Paths to sustainable enterprise excellence

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to address the nature of sustainable enterprise excellence, what it is, its enablers and specific manifestations.

Design/methodology/approach

A sweeping model of sustainable enterprise excellence, resilience and robustness is introduced, along with its enablers. Among enablers, supply-chain proficiency, vertical trust, distributed leadership and neuropsychological measurement are cited. A method of strategy modeling is introduced that, if rigorously pursued, will improve enterprise strategy and, hence, also opportunity for better subsequent performance and impacts. Similarly, an approach for strategic alignment in a large, multi-level enterprise is presented.

Findings

There are many paths toward sustainable enterprise excellence. Regardless of the path, this anticipates enterprise pursuit of socially equitable, environmentally responsible and economically sound performance and impacts.

Practical implications

The present is the Anthropocene age, an era fraught with challenges largely of people's own making and related to climate change and various sorts of social strain. Organizations have the wherewithal to attack these challenges. Given the orientation of sustainable enterprise excellence, methods and models that advance sustainable enterprise excellence have the potential to combat these challenges.

Originality/value

Sustainable enterprise excellence provides models and methods for confronting significant challenges that societies and organizations alike are faced with. Various models and paths to sustainable enterprise excellence are suggested in this paper.

Citation

Edgeman, R., Neely, A. and Eskildsen, J. (2016), "Paths to sustainable enterprise excellence", Journal of Modelling in Management, Vol. 11 No. 4, pp. 858-868. https://doi.org/10.1108/JM2-12-2014-0097