Show Me the Money

Demonstrating Green Business Value to Skeptics

P.J.  Simmons  
M.R.  Rangaswami  
November  2009  
The Need

•  Executives  face  more  pressure  than  ever  to  

sharpen  the  business  cases  for  eco-­‐related  
initiatives.    

 “I’ve  been  looking  over  your  ‘green’  proposal.  It’s  7ine,  just  
7ine—I’m  sure  it’ll  make  people  feel  real  good  about  the  
company  …  Should  go  over  big  with  the  tree  huggers    
too  …  But  see,  the  folks  that  I  report  to—they  don’t  eat  
granola.  So  let  me  ask  you:  Why  would  I  sign  this?”    
–    Skeptical  executive  in  2009  IBM  TV  commercial  

•  Decision  makers  want  hard,  dollars-­and-­cents  

justi6ications,  whether  for  existing  programs  or  
proposed  new  spending.  

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Purpose of Show Me the Money

•  Recommends  best  practices  and  tools  to  help  

your  organization  assess  the  value  of  eco-­‐related  
costs  and  beneLits  when  making  decisions  about:  

Budget  allocations  
Capital  investments  
Changes  in  product  or  process  design    
Eco-­‐efLiciency  initiatives  
Investments  in  new  product  lines  
Green  purchasing  or  supply  chain  initiatives  
Employee  engagement  initiatives  
Any  other  efforts  where  eco-­‐factors  are  signiLicant  

•  Prepared  to  help  both  6inancial  and  non-­

6inancial  executives  who  seek  a  comprehensive  
overview  of  key  concepts  and  best-­‐available  tools  

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Topics Covered

•  Overcoming  shortcomings  in  traditional  accounting  

and  Linancial  analysis  

•  Linking  green  factors  to  cost  and  sales  drivers    

•  Translating  eco-­‐related  factors  into  dollars  and  

cents  

•  Using  non-­‐Linancial  techniques  to  quantify  costs  &  

beneLits  

•  ROI  success  stories    

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Excerpt – Navigating the Confusion
With  the  emergence  of  environmental  accounting  has  come  a  Llood  
of  confusing  terms  that  have  stiLled  the  exchange  of  best  practices  
and  lessons  learned.  This  chart  is  designed  to  help  you  navigate  
the  confusion  and  communicate  effectively  with  others.  

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Excerpt – Building Your Case
A  strong  business  case  rests  on  sound  logic  and  assumptions.  
Consider  how  your  proposed  effort(s)  could  generate  business  
value.    Then  generate  testable  propositions  to  validate  through  a  
combination  quantitative  and  qualitative  means.    

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Excerpt –Recommended Tools
No  one-­‐size-­‐Lits-­‐all  method  works  for  translating  eco-­‐related  costs  
and  beneLits  into  dollars  and  cents.    Show  Me  the  Money  provides  
an  annotated  guide  to  recommended  resources  and  tools  that  will  
help  you  de-­‐velop  a  plan  tailored  to  your  particular  needs.  

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Excerpt – Success Stories
Pointing  to  examples  of  how  other  companies  have  already  
generated  bottom-­‐line  beneLits  from  doing  what  you  propose  can  
strengthen  your  case.    Here  are  some  examples:  

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For your member copy of
Show Me the Money

Contact  M.R.  Rangaswami    

mr@sandhill.com