Challenge

A large European multinational, operating across multiple countries and consisting of several semi‑autonomous business units, faced a pressing need to become future‑ready in the rapidly evolving ESG landscape. With new European regulations approaching and increasing expectations from clients, regulators and society, the organization had already initiated the development of its ESG strategy.

However, one essential element was still missing: clear, aligned and business‑smart ESG ambitions.
The company needed ambitions that would not only ensure compliance with regulations, but also strengthen its competitive position in tenders, customer decision‑making and long‑term market positioning.

The core challenge lay in the organizational structure. Each business unit operated with its own priorities, maturity levels and local market dynamics. The question became how to define central ESG ambitions that truly worked for the entire company and were supported by all business units. The leadership required a process that turned complexity into a clear, shared direction.

Approach

We guided the organization through a structured and insight‑driven process, designed to create ambitions that were both realistic and strategically differentiating.

We began by leading the company’s double materiality assessment. This process revealed which ESG topics were most relevant from both an impact perspective and a business perspective. It also provided clarity on which topics should receive the highest priority across the organization.

Next, we performed extensive market research, analysing the ESG requirements embedded in tenders across Europe as well as the ambitions and performance levels of key competitors. This gave the company a fact‑based view of which ESG topics influenced customer decisions most strongly and where competitive advantage could be gained.

Because alignment across business units was essential, we facilitated decision‑making sessions with every unit. Each business unit received tailored guidance to determine ambitions that were feasible given their operational reality, while still contributing meaningfully to the company’s overall direction. These sessions also created ownership, ensuring that each unit understood the rationale behind the priorities.

We concluded the process at group level with workshops for executive leadership and the board. During these sessions, the local ambitions were synthesized into a central set of company‑wide ESG ambitions. This provided a clear, unified direction to guide the organization’s overall ESG strategy.

Impact

The company now has a strong and coherent ESG ambition framework that is supported across all business units and grounded in both regulatory requirements and market opportunities. This framework enables the multinational to confidently develop an ESG strategy that minimizes environmental and social impact while strengthening commercial performance and competitiveness in tenders.

By aligning ambitions centrally and securing buy‑in from every business unit, the organization is building an ESG strategy that is not only compliant, but also commercially strategic and future‑proof.