Sometimes, in the race to conform to the latest trends, companies tend to lose sight of the bigger picture and may need to redefine their strategies to cope with new realities. Corporate performance is no longer defined or perceived in terms of just profitability, today. It's important to look at sustainability through a strategic lens, which can entail benefits for the entire organisation - both in the short and long term.

For Finance, Sustainability isn't just about being green. For institutions, it's about strengthening their portfolio by evaluating environmental and social risks, thereby reducing financial, liability and reputation risks that may arise. It's about taking advantage of business opportunities to create long-term stakeholder value for business.

Sustainable Marketing is much more than just projecting yourself as an environmentally friendly or more socially conscious brand. With consumers around the world saying they want a “meaningful relationship” with brand today, it's necessary for a brand to have a purpose more engaging than profits. But, any old cause won't do - the cause needs to be rooted in the brand, it should make sense to customers, it should have a practical, shareable outcome, and it must make business sense.

For organisations to succeed in the new global context, leaders need to host a whole new array of skills and competencies. HR Professionals play an extremely influential role to help enable this strategic shift.

More and more companies are extending their commitment to responsible business practices to their value chains, from subsidiaries to suppliers. They do so not only because of the inherent social and environmental risks and the governance challenges the supply chain poses, but also because of the many rewards Supply Chain Sustainability can deliver.

Working in partnership with the government, through education, engagement, involvement and thought leadership, can help tackle some of the world's biggest problems - globally, nationally and locally. Constructive dialogues, innovative public policies, public-private partnerships, and investments in solutions that can help address the fundamental challenges that confront societies are what help drive stronger, faster, scalable change.

Both CSR and Sustainability understand that the context, community and environment in which a business operates is integral to that business’ success. Sustainability helps go one step further by accounting for the long-term needs of the very communities and environment in which companies operate. Here’s how having a more multi-dimensional approach to CSR can strengthen long-term stakeholder value.