Policy and Practice] The Business Case for Sustainability: Company Sustainability Reports in the Manufacturing Industry Identify a company that is in the manufacturing industry (automobiles, food, consumer goods, etc.) that has a sustainability or corporate and social responsibility (CSR) report published on its website. (Note: Some company’s reports are in a website format, see Apple (retrieved from: http://www.apple.com/environment/), and others are actual PDF reports, see Coca-Cola’s (retrieved from: http://www.coca-colacompany.com/sustainabilityreport/downloads/2012- sustainability-report.pdf)). Read Chapter 13 in Green to Gold and the company’s sustainability report. You may also benefit from re-reviewing Chapter 4 in Green to Gold. You were recently hired by the company’s chief sustainability officer (CSO) to help the company increase its sustainability initiatives.
The CSO has told you that the company’s CEO is resistant to the idea of investing more resources in its sustainability programs, arguing that environmental initiatives do not help the company’s bottom line. The CSO has asked you to make the business case for one environmental initiative that the company could implement, which she will later present to the CEO.
• Briefly discuss the information that is covered in the report, and make note of any areas that would benefit from more company resources.
• Identify one area that you think would provide the greatest benefits to the company. • Make an argument for its economic and social benefits, focusing on how implementing
such an initiative would help the company’s bottom line (profits).
In making your argument, identify what the company’s industry peers are doing or if the company or any of its peers have been involved in any controversies that could have been avoided had the company had a more robust sustainability program. (For example, the recent Apple controversy regarding its supplier’s, Foxconn, labor practices in China. Had Apple imposed more requirements on its suppliers, it would not have been involved in this situation). Additional Directions
• Length should be 4–6 pages, excluding cover page and reference page.
• Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly established and sustained.
• Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct
grammar, punctuation, etc.).
• Writing should be well ordered, logical, and unified, as well as original and insightful.
• Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics.
• Appropriate citation style should be followed.
Unit 3 Assignment [EM610: Sustainability: Policy and Practice] Criteria: Ask yourself the following questions. Not Yet Yes Content Did you summarize the company’s CSR/Sustainability Report?
Did you identify one area of the report that should be expanded and support your argument based on the economic and social benefits and the company’s industry peers?
Research Is your research current? Did you use at least two credible sources beyond the text material and validate those resources credibility?
Did you discuss all the required areas in a substantive manner? Did you use appropriate reference material to support major statements?
Quality Is your content complete enough to address the topic and questions? Is there a logical flow to your ideas? Did you present the material in a clear and concise manner to provide easy readability?
Format Did you prepare your project as a Word Document? Did you label your file correctly? Did you use APA format to cite your sources? Did you check your document for grammar and spelling? Did your meet the length requirements (4–6 pages)?