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 »
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
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Power Profiler tells U.S. residents where their electricity comes from and offers suggestions for switching to green energy.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 9/16/11
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 TED talk in July, University of Edinburgh’s Harald Haas demonstrated how an LED light beam can be rigged to transmit hi-def video. The grand vision: Internet wherever there is light.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 8/20/11
Anderson, who died August 8, was one of the earliest voices urging businesses to commit to sustainability efforts and co-chaired President Obama’s Presidential Climate Action Plan.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 8/11/11
Cleverly-designed, reusable packing boxes from eBay feed on people’s desire to recycle. They also brand the business as sensitive to sustainability issues.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 8/5/11
The major food processing and packaging company pledges to develop packaging material based on 100 per cent renewable materials in its new Mission Possible report.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/24/11
By maximizing recycling through waste audits and implementing paperless procedures, beverage manufacturer Sunny Delights has achieved a huge goal: it sends no waste to landfills.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/18/11
Alcoa, Enel, GE, Shell, Goldman and Natura have joined with Amsterdam-based Global Reporting Initiative to develop the next generation of sustainability reporting guidelines, due out 2013.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 7/8/11
Ivey Business Journal in Ontario asked representatives of 15 organizations on the leading edge of sustainability why Canadian companies resist action on social and environmental issues.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 6/28/11
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
With warnings that the city is on pace to get as hot as the Deep South, Chicago in investing in rooftop gardens (like City Hall’s, left), non-native trees, and partnerships with business.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 6/4/11
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
Are 200,000 individual 5-by-2.5-ft solar panels on telephone poles ugly or beautiful? A project in New Jersey, the first and most extensive of its kind in the U.S., divides a community.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 5/13/11
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
Companies from Coca-Cola to IBM are tracking their water use and teaching others how to save, writes Charles Fishman in The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 4/19/11
In the MIT SMR survey, 59% of respondents said they were increasing their commitments to sustainability. That’s up from 25% one year earlier and good news in a time of recession. Free to subscribers
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K. Haanaes, D. Arthur, et al. – The Magazine – 4/10/11
Think you’d be a good politician and aggressive decision maker? A web-based game by the BBC lets you try cutting down on green house gases — while not getting voted out of office.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 4/3/11
Why do businesses embrace being sustainability-driven? Shareholders and government regulation push some companies, and they then push suppliers. Also: sustainability cover story.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 3/27/11
Unilever’s VP of brand and global corporate responsibility says that Dove’s social mission to improve self-esteem in girls and women is part of the company’s sustainability program.
K. Haanaes, D. Arthur et al. – The Magazine – 3/22/11
A company that pairs recycling with shopping heads the Wall Street Journal’s list of top venture-backed clean-tech companies in the U.S. with “the greatest potential to succeed.”
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 3/10/11
When successful companies embrace sustainability missions, are they doing it because they feel some sort of mandate? Because a commitment actually feeds their success? Both?
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 2/21/11
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
The New Yorker terms it “The Efficiency Dilemma,” others call it the Jevons paradox: the idea that improvements in energy efficiency can lead to an over-all increase in energy usage.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 1/7/11
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
Consumers, environmentalists, and many business executives all say they want renewable energy. But wind projects are being canceled or delayed because of resistance to higher costs.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 11/22/10
MIT’s David Simchi-Levi, whose new book, Operations Rules, was published this fall by MIT Press, explains how a company’s supply chain logistics choices affect its carbon footprint.
Martha E. Mangelsdorf – Improvisations – 11/08/10
Starbucks has teamed up with MIT Sloan’s Peter Senge to figure out how to recycle the 3 billion paper cups that get landfilled every year and keep them out of the waste stream.
Leslie Brokaw – Improvisations – 11/1/10
Not taking action on climate change is like playing Russian roulette – with 19 of 20 chambers loaded and the gun pointed at our children’s heads, says MIT Sloan professor John Sterman.
Martha E. Mangelsdorf – Improvisations – 10/25/10
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
Environmental initiatives can be a hard sell, while other ideas are no-brainers that slash costs and boost efficiency. One example: software that powers down inactive machines. Free to subscribers
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Robert Plant – Executive Adviser – 1/25/10
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.”
