Executives are reimagining the value of nonfinancial assets for their own companies, the broader industry, and the environment by making product development more design- and information-intensive. The result: new digitally enhanced offerings that are reducing material use, lowering energy demands, and increasing revenues.

Digitization opens opportunities for the world’s sustainability challenges, but it also transforms industries, holding out the possibility of dramatically improving their social and environmental performance. To capitalize on this development, an emerging area of opportunity is the digitization of physical products and production.

Companies that seek to meet the challenge of operating both profitably and sustainably can benefit by learning which sectors have the most impact on sustainable development goals.

As digital technology advances, the opportunity to use it to create a more sustainable, equitable world should not be overlooked. The first step: Define key terms and set up a framework for understanding how the digital revolution can also become a revolution for sustainable development.

It’s not smart to base any part of your strategy on what you see in the rear-view mirror — and that’s particularly true when you develop strategies for navigating modern, thorny environmental and social challenges. The norms and expectations about how companies manage sustainability issues are shifting fast: Just six years ago, only 20% of the S&P 500 companies produced sustainability reports, while by 2016, 82% did. Change is coming to business — and executives need to adjust.

In the final report of our eight-year study of how corporations address sustainability, MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group examine the crossroads at which sustainability now finds itself. Despite sociopolitical upheaval that threatens to reverse key gains, our research has shown that companies can develop workable — and profitable — sustainability strategies to reduce their impact on the global environment by incorporating eight key lessons.

While most executives recognize the need to develop more sustainable business models, putting this goal into practice has been a challenge. Too many initiatives are stymied by a set of common obstacles. By recognizing how executing sustainability initiatives differs from typical change management, corporate leaders can promote more lasting gains in sustainable business development.

Companies can continue creating value in the face of disasters, both natural and man-made, when they develop community resilience strategies.

A growing number of investors are paying attention to environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance, as evidence mounts that sustainability-related activities are material to the financial success of a company over time. In this webinar, three co-authors of the latest sustainability research report share findings and insights from their research into how professional investors are incorporating sustainability practices into their decision-making.

Few companies have come right out and said that they serve stakeholders beyond their shareholders. But in 2015, the board of Sweden’s Atlas Copco set the bar for sustainability by including a statement of materiality and significant audiences in its annual report. Atlas Copco’s Statement shows how a company’s board can protect managers in the face of pressure from short-term investors so they can make the long-term decisions necessary for a sustainable strategy.

The Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program is focused on developing business leaders for a sustainable society. One of its fundamental founding questions was, “If we want business to operate in a way that’s attentive to long-term value creation and an array of stakeholders, what kind of leadership do we need?” The solution: Aspen’s “First Movers” program, cultivating creative intrapreneurs dedicated to products and management practices that enhance profitability without negative social and environmental impacts.

This blog post is the first of a four-part series on sustainability-oriented innovation (SOI). The authors explain what SOI is, where and how it can be used, its impact, and its challenges. While many businesses are aware of SOI, they are struggling to shed the traditional tradeoff model that they have come to accept and rely on. Achieving sustainability-oriented innovation means taking off blinders, shifting away from deeply embedded mental models, and working closely with a more diverse stakeholder base.

At the 2015 Milken Global Conference, attracting and retaining talent is a hot topic. It used to be that the job negotiation formula was simple: salary, benefits and bonus. But that’s not enough anymore. The next generation wants something different from their work life than their predecessors — a more self-actualizing experience — and corporations are scrambling to decipher the keys to keeping employees engaged.

In a webinar recorded in January 2015, the speakers present findings from the recent global study they co-authored, “Joining Forces: Collaboration and Leadership for Sustainability.” The study, by MIT Sloan Management Review, The Boston Consulting Group and the United Nations Global Compact, shows that a growing number of companies are turning to collaborations — with suppliers, NGOs, industry alliances, governments and even competitors — to become more sustainable. The research found that companies are realizing that they can’t make the necessary impact acting alone.

In the 2014 Sustainability Report, new research by MIT Sloan Management Review, The Boston Consulting Group and the UN Global Compact, shows that a growing number of companies are turning to collaborations — with suppliers, NGOs, industry alliances, governments, even competitors — to become more sustainable. Our research found that as sustainability issues become increasingly complex, global in nature and pivotal to success, companies are realizing that they can’t make the necessary impact acting alone.

Risk mitigation drove chemical giant BASF to adopt a sustainability focus, initiating a chain reaction that transformed not only the company’s product lines, but its corporate culture. The company’s vice president of sustainability strategy, Dirk Voeste, explains the step-by-step process that BASF undertook to produce a company-wide shift in this massive organization’s mindset.

In an examination of the world of Corporate Social Responsibility insurgencies, Gregory Unruh looks the social dynamics within companies. What tactics can be used to identify and persuade other managers to join the sustainability cause?

Until recently, CSR executives have focused mainly on outward-facing programs that “talk the talk” of sustainability. But modern CSR directors are rebelling against this superficial model and engaging corporate culture at a deeper level toward more sustainable business practices.

MIT Sloan Management Review asked two professors who are sustainability experts to comment on Caesars’ progress thus far — as well as possible next steps for the company. Here are the experts’ perspectives.

This year’s sustainability and innovation survey — the fifth survey in collaboration with our knowledge partner The Boston Consulting Group — delves into questions of climate change. Make your opinion count by taking the survey and sharing the link with your colleagues.