Leadership
Exemplary cases of sustainability leadership and intrapreneurship, and the qualities, ethical principles and/or dilemmas inherent within them.
WWF, IKEA Release Better Cotton Initiative Progress Report
The WWF and IKEA have released a new report highlighting the impacts of their work with the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), as the organization restates its aim to make up 30 percent of global cotton production by 2020.
The #CVSEffect in Action: Wagon Train Edition — IKEA, GM, Mars Stand Up for Climate Policy
Previous articles in this series talked about leading businesses taking bold steps on their own for the common good — because it's the right thing to do — even if it costs the company financially in the short term.This time I want to point to the latest wave of businesses working collaboratively on the urgent, common ground issues of renewable energy and climate policy. In America's history of westward expansion and exploration, pioneer families came together in wagon trains for mutual support. In the same way, the examples below show that businesses are taking action, together, to ensure a more certain future that's good for all of us and for business.
Regeneration Regenerated: Moving From 'Doing Good' to Significant Change
The sustainability movement, in the last few years, has figured out that “doing less harm” is insufficient. It is based on fixed ideas to which we implicitly agree to adhere. We become attached to their ‘rightness’ and do as much as possible to adhere to them and correct anything off course – e.g. fair trade may not make a village work better, it is just less bad. I call this approach “arresting disorder,” which translates to paying a lot of attention to slowing down destructive actions.
Apple Expands Solar Capabilities; Greenpeace Applauds
Apple announced on Monday it has closed a deal to annex 100 acres in Claremont, NC for a new 17.5-megawatt solar farm, the construction of which is expected to cost some $55 million, according to Apple Insider. The Hickory Daily Record reports that Apple's latest olar installation will bring 100 acres of land into the city's corporate limits and should generate roughly 75 jobs, which the company agreed to source locally. Construction of the farm is expected to be completed in five years.
IKEA Increases Minimum Wage for US Workers
IKEA has announced it will raise its average minimum wage in its US stores to $10.76, a 17 percent increase over the current wage, and $3.51 above the current federal minimum wage.The furniture company says the increase will impact approximately half of its US retail workers. Hourly wages will vary based on the cost of living in each store location -- this is a departure from determining wages based on the local competitive situation and is centered on the needs of the employee. The wage increase is based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator, which takes into consideration housing, food, medical and transportation costs plus annual taxes.
Zero Deforestation: The New Norm — Implications for Major Brands
Future 500 CEO Bill Shireman moderated two discussions during Sustainable Brands 2014 earlier this month that explored major progress made in the past two years in advancing zero-deforestation supply chains and implications for climate, human rights and transparency.Shireman kicked off the session on day one with an intriguing quote by a famous revolutionary: "There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen."
Dairy Industry Actions Leading to More Sustainable Food System
Increasing efficiency is among the several sustainability moves that will be critical for increasing the world’s food production by an estimated 70 percent to feed a projected global population of 9.6 billion people by 2050, according to the 2013 US Dairy Sustainability Report.The report, published by The Innovation Center for US Dairy®, outlines progress to measure, communicate and improve the social, environmental and economic performance of the dairy industry. This progress has helped strengthen dairy’s role in a sustainable food system, the organization says.
UPS Names New Sustainability Officer, New Diversity and Inclusion Officer
UPS announced today that Rhonda Clark will become the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) effective immediately. Clark will succeed Scott Wicker, who helped create UPS’s sustainability architecture and implemented numerous successful initiatives during his seven years leading UPS’s Sustainability group.During this period, the company set aggressive sustainability goals, achieved success in key areas by improving efficiencies in operations and expanded its alternative fuel/advanced technology fleet by more than 50 percent.
Wirtenberg Examines How BASF, Alcoa, Pfizer and More Are Building a Culture for Sustainability
Jeana Wirtenberg knows sustainability is about people. Living, caring human beings – who get things done.It’s not “green.” Or “eco.” Not goals or dashboards. Not on their own, at any rate. It’s people who make these things actually happen.Sustainability is people at every level of a business making decisions and working with their colleagues, customers and communities, day in and day out. Sustainability is people — not programs or promises — taking actions that move their company towards more sustainable business outcomes. It’s culture.
You Are What You Share: Three Keys to Building Your Authentic Leadership Story
Leadership has traditionally been positioned as a finite social resource that can only be possessed by a few individuals at any given moment.After all, not everyone can be a leader all the time. Right?Wrong.Leadership is changing — it is no longer a finite pool, but an expanding network of possibly infinite potential. With the rise of the social web and a deeper linkage between global context and our everyday decisions, leadership is flatter, faster and hyper-connected worldwide. Knowing how and when to lead from the top-down, the bottom-up, as an individual and as a collaborative group are all equally critical.
Are We Seeing the Emergence of the Enlightened CEO?
Society. It’s one of the three pillars of sustainability, but the least defined and the least understood. Corporations have traditionally struggled to blend social purpose with hard-nosed business acumen, but as consumers increasingly look to brands to combat key societal issues such as climate change, human rights, equality and unemployment, this is starting to change. Social brand value is becoming much more sought after, and with it the necessity for a new type of leadership — a more honest CEO.
How CEOs Can Save the World from Global Warming
The business world is waking up to the challenge of climate change.Apple CEO Tim Cook recently lashed out at a shareholder who pressed the company to stop investing in carbon reduction and renewable energy. In the most recent World Economic Forum Global Risk survey of CEOs and world leaders, three of the top six issues of “highest concern” were failure to tackle climate change, extreme weather, and water crises.
Walmart Commits to Doubling Solar on US Stores by 2020
At an event this morning in Mountain View, Calif., during a visit from President Barack Obama, Walmart announced that it will double the number of on-site solar energy projects at its US stores, Sam’s Clubs and distribution centers by 2020. The commitment is part of Walmart’s global initiative to drive the production or procurement of 7 billion kWh of renewable energy by the end of 2020.
SPLC Unveils Groundbreaking Principles for Leadership in Purchasing
The Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC) has unveiled a set of five essential principles that it asserts defines leadership in sustainable purchasing. By providing a common reference point for sustainability excellence, the Principles enable greater alignment and benchmarking of sustainable purchasing efforts across all types of organizations operating in the multi-trillion-dollar institutional purchasing marketplace. The SPLC says the Principles also serve as a “moral compass” as it also launches the development of a multi-sector program for guiding, benchmarking and recognizing leadership in sustainable purchasing.
Taking a Look Inside: How Are We, the Sustainability People, Doing?
Change agency, as it applies to sustainability, is an increasingly popular subject in prestigious academic institutions, government conversations, NGOs and businesses globally. Permeating the communities and conversations of the sustainability fraternity, we find inspiring ideas, language, energy, ambition and commitment. But is there also an increasing sense of frustration, helplessness and a dose of ultimately unhelpful cynicism around our own effectiveness?
Ceres: US Companies Must Up the Ante on Sustainability Efforts
There are encouraging pockets of sustainability leadership in the US business community, but far too many companies are only taking small, incremental steps to address pressing sustainability issues that could impact their bottom lines and the future of our planet and economy, according to a new report by Ceres and Sustainalytics. Chief among these sustainability issues are climate change and human rights.
Unilever Details How It Is 'Making Progress, Driving Change' in Living Plan Update
It’s said that the likely success of any company initiative can be gauged by the support and involvement of the senior management. If this is true, then the support demonstrated by the presence of so many of Unilever’s top team at the latest ‘Sustainable Living Plan’ update gives a clear demonstration of the organisation’s commitment to achieve and exceed the goals set.
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson Top ‘100 Best Corporate Citizens List’
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, and Gap have topped CR Magazine’s 2014 100 Best Corporate Citizens List, which ranks companies based on disclosure and performance measures covering environment, climate change, employee relations, human rights, governance, finance and philanthropy.Now in its 15th year, the list documents 298 data points of disclosure and performance measures acquired from publicly available information in the aforementioned categories. Microsoft, Mattel, Weyerhaeuser, Ecolab, Intel, Coca-Cola, and Walt Disney Company rounded out the top ten.
Howell Urging Future Sustainability Leaders to Nurture Their Inner Storyteller
Park Howell, president of Phoenix-based brand strategy and marketing firm Park&Co, also heads the Communications thread of the Arizona State University School of Sustainability’s Executive Master’s for Sustainability Leadership (EMSL) program. Under Howell’s direction, the program replaces communications theory with “communications commandos.”
FedEx, Arbor Day Foundation Launch Tree-Focused Disaster Recovery Program
In honor of Arbor Day today, FedEx and the Arbor Day Foundation have launched a new initiative to help connect disaster-stricken communities with the resources needed for sustainable recovery and community healing.The Community Tree Recovery program is designed to be a national resource for communities as they seek to restore their trees in the aftermath of natural disaster, FedEx says. The program provides the structure and capacity to address multiple disasters annually, distributing seedling trees to afflicted communities nationwide.
