study will detail the conception and design of the KOR ONE Hydration Vessel, a premium reusable water bottle intended to address the waste generated by the bottled water industry.

Monday 2:15 - 5:00 pm

The Seven Steps to Sustainable Value

Bruce Bendix
Managing Director, Eco Squared Consulting

Many executives realize the need to bring sustainability from a tangential to a core element of their strategy. They may even see sustainability as a powerful driver of competitive advantage. However, the same executives often struggle with the process of developing and implementing the strategy. Although sharing similarities with all strategy management efforts, sustainability-led initiatives present their own unique challenges and require a specific approach which we describe in seven steps.

Monday 2:15 - 5:00 pm

Making Sustainability Strategic to Your Business

Neil Smith
Managing Partner, SmithOBrien

This interactive session includes a critical analysis of integrating sustainability with a corporation's strategic agenda, aligned with goals, objectives and measurable business results. And ensuring the corporate culture can support and the leadership has the skills to embed sustainability into how a business does business globally.

Monday 2:15 - 5:00 pm

Sustainability: Our Planet, Our Selves

Noel Marts
Managing Director, Managing Uncertainty (MU)

Steven Hirshfeld
Founder & Managing Director, Managing Uncertainty (MU)

“Sustainability” is the extension of a fundamental precept taught in medical school – primum non nocere or “first, do no harm”. We humans generally subscribe to this principle, whether we refer to a human being or to the “geography” we each occupy, to our country, or to the entire planet. This presentation will illustrate the interconnectedness among sustainability issues, major global macro trends, and the personal health and wellness factors that govern an individual’s or an organization’s own values and behaviors. Until a company truly understands how vital this is to creating stakeholder value, “sustainability” will be an afterthought and relegated to an appendix in one’s strategic plan and subject to the conditions of the moment. One will not anticipate the impact of major disruptive events, nor develop strategies to capture disruptive advantage

Monday 2:15 - 5:00 pm

The Five Pillars of Success and Sustainability for Individuals, Organizations, and Societies

Mark Hollingworth

There are six different forces of macro-trends that impact our world. Over the past ten to 20 years the rise of these forces has created a completely new global business reality in which virtually every organization faces potential threat from forces that emanate from the far corners of the world. This session will examine the competitive world we inhabit and explore how we can define a vision in which the continued development of our societies, organizations, and individuals can be implemented in a context of harmony rather than opposition.

Tuesday 2:15 - 5:00 pm

Disruption 2.0 - Creating New Growth Businesses as a Repeatable Core Process

Michael Putz
Director, Business Development & Strategy, Cisco Systems

The secret is out - from the iPhone to Web 2.0, everyone can see that disruptive innovation is the key to building great growth businesses - now the next level of competitive advantage and the key to sustainable growth will come from making disruption a repeatable core corporate process. Leading companies like Proctor and Gamble and Cisco already have processes in place to build a steady stream of new disruptive growth businesses - and these efforts represent only the beginning of what is possible.

This talk will explore the wide variety of disruptive growth strategies that are available to firms of all sizes, using Apple, P&G, Cisco and others as examples. We'll conclude by looking ahead to the corporate strategy, cultural and leadership challenges that are likely to emerge as disruption becomes a central element in creating shareholder value and maintaining competitive advantage.

Tuesday 2:15 - 5:00 pm

Sustainable Facilities Planning at Los Angeles Community Colleges

Larry Eisenberg
Executive Director, Facilities Planning and Development - Los Angeles Community College District

With more than 220,000 students a year attending classes, the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the largest community college district in the world. The infrastructure at the nine colleges was largely built in the 1940’s, 1950’s and 1960’s. The Los Angeles Community College District’s $2.2 billion building upgrade and renovation program is one of the largest sustainable (that is, “green”) building programs in the United States. This presentation will explore the LACCD holistic approach on the long-term cost efficiency.

Tuesday 2:15 - 5:00 pm