Social Responsibility

Kraft Foods' leadership role in bringing Fairtrade Certified cocoa to mainstream consumers.

Former Campbell Soup CEO says leading sustainability efforts is critical to success.

Dell computer company developed compostable packaging materials made from bamboo and mushrooms.

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

This report identifies how social technologies create value in a variety of business functions.

Leadership support been crucial to building and meeting aggressive sustainability metrics.

Suzanne Fallender (Intel), interviewed by Nina Kruschwitz. Just because you can't measure an action doesn't mean it's not creating value, says Suzanne Fallender, director of CSR Strategy and Communications for Intel. Her job, though, is to measure wherever she can and make the best case possible for incorporating sustainability efforts into every facet of the company. "We have been doing a lot of things around sustainability for a very long time," says Suzanne Fallender, director of CSR (corporate social responsibility) Strategy and Communications in the Intel Global Corporate Responsibility Office. "What we're doing now is trying to take it to that next level of integration in terms of our strategy, in terms of our governance system, in terms of employee engagement," she says. "That's really where we've been focusing a lot of our efforts." Fallender came to her role four and a half years ago from outside the company. "I went from analyzing thousands of companies doing CSR to being inside a company, and I always tease that I get a taste of my own medicine now." In her current role, Fallender oversees all of Intel's CSR programs. She's also front and center on the issue in social media, tweeting at @sfallender. In a conversation with Nina Kruschwitz, an editor and the special projects manager at MIT Sloan Management Review, Fallender talks about the challenges of breaking out costs and payoffs of sustainability efforts, how the company is using targeted websites like ExploreIntel.com to provide year-round real-time reporting of CSR activities and how Intel sees value in helping create long-term demand for renewables, even if it means paying more for green energy today.

New standards will integrate environmental, social and governance performance with financial information.

Leading companies are working with their Chinese suppliers to improve environmental performance.

MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group recently conducted their third annual sustainability survey of executives and managers worldwide. The survey results indicate that an increasing number of managers and companies are taking sustainable business practices seriously. According to the survey data, 70% of companies that have placed sustainability on their management agenda have done so in the past six years, and 20% have done so just in the past two years. Two-thirds of respondents said that sustainability was critically important to being competitive in today’s marketplace, up from 55% in the 2010 survey. And despite ongoing economic uncertainty, many companies are increasing their commitments to sustainability initiatives. In fact, 31% of respondents said their companies are profiting from sustainable business practices. Some of the interest can be explained by increasing pressure, internally and externally. Among the external factors are stakeholder groups–including investors–and also regulations, climate change, resource constraints and consumer demand. Internal demands for brand integrity, employee engagement and increased efficiencies play a part as well. But the recent increase in the business focus on sustainability may also be because we are nearing a “tipping point” at which a critical mass of companies is taking sustainability seriously. Survey and interview data identified companies that are profiting from sustainability, which the authors termed “Harvesters.” Harvesters are 50% more likely to have a CEO with a strong commitment to sustainability, and nearly two and a half times as likely to have a chief sustainability officer. They are also more likely to be involved in external collaborations. Starbucks, for example, brought in representatives from its entire supply chain, government officials and an MIT professor in order to develop a detailed assessment of and life-cycle analysis for take-out coffee cups.