Clean Winners (2026)

Despite massive investments, sustainable business remains unprofitable for most companies. This book presents a fresh approach to resetting sustainability around customer value and profitability. For years, companies have promoted environmentally friendly products, responded to stakeholder demands and advertised their green credentials, with businesses such as Unilever leading the way. Yet most companies still see little financial return, customer value or genuine environmental and social impact from their investments in sustainable products and services. IMD professors Goutam Challagalla and Frederic Dalsace argue that this shortfall comes from strategic misalignment and a misunderstanding of what drives purchasing decisions. Rather than asking how to make their offerings more sustainable, companies should ask how sustainability can improve product performance, make products more affordable, or both. Sustainability then becomes a value-generating part of an offering instead of a costly addition. The authors call companies that apply this insight, including John Deere, Michelin, Schneider Electric, Nespresso and Reckitt, clean winners, or “Resonators.” Through instructive stories, frameworks, tools and tactics, they show how sustainability can increase customer value and generate strong profits while helping companies rethink their sustainability strategies.