Methodology
strategy
Our frameworks are based on years of research. Find out about our methodologies below.
the basis of the framework indicators of the framework what sets us apart
The basis of the framework
Our framework is built around three dimensions that reflect the full spectrum of strategic integration
Strategic baseline
- Covers areas such as overall strategy, materiality assessment, and executive compensation
- Nine criteria with 18 questions assessing fundamental aspects of sustainability strategy
Operative integration
- Covers areas such as governance structures, integration into core business processes, and operational practices
- Nine criteria with 17 questions assessing practical implementation of sustainability
Engagement and reporting
- Assesses stakeholder interaction and reporting practices
- Two criteria with five questions focusing on external communication and engagement
Indicators of the framework
We translate the answers into four core scores that reveal different aspects of strategic quality
Strategic Ambition Level
- Assesses the extent to which sustainability is embedded in strategy, governance, and operations
- Each answer is mapped to one of the five ambition levels (e.g., No Ambition = 0, Legal Compliance = 0.5, Sustainability Driven = max. 5)
- The final score reflects the weighted average of all answers – customizable based on your priorities (e.g. financial return, impact, or both).
Management Quality (%)
- Measures the consistency of answers across the 40 questions.
- High inconsistency may indicate Only PR risk – where sustainability is communicated but not embedded.
- Also includes a divergence score, showing whether ambition is concentrated in less or more important areas.
Transparency (%)
- Measures how openly and clearly sustainability ambitions and performance are disclosed.
- Includes both management transparency (based on the 40 strategy questions) and impact transparency (based on 14 indicators from PI’s Impact Accounting Framework).
- Helps identify gaps in disclosure and opportunities to improve communication.
“Only PR” risk
When consistency is low and the organization scores high in less material questions, it may signal an Only PR risk – a red flag for greenwashing, potential reputational risks and clear strategic misalignment. We flag this risk as low, medium, or high, based on the combination of assessing consistency and coherence scores.
What Sets Us Apart
Implementation solutions
Our frameworks and tools identify areas for improvement and provide a clear roadmap for implementation. Our process facilitates this transition through:
- Clear Recommendations: Tailored recommendations based on assessment findings to advance strategic positioning
- Detailed Roadmap Development: Comprehensive plans addressing identified gaps and overshoots in sustainability strategy
- Management Buy-In: Workshops to secure buy-in for proposed strategies and define the highest feasible ambition level
- Implementation Support: Ongoing support to effectively integrate sustainability into core operations > Progress Monitoring: Regular assessments against defined targets & sustainability goals
By leveraging these tools and insights, organizations can move beyond compliance to truly integrate sustainability into their core strategy in a way that fits, driving long-term value creation and resilience in an ever-changing business landscape.
Combining societal with financial impacts
We uniquely balance societal impacts with business impacts (financial materiality) as those are interconnected. Impacts on society, where we take a clear societal perspective and avoid impact washing, and impacts on business (i.e., financial materiality), where we take a clear business perspective, are interconnected. Any guide for integrating sustainability into strategy, governance, and processes must have a business perspective in mind. This dual perspective is crucial for effectively integrating sustainability into strategy, governance, and processes.
the PI Strategy Framework:
- Provides a non-binary, nuanced view of strategy implementation (as strategy is not a tick-the-box-exercise)
- Bases recommendations on logic and facts, not PR or political preferences
- Aims for financial gains when applied correctly (to avoid financial losses when not applied correctly; scientifically proven on a sample of companies)