Corporate strategy and the environment: A portfolio approach

Regulatory pressures arising from the deterioration in the earth's environment have forced firms to incorporate sustainable policies into their strategic planning. One approach to doing sustainable business is to build an environmentally friendly portfolio matrix. This article provides a theoretical framework for formulating a sustainable corporate environmental strategy based on the portfolio approach. The environmentally friendly portfolio matrix is a modification of the traditional product portfolio matrix and combines Environmental Attractiveness with Market Attractiveness. This approach can be used as an analytical tool for both products and strategic business units. Analysing cases of Indian firms in petrochemicals, agrochemicals and other sectors provides evidence that some firms have successfully followed this approach. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd