Overcoming the company size dilemma: A roadmap for sustainable business transformation
Article | 2025-9-4
10 minute read
A survey by the Economist Impact uncovers the "company size dilemma" hindering promotion of Net Positive. This article dives deep into practical solutions for overcoming large enterprises' resistance to change and SMEs' budget constraints, paving the way for sustainable business growth.
What is Net Positive?
Net Positive is a transformative business concept. It moves beyond simply minimizing negative impacts. Instead, it actively seeks to generate positive value for society and the environment through corporate activities.
A comprehensive index on Net Positive was developed by the Economist Impact. It explored how companies in 17 countries across five key industries (financial services, manufacturing, transportation, retail, and energy & social infrastructure) are embracing Net Positive initiatives.
The core findings and insights from the survey are detailed in the "The Net Positive Index: Executive Summary." This article specifically analyzes data from 1,800 CxOs and decision-makers, examining the critical factors that impede the achievement of Net Positive goals.
Net Positive challenges: Large enterprises face change resistance, SMEs struggle with budget
The research found that those businesses that achieve on Net Positive are more successful. But many more struggle to implement their Net Positive strategies. Why is this? The survey by the Economist Impact provides crucial answers. As highlighted in our previous article, "What is Net Positive? Key Barriers and How Companies Can Overcome Them," a significant organizational barrier is "resistance to change." A striking 46.4% of CxOs and decision-makers identified this as a major hurdle (Table 1).
Loading component...
Notably, "organizational resistance to change" varies significantly based on company size. Our data reveals that larger enterprises are more likely to encounter this as a barrier (Figure 1). For instance, 55.0% of companies with 100,000 or more employees reported this challenge, compared to just 38.2% of companies with 1,000 to 9,999 employees.
Loading component...
For large corporations, the considerable time and human resources required to drive significant change act as a brake on Net Positive progress. Complex hierarchical structures and intricate stakeholder coordination often become major obstacles. Conversely, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) typically possess greater organizational flexibility, they face a fundamental challenge: budget constraints.
Further analysis of Figure 1's company-size-specific challenges clearly shows that budget limitations are a more prominent barrier for smaller companies in their Net Positive journey. While only 28.6% of companies with 100,000 employees cited budget as a challenge, this figure climbed to 39.7% for companies with 1,000 to 9,999 employees.
Disconnections between "agility" and "investment capacity" defines the core of the "company size dilemma" in Net Positive adoption.
