Strategy Services

Horizon scanning

In order to win business and operate effectively, organisations must know what the market drivers are, what their competitors are doing and what upcoming regulation will affect their operations. The IMS Consulting horizon scanning service can provide exactly this information for your organisation. Our team of sustainability researchers work with clients to develop a tailored feed of horizon scanning intelligence, delivered through a secure online hub. Vast amounts of information is distilled down into the ‘need-to-know’ and delivered to key contacts in order that they are informed when pitching for business, looking for best practice or conversing with stakeholders.

Policy and strategy development and implementation

A sustainability strategy provides a framework for all actions and activities that a company undertakes with sustainability in mind. Having a strategy in place not only gives structure, purpose and credibility to sustainability communications, but also provides a robust method for defining and measuring progress. Using the knowledge we have gained from working with businesses and stakeholder groups around the world, IMS Consulting is able to help you develop and implement your organisation’s sustainability strategy. In some cases it’s a question of starting with a clean sheet of paper, but in most instances we are called in to critique existing approaches, provide an objective opinion and advise on possible improvements.  Helping to develop a sustainability strategy can often involve workshops with key staff and will almost certainly include some element of benchmarking and desk research.

Third party disclosure - CDP

As a Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Accredited Provider and National Partner, IMS Consulting helps organisations to understand their position and report it openly and transparently. Many ratings, at least in part, rely on evidence provided by the companies themselves (for example, CDP) and this tends to reward companies with the greatest capacity to respond, or who respond most effectively, rather than those with the best performance. IMS Consulting can help companies identify the most appropriate third party ratings and prepare submissions for them. Our team of writers can help provide a clear and credible narrative that puts the facts in context and explains how they relate to the bigger picture.

In the UK we are also helping companies to report their performance under the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRC).

Roadmapping

A sustainability roadmap is a tool that helps companies agree on where they want to be, how they are going to get there and how they will measure (and communicate) progress along the way. IMS Consulting’s roadmapping service provides a bespoke solution for companies who want to be able to embed sustainability through their entire organisation. Developing a roadmap involves close co-operation with your senior management team, identifying focus areas, commitments and critical success factors, agreeing SMART targets, KPIs and milestones. Often, the finished roadmap will include a dashboard – which can be made available to selected external stakeholders – which reports on progress.