CLIMATE CHANGE AS A CULTURAL AND
BEHAVIORAL ISSUE: ADDRESSING BARRIERS
AND IMPLEMENTING SOLUTIONS
by ANDREW J. HOFFMAN
At the core, environmental issues like climate
change are not primarily technological or eco-
nomic, but behavioral and cultural. While tech-
nological and economic activity may be the
direct cause of environmentally destructive
behavior, individual beliefs, cultural norms and
societal institutions guide the development of
that activity. Unfortunately, in addressing envi-
ronmental problems, we tend to overlook these
social dimensions and focus strictly on their tech-
nological and economic aspects. We do this in the
realm of societal politics, and in the realm of
organizational design. This article will redress
this lack of attention by considering the social
dimensions of a specific issue in the sustainabili-
ty ageda – climate change. In particular, this arti-
cle will attend to the social and psychological
barriers that exist within individuals and organi-
zations to keep them from addressing the issue
and offer practical suggestions for overcoming
them.
SOLVING THE SUSTAINABILITY
IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGE
by MARC J. EPSTEIN, ADRIANA REJC BUHOVAC
Developing sustainability strategies is an impor-
tant challenge for senior executives, but imple-
menting these strategies successfully is even
more challenging. This paper provides a frame-
work and performance measures to more effec-
tively measure, manage, and report the value
created through improved sustainability perform-
ance. With a careful analysis of the key drivers of
sustainability performance and a measurement of
those drivers, companies can better manage the
broad set of impacts that are caused by both core
corporate activities and corporate sustainability
programs. These tools enable better integration
of social and environmental impacts into day-to-
day operational decisions and traditional invest-
ment models, thus making social and environmen-
tal concerns part of the organization. With appro-
priate formal and informal management systems,
corporations are able to reap the benefits associ-
ated with sustainability performance.
VISION, MISSION, VALUES: GUIDEPOSTS TO
SUSTAINABILITY
by PHILIP MIRVIS, BRADLEY GOOGINS,
SYLVIA KINNICUTT
There are daunting gaps between what most
companies say about the importance of sustain-
ability and their operating practices. Stronger
leadership, firmer accountability, and more
expertise could all help to reduce the gap. But
behind the gaps are more foundational consider-
ations: how sustainability features in a compa-
ny’s vision, mission, and values.
This paper examines at how leading companies
are leveraging their vision, mission, and values to
move forward on sustainability. We look first at
General Electric Co. (GE), whose new strategic
vision is represented in its “ecomagination” cam-
paign. Next we consider Unilever PLC, whose
vitality mission allowed the company to resurrect
its founder’s ideals and apply them to a modern
era – where upscale consumers want healthier
food and socially relevant personal care products,
and those in emerging markets seek safer and
affordable branded products. Finally, we examine
IBM Corp., with its smarter planet program that
connects the company to society and rests on a
new values platform to innovate for the company
and the world.
BUILDING A COLLABORATION
CAPABILITY FOR SUSTAINABILITY: HOW GAP
INC. IS CREATING AND LEVERAGING A STRATEGIC
ASSET
by CHRISTOPHER G. WORLEY, ANN E. FEYERHERM,
DARRYL KNUDSEN
Organizations are being challenged to find social-
ly acceptable and ecologically proactive solutions
while fulfilling economic expectations. One
emerging pattern in response to this challenge is
the development of sustainability goals and
strategies, which include the development of
internal processes and systems to lower carbon
footprints, address other green issues, and create
more worker-friendly environments. Another
emerging pattern is the capability to collaborate
across the wide range of external stakeholders.
External collaboration also requires the develop-
ment of internal processes, systems, knowledge,
and structures to support ongoing learning to deal
EXECUTIVE SUMMARIES