Lára Jóhannsdóttir
Business Administration,
University of Iceland
Designing for sustainability: Case study of Nordic insurance organizations

laj6@hi.is

Lára Jóhannsdóttir is a PhD student at the University of Iceland and the owner of Alvör, a startup company. She holds a BS degree in Business Administration and a MBA degree from Thunderbird. She graduated with GPA of 3.8, graduating in two honorary societies. She previously worked in the Icelandic insurance sector for fourteen years as a Quality Manager, Office Manager, and Specialist. Lára has key skills in project and operational management, and quality and safety methodologies. She was in charge of the application process when her company received the Icelandic Quality Award in 2003. Lára has published a working paper and an article titled the "Environmental Literacy of Business Students." Most recently, she authored the chapter "Green Office Practices" in the book The Nonprofit Guide to Going Green published by John Wiley & Sons December 2009.

Designing for sustainability: Case study of Nordic insurance organizations

Climate change consequences are one of the most important issues facing the insurance industry. Associated losses will affect their operating results directly through claims and indirectly through investments, clients' ability to pay premiums, business environment of their clients and retrograded terms of trade from reinsurers. Leading insurers have started to amend their business models to address climate change issues and leverage opportunities associated with solving these issues. Nordic countries have a strong climate profile, and rank highly on the Environmental Performance Index. The aim of this research was to find out whether or not the climate change concerns of insurance leaders is reflected in the operation of Nordic insurers, and if the companies in question are designing for sustainability. The research finding shows a gap between leaders and laggards, and that Nordic insurers are on different places of the spectrum in regards to being prepared for climate change consequences.