Our greatest assets are our vision, knowledge and information, ability to engage and provide fresh ideas and new perspectives. We are linked-in with an extensive network of associates. While many consultants may talk about an integrated systems approach we believe integration is truly our greatest asset. Our clients consistently compliment us on our ability to help them visualize their system and identify the areas of greatest opportunity. While some people spend valuable time talking about change and generating reports few will ever read, we help businesses take action and realize results that benefit the community, the environment and the bottom line.

These are some of the services we provide to help organizations improve efficiency, generate insights and build alignment:

Survey the people in the organization—this can be broad and all encompassing to derive an overall view, or it can be directed at specific group like senior management, Green Team, sales, operations, so that distinct perspectives can be identified, understood and worked with.

Audits—this can be a quick surface review of the systems in place to boost sustainability in the organization, or an in-depth assessment of what is working and what isn’t.  The deliverable can be anything from a quick verbal overview, a summary report or, our favorite, a video of where your company is today.

Baseline—this requires selecting a year from which to begin tracking data on resource consumption.  The baseline should date before any major changes were made, such as installing solar panels.

Identify performance indicators—things like electricity use, water consumption, solid waste generated and waste diverted through reuse, reduction or recycling.  These performance indicators have to be communicated in a way that is meaningful for you and your staff.  For wineries it might be per gallon or case, for vineyards per ton or acre.  

Communicate the stories—once the performance indicators are collected and tracked, communicating lessons and successes is essential. These stories must be relevant to the targeted audience, so for example, expressing water savings in millions of gallons doesn’t have much value since almost nobody has any reference to a million gallons of water.  It would be best to describe how many wine tanks of water this represents, or compare the savings to the amount of water in a local pool or pond.  Cultural references for performance metric data are vital for building organizational understanding and alignment.

Employee Education—by using the survey results, performance metrics and identified stories, employees can be engaged in a meaningful sustainability dialogue that has tangible value to both the company and the community.  Systems are established to capture innovation and ideas generated from the mutual exchange between people and departments. 

Videos—if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video of your sustainability practices are priceless.  The content captured in the production of a sustainable system review during the audit can be continuously updated as new practices are implemented.  The result is a versatile communication piece for employee recruitment, internal education and awareness, and outside marketing purposes.

Strategies and Opportunities in Today's Business World

It's simple - sustainable business practices are no longer a "nice to have," they are emerging as a primary requirement for any business to have substantial access to the global marketplace: Four in ten Americans say that they are willing to pay extra for a product that is perceived to be better for the environment. (GfK Roper Consulting) Sixty-four percent of consumers worldwide say that they are willing to pay a higher price-premium of 11% on average for products and services that produce lower greenhouse gas emissions. (Study by Accenture) Fifty-three percent of global consumers - representing just over a billion people - prefer to puchase products and services from a company with a strong environmental reputation, and eight out of ten workers prefer to work for an environmentally ethical organization. (Tandberg’s global survey - a videoconference company)

This is especially true for the Wine and Food Industry! Its agricultural foundation is critically influenced by the increasing scarcity of water, weather fluctuations from a chaotic climate, and vulnerabilities from rising energy costs. If these challenges are met with the appropriate solutions, they can become the future road map for the wine and food industries. In addition, the industries will become global leaders in the Green business marketplace, and provide a sustainable business economy for the next generation of family farmers.

To further explore how M3 can benefit your business please click here.