Kaisa Manninen joined the Korkia specialist team at the end of April. Having just obtained her Doctorate in Engineering Science from LUT University, this researcher, previously of the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE, felt that focusing on sustainable development was the right ground for her. ”Korkia approaches consultancy from an interesting angle: combining growth with sustainable development suitable for the customer’s strategy. Agility and the customer’s needs as the starting point also attracted me”.
The key element in Kaisa’s consultancy is the integration of sustainability objectives into the customer company’s strategy and operation. ”Companies need to pay more comprehensive attention to sustainable development in their operations. They are also compelled to do so simply because funding is increasingly being directed to sustainable growth. Business strategies in this area must be reconsidered in order to ensure the success of the company’s products and services”.
One of Kaisa’s key observations in her dissertation, titled ”Conducting sustainability target -driven business”, was the basic need for companies to align their sustainability goals and sustainability work with their values. In addition, such goals should be set with appropriate scientific premises in mind in order to ensure that the obtained sustainability be valid. After this, a company’s business operations can be shaped through strategy work and be made to conform to its sustainability goals, producing comprehensive changes. It is also important to make it clear to the entire organisation what sustainable development means in practice in the company, going to the level of single teams and individuals.
”Over the past five years, we have seen huge advances in sustainable development in companies. The importance of the issue has been widely noted, and the baseline level for sustainable operations has been elevated. Now it is time for companies to put effort into increasing the effectiveness of their sustainable operations, thereby also increasing their growth”, observes Kaisa Manninen.