Green Giants

How Smart Companies Turn Sustainability into Billion-Dollar Businesses

De: E. Freya Williams

Narrado por: Kelly Bourquin

What do Brazil's top beauty brand, America's second-fastest-growing restaurant chain, and the world's third best-selling car have in common? They are shattering the myth that acting sustainably and building a billion-dollar business are mutually exclusive. Green Giants examines nine companies that are merging social responsibility with wild profitability - and reveals the six factors responsible for their success, including: iconoclastic leadership fueled by deep conviction and a rebellious streak; disruptive innovation that uses sustain ability to spur the development of radically better products and services; and a higher purpose that ignites the company - when the mission leads, profits follow.

Mainstream appeal with positioning and packaging stripped of the crunchy cliches that alienate the average customer: This new breed of billion-dollar business proves it's possible to achieve enormous success while implementing sustainable principles that help consumers live better lives. Ranging from start-ups to business lines incubated within major multi nationals, these companies collectively represent over $60 billion in revenue. What's more, many command wider profit margins and are growing faster than their conventional counterparts. Packed with eye-opening research, exclusive interviews, and enlightening examples from Chipotle, Toyota, Unilever, Tesla, General Electric, and more, Green Giants serves as a blueprint for sustainable success that anyone can follow.

©2015 E. Freya Williams. (P)2015 Gildan Media LLC

Great Info, terrible narration

The facts and story telling are well paced and placed. However, the narrator sounds like a robot. It's difficult to follow at times.

Reader of the book sounds like a robot

The story of the book was interesting. However the reader of the book sounds like a robot and very boring to listen to.

Maybe helpful to some, not profound today

It’s true that the narration is awful and robotic. Aside from that, the book often reads like propaganda for the corporations it’s reviewing. In the context of 2024, I have rolled my eyes more than once, but it is important to remember that it was written in 2015. We knew less about Elon Musk then and corporate sustainability was indeed less of a common practice. If you’ve never worked in sustainability and come from a strict business background, you may find this book to contain some helpful foundational information. I’ve you’ve been in this arena for a while, it will be largely obvious or redundant. I listened to it on 1.3 speed to get through it, just in case there was a fascinating tidbit hiding within. I didn’t find one.

The business book on Sustainability

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, great examples of real businesses both established and start-ups on how they approach sustainability - not a rambling on about climate change.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Green Giants?

The leadership aspect demonstrated by the case studies - key iconoclastic CEO's that take this on as how they do business, not a financial tail wagging the dog - but a holistic picture of the business.

Would you be willing to try another one of Kelly Bourquin’s performances?

NO! Narrator was not good in this book - no proper stopping between sentences, monotonous most of the time - and especially towards the end of the book - sentences where not completed properly or punctuation was not adhered to. Unfortunately this does the book no justice at all!

Good content, hard to listen to.

The content is good and relevant for me as I am on the sustainability team at work. I am having a hard time listening though due to the voice of the lady reading. She sounds like a robot.