Sustainability and Competitive Advantage - Article Example

Stakeholders and executives are greatly worried about the impacts of sustainability efforts on their corporate bottom line.The evaluation criteria are based on a company’s business strategy developed to establish sustainability and a competitive advantage to the company. This report demonstrates what companies have done to capitalize on sustainability-driven transformations in consideration to the MIT Sloan Article by Berns et a; (2009) on Sustainability and Competitive Advantage. It seeks to analyze the kind of strategies that the companies have attempted to pursue in order to position themselves competitively in the future.

In the examination of this, the study has based its examination on the Wal-Mart Stores Inc (Amann, 2011, pg.11).Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is among the companies in the retail sector that have demonstrated the achievement of sustainability in the competitive advantage over a long period of time. In this report, there is much focus on how Wal-Mart has maintained sustainability and achieved competitive advantage by providing good at lower prices and adopting a cost leadership strategy as suggested in the MIT Sloan Article by Berns et a; (2009) on Sustainability and Competitive Advantage.

Wal-Mart is seen to take lead on environmental sustainability by offering environment-friendly products and investing in solar power plants in its various stores. The company has also encouraged recycling of various products. Their business strategy has helped in reduction of power consumption to a great extent and in the company’s future plans to go green (Bamford andWest, 2010, pg. 90).MIT Sloan Article by Bern’s et. al (2009) emphasizes on cost leadership strategy which is very helpful in businesses in achieving a competitive advantage in the market.

Companies that seek to enhance their profile in sustainability should begin by undertaking self-evaluation. Sustainability, as discussed in the MIT Sloan Article, entails the development of a précis business strategy that seeks to maintain the business in a competitive margin and uphold its sustainability in their future.