A new paper published by a group of international academic experts on corporate responsibility and sustainability offers a new approach to how sustainability can build innovation and global collaboration across organizations. The paper, "A New Mindset for Corporate Sustainability," was sponsored by Cisco and BT. Drawn from respected institutions in China, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States, the academics offer business leaders concise advice based on a systematic appraisal of case studies, including Cemex, Marks & Spencer and Shenzhen Water, and prevailing academic thinking on the subject worldwide. The paper also outlines the 10 steps required for organizations to become sustainability-driven innovators.

The new approach, which the academics have named S²AVE (Shareholder and Social Added Value with Environmental Restoration), emphasizes the role of sustainability in increasing innovation across the business and maintains that sustainability should be a strategy rather than an objective. It concludes that the achievement of sustainability goals does not require extensive re-engineering of the corporate structure. Instead, it requires conviction and vision at the very highest levels of the organization so that a set of values coherent with corporate responsibility and sustainability are instilled throughout.