Sustainable Value Map

What is the Sustainable Value Map?

The Sustainable Value Map™ is Deloitte's framework that extends the Enterprise Value Map™ from shareholders to a wider set of stakeholders. Alongside the shareholder value framework it adds value frameworks for employees, for customers and the public, and for the environment, so a company can manage value for each group with the rigor it already applies to shareholder value.

Deloitte keeps the return on investment logic of the original map. It also asks companies to count what they depend on from other stakeholders, such as water, roads, a stable climate, educated employees and a license to operate, as inputs to long-term shareholder value.

Why it matters to a revenue leader

It puts value for customers, employees and communities next to shareholder value in the same business case. Deloitte frames it for CFOs asked to show value creation for a broader group of stakeholders, and that question reaches the sales team through requests for proposal, customer reviews and the sponsor's reporting. A revenue leader who can show how an initiative creates value for the customer and the community, as well as the shareholder, has a stronger case with the buyer and with the board.

How to use it for initiatives, operational issues and business cases

Business initiatives. Trace each initiative to shareholder value, then ask which other stakeholder group it helps or hurts. An initiative that helps one group at another's expense needs that trade-off stated.

Operational issues. Issues like energy use, waste, safety or employee turnover appear on the map as levers with a cost and a value. Place the issue, then read across the stakeholder frameworks it touches.

Business cases. Keep the financial return, and add the benefit to each other group and any risk to the resources the business depends on. Deloitte's CFO Insights shows the map applied to capital budgeting and performance management.

A commercial HVAC company proposes an energy retrofit service for its maintenance customers. The shareholder case: 40 retrofits a year at $85,000 each, $3.4 million of new revenue. The customer case: lower energy bills for building owners. The environmental case: lower emissions from the buildings it serves. The business case presents all three, and the sales team sells on the customer case first.

See the map

The Sustainable Value Map™ is Deloitte's work, and the map itself belongs to Deloitte. We describe it here and link to Deloitte's published copy rather than reproduce it.