From studying six prominent companies, Dr. Neetu Yadav’s research conveyed that top-tier sustainability companies outpace others in meeting sustainability requirements, and their sustainability efforts result in numerous benefits, including improved financial performance, enhanced brand image, and competitive advantage. Eco-efficiency and innovation have enabled these companies to enhance their financial performance. For instance, GE saw an impressive $232 billion increase in revenue due to its Ecomagination initiative. Unilever’s sustainable living brands were responsible for over 60% of the company’s growth in 2016. Sustainability initiatives contribute to financial performance, build brand value and enhance the company’s image among customers. Consumers prefer products or services from these firms over those of their competitors. Consequently, sustainability initiatives ultimately lead to the development of a competitive advantage. Siemens, for instance, demonstrated its consistent performance by appearing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for the 13th consecutive time in 2012. Additionally, it was the leader in the “Industrial Conglomerates” sector, a member of the (Financial Times Stock Exchange) FTSE 4 Good Index Series, and ranked as the #1 company in the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World within its industry in 2019 (Yadav & Mankavil Kovil Veettil, 2022). Dr. Neetu Yadav, Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the Management Development Institute Gurgaon, shared her insights at Sasin Research Seminar. Her presentations included “Developing a Comprehensive Business Case for Sustainability: An Inductive Study” and “Sustainability, Resilience, and Returns During COVID-19: Empirical Evidence from US and Indian Stock Markets.” In her first study, “Developing a Comprehensive Business Case for Sustainability: An Inductive Study,” Dr. Neetu examined six prominent companies, including Nike, Unilever, Siemens AG, GE, Interface, and Walmart. Drawing from Laszlo’s research (2008), she emphasized the critical aspects of sustainability, such as enhanced reputation, product differentiation, employee motivation, cost reduction, and entry into new markets. Her research identified nine sustainability imperatives from consultancy reports, surveys, and academic literature. These imperatives include Competitive Advantage, Reputation Management, Shared Value Creation, Improved Financial Performance, Fostering Innovation, Effective Risk Management, Increased Operational Efficiency, Pressure from Investors, and Government Regulations. In another research endeavor, titled “Sustainability, Resilience, and Returns During COVID-19: Empirical Evidence from US and Indian Stock Markets,” Dr. Neetu explored the hypothesis that companies with higher Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores would exhibit increased stock returns following the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, her findings rejected this hypothesis, indicating that sustainability is not directly correlated with higher stock returns, and ESG scores did not prove significant during turbulent times. Furthermore, her research unveiled limited and negative connections between sustainability and stock returns for the selected companies amid the COVID-19 crisis. This suggests that no definitive evidence supports the notion that sustainability guarantees resilience during periods of crisis (Yadav & Bhama, 2023). Dr. Neetu is researching Corporate Knights Sustainable Global 100 ranking sectoral analysis and sustainability reporting trends and practices across Asia. She is set to collaborate with Sasin School of Management for further research endeavors.   Source: Yadav, N. and Mankavil Kovil Veettil, N. (2022), “Developing a comprehensive business case for sustainability: an inductive study”, International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. 30 No. 6, pp. 1335-1358. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-04-2020-2146 Yadav, N., & Bhama, V. (2023). Sustainability, Resilience, and Returns During COVID-19: Empirical Evidence from US and Indian Stock Markets. Journal of Emerging Market Finance, 22(2), 215–238. https://doi.org/10.1177/09726527231158555