Introduction

Due to the rapid increment of environmental challenges nowadays, sustainability has become an essential concept applied in a small scale for some businesses in the process and distribution of their products and services, by means of creating shared value not just for the company itself, but for society as a whole. The purpose of this report is to present in a formal format the results and conclusions obtained on our research hypothesis case study through the evaluation of GRI sustainable guidance in combination with some other concepts and articles learned from our GBUS class applied to demonstrate how a company can be both profitable and drive sustainable innovation. The company selected for the report is Natura&CO, a multichannel brazilian company that produces sustainable personal care products and fragrances through its value chain activities with their stockholders and its sustainable innovation practices. The company's sustainable competitive strategy is based on eco-branding and eco-efficient activities which uses recycled and recyclable materials for the development of more quality products that have a final premium charge price in the market, therefore its sustainable activities generate a positive impact to the environment and fair trade with suppliers. Natura as an eco-branding company, its at the third state of sustainability, in which the company creates sustainable products and services through its multiple brands, Ekos, Chronos, Lumina, Homem, Fragrances, Mama e Bebe and Crer Para Ver. After we have identified that Natura is at the third stage of sustainability, a life cycle assessment needs to be implemented in the development of sustainable products and services. Natura life cycle assessment is based on the implementation of waste footprints (water and carbon dioxide) in the production of their products. Besides waste footprints, the company LCA has strictly developed its own agroforestry system cultivation for the usage of palm oil and its beneficial properties on its Ekos and Chronos products lines. This brazilian company is often known for its sustainable innovative products, by means of providing innovative solutions to environmental challenges in today's markets.  Natura’s new solutions arrive on the market and focus on increasing investments in features such as big data and machine learning solutions that can drive positive results for different company areas. Therefore, innovation and Sustainability, ensures more effective alignment between science, product development and the company’s commitment to generating a positive social impact. The company also implements disruptive technologies as IoT, 3D/skin printer, Augmented Reality (AR), electric cars and robotics in their product’s formulation and company’s outbound logistics. For the overall of having positive production activities for people and the planet, Natura implements a system thinking approach from the collection of their raw materials to the distribution of the final product. Some boundaries for Natura’s systems thinking are carbon dioxide and water footprints, eco-friendly packages, disruptive technologies and the usage of CRM, ERP and EAI information systems. Natura implements reinforced feedback loops for their information systems as well, examples are the development of crowdsourcing for the company R&D instead of expending high amounts of money in an specific R&D department. The company falls into two types of crowdsourcing which are crowd labor and crowd creativity. Cocriando Natura and Nauta Campus are the two main examples for crowdsourcing initiatives developed inside and outside the organization. In general, sustainability practices are becoming more valuable for our society as the challenges for climate change and income inequality increase and companies are more aware of the benefits gained by implementing these new business concepts in their production and delivery activities.    

Research question:

Why did the organization choose to make sustainability a key strategic vision?

How did they go about implementing the sustainability vision? 

What are the results obtained on each of the three bottom lines – profits, people, and planet?

Was innovation increased? What role did technology play in sustainability and innovation? v. How well are they reporting on these results?