Special Report 2012: “Harvesters” Find Profit
Sustainability is now central in boardrooms, and “Harvester” companies are seeing sustainability contributing to profits. Our third annual global survey, by MIT SMR and The Boston Consulting Group. Read more »
Peggy Ward, director of K-C’s Enterprise Sustainability Strategy Team, explains how internal leadership and an external advisory board set the company’s aggressive course.
Peggy Ward, w/David Kiron – Sustainability & Innovation – 5/16/12
Only 8% of respondents to a MIT SMR poll said sustainability initiatives originated in Marketing. Nearly four times as many, 29%, said it came from Environmental, Health & Safety.
Nina Kruschwitz – Improvisations – 5/15/12
Intel’s director of CSR Suzanne Fallender details the challenges and rewards of integrating sustainability efforts into all the operations of the company.
Suzanne Fallender, w/Nina Kruschwitz – Sustainability & Innovation – 5/1/12
New research shows that 16 to 34-year-olds in the U.S. are driving less, biking more and using public transportation in significantly higher numbers.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 4/10/12
Our sustainability and Innovation research report prompted an invitation to participate in a White House Sustainable Supply Chain Dialogue on March 30 in Washington, DC.
Nina Kruschwitz – Improvisations – 4/10/12
Harvard Business School’s Robert Eccles says it’s critical that integrated reporting of ESG performances be mandatory, standardized and backed by clear enforcement.
Robert Eccles, w/David Kiron – Sustainability & Innovation – 3/20/12
Stonyfield has optimized its business for rail instead of truck transport and worked to reduce “methane-creating cow burps” by using a grass-based rather than a grain-based diet.
Deb Gallagher – Improvisations – 3/16/12
On the 40th anniversary of The Limits to Growth, one of the first scholarly works to recognize the world’s sustainable limits, a co-author says our focus today should be on resiliency.
Nina Kruschwitz – Improvisations – 3/9/12
Stonyfield Farm’s Wood Turner and SAP’s Peter Graf address the process of integrating sustainability throughout their entire organizations — and the most important challenges.
Deb Gallagher – Improvisations – 3/1/12
Multinational companies such as Apple need to give Chinese suppliers better incentives to comply with local safety standards, say Stanford researchers in the new issue of MIT SMR.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 1/26/12
Campbell Soup’s vice president of CSR and sustainability explains the company’s ten-year plan to get 100% employee engagement — and the partnerships it requires.
D. Stangis, interviewed by N. Kruschwitz – Interview Series – 12/5/11
Is the average worker is being left behind by advances in technology? A debate at the Silicon Valley Comes to Oxford conference considered the question (and said yes).
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 11/29/11
Sixty-eight percent of respondents say their organizations increased their commitment in the past year. That’s a dramatic rise from 2009, when only 25% of respondents said that.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 11/27/11
Given environmental rankings’ prestige, shouldn’t they take into account a business’s advocacy activities around environmental regulation, in addition to its internal operations? Free to subscribers
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Auden Schendler and Michael Toffel – The Magazine – 10/7/11
In two decades, Statkraft has grown from a Norwegian-focused power supplier to one of the world’s largest renewables power producers. An interview with CEO Christian Rynning-Tønnesen.
C. Rynning-Tønnesen, with M. Hopkins,K. Haanaes – Interview Series – 9/29/11
Start-ups, large companies and NGOs in the green technology space have a lot to learn from other businesses’ successes and mistakes. Lesson 1: Timing is everything. Free to subscribers
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George S. Day and Paul J.H. Schoemaker – The Magazine – 9/5/11
In a new Q&A, Duke CEO Jim Rogers (left) paints a future where devices will cycle down home refrigerators when dishwashers go on — reducing electric use by 20% with no work by consumers.
Jim Rogers, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Web Exclusives – 6/14/11
The timeline of energy development projects is increasingly driven by sustainability and social performance issues. That changes how the company involves external stakeholders.
M. Odum, with M. Hopkins – Sustainability & Innovation – 5/31/11
Our 1-hour conversation with MIT’s Peter Senge (left), SAP chief sustainability officer Peter Graf, and Boston Consulting Group’s Knut Haanaes is available for free viewing.
Editors of MIT SMR – Improvisations – 5/5/11
Our second annual special report shows the emergence of two camps of companies: ‘embracers,’ who place sustainability high on their agendas, and ‘cautious adopters.’
Editors of MIT SMR et al. – Special Reports – 2/10/11
The power company uses a sustainability lens for weighing all its decisions. One of the questions: “Have we looked at this action/decision through the eyes of future generations?”
R. Bowman, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Sustainability – 1/25/11
New-product design guru Steven Eppinger (left) explains how companies can reduce their environmental impact through product redesign. From the MIT Sustainability Interview Series. Free to subscribers
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Steven D. Eppinger, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 12/13/11
Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer for SAP, answers 11 reader questions about how the business management software company implemented its sustainability strategy.
Sean M. Brown – Improvisations – 9/30/10
There’s opportunity in focusing on social responsibility. When P&G, for instance, developed hands-friendly detergent, it opened new markets and improved lives at the same time.
Rosebeth Moss Kanter – The Magazine – 9/23/10
MIT Energy Initiative’s Ernest Moniz explains the challenges of coordinating small company energy innovators with big company partners. From the MIT Sustainability Interview Series. Free to subscribers
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E. Moniz, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 7/19/10
Sustainability initiatives can’t be driven through an organization like other changes. They have three distinct stages, each requiring different leadership competencies. Free to subscribers
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C. Lueneburger and D. Goleman – The Magazine – 7/1/10
At the hub of internal operations and external relationships, supply chain managers are uniquely positioned to consider sustainability initiatives, says MIT’s Blanco. Free to subscribers
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Edgar Blanco, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 5/6/10
Even corporations with clear environmental aims don’t go the distance with their supply chains. The challenge: change requires risky upfront investment.
S. Golicic, C. Boerstler and L. Ellram – The Magazine – 4/27/2010
The inaugural Global Executive Study by MIT Sloan Management Review and The Boston Consulting Group looked at how sustainability is changing the competitive landscape. Free to subscribers
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Editors of MIT SMR et al. – Special Reports – 1/1/10
The director of MIT’s Laboratory for Energy and the Environment on the decisions companies have to make if they want to be sustainable. In the MIT Sustainability Interview Series. Free to subscribers
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David Marks, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 10/14/09
The author of Sustainability by Design: A Subversive Strategy for Transforming Our Consumer Culture says the craze for going green is all wrong. What’s needed is a much longer view. Free to subscribers
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John Ehrenfeld, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 7/14/09
For companies operating in developing countries, it pays to commit to improving social and environmental conditions. Included: links to other stories on sustainability from MIT SMR. Free to subscribers
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L. Kaufmann, F. Reimann, M. Ehrgott, J. Rauer – Executive Adviser – 6/22/09
The director of MIT’s Engineering Systems Division and Center for Transportation and Logistics talks about how the economic crisis has pushed back environmental sustainability ideas. Free to subscribers
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Yossi Sheffi, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 5/21/09
MIT Sloan School’s Malone says mental models impede progress: “We have a lot of assumptions about how the world works. Some of those assumptions will need to change.” Free to subscribers
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Thomas Malone, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 4/23/09
There’s a big — and getting bigger — public discussion about sustainability, but it’s not the one managers need. Executives define sustainability much more broadly than the public. Free to subscribers
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Michael S. Hopkins – The Magazine – 4/15/09
MIT’s Layzer says energy prices will be what pushes a sustainability agenda in the U.S. As well, she says: “My view is that we have to consume a whole helluva lot less.” Free to subscribers
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Judy Layzer, interviewed by M. Hopkins – Interview Series – 4/9/09
An introduction by MIT Sloan Management Review on what sustainability means, who this site is for and why sustainability is about much more than simply “going green.”
