Strategy & Organisational Change
MEET THE CHANGE MAKER
a consumer. What’s the company’s track record and where is it heading? “There’s a level of transparency that has never been seen before. You don’t need a thorough background in sustainability any more to detect greenwashing.” Eszter works as Sustainability Director at car part manufacturer Tenneco, where she liaises with international clients – including all major car manufacturers, from Porsche to BMW – and suppliers. It’s her job within the company’s suspension systems portfolio to ensure that energy is used efficiently during manufacture, recycling is as good as it can be, and the carbon footprint of products decreases. Eszter says: “My role is to take the ambitious targets around decarbonisation and translate them into actionable roadmaps, and, crucially, to ensure this makes sense with regard to our commercial strategy.” Back in 2005, she came to the UK from Hungary for a year to improve her English. She liked it so much she decided to stay. Since then, she’s carved out a career in sales, marketing, technology, and now sustainability in the automotive sector. After an undergraduate degree in marketing, she took a MSc Marketing & Strategy at WBS to broaden her business perspective. “I loved it at Warwick,” she says. “It’s a place where you forge lifetime friendships. I was drawn by its international mix, its reputation and its practical application.” Eszter still meets regularly with fellow students from her course and credits the mix of different nationalities and industries among her cohort for giving her the confidence to take on a sales role at Rolls-Royce in Singapore when she graduated. “It felt a little scary to go to
the other side of the world,” she says. “But all that group work at Warwick showed me that, no matter where you are, there are basic principles of collaboration and these can bring incredible results.” Two years later, she was tempted back to the UK to take charge of business development at the luxury carmaker’s bespoke arm in West Sussex. “This was all about the personalisation of cars,” she says. “It was great fun to work with the clients and different departments to develop new and innovative products.” “Sustainability is not just about doing the right thing: it’s central to competitiveness” She then moved to carcomponent manufacturer Motherson to take care of the commercial side of innovation and technology, before pioneering the firm’s sustainability strategy. Eszter says: “After speaking to so many clients, I had an idea what the market was after, and we saw the same pattern emerge – how do we innovate to make things more sustainable? It made sense to pivot and really push that.” Today, ambitious regulations that drive companies towards a low-carbon economy, combined with growing consumer awareness and expectations, makes a clear business case for sustainability. “Sustainability is not just about doing the right thing,” says Eszter.
“It’s central to competitiveness, particularly in Europe.” Eszter has continued to study alongside her work, earning qualifications in sustainable business strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and management accounting. She credits WBS with fostering her intellectual curiosity and critical thinking. “Digging for gold rather than being an information ‘sponge’. That’s so important with such a rapid pace of change in careers today,” she says. At Tenneco, she works with colleagues in engineering, innovation, and research and development. In the future, she hopes sustainability will cease to be a standalone function within a company. Sustainability teams can provide leadership but it must be a business-wide priority. Once it is fully entrenched, responsibility and accountability will be shared across teams to deliver greater impact. For this reason, Eszter urges business students to embrace sustainability in business, even if it’s not their primary focus. “I would love to inspire students to be curious about it.” Manufacturing is a particularly challenging sector to decarbonise, but it’s a fight she enjoys. “I want to help this transition. It is massive and inevitable, but it has to happen faster than it is now,” says Eszter. “Any change is always an uphill battle. What drives me is a desire to leave these industries cleaner than when I joined them.”
The end of greenwashing?
Why sustainability now demands substance, not spin
I t is easier than ever to get the facts straight about sustainability, thanks to better reporting and stricter regulations. The key is making sure you seek out the right information. “It’s never about information scarcity,” says sustainability leader Eszter Haberl. “There’s so much data out there you can always get an answer. “But, if you want a quality response, it comes down to the quality of the questions you ask.” There’s greater clarity among industries with stubborn levels
of greenhouse gas emissions, she says, particularly within the automotive sector where she works. Sustainability records are now on a par with financial reports in terms of accuracy and significance. “Even five years ago there would be many sustainability reports with flowery language
and empty promises,” says the 39-year-old, who lives in London. “Thankfully, today, it’s easy to look at the numbers in black and white and make informed decisions as
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Sustainable Development Goals
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