ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Who are you and why should I care? Since the 1950s, companies have turned to externally focused branding methods to answer these questions that consumers have about their businesses. Today, companies face an increasingly hyperconnected, skeptical marketplace where customers are demanding more. They want to know the substance beyond the sizzle of advertising. For branding to remain the economic engine it has been over the past 70 years, we need to ask: What’s next?
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
This post has been translated from Japanese — read the original interview here.
PRESS RELEASE -
In this interview, John Cangany, Corporate Social Responsibility Communications Manager at Ford, talks about a zero-waste tradition dating back to founder Henry Ford, electric vehicles, human rights and sustainable manufacturing. Nicole DesNoyer, Group Production Manager at GTB, one of Ford’s communications agencies, covers sustainable printing for Ford’s annual financial report, and how Rolland’s recycled paper answered Ford’s needs.
Ford is focusing on mobility solutions and sustainable manufacturing to chart an electrified course for the future.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT -
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, senior director of corporate social responsibility at Cox Automotive, shares how they plan to achieve an ambitious Zero Waste to Landfill goal by 2024 and speaks about future projects she’d like to tackle with help from other SB Corporate Members, including water replenishment projects.
Read on to see how her love for sustainability and the outdoors has positively impacted her family, her community and her workplace.
PRESS RELEASE -
While many businesses recognize the importance of sustainability, not enough are investing in a strategic plan powered by data. How can companies place benchmarks on and distill this often obscure information into actionable insights?
As part of the Thought Leaders channel on the openSAP platform, SAP and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA®) are working to help answer this question through a free online course, “Improving Confidence in Sustainability Performance Data.”
PRESS RELEASE -
Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is everyone’s right. Just like the right to liberty or the right to a fair public hearing. There’s not a drop of difference.
But in the real world, it doesn’t always work that way. This isn’t down to a lack of effort. Every year, billions of dollars are ploughed into projects to improve water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services – many of which are exemplary.
Yet, progress remains stubbornly slow. Clearly, some fresh thinking and new ways of working are needed. But where to look?
Enter the impact entrepreneurs
PRESS RELEASE -
DowDuPont™ (NYSE: DWDP) announced today that it was named a constituent of the FTSE4Good Index Series. FTSE4Good was created by the global index provider, FTSE Russell, and is designed to measure the performance of companies demonstrating strong Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) practices. The FTSE4Good indices are used by a wide variety of market participants to create and assess responsible investment funds and other products.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The Kubota tractor parked out front is the first tip-off that Michael Crooke is not your typical executive. While other startup founders might sport a Tesla, Crooke’s home office in Ojai is a far cry from Silicon Valley. Step over the welcome mat with the Pearl Izumi mark, look up at the Patagonia surfboard in the rafters, and you realize this little converted garden shed is like a history lesson in Crooke’s path from Navy SEAL to being a leading figure in sustainable business.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Coca-Cola Great Britain has launched a new design for the Coca-Cola range, featuring new-look packaging for original Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola zero sugar. The changes unify both varieties with the trademark Coca-Cola red and form part of the company’s commercial strategy to encourage more people to try Coca-Cola zero sugar.
Along with the redesign, a £5 million marketing campaign communicates the changes to consumers, featuring 10- and 30-second ads alongside out-of-home advertising. The ad, “One Way or Another,” reminds consumers they can enjoy Coca-Cola, with or without sugar.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Understanding who your business affects and how they affect your business is key to long-term success. If you only focus on customers, you are falling way short. To truly take your business from local to national and on to global levels, you have to consider all the ways your company interacts with the world around it and, most importantly, what stories you are telling.
PRESS RELEASE -
Mastercard today published its 2017 Corporate Sustainability Report, highlighting the ways in which the company is delivering on its commitment to be a force for good in the world.
The company broke new ground this year in its social impact efforts, allocating $500 million from tax savings to advance inclusive growth. It has already contributed an initial $100 million to those initiatives. It also gained industry-first approval for its science-based target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Over his more than 30 years in the business, Mike Saltzberg has seen firsthand how sustainability has grown to be of equal consideration with technical performance and cost in the development of new biomaterials.
Saltzberg is the Global Business Director for Biomaterials at DuPont Industrial Biosciences, the team that ideates and develops products derived from bio-based materials. Among their innovations is DuPont™ Sorona®, a partially plant-based fiber increasingly used in apparel and carpet.
PRESS RELEASE -
Visa today released its 2017 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report, the company’s summary of progress in its ongoing commitment to corporate responsibility, sustainability and ethical leadership. The report addresses the commitments and progress Visa has made across its most significant environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues.
PRESS RELEASE -
Eastman today announces the release of its 2018 sustainability report, Changing the trajectory. Building on the company’s progress, the report provides a review of Eastman’s sustainability strategy and goals as well as highlights from the past year. The interactive report is available online at www.eastman.com/sustainability.
PRESS RELEASE -
Humana Inc., one of the nation’s leading health and well-being companies, today released its 2016-2017 corporate social responsibility (CSR) report. In the comprehensive report, Humana, for the first time, announces the company’s alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), becoming one of the first U.S. health insurers to commit to the international targets.
PRESS RELEASE -
Atlanta, GA - UPS (NYSE:UPS) today announced a collaboration with Thor Trucks, Inc. to develop and test a fully-electric class 6 delivery truck in Los Angeles, Calif. The truck is expected to be ready for deployment later this year.
UPS continues to work with a range of companies to test and deploy promising alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles that will help it meet its sustainability goals. Electric vehicles, and the charging infrastructure needed to support them, play a critical role in UPS’s vision for its fleet of the future.
PRESS RELEASE -
As the world of work is changing faster than ever, employees and potential talent are seeking out learning and development opportunities to not only keep up, but to stay ahead and be challenged. A recent study by Gartner shows that companies that offer learning and development opportunities have an employee-base which is 66% more engaged; 4.2x more likely to stay with their current company; 8x more likely to be high-performers; and learns skills 25% faster* – which is why The Estée Lauder Companies is pleased to be the first-ever beauty company to partner with LinkedIn Learning.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
For many, the sustainable choice is the alternative choice: alternative lightbulbs, alternative cars, alternative shopping bags, alternative business models. But there’s no longer a need for the sustainability community to present itself this way — especially in relation to business.
Every day, businesses face new and emerging risks related to environmental, social and governance (ESG)-related issues. In a world more connected than ever, these risks can be felt more directly and more immediately than they used to be.
BUSINESS CASE -
To keep the global temperature increase to well below 2⁰C and meet the goals laid out in the Paris Agreement, everyone must take bold action to reduce their share of emissions as soon as possible. Companies are responsible for the majority of global emissions and therefore play an integral role in meeting these goals.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) have released “A Practical Guide” to enable companies to better measure and report on their impact on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The new publication, Integrating the SDGs Into Corporate Reporting: A Practical Guide, helps companies of all sizes to prioritize SDG targets to act and report on, set related business objectives, and measure and report on progress.