1. Companies integrating CSR into business
strategy: Some case studies
October 2012
Toby Webb, Founder, Ethical Corporation and Stakeholder Intelligence
Lecturer, Corporate Responsibility, Birkbeck College, University of London
Toby.webb@stakeholderintel.com / tobywebb.blogspot.com
3. Marks & Spencer Plan A (2007)
Goal: World's most sustainable major retailer
“Plan A”: 180 environmental/ethical commitments by 2015
Focus: Climate change, Waste, Natural resources, Health and
being a Fair partner
Cost neutral/positive
Award winning
Growing customer trust
Now launching new products and campaigns: Energy,
customer loyalty (Shwopping)
4.
5. Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (2010)
Ten year journey towards sustainable growth with 50 targets
Aim to bring safe drinking water to 500 million people
2011: Increased the proportion of portfolio that meets highest
nutritional standards from 22% in 2010 to 25% in 2011
Aim: Halve the greenhouse gas impact of products across the
lifecycle by 2020
2020 aim: Source 100% of agricultural raw materials
sustainably
Sustainably sourced raw materials increased from 14% in 2010 to
24% in 2011
7. Golden Agri Resources and Palm Oil (2010)
March 2010 Nestlé dropped Golden Agri-Resources
(GAR) as supplier of palm oil after Greenpeace campaign
Collaboration with The Forest Trust won Nestle's business
back with partnership and plan towards sustainability
Key steps:
Forest Conservation Policy goes beyond RSPO demands
Adapted supply chain to allow Nestlé to get guaranteed Palm oil from a particular
plantation
Move towards direct traceability for the Palm Oil industry is a first
GAR’s shares rose 3% after the announcement by Nestlé
"GAR’s sustainability commitments are now the strongest in the palm
oil industry“ Greenpeace
9. Timberland and ‘Earthkeepers’ (2007)
2007 looking "desperately" to try and grow the business
Developed successful "Earthkeeper" line of footwear and apparel
Designed with a core philosophy of environmental stewardship
Objective: "make our values valuable" : Mike Harrison, Chief
Brand Officer
Earthkeepers product line is now 10% of sales
Gone from one boot in 2007 to entire line sold around the world:
Engaged heavily with customers online and using social media
11. Skanska and greener construction (2009)
Empire State building: Ambitious $500m renovation plan,
paid for with savings from “deep green retrofit”
Skanska: 57% reduction in energy consumption.
Reduction of 15-18% employee absenteeism
Renovation costs recouped in as little as five years
By 2015: Building’s owners say they are confident they will
save $4.4m a year: A 38% reduction of energy use
Development business unit focusing on green: 10% of the
company’s overall $17bn annual revenues, 1% deep green
13. Vodafone and Turkish Farmers (2011)
Vodafone/ Accenture 2011 research: Mobile-based agri services could boost
agricultural income by $34bn by 2020
Vodafone Farmers' Club offers special rates & info to farmers: Mobile tech to
improve incomes & increase efficiency/sustainability
500,000 signed up to the Farmers' Club so far. Participating farmers have
increased productivity by about €100m
SMS alerts with government information on:
New regulations and financial support
Weather forecasts
Market price quotes linked to location and production
Partnership with Sekerbank: Farmers pay mobile phone bills post-harvest,
annually. Benefits to Vodafone: Customer loyalty, mass revenue streams
14. Conclusions
CSR/Sustainability/Responsible business = Smarter
business
Consumers want to trust brands, not products
Leading companies turning CSR into opportunity all over
the world: New products / motivated people / cost savings
It is early days! But 9 billion people means less resources
and innovation will be essential: CSR = risk reduction
Corporate roles in changing inefficient systems will be vital:
The winning companies recognise CSR is systems change
15. Further resources
The Smarter Business Blog: tobywebb.blogspot.com
Ethical Corporation: www.ethicalcorp.com
Eabis.org / Caseplace.org / Harvard Kennedy School CSR
Initiative: http://www.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/CSRI/
Doughty Centre for Corporate Responsibility:
http://doughtycentre.info
MIT/Sloan Management Review:
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/innovation-hubs/sustainability/