January 10, 2019 Comments are off kellen
Share:

GEMI Launches New Project to Look Ten Years Ahead at External Future Forces That Will Disrupt the Business of Sustainability

What four or five external future forces are most likely to ‘disrupt’ the business of sustainability for companies, the industry, and society at large—thinking ten years ahead? 

In 2007, Institute for the Future created a 10-year custom forecast for GEMI focused on external future forces likely to disrupt sustainability. The forecast was quite accurate and it gave GEMI project members unusual foresight that contributed to their business strategy.

Now, GEMI and IFTF are partnering again to look another ten years ahead at a very different future in a very different world. In this world, it is too late to have just a sustainability strategy. Now, companies must have a strategy that melds sustainability and business.

Project Objective

Through this project, GEMI and IFTF have committed to work together to develop a new custom forecast that will point a ten-year lens on external future forces—including both threats and opportunities—that will disrupt sustainability, with a focus on business choices and business strategy.

GEMI’s goal for the project is to use foresight to awaken, engage, and drive change in the present. Urgent future disruptions are looming and this project will provide the grounding to engage with and win through the most important external future forces.

This project will focus on this research question: Over the next ten years, what four or five external future forces are most likely to disrupt the business of sustainability for companies, the industry, and society at large?

We will focus in particular on the links to digital transformation and the impacts on the business of sustainability. This new forecast will help leaders glimpse and understand the future disruptions in the environment within which they will be required to win. It will help companies heighten their game, and it will give a rigorous, provocative futures perspective to inform business strategy.

Project Participants

Current GEMI members and project participants committed to participate in this project include: American Forest & Paper Association, Carnival Corp & plc, CBRE, ConocoPhillips, Dell, The Dow Chemical Company, ExxonMobil Chemical, FedEx Corp, Gannett Fleming, Ingersoll Rand, Lockheed Martin, SABIC, Schlumberger, Sealed Air, Smithfield Foods and Waste Management.

Project Deliverable

IFTF will work with GEMI to develop a new custom forecast map for project partners in pdf form to allow partners to focus strategic conversations on the four or five most important external future forces. The 2007 map was a very accurate forecast, but as the speed of business has increased, maps like this are just too busy to engage many top executives. This map will be just as content rich, but more clear and actionable.  The project is scheduled to formally kickoff in February 2019, with the final map delivered to GEMI six months thereafter.

To learn more about this GEMI project and opportunities for participation as a GEMI member or non-member project participant, please contact Kellen Mahoney. 

January 10, 2019 Comments are off kellen
Share:

GEMI Begins Project Focused on Barriers to Recycling Contaminated Food Film Packaging

Challenge

While a variety of collaborative programs exist to address plastics in the economy and develop new circular solutions, such efforts are predominantly focused on post-consumer single-use plastics with more limited attention to post-industrial waste streams.  Leading companies across industries have established clear goals around waste reduction and zero waste to landfill but can be challenged in finding practical solutions for recycling of post-industrial contaminated plastics.  While challenges with contaminated materials vary across industries, initial investigation by GEMI indicates that there is a specific challenge and potential opportunity to provide value to GEMI members in this area.  One specific area of interest relates to recycling of post-industrial food film packaging contaminated with animal byproducts from the protein industry.

Project Overview

GEMI’s vision is to develop a Post-Industrial Contaminated Plastic Work Group to engage key stakeholders across the value chain to foster pre-competitive collaborative cross-industry dialogue and develop business-driven solutions that can enhance domestic recycling and material management capabilities for potentially contaminated post-industrial plastics while increasing value for stakeholders across the value chain.

Based on GEMI’s investigations into this area, this work group will launch with an initial project focused on unique challenges related to post-industrial contaminated food film packaging.  The goal of this initial project is to develop a model that could be replicated to address similarly challenging post-industrial contaminated waste streams from other industries. Phase 1 of this project is designed to identify and organize a collaborative group of key stakeholders from across the value chain to develop a landscape assessment document outlining challenges, issues for industry consideration, and activities already underway by companies and organizations related to recycling post-industrial contaminated food film packaging.  

Project Participants

Current GEMI members and project participants committed to participate in this project include: ExxonMobil Chemical, Food Marketing Institute, Sealed Air, Smithfield Foods, Sodexo, Tyson Foods and Waste Management

To learn more about this GEMI project and opportunities for participation as either a GEMI member or non-member project participant, please contact Kellen Mahoney.  .

August 7, 2018 Comments are off kellen
Share:

2019 Project Invitation – External Future Forces That Will ‘Disrupt’ the Business of Sustainability

What four or five external future forces are most likely to ‘disrupt’ the business of sustainability for companies, the industry, and society at large—thinking ten years ahead? 

In 2007, Institute for the Future created a 10-year custom forecast for GEMI focused on external future forces likely to disrupt sustainability. The forecast was quite accurate and it gave GEMI project members unusual foresight that contributed to their business strategy. Now, we are looking ten years ahead again at a very different future in a very different world. In this world, it is too late to have just a sustainability strategy. Now, companies must have a strategy that melds sustainability and business.

GEMI/IFTF 2007-2017 Sustainability Map

Opportunity
GEMI is seeking a commitment from organizations wishing to participate in and contribute to a new custom forecast that will point a ten-year lens on external future forces—including both threats and opportunities—that will disrupt sustainability, with a focus on business choices and business strategy.

The goal of the project is to use foresight to awaken, engage, and drive change in the present. Urgent future disruptions are looming and this project will provide the grounding to engage with and win through the most important external future forces.

This project will focus on this research question: Over the next ten years, what four or five external future forces are most likely to disrupt the business of sustainability for companies, the industry, and society at large?

We will focus in particular on the links to digital transformation and the impacts on the business of sustainability. This new forecast will help leaders glimpse and understand the future disruptions in the environment within which they will be required to win. It will help companies heighten their game, and it will give a rigorous, provocative futures perspective to inform business strategy.

View 2019 Project Proposal

Cost
GEMI’s goal is to raise funding for this project from a range of companies / organizations, all of whom are interested in successfully navigating the major future forces that will affect the business of sustainability over the next decade. This cost-shared model allows project partners to receive the map and presentation at a much lower cost than commissioning this foresight individually. Active GEMI member companies will be invited to participate at no additional cost.

The fee per partner company is $15,000 USD and GEMI’s goal is to secure commitments from a minimum of 10 organizations.

Deliverable
IFTF will develop a new custom forecast map for project partners in pdf form to allow partners to focus strategic conversations on the four or five most important external future forces. The 2007 map was a very accurate forecast, but as the speed of business has increased, maps like this are just too busy to engage many top executives. This map will be just as content rich, but more clear and actionable.

In addition to the map, IFTF will create an annotated PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the forecast in a form that can be used easily by the sponsor companies, even when IFTF is not present.

IFTF will offer presentations of the forecast at sponsor location at a cost depending on which staff members are involved in that presentation. The new custom forecast map will be available to project partners first, but then will be public after an agreed upon period.

Timeline
The target kick off for this research project is January 15, 2019, with the final map and presentation delivered six months thereafter.

Action
Please contact Steve Hellem at GEMI to learn more about this project and commitment process for participation in 2019.

December 14, 2017 Comments are off kellen
Share:

2018 Project Invitation – Supply Chain Sustainability Work Group

Working to drive the next evolution in buyer/supplier engagement on sustainability by identifying and promoting leading industry-driven supplier engagement approaches that are built on shared responsibility, focused on actionable outcomes and aligned with global systems/standards.

CHALLENGE
Corporate sustainability leaders face challenges related to the wide variety of expectations for assessing supply chain sustainability. Many are seeking ways to better understand the sustainability performance of companies within their supply chain while responding to similar requests from their own customers. While the objectives of such efforts are often similar, their approaches are typically quite different. GEMI believes there is strong potential to enhance coordination across efforts and further home in on data that drives action while increasing value for both buyers and suppliers.

GEMI SCS MISSION
To address these concerns, GEMI has worked to build a cross-industry coalition of leading companies and industry trade associations to promote increased alignment across industry-focused supply chain sustainability initiatives while advancing strategic collaborations that drive innovation and continuous improvement in the sustainability performance of both buyers and suppliers. The Work Group leads a variety of internal research and external communication and education activities to advance its vision.

GEMI SCS Workshop (2017)

GEMI SCS WORK GROUP – 2018 OBJECTIVES

  • Increase awareness of existing industry-focused SCS solutions, and promote activities in support of those issues identified in GEMI Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles.
    • Deliverable: Develop GEMI Q&A Profiles on Industry Approaches to SCS. Publish bi-monthly blog feature interviewing project members and/or other organizations nominated by members, that will be shared on GEMI website and social media.
  • Enhance communication between buyers and suppliers to improve understanding of buyers’ sustainability expectations (why / how supplier data used) and awareness of suppliers’ experiences.
    • Deliverable: Organize an SCS Workshop on April 11-12 in Houston. Facilitate discussion with key buyers regarding their supplier sustainability expectations as well as supplier pain points. Develop executive summary highlighting insights and opportunities shared through workshop.
    • Deliverable: Develop GEMI Quick Guide on Strategic Buyer / Supplier Collaboration. The GEMI Responsible Supply Chain Guiding Principles may serve as a framework for the document. The document will highlight best practices and strategies to promote strategic buyer/supplier collaboration and innovation, and include company case studies examining successful programs.
  • Promote dialogue with SCS data collectors (3rd party providers / industry-specific coalitions) on opportunities to streamline data collection, promote mutual recognition, and enhance focus on value-driven outcomes.
    • Deliverable: Organize an SCS Workshop in Fall 2018 to continue discussion with key buyers on sustainability expectations, while also engaging 3rd party data collectors regarding opportunities to streamline and enhance value of data collection efforts. Develop executive summary highlighting insights and opportunities shared through workshop.
    • Deliverable: Develop and publish 2-3 case studies examining why and how data in selected harmonization efforts is used for business-decision making, and highlighting opportunities to enhance coordination across efforts.

VALUE
GEMI offers a unique platform for companies and industry trade associations to engage with corporate leaders, fellow industry groups, NGOs and 3rd party providers on industry-focused supply chain sustainability issues, and promote increased alignment across initiatives. We welcome representatives of companies and industry trade associations to join GEMI’s efforts in 2018.

Please contact us if you would like to learn more about participation in GEMI’s SCS Work Group, including 2018 participation fees and expected deliverables.

Interested in Participating?

Complete the short form below to receive more information on participation