????投資可持續發展除了有益于我們的地球母親，能不能給企業帶來真金白銀的競爭力？美國圣母大學（Notre Dame）門多薩商學院（Mendoza College of Business）的兩位管理學教授愛華德?康隆和安特?格拉瓦斯對這一點深信不疑。

????兩位教授在最新研究報告《企業可持續發展與財務表現之間的關系》（The Relationship Between Corporate Sustainability and Firm Financial Performance）中分析了從PNC金融服務集團（PNC Bank）旗下526家分支機構搜集到的數據。PNC金融服務集團旗下有93家分支機構擁有LEED綠色建筑認證，也就是說這些分支機構的建筑物達到了美國綠色建筑協會（U.S. Green Building Council）的能效標準和其他環保指標。

????這些對環境友好的分支機構公布的年度營收數據平均比沒有獲得LEED認證的分支機構多出300萬美元，折算到每個員工頭上意味著，每個員工多創造了461,300美元的收入。每家LEED認證的分支機構開設的存款賬戶比非LEED認證的普通分支機構多出458個，消費貸款余額平均高出994,900美元。與此同時，這些綠色分支機構的人均年度公用事業費用卻要少675.26美元。

????康隆說：“這些發現非常有意義，令我感到意外。”兩位研究者已經剔除了幾乎所有其它能解釋這兩類分支機構之間差異的變量，包括市場人口結構、建筑規模和樓齡等。考慮到這一點，這些數據就更令人震驚了。

????而且，康隆補充說：“所有PNC金融服務集團的分支機構都在從事同樣的業務，提供相同的產品，并使用同一系統。”它們之間唯一的顯著差異在于是否擁有LEED綠色建筑認證。

????為什么對環境友好的分支機構業績明顯更勝一籌？康隆和格拉瓦斯認為，其中一個原因是在LEED認證分支機構工作的員工更加精神上更滿足，更能夠全身心地投入工作，這顯然會使他們更有工作效率，同時更能提升客戶服務質量。格拉瓦斯說：“人們當然對能在LEED認證的建筑物里工作感到自豪。”

????但最大的一個原因可能還是因為PNC金融服務集團在2009年推出了一項市場推廣活動，大舉宣揚其LEED認證分支機構的綠色環保。看來，當顧客可以選擇的時候，他們更傾向于選擇那些身體力行、維護我們所處的這個星球的公司。

????譯者：老榆木

????Over and above what it does for Mother Earth, can investing in sustainability give businesses a dollars-and-cents competitive edge? Edward Conlon and Ante Glavas, two management professors at the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame, think so.

????In a new study, "The Relationship Between Corporate Sustainability and Firm Financial Performance," the pair analyzed data from 562 branches of PNC Bank. The company has 93 LEED-certified branches, meaning the buildings meet the U.S. Green Building Council's standards for energy efficiency and other measures of greenness.

????Those earth-friendly branches reported annual revenues averaging more than $3 million higher than their 469 non-LEED counterparts, which works out to $461,300 in extra sales per employee. Each LEED branch opened 458 more deposit accounts, and booked consumer loan balances averaging $994,900 higher, than the typical non-LEED PNC branch. At the same time, the yearly cost of utilities was $675.26 lower per employee at the green branches.

????"The findings are significant, and they surprised me," says Conlon. The results are particularly striking when you consider that the researchers controlled for virtually every other variable -- including market demographics and the size and age of the buildings -- that could explain the disparity between the two types of branches.

????Moreover, Conlon adds, "All PNC branches do the same things, offering the same products and using the same systems." The only substantial difference among them is LEED certification or the lack of it.

????Why do the earth-friendly locations perform so much better? Conlon and Gravas believe one reason is that employees in the LEED branches are more satisfied and engaged, which apparently makes them more productive, and may improve customer service as well. "People are certainly proud to be working in LEED buildings," notes Gravas.

????The biggest factor, however, is probably that PNC launched a marketing campaign in 2009 that trumpeted its LEED branches' greenness. When customers have a choice, it seems, they gravitate toward companies that do their bit to sustain the planet.