Sustainability in Novozymes

How can sustainability be utilised in business development to increase sales with existing customers and to increase marked shares by attracting new customers? How can Sales and Marketing be engaged in exploring the opportunities in using sustainability as a business factor in their industry; directly in relation to customers and suppliers and also by deliberately working with authorities and other actors who can influence the value chain?

Novozymes’ sustainability organisation needed assistance in supporting this work. The solution had to further the cooperation between Novozymes’ business developers from Marketing and the experts in Sustainability. Its main purpose was to ensure knowledge sharing and to anchor sustainability across the organisation and the geographical borders in Novozymes.

”One of our challenges is that we often have internal employee reshuffles – especially in Sales and Marketing. Therefore we needed a tool that quickly will get new employees at level with the ongoing development in sustainability in Novozymes” says Mette Gyde Møller, Sustainability Manager in Novozymes.

Together, Novozymes and Workz developed the tool “Mapping Sustainability in the Value Chain”. – A dialogue and idea exchange tool that consists of a number of large and small puzzle pieces which can be used on different levels; locally, strategically and within a specific business area.

BLANK PUZZLE PIECES

The participants start by writing the entire value chain on large, blank puzzle pieces that each represents a link in the value chain within a specific industry. Then, by each link, a chain of smaller puzzle pieces that represent all of the stakeholders and their challenges in regard to sustainability is placed. Next, the participants put down puzzle pieces that map everything which is already being done within the area of sustainability in Novozymes.

We needed a tool that quickly will get new employees at level with the ongoing development in sustainability in Novozymes

The mapping of the value chain is then succeeded by an idea generation process in which all new ideas are put by the links in the value chain where a specific challenge can be solved.

The tool works in an immediate and visual way creating a shared dialogue and an overview that makes obvious where new business opportunities can be found.

PRESENTATION MOVIE

The sale of enzymes covers a broad range of industries from Household Care over Food and Beverage to Fuel. One of the big challenges for Novozymes has been to spread the knowledge of the opportunities within the area of sustainability and how it can be utilised in the different industries. Therefore, part of the concept was an informative presentation movie produced by Workz.

“Using a dialogue tool and a presentation movie in the work with anchoring sustainability has meant that we are now more people developing sustainability. Instead of one person having all the responsibility we have now developed a tool that ensures knowledge sharing and delivers more flexibility in the use situation. You work with and make decisions about sustainability on the level you are at – e.g. business development or key account. In that way the tool has also made our work less dependent on specific employees than it has been the case previously”,  says Mette Gyde Møller.

Read what Novozymes write about sustainability on their website.