2Sustain

New research from the Network for Business Sustainability confirms what I have been I have been saying for years: It’s time for executives and procurement professionals to rethink their current supply chain strategy and adopt a more proactive and responsible approach.

The study, which reviewed 25 years’ worth of academic and industry research, found that ensuring safe, supportive working conditions is the top issue for companies that buy from suppliers in other countries. Unfortunately, though, it also revealed that many of the companies trying to improve working conditions and environmental impacts in their supply chains are going about it the wrong way.
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Companies are emerging from the recession tentatively, at best, and yet intriguing new research found that most businesses remain quite committed to their sustainability goals.

In fact, the new study, conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), found that 69 percent of the more than 3,100 corporate leaders surveyed actually plan to increase their investment in and management of sustainability this year.

Just over one-quarter (26 percent) plan no change, and only 2 percent intend to cut back on their commitment.

What’s more, the second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study also discovered that what the authors are calling a “two-speed landscape” is emerging. These days, there’s a growing gap between sustainability “embracers”—those who place sustainability high on their agenda—and nonembracers or “cautious adopters,” who have yet to focus on more than energy cost savings, material efficiency, and risk mitigation.

When comparing embracers to nonembracers, the report concludes that: (more…)

Tyco Electronics Ltd. (TE) has released its first corporate responsibility report and launched the Tyco Electronics Responsibility Advantage (TERA) program, which the company bills as a commitment to its employees, customers, shareholders and communities.

Over the past few years, the electronics industry has been in the spotlight for manufacturing processes that endanger workers in the supply chain and poison the environment. Companies like Tyco are beginning to realize that by choosing to ignore these issues they are putting their operations –and their reputations –at significant risk.

“Tyco Electronics Responsibility Advantage is a key tool in our company’s strategy to deliver superior earnings to our shareholders, to be a premier partner for our customers and to attract and retain highly engaged employees,” explains Tom Lynch, CEO of TE.

Here are two highlights from the report that underscore TE’s environmental stewardship: (more…)

Danone, Unilever, Heinz and Nestlé are the most sustainable large food producers in the world, according to new research released earlier this month by Bank Sarasin.

The study, Food and sustainability: Will the seed bear fruit? highlights three central sustainability themes that affect food producers:

• health and nutrition
• sourcing more raw materials from sustainable agriculture
• committing to fair working conditions.

And although the report found that many large food producers are developing sustainability strategies, Bank Sarasin concluded that most companies still have plenty of ground to cover on the path towards sustainability.

For example, the food industry as a whole faces significant challenges regarding the procurement of raw materials from sustainable sources. The world’s largest food producers purchase a significant share of global harvests –up to 20 percent of the world’s coffee, more than 10 percent of its tea, tomatoes and peas, and about 5 percent of its palm oil. Companies that have worked to secure large volumes of their raw materials from sustainable sources ranked high on Bank Sarasin’s matrix of sustainability criteria.
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In what some are calling a watershed moment in supply chain ethics, Nike, Inc. has agreed to provide financial, medical and vocational support to workers affected by closures at contract supplier factories in Honduras.

Nike announced late last month that it had reached an agreement with the Central General de Trabajadores de Honduras (CGT), representing the former employees of Hugger and Vision Tex factories, and as a result the company has agreed to: (more…)