The successful organisations of the future will be those committed to sustainable development, delivering better social, environmental and economic value simultaneously. However, in this fast developing area, it is not always easy for companies to know what action they should take. The DTI has been pleased to sponsor the SIGMA Project as we believe it is important that organisations have access to clear, practical advice on sustainable development.

I welcome the SIGMA Guidelines which set out a clear and systematic programme of action for improvement. They benefit from having been developed through research, consultation with stakeholders and most importantly, practical application with companies and other organisations.

This kind of approach is crucial to enabling sustainable development to become an integral part of the mainstream business model of the future. In the long term, sustainable development will have benefits for both the organisations themselves and the UK economy as a whole, as the competitive advantage of reputational benefits, operational efficiency, innovation and lasting value take effect.

I strongly endorse the SIGMA Guidelines as a practical and innovative contribution to this debate and look forward to seeing them being widely used.

© 2001-2006 SIGMA Project

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