Lara Abrams Communications

Strategic Thinking For Business

Wednesday, October 18th, 2006

For the full agenda, please click here. TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO ATTEND THIS. You can also follow this by attending their Sustainable Banking & Green Building Finance Seminar on Friday, and the Bioneers Conference as well.

Who should attend this unique workshop?

Entrepreneurs: By far the most successful way to be a green and responsible business is to design it right in from the start. Learn how to grow a business the green and sustainable way.
Environmental / Sustainability Managers: Use the right tools to make the business case for environmental investment and improvement. How to work with each function in your organization in the business languages they use (hint: they DON’T want to talk about “sustainability” or being “green”).
Educators and consultants: Broaden your skills quickly and learn new approaches and tools for business education, consulting and business development.
Economic development and environmental / social regulation and advocacy:
Learn how to promote responsible organizations in your community and get business leaders to support your mission.
Investor Relations: Every day there are more responsible investment and clean technology funds competing for market dollars. They are asking detailed question about sustainability before they invest. Learn what to expect from responsible investors and what kind of performance your company must show.
Fund Management: Pick long-term winners. Leading corporations are publishing their sustainability and environmental strategies and programs. What are they talking about and how does it affect their value?

Day 1: Green Business Concepts and Partners

The Global Green Business Network: Learn how to find the specific info you need from around the world. How to tap the Pollution Prevention and Cleaner Production technical expert communities.
The Sustainable Value Chain: How business functions are being transformed by sustainable solutions. Executive overview of key roles for every department in an organization.
Life Cycle Scoping: The executive approach to managing life cycle risks and working with suppliers and customers on sustainable product and service design.
Support Your Balance Sheet with the Sustainable Balanced Scorecard: A unique strategy that puts the sustainable performance indicators you want into a framework already widely known and supported.
Stakeholder Communications: What stakeholders really want to know and how they want to know it. What not to say. Effective stakeholder engagement strategies.

Day 2: Tools That Work

Total Quality Environmental Management – the key tools for process improvement towards zero emissions and full employee participation. Lean and Green Manufacturing and Service: Key principles and resources
Sustainable Accounting: How sustainability affects the balance sheet. Activity-Based Costing for performance on environmental and social indicators. Simple but effective risk analysis. Special capital investment software provided.
Environmentally Preferred Purchasing and Sustainable Supply Chain Management. Effective purchasing guidelines. Working with vendors. Managing supplier issues overseas. Sustainable Product Design: Principles, tools, free software.
Green Building: Make your facilities part of your sustainability plan. Learn critical energy and water conservation methods and resources. Includes unique software for reducing impacts in construction projects.
Teamwork: How to build internal support for sustainability. Successful dialogue techniques.

Day 3: Sustainable Strategy

“Competitive Strategy” in the Sustainability Century: How classic strategy models have evolved to successful and sustainable plans. New approaches to low-cost, differentiation and niche marketing strategies. How to build a strategy around your unique competence.
Stakeholders and Visions: Who are your stakeholders and how to enlist them in your vision. Introduction to development organizations and their resources. Which tools to use with which partners.
Changing Behavior: How to get people in your organization to do what you want! Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing to affect sustainable behavior. Application to use of green business tools – how to get that person to try it out.
Your own sustainable business strategy: Develop an outline with your classmates. Back to the Sustainable Balanced Scorecard – your own. Includes free sustainability planning software.

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Contact Lara Abrams

To contact Lara, please email her at lara@laraabrams.com or call 415 613 1704.