Insights report focuses on THESIS performance and improvement by company size
10/20/2021, Scottsdale, AZ – The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) released today the THESIS Industry Insights: Performance by Company Size report using data from TSC’s The Sustainability Insight System (THESIS). This report is the fourth report in an ongoing series aimed at using THESIS’ unique data set to raise awareness of key challenges and opportunities in creating more sustainable products.
THESIS data from 2020 shows that company size is not a determining factor in improving the sustainability and transparency of consumer goods supply chains. Using THESIS data, TSC tested the hypothesis on company size ranging from less than $1 million in annual revenue to companies that bring in greater than $1 billion in annual revenue. The data shows that even though company sizes can range between the two spectrums, there is no practical difference in their THESIS sustainability performance, which help assess and communicate a brands’ and manufacturers’ progress on supply chain sustainability.
Small-to-medium enterprises (SME) face different barriers to success than their larger counterparts. TSC’s report found that SME’s tended to have advantages that include the higher influence of personal values of their CEOs and are able to pay more attention to non-economic sustainability drivers. SME barriers include lacks time, resources and knowledge while also having a hard time making the case for sustainability. Larger companies were more likely to engage in formal document practices, were better able to communicate with stakeholders, and were more likely to be able to attend to material relevant issues.
Jessica Ginger, TSC Senior Director, TSC Impact, states, “Through our THESIS data, we are pleased to see that small-to-medium enterprises are making the same, if not better, improvements than large companies. We now know that dedicating at least one person to integrating sustainability practices into the business, no matter the size, significant improvements in supply chain sustainability is feasible.”
Most notably, TSC found that dedicated sustainability staff are critically important to driving significant changes. Around 25% of companies that had no sustainability staff reported they had made changes in sustainable product or packaging design, while more than 40% companies with sustainability staff reported they had done the same.
This free report is available for download here. TSC will be releasing similar reports throughout the year. TSC translates the best sustainability science into business tools that are used all over the world to create more sustainable consumer products.
About TSC
The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) is a global non-profit organization transforming the consumer goods industry to deliver more sustainable consumer products. We work to enable a world where people can lead fulfilled lives in a way that decouples their impacts on people and the planet. Our members and partners include manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, service providers, NGOs, civil society organizations, governmental agencies and academics. TSC convenes our diverse stakeholders to work collaboratively to build science-based decision tools and solutions that address sustainability issues that are materially important throughout a product’s supply chain and lifecycle. TSC also offers a portfolio of services to help drive effective improvement and implementation. Formed in 2009, TSC is jointly administered by Arizona State University and the University of Arkansas and has a European office at Wageningen University and Research in the Netherlands. For more information visit www.sustainabilityconsortium.org.
Media Inquiries:
Erika Ferrin
The Sustainability Consortium
erika.ferrin@sustainabilityconsortium.org
480-965-7752