Building a sustainability strategy into the business

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a case study of how a global consumer company, with over 300 brands sold in 180 countries, and 138,000 employees, is building sustainability into the rhythm of its business. This goes beyond social investment programs, addressing sustainability in product design, manufacturing operations, employee engagement and stakeholder partnerships.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper describes the process Procter & Gamble has gone through to define its sustainability strategy and goals, gain global alignment, build sustainability strategies and accountability into its business units, and regional and functional organizations, and then raise the bar by increasing its goals for 2012.

Findings

Experience in implementing sustainability shows the importance of the following factors: being explicit about sustainability and its importance: keeping a broad definition of sustainability; ensuring that sustainability is not added work; eliminating trade‐offs between performance, value and sustainability; having a clear strategy and knowing “where to play”, and getting sustainability incorporated into the DNA of a company.

Originality/value

This paper provides a new and broad overview of how sustainability has been implemented in a global consumer goods company. It introduces the unifying concept of “no trade offs” for both consumer acceptance of sustainable products and sustainability investments for companies. The paper also highlights the challenges of engaging employees around the world to deliver a single coherent sustainability strategy.

Citation

White, P. (2009), "Building a sustainability strategy into the business", Corporate Governance, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 386-394. https://doi.org/10.1108/14720700910984936