Most executives say they want their companies to pursue sustainable development — that ubiquitous buzzword that can be loosely defined as incorporating environmental performance and social responsibility into business strategy — but few say that their companies have actually done so. Sounds like a golden opportunity for consultants to step in and lead business types on the path to righteousness, right? Well, not exactly. Turns out that the big consulting houses — KPMG Peat Markwick, PricewaterhouseCoopers, McKinsey and Co., and the like — have been having as hard a time as anyone else defining how to translate the abstract goals of sustainable development into concrete practices. It’s also been tough to get companies to pay for advice on the matter.
