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At AT&T, John Schulz, a director of sustainability operations, had to make the company’s energy and water use data visible before the company could formulate a plan to reduce those numbers. The company’s definition has now broadened and evolved to include the social perspective on sustainability.
Timberland LLC, a global boot and outdoor apparel manufacturer, goes beyond simply telling the world about its sustainability work. According to Betsy Blaisdell, the company’s senior manager of environmental stewardship, it has creative new ways to involve employees and to partner with suppliers — and competitors. In this interview, Blaisdell talks about the environment “nutrition label” it’s developed for its footwear, and its partnership with 60 plus apparel and footwear brands, retailers, suppliers and NGOs (from Adidas to Patagonia to DuPont to the World Resources Institute) to develop an environmental index called the Higg Index.
Marks and Spencer’s business case for sustainability is built around its five year old Plan Plan A, a commitment to tangible steps to make the company more sustainable. T-shirts for associates featured the slogan, “There is no Plan B.” Plan A includes 180 commitments. All to be achieved by 2015. Their ultimate goal is to become the world’s most sustainable major retailer.
We are conducting a quick poll to get a sense of how you, our readers, are thinking about sustainability. Your answers will help inform the design of the next sustainability and innovation survey we’re planning in collaboration with knowledge partner The Boston Consulting Group, due out this June.
Trying to create reporting standards that integrate environmental, social and governance performance along with financial information is “fraught with conflict” and an “almost political adjudication process,” says Harvard Business School’s Robert Eccles. That’s why he loves it.
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Sixty-eight percent of respondents to MIT SMR’s third annual global survey say their organizations increased their commitment to sustainability in the past year. That’s a dramatic increase from 2009, when only a quarter of respondents said that. Those are among first highlights featured in the current issue of MIT SMR.
The timeline of energy development projects now is largely driven by sustainability and social performance issues, says Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil. That’s prompting innovations in how the company involves external stakeholders, incentivizes employees and drives changes throughout the entire energy industry.
Is spending up or down? What does the C-suite think? Who’s ‘world-class?’ More than 3,000 managers responded. Here is an early sample of what they said.
In surveys, customers have long claimed that they’d pay more for ethically produced goods. But is that what happens when they actually buy things? New experiments offer answers.
Companies that actively manage a wide range of sustainability indicators are better able to create long-term value for all stakeholders.
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