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Sustainability

New Energy Policies for the World’s Sixth Largest Bank

Nina Kruschwitz

Crédit Agricole, the sixth largest bank in the world, puts its money where its principles are in its recently released social and environmental policies. In keeping with its stated policy of supporting projects that are “sustainably vitalizing,” the bank’s policies prohibit funding energy projects that rely heavily on unsustainable fuels.

Sustainability

Sustainable Finance: 7 Steps in Managing Reputational Risk

Nina Kruschwitz

Financial institutions’ funding decisions makes them gatekeepers for sustainable development. But how do they develop the policies and procedures that will guide how they make decisions and satisfy stakeholders? According to Olivier Jaeggi of ECOFACT, effective decision-making for sustainability can be summed up in a set of seven best practices.

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The Sustainability Initiative

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This Big Idea Initiative is supported by Knowledge Partner, The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), with whom MIT SMR is collaborating on the development of research materials connected with Sustainability and management innovation.

This Sustainability Big Idea Initiative supplements the collaborative research content with a range of relevant, independently produced editorial, including MIT SMR original articles, interactive data, blogs, videos and case studies.

Following are links to research that BCG has developed separate from this collaboration:

What Managers Are Doing About Sustainability

Sustainability

The Innovation Bottom Line

David Kiron et al.

This research report shows how business model innovation helps companies profit from sustainability.

Sustainability

Sustainability Nears a Tipping Point

Knut Haanaes et al.

Sustainability is contributing to profits for companies, according to our third annual global survey.

Sustainability

Sustainability: The ‘Embracers’ Seize Advantage

Knut Haanaes et al.

Based on a survey and interview series, companies appear to divide into two camps.

Sustainability

The Business of Sustainability

In 2009, the business concerns with sustainability intersected with an urgent global economic crisis.

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What Is a Sustainable Company?

Identifying what a sustainable company looks like is a difficult question that few businesses have yet to answer. Here are several perspectives on how companies are and should be approaching that important issue.

Sustainability

What Is Sustainability?

Sustainability is the idea that systems need to be regenerative and balanced in order to last.

Sustainability
Sustainability

The Roots of Sustainability

John R. Ehrenfeld

A business case for sustainability requires more difficult change than most are ready to consider.

Sustainability

Designing for Resilience

Designing for resilience can ensure that critical systems continue to operate despite increasing threats.

Sustainability
Sustainability
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Avoiding the Greenwashing Label

Communicating Corporate Social Responsibility to a Cynical Public

February 21, 2013 | Laura Illia, Stelios C. Zyglidopoulos, Stefania Romenti, Belén Rodríguez-Cánovas and Almudena González del Valle Brena

Companies are increasingly engaging in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. But unless companies communicate their CSR achievements wisely to stakeholders, they fear being accused of greenwashing. A study of CSR communication practices in 251 European corporations yields seven guidelines for effective CSR communication.

The authors conclude that many beliefs about the risks associated with CSR communication are exaggerated, and that companies that communicate honestly about their activities have little to fear. Managers, the authors advise, should not be afraid of the media or underestimate the ability of the public to understand the complexity of CSR issues. Companies should address big issues head-on and not try to present an image of a picture-perfect company. Furthermore, communicating CSR should be the job of the whole organization — in the sense that the whole organization should set a visible example of what is being communicated. The authors also point out that saying that your company engages in more CSR than it really does can backfire and delegitimize existing CSR initiatives.

Different companies will vary in which of the above lessons apply most to them, the authors note. Companies that say they do more CSR than they actually do should understand that the public sees through such attempts.

On the other hand, companies that engage in high levels of CSR activities but do not communicate their achievements effectively need to engage more with the media and not underestimate the public’s ability to understand what they are doing. Finally, companies that engage in high levels of CSR activity and communication must be careful to avoid having that communication perceived cynically by stakeholders.


Case Study

How Caesars Entertainment Is Betting on Sustainability

April 16, 2013 | Bruce Posner and David Kiron

Big resorts and casino facilities such as those operated by Caesars Entertainment are energy- and resource- intensive. For instance, the average Caesars hotel with 2,000 rooms used to consume 4.9 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and 14.2 million gallons of water every month, and generated 357 tons of waste along the way.

But over the past nine years, the company invested nearly $70 million on energy conservation projects and more than 162 major retrofits. These include installing energy-efficient lighting, reducing water consumption in laundry facilities, upgrading guest-room thermostats and incorporating comprehensive recycling programs. In just five years, the company reduced its carbon footprint by nearly 10% and reduced its energy use per square foot by 20%.

Continuing to expand a comprehensive sustainability strategy meant that bottom-line-oriented employees and employees passionate about the environment needed to work together. One tool that Caesars developed: a “CodeGreen” sustainability scorecard that would help individual property managers monitor their progress and compare themselves to others. It took time to develop the right set of metrics, but once in place, the scorecard gave corporate managers a tangible opening for conversations with individual property managers about green initiatives. Laggards heard about the best practices of their peers, while high performers were encouraged to reach for the next level.

The company has continued to set big goals, such as reducing fossil fuel consumption per air-conditioned square foot by 20%, and meeting 50% of the fuel needed for its own vehicles with alternative fuels by 2020.“Employees like that we’re being recognized for what we’re doing and that we’ve given them a way to connect with one of the leading issues of the day,” says Caesar’s chairman and CEO Gary Loveman.

CEO Corner: How CEOs Think About Sustainability

Sustainability

“We Learned How to Listen Better”

Tom Falk (Kimberly-Clark), interviewed by David Kiron

Tom Falk, Chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark, discusses how the company has evolved its sustainability practice.

Sustainability

Changing Business Models to Change the World

Paul Murphy (Valid Nutrition) with Nina Kruschwitz

Non-profits have the know-how to tackle global malnutrition, says Valid Nutrition CEO Paul Murphy.

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Who’s the Real Audience For Sustainability Efforts?

Dan Hesse (Sprint), interviewed by Nina Kruschwitz

Dan Hesse, CEO of Sprint, says that the company’s strong focus on sustainability is paying off.

Sustainability

How Next-Gen Car Sharing Will Transform Transportation

Robin Chase (Buzzcar), interviewed by David Kiron

Car-sharing saves money and emissions for drivers, and makes money for the companies coordinating.