Revo Island

1. How does Interface demonstrate that competitive advantage and sustainability are not mutually exclusive?

Interface LTD has attracted a lot of attention to its products through "green marketing". It has replaced petrified carpets with carpets made from renewable biomass with little loss of quality that are certified as climate neutral. Interface has successfully positioned itself to be the first truly sustainable company on earth.

Under the strong leadership of the CEO, the company saw an opportunity to achieve win-win eco-efficiency initiatives that paid off quickly and effectively. Through its profitable operation, it proves that a sustainable business can also make money.

In the future, sustainable companies will be more likely to gain recognition from consumers, partners, investors and so on. Because sustainable development means that in addition to environmental protection, the company has strong technology and ability, as well as development potential, so it is more likely to be favored by the market.

2. What system of complementary activities contribute to Interface’s competitiveness?

First, Interface has made great strides in eliminating waste in production, procurement and transportation. It aims to use as much renewable energy as possible. It is measuring its own emissions and aims to produce only benign emissions. Using the cradle-to-cradle approach, it seeks to close the product cycle so that waste produced from one process is fed into another.

In addition, it is striving to achieve energy-efficient transportation through the use of production locations and transportation means. Obviously, one of its tasks is to convince people of the need for sustainable development.

To sum up, a company cannot gain a sustainable advantage simply because it has some unique product design or unique sales force. Sustainable advantages come from complementary activity systems. This complementarity occurs when executing an activity not only gives the company an advantage in that activity, but also provides benefits in other activities, such as marketing, service, design, and customer support.