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By Carey Rome

Execution can make or break any CEO. The inability to execute on vision and strategy results in an estimated 70 percent of all CEO failures.

It was one of the reasons Leo Apotheker was ousted from Hewlett-Packard. The same could be said for Ron Johnson’s removal at JCPenney and Carol Bartz’s demise at Yahoo.

But the responsibility of envisioning, developing and executing a company strategy doesn’t rest just with the CEO; it’s a challenge for the entire executive team. And because the CEO’s success or failure depends greatly on the C-suite executives beneath him, these executives necessarily share in the consequences of success or failure.

In 2007, Harvard Business Review analyzed executive turnover, and the findings were clear: CEO turnover drastically increases executive management turnover, with about 20 percent of upper managers exiting with the CEO. So, the pressure to succeed doesn’t rest solely on CEOs, and those who wait for directives will quickly find themselves falling behind.

Obstacles facing CEOs

The very structure of today’s companies can pose challenges for CEOs and the executive teams beneath them. Although a department-first focus is necessary for CMOs, CFOs, CTOs and the like, it can also lead to dangerous silos. Engineering challenges are important for marketing and sales teams to know, and improper interdepartmental communication can result in frustrated customers with outdated or incorrect information. Without a CEO’s top-down view, these inadvertent silos can cause strategic blunders and lost revenue.

Organizations also run into problems when executive teams attempt to protect the CEO from the truth. Too many executives water down issues, failing to see that bluntly relaying challenges to the CEO is the best way to support the company.

Enabling CEO success

Considering the challenges your CEO faces, how exactly should you collaborate with him to position the company for a more successful future?

1. Understand and clarify the CEO’s vision

To appreciate how your efforts might affect other areas of the organization, your CEO’s vision must be clear to the entire C-suite. This understanding will inform how you execute your department’s role in that vision.

I use a process I call the “Four C’s for Clarification” to help CEOs explain their visions to executive teams. The first step is capture: Ask the CEO to describe his vision as he might to an architect building his house. What is his big-picture view? As an upper manager, it’s then your job to fill in the actionable details — just as the architect of a house makes executive choices about details such as room dimensions or roof slope.

Context is the second C: Why does the CEO think a certain strategy is the right move? By having her explain her decision-making, the entire executive team gains deeper insight into the reasoning and goals behind a given strategy.

The third is clarity: C-suite members should individually discuss their departments’ action steps with the CEO. This helps identify any potential pitfalls, interdepartmental ripples or money sinks the plan might create.

Last, seek cohesion: Once the CEO’s strategy and action plan is developed, it’s time to get every team member on board. How can your department (and the entire organization) function as one to implement the CEO’s plan?

2. Deliver on that vision

Talking strategy is never enough; you must be able to execute on it. Demonstrate a true understanding of the CEO’s vision by developing and circulating a plan that executes your part of it — and doesn’t sabotage the management efforts of other areas in the process, of course.

I recently attended an executive team workshop for one of my clients. The CEO originally wanted to diversify one action-step into three distinct campaigns. I disagreed with this strategy, but rather than speaking up myself, I prompted his team members for their ideas. They overwhelmingly agreed with my own assessment, and that was to eliminate the other two distractions and give focus to a single course of action.

The best thing you can do to support the CEO at this stage is to guard against pet projects and distractions. Returning to the residential-construction analogy, actually building the house should be the team’s first and foremost priority. Side projects, such as landscaping, might raise the home’s value, but they’re meaningless until the house itself is built.

Projects tend to lose cohesiveness and sap resources when distractions are allowed to grow, often hamstringing the company’s ability to deliver on the CEO’s vision.

3. Straightforwardly communicate challenges

You’re not doing anyone any favors by sugarcoating issues. Notify CEOs of any challenges, and do it in three phases. Start with a general warning of potential problems. Then, outline what you’re doing to gather the facts and when the CEO can expect these facts. Last, offer up your solution to the problem.

One very real danger while communicating challenges is adding complexity. While you might view it as giving context, the CEO is likely to get hung up on peripheral distractions rather than the single decision to be made. Instead of giving too much context, ask yourself: What’s the root cause of this issue, and what is the decision to be made? Realize the CEO is busy and that smaller concerns can wait for another day.

4. Own your leadership role

Play your part and take full ownership of your leadership responsibilities. Strong leadership requires the courage to ask for additional resources when you need them, to deliver bad and good news with equal fervor, and to admit mistakes before they snowball into companywide catastrophes.

Always offer solutions. If you just relay problems to the CEO with no ideas on how to fix them, then you won’t be long for the job. Instead, be specific: If a project requires additional funds, then say so explicitly and calmly. First, describe the unexpected costs. Next, explain why your project merits the funds. Finally, make a clear request: How much money do you need, when do you need it, and what will the expenditures accomplish?

It’s your responsibility to add value to the organization, and there’s nothing more valuable to a CEO than an understood vision and a well-executed plan. Don’t wait to be led. Step up and lead in both good times and bad. Real value and growth come in our most challenging moments.

Image credit: Pixabay

Carey Rome is the founder and CEO of Cypress Resources, a management consulting firm based in Birmingham, Ala., with more than 15 years of experience helping business executives reach their goals. He has served as an adviser to business leaders at mid-sized to Fortune 1000 companies.

This is the second post in a four-part series on undertaking a sustainable-sourcing business approach to innovate private store brands. Click here to view section one about the myths, risks and opportunities of sustainable sourcing. Here we'll explore the Crawl Phase.The upcoming sections will explore the Walk Phase and the Run Phase of the innovative Crawl-Walk-Run approach.

In an economic climate with relatively stagnant growth for major national brands, private brand sales in all major retail channels continue on an upward trend. Sustainable sourcing, generally defined as using a resource so that it is not depleted or permanently damaged, creates an opportunity to differentiate your private brand from the competition, while providing additional value to your customer.

If you are just beginning the journey into sustainable sourcing, I recommend taking a Crawl-Walk-Run approach.

Where to begin: Crawl

Recycling: To begin, focus on quick wins like adding recycling instructions to your packaging as you update current labels or develop new packaging. According to National Geographic’s Greendex, the U.S. makes up 5 percent of the world’s population and creates half of the world’s garbage. Adding clear recycling instructions will make your private brand's product remain relevant to current customers while appealing to new sustainably-savvy customers.

Another quick win is to get your organization involved in recycling. Partner with local waste management companies on recycling programs that reduce costs or even generate revenue.

Food waste: Partner with local food bank organizations like Feeding America in order to reduce food waste from overruns, short-coded product or damaged product.

In the U.S., 40 percent of all food ends up in landfills. Let’s talk about donating that food. While some private brand owners remain hesitant about sending their products to food banks because of liability or consumer concerns, U.S. legislation offers brand owners liability protection in the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act.

What about meat donations? A recent USDA change has made this easier. Food banks have the ability and are required to relabel any missing ingredients or unlabeled allergens. Food banks can receive large quantities of animal proteins and will follow the same regulated safe handling protocols to repack product into smaller quantities to be distributed to clients.

As with all sustainability initiatives, it is very important to let your customers know about your programs and give them stories and examples of how these programs are helping local communities. Many food banks can help with promotions and are eager to share information of your partnerships with the press or online social media. For you, there are tax benefits to donating, reduced trash costs and, of course, the goodwill factor that identifies your brand as helping feed the hungry across America.

Animal well-being: Another initiative to begin in the Crawl Phase is to request third-party animal welfare audit results from your animal protein suppliers and manufacturers. Most suppliers already undergo third-party processing plant inspections using the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) animal welfare audit designed by Dr. Temple Grandin. It may be more difficult to obtain on-farm animal welfare audits, but it is important to start the discussion by asking for them so your suppliers know your company wants to begin receiving the information on a regular basis.

Once you have established this audit request process, you will need to ensure audit compliance reviews and corrective action follow-up. It is crucial to let your suppliers know that if there are audit deficiencies, you expect them to identify these and take corrective action, even if the audit is passed.

Communicating expectations of suppliers is key to ensuring a smooth process. Sustainable Solutions Group has this program in place and guides large retailers and foodservice companies in making this audit review process thorough and efficient.

Supplier diversity: Begin to actively seek supplier diversity in RFPs/RFQs so that private brand manufacturer diversity can be part of your socially responsible sustainable sourcing platform. If you are not doing this already, begin by buying at least one product from minority-owned or women-owned manufacturers. It may be less than a truckload, but it does not require you to do any more than award the business, while providing an opportunity to innovate your private brand.

Customer communication: Last but not least, make sure you begin promoting these efforts through social media, point-of-sale materials in-store, and messaging on your website.

Portions of this were originally published in Henry Stewart Publications 2045-855X Journal of Brand Strategy VOL. 4, NO. 2, 000–000 Summer, 2015

Image credit: Flickr/Leszek Leszczynski

Americans just love chocolate and certain times of the year that becomes very evident. Valentine’s Day is one of them. What many people don’t know is that those heart-shaped boxes of chocolate come at a steep human price.

Over 70 percent of the world’s cocoa supply comes from two West African countries: the Ivory Coast and Ghana. There are 1.8 million children working in cocoa production in both countries, and many are working under forced conditions, doing hazardous work. The amount of children working in West African cocoa production continues to grow, as a Tulane University report released in July revealed. The percentage of children working in cocoa production in Ghana and the Ivory Coast countries increased from 2008 to 2014. As of 2014, there were 2.03 million children found doing hazardous work in cocoa production in both countries.

What children working in cocoa production are required to do and are exposed to is heartbreaking. The Food Empowerment Project details the lives of children working in the cocoa sector. They work long hours, starting work early in the morning and finishing in the evening. They operate chainsaws to clear forests, climb cocoa trees to chop bean pods with a machete, carry sacks containing the pods on their back that weigh over 100 pounds and drag them through forests. They are exposed to hazardous chemicals and don’t go to school when working.

There is a simple reason why West African cocoa farmers use child labor. They don’t make much, so they can’t hire adults to harvest their crops, which, as the International Labor Rights Forum stated, “perpetuates the child trafficking and worst forms of child labor that have plagued the industry.” West African communities rely on cocoa farming to eke out a living, but the low prices they receive for their crops leave them with “impoverished incomes and with no choice but to pull their children from school and have them help on the plantation.” Cocoa farmers earn less than $2 a day.

In recent years there have been “significant investments in cocoa sustainability initiatives by the public, private, and nonprofit sectors in recent years,” according to a report by the World Cocoa Foundation. But despite those investments, “cocoa farming continues to face significant challenges.” The report cites increased competition from other cash crops, declining soil fertility and lack of knowledge of how to apply fertilizer among those challenges.

The reports of child labor in cocoa production have prompted lawsuits and consumer campaigns by non-profit organizations. Back in September, the Seattle-based law firm Hagens Berman filed a lawsuit in California against three big chocolate companies (Hershey, Mars and Nestle USA, Inc.) over the “practice of importing cocoa beans from suppliers who use child labor, including trafficked and forced child labor.” The lawsuit accuses all three of importing cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast and singles out the companies for their reliance on child labor to harvest the cocoa beans that make the chocolate that goes into its products.

Recently, both ILRF and Green America launched campaigns called “Have a Heart, Godiva.” The ILRF campaign points out that Godiva has “spent the past year exploring what sustainability means to the company and what a policy might look like” because of consumer pressure. Godiva has committed to a goal of 100 percent sustainability by 2020. However, the campaign points out that “there is no need to reinvent the wheel” as fair trade companies already source directly from cocoa farmers which increase the payments the farmers receive and improve working conditions plus help remove children from cocoa farms. The campaign specifically asks Godiva to create a “time-bound plan to action to trace its supply chain, prevent child labor and ensure cocoa farmers earn their fair share.”

The Green America campaign asks Godiva to only purchase cocoa third-party certified to be child labor free, create a specific timeline to achieve it, and give regular public updates. “This will assure your customers that you do not rely on the exploitation of farmer communities or forced child labor to produce your products,” the campaign proclaims.

Both campaigns highlight a simple reality: it's time for major chocolate companies to take steps that will remove child labor from the West African cocoa sector.

Ready to vote with your dollars? Buy Fair Trade. Here are 17 delicious options -- but really any brand will do! 

Photo: Flickr/Siona Karen

With a busy week behind you and the weekend within reach, there’s no shame in taking things a bit easy on Friday afternoon. With this in mind, every Friday TriplePundit will give you a fun, easy read on a topic you care about. So, take a break from those endless email threads and spend five minutes catching up on the latest trends in sustainability and business.

Our oceans are in pretty bad shape these days. As are the plants and animals that call them home. From sea-animal deaths to once-pristine beaches littered with waste, the evidence of the ocean plastic crisis is all around us. If we stick to this trajectory, Earth's oceans will have more plastic in them than fish by 2050, according to a study released last month by the Ocean Conservancy.

Halting the tide of debris is a crucial step to thwarting the crisis -- and moves like America's decision to ban plastic microbeads from personal care products will surely prove invaluable. But the hard reality is: We've already dumped so much waste into our oceans that devising ways to remove some of it has become an unavoidable task.

Fortunately for us, innovators the world-over are tackling this challenge that was once considered impossible.

1. 'The largest cleanup in history'

Back in 2013, Boyan Slat, a then 19-year-old Dutch national, dreamed up a concept he believed could remove mountains of waste from our oceans with a passive design and little equipment. A year later his NGO, the Ocean Cleanup, raised $2.2 million in the most successful nonprofit crowdfunding campaign in history.

Slat's idea is simple: Instead of deploying resources into the oceans to remove debris, we simply use the ocean’s currents to clean them instead. In his concept, large floating barriers would be deployed -- theoretically catching debris as currents ran through them.

https://youtu.be/6IjaZ2g-21E

After two years of testing, the Ocean Cleanup is preparing to deploy its first pilot barrier in the second quarter of this year. The 100-meter segment will be constructed in the North Sea, about 14 miles off the coast of the Netherlands. Researchers will "monitor the effects of real-life sea conditions, with a focus on waves and currents," to better prepare for a full-scale launch, the nonprofit said in a press release.

To learn more about the concept, check out this video interview with young inventor Boyan Slat.

2. Low-tech, 24/7 rubbish collection

Australian surfers Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski spend a good amount of time at ports and marinas. After years of watching garbage float by, the two devised a concept to engage ports, marinas and yacht clubs in the fight against ocean plastic.

As the duo put it on their Indiegogo page, which received full backing at the start of this year: "Mother nature brings us the rubbish," and they do the rest with their device called the Seabin.

Here's how it works: The Seabin is attached to an unused corner of a marina or port that is known to become clogged with trash and debris. A shore-based water pump creates a flow of water into the bin, bringing with it bottles, bags and other debris. The water is pumped through, while a biodegradable catch-bag retains the rubbish. Bags can be easily emptied on the marina's regular cleaning schedule.

After raising more than $250,000 on Indiegogo, Turton and Ceglinski plan to ship the first Seabins at the end of this year.

3. A water wheel for waste

Okay, enough about concepts. Let's talk about a system that's already in use and making a big difference. Baltimore's Inner Harbor Water Wheel, or “Mr. Trash Wheel” to locals, harnesses the power of water and sunlight to collect debris flowing down the Jones Falls River.

The river's current turns the wheel, which lifts trash and debris from the water and deposits it into a dumpster barge. When the water current is too slow, a solar panel array provides additional power to keep the machine running. Full dumpsters are towed away by boat, and a new dumpster is put in place. Pretty simple, right?

Beyond that, some experts have called it the only "truly feasible" concept to harvest debris from waterways. Click here to check out a live feed of the trash wheel in action.

4. Hunting 'ghost gear'

Launched in September 2015, the Global Ghost Gear Initiative is the first effort dedicated to tackling the problem of ghost fishing gear at a global scale. Ghost gear, which refers to abandoned fishing equipment like nets, line, rope and traps, makes up around 10 percent of global marine litter. An estimated 640,000 tons is added to our oceans annually.

The initiative supports nearly 20 projects around the world that capture and make use of ghost gear. Such innovations include:

• In the U.S., the NOAA's Fishing for Energy program converts derelict fishing gear into energy. The program also provides grants for gear removal and develops technologies to reduce gear loss.


• In Africa and the Philippines, the Net-Works program rallies local communities to collect discarded nets. They then sell them back into a global supply chain – generating income and giving those waste-nets a second life as new carpet tile.


• In the Maldives, the Olive Ridley Project is actively fighting ghost nets in the Indian Ocean through removal, research and awareness.


• In the seas around Great Britain, Scandinavia and Western Europe, Fishing for Litter deploys fishing boats strapped with collection bags to remove ghost gear and other debris.

The initiative is still taking on new partners, and its portfolio of projects is growing all the time.

Image credits: 1) Flickr/Fabio Achilli 2) The Ocean Cleanup 3) The Seabin Project via Indiegogo 4) The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore 

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court voted 5-4 along idealogical lines to issue a stay that temporarily halts progress on the EPA's Clean Power Plan. Designed to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, the plan is a mainstay of President Barack Obama's national climate-action strategy.

The order briefly stated that the Clean Power Plan is on hold until legal challenges to the rule have run their course. The order also noted that the four liberal judges on the court all oppose issuing the stay.

According to John Coequyt, director of federal and international climate campaigns for the Sierra Club, issuing a stay on regulations before lower courts have ruled on their legal merits is "without precedent," hinting at a political motivation for the order.

In a telephone press conference on Thursday, Coequyt emphasized the Supreme Court's order is "only a pause in the process of establishing state plans."

"We want to be clear ... that the court's decision does not overturn the policy or decide its legal merits," Coequyt said.

As to its merits, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which denied a similar stay request in December, will hear oral arguments beginning on June 2. Once the lower court issues its ruling, the Supreme Court, assuming it hears the case, could make a final decision as soon as June of 2017 but "likely no later than June of 2018," said Sierra Club's chief climate counsel, Joanne Spalding.

Mandatory compliance with the Clean Power Plan does not begin until 2022, but states are required to submit their emissions-reductions strategies to the EPA by September, though states are allowed to request a two-year extension. Targets are unique to every state, but the overall goal of the plan is to reduce carbon emissions by 32 percent below 2005 levels from new and existing coal power plants.

Despite claims from industry opponents and 27 Republican-led states that the EPA regulation is an "unprecedented power grab," there is precedent for the Clean Power Plan -- unlike for this week's stay. The Supreme Court itself upheld the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions, specifically granting authority for the EPA to limit carbon pollution from power plants under the Clean Air Act.

Several states, including Colorado, Virginia, California and Washington, are committed to continue implementing the plan despite the Supreme Court's stay. Further, a coalition of 14 states led by New York issued a statement stressing their support of the Clean Power Plan.

As the legal process plays out, the EPA will make available a so-called 'toolbox' for states that intend to continue with the planning process.

Clean-energy trend not diminished

Nearly two-thirds of new U.S. generating capacity in 2015 was from renewable sources, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reported last week in its latest Energy Infrastructure Report.

"Carbon pollution from the electric sector has been declining over the last several years," Spalding said on Thursday.

"We've transitioned from dirty fossil energy to clean renewable energy. That trend will continue independent of the Clean Power Plan."

That trend is global, added David Waskow, director of the World Resources Institute's International Climate Initiative.

"According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, more than $300 billion -- a recored amount -- was invested in clean energy last year around the world," Waskow said.

In the past five years, 231 coal plants have been retired in the United States. The Clean Power Plan is not forcing a trend; it is simply following one that is already in place and picking up steam.

"The fate of the coal industry and the shift to clean energy is not on hold," Sierra Club's Coequyt said.

Those crazy Americans: Momentum from Paris remains undeterred

Certainly the international community is watching what happens with the legal maneuvering as fossil fuel interests fight the inevitable shift of the energy economy. But the American political and legal process is nothing new to observers outside of the U.S., said Alden Meyer, director of strategy and policy with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

"I think there's a pretty broad understanding among most other countries about the domestic landscape on climate in general in the U.S. and on the Clean Power Plan in particular," Meyer said.

"It's not a surprise to anyone that there are legal challenges to the Clean Power Plan state-implementation issues."

Meyer said some of his colleagues expressed concern over a "repeat of Kyoto" where the world "accommodated the U.S." in the design of the agreement only to see the U.S. not implement it. "But there's also awareness of the big differences between now and then," Meyer added.

Among those differences, he explained, are greater public awareness and concern about climate change, the economic opportunity of clean energy, and engagement from business and labor.

And then there's the momentum generated for climate action in Paris.

"Are we disappointed? Sure," Spalding from the Sierra Club conceded. "But the Paris Agreement is popular. The Paris Agreement has momentum, and the Paris Agreement is 100 percent on track."

"The Supreme Court's order staying the plan will not affect our ability to achieve our international commitments."

Image credit: Flickr/Gemstone

This post first published in GlobalWarmingisReal.com

A group of shareholders called the ‘Aiming for A’ investor coalition is asking three giant mining companies to be more transparent about the climate change risks to their businesses. The investors are responsible for over $8 trillion in assets.

Shareholder resolutions to Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto include support from four of the world’s largest pension funds. All three resolutions are identical and call for the companies to include the following in their routine annual reporting from 2017:

• Further information about ongoing operational emissions management
• Asset portfolio resilience to the International Energy Agency’s scenarios
• Low-carbon energy research and development (R&D) and investment strategies
• Relevant strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) and executive incentives
• Public policy positions relating to climate change

“It is our intention that this is a supportive but stretching shareholder resolution,” the coalition declared. The text mentions two similar Aiming for A resolutions last year that were approved by BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

Climate-change risks to the mining sector are significant

The mining sector faces significant climate change risks in its supply chain, a report by the International Committee on Mining and Metals (ICMM) details.

The physical risks to mining operations occur “because these industries are often located in challenging geographies, rely on fixed assets with long lifetimes, involve global supply chains, manage,” the report's authors state. These physical risks include changes to rainfall, higher sea levels, and lower freshwater lake or river levels. Physical risks may impact asset values, reduce efficiency, increase the risks of not complying with regulations, force changes in operating practices, and reduce or increase demand for certain products or services.

Mining companies already operate in areas that experience weather extremes, but as the climate changes they will need to cope with even more physical risks to their operations. There are certain characteristics of the mining sector that may increase exposure to climate risks -- namely a reliance on “large fixed assets with long design lifetimes,” which means that potential climate impacts need to “considered at the outset,” the ICMM report cites. Otherwise, designing and planning decisions may not be resilient and could increase risks to operations and even the local environment.

The ICCM report points out two key areas where the mining sector is vulnerable. One of those areas is water: Water is needed for mining, so any climate-related impacts on water -- such as changes to rainfall and depleting freshwater reserves -- will directly impact mining operations. And in areas where water resources are already under stress, additional stress brought on by a warming planet will only increase risks to operations. 

Energy is the other key area of vulnerability noted by the ICCM. It takes a lot of energy to break, move and process large amounts of ore. Here is where water and energy intersect. Hydroelectric power is deeply affected by water availability, but conventional power is also vulnerable to climate change. Transmission pathways for energy are vulnerable to disruption by extreme weather events such as storms or flooding.

Some mining companies “have already taken steps to mitigate the potential impact of the move to a low-carbon economy and lower commodity prices,” as another report, this one by Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, states. Some examples are cited, including mining companies that are exploring the potential of new technologies such as carbon capture and storage, while others are setting goals to achieve zero-carbon mining operations.

However, the report's authors are concerned that "the current business strategies of many mining companies may not be sufficiently sustainable given the potential for rapidly changing demand for different commodities triggered by emerging technologies and policy interventions which can and will impact on the sector.” In other words, while some mining companies are addressing climate change risks, others are not.

Image credit: Wikimedia/Eickhoff

By Nita Kirby

2015 was a fantastic year for many things, including philanthropy. I ended my year by attending a two-day symposium devoted to global volunteerism, and it challenged me to think about employee engagement across our world that is seemingly becoming smaller each day.

In September, the United Nations met to address its post-2015 development agenda that includes a review of goals that could incorporate the private sector in their development. The intent is to build a true public-private partnership to affect measurable change on a global scale. We do this by creating (and meeting) Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs).

Per the U.N., the objective is a more “universal, inclusive and bold commitment to people and the planet." So, how do we implement measurable change on a global scale? When written out, it seems nearly impossible, until you recognize that several countries, companies and countless volunteers are ready to support (and measure) this initiative!

Global volunteerism

Expanding beyond your borders is not a new concept, but teaming up your volunteerism with one of the SDGs is a great way to bring new life into a program, whether you are at your local nonprofit or sending your employees to an organization in desperate need of skills to transform their services. There are a number of partners that support looking for opportunities from the U.N. Volunteers Site, Global Impact and Points of Light. Each share opportunities that are attuned to meeting an objective and providing needed structure for a solid volunteerism experience.

Idea: The second SDG listed here is “No Hunger.” While that might be a scary goal to achieve on your own, your company can go serve at a soup kitchen in your local area, recruit local restaurants to help feed hungry families, or have a food drive to stock a local pantry.

Corporate philanthropy for today

Eduardo Martinez, the president of the UPS Foundation and a member of the 2030 Agenda, shared his thoughts on how his people are using their talents to meet the SDGs and what to expect the trends to be as we make our way through 2016:

1) Diversity and Inclusion – Taking steps to look deeper into outcomes that ensure that opportunities address the needs of employee resource groups, both hands-on as well as skill-based events, and sharing stories that show how goals were met.

To Do: Have you facilitated an event at your workplace that might inspire other companies to get involved? Create a video and put it on YouTube or Vimeo to share with your employees, prospective candidates and any vendors you work with.

2) Volunteerism – Identifying the value proposition for your colleagues and the organizations you work with; always seeking a higher purpose and authenticity.

To do: Survey your employees using this list of SDGs to see which one they are most interested in working on. Measurable results can come from lots of volunteers working together. Tools like Survey Monkey allow you to create simple polls to get a pulse on your employees’ preferences. It’s the first step to increasing volunteerism in your organization!

3) Environment – Identifying smart ways to lessen your footprint and putting investment back into the world through planting, local gardens and sustainable foods.

To Do: Here’s a simple list to help you and your employees lessen your corporate environmental footprint without drastic measures. First on the list? Turn computers off at night. It saves energy, is completely do-able, and gives much needed closure for the day.

4) Community safety – Finding the core essence of what your company considers safety is key for UPS; this can transcend to any community that requires a safe environment.

To Do: Locate a nearby school, neighborhood or business that could use the help of a trained accountant, safety patrol or advocate at city hall for a much-needed speed bump. Not only will advocating for your community create goodwill in your local area, but it will also help your employees use different skills than those they use in your company.

Creating a system of service

One word – storytelling. There is no better way to convey a message than to sit down and share your service. Social media has enabled us with this vast system to share content and explore one’s point of view on their connections of the world. We are able to connect quickly with those in different places instantaneously.

For example, I can tell you that Cleveland’s highest-rated high schools are at only 68 percent capacity while most of the city’s poorly-rated schools are under capacity, averaging 71 percent utilization, and it MIGHT move you to action.

But what will likely move you more, is the story of Jenna, a high-school sophomore who desperately wants more investment in her local school because, while she has the grades and transportation to switch schools, her little brother, Jamal, does not. Her fight to get better teachers, more funding and after-school programs supported is a story of courage, persistence and the desire to leave things better than when she found them.

Combined with the SDG goal to help the world’s youth receive a quality education, this is a story your company can get behind. You cannot change all the schools, but you can change Jenna’s.

Social media is so significant to mobilizing and understanding the benefits of service. To help you get started with your storytelling, here are some quick tips:

• Understand your audience: This is the key to striking relevant significance.


• Survey: Part of the story is how the experience was and surveying can make this happen.


• The right tell: Sharing the transformation; did the event change your view?

You and your willingness to engage touches each of the Sustainable Development Goals. Whether working at a food bank, contributing to your local school or sharing that lives matter, you are the change that can make powerful things happen within your community. As a practitioner and student of this ever-changing field, I challenge you to embrace a goal for this year. Find a common impact, value and ownership in your transformation for years to come.

Image credit: Flickr/Alex Pearson

Ms. Nita Kirby serves as Director of Client Strategy and oversees JK Group’s strategic service management with a majority of its corporate clients. In addition, Nita is responsible for ensuring the success of philanthropic programs for many of JK Group’s key customers and oversees process improvements for how the company manages its client’s programs and relationships. This effort includes detailed benchmarking, employee engagement methodologies and financial modeling. Nita serves on numerous non-profit and volunteer boards and continues to stay engaged with the local non-profits community. Nita has worked for one of largest non-profits in the US, where she provided extensive support to some of the largest employee giving programs in the country. With a BS in Business Administration and vast experience in program development and administrative protocol, this experience has allowed Nita to incorporate best practice processes in each of her client engagements and focus on deliverables and client satisfaction. In addition, Nita is a Lean Six Sigma certified Green Belt providing her with expanded insight into how processes affect outcomes.

A rainbow of color punctuates Patagonia's Worn Wear Instagram feed, where people proudly show off their outdoor clothing that has a renewed life after being repaired.  One mom brags about being able to have a child's down jacket refilled after he picked many of the feathers out.  Jeans are receiving inner patches that no one will see.  A Worn Wear brand patch even adorns some items that were skillfully re-crafted by an official repair technician.  Many repairs are invisible to the naked eye, while some are intentionally artistic and add personality to the garment.

Across its social media platforms, the company is using both the #WornWear and #BetterThanNew hashtags to promote the concept.

"Red, yellow & green tape-all looked good on the blue jacket." A feel good #WornWear story: https://t.co/8mrANTFbWt pic.twitter.com/y2zdpjA9Ar

— Patagonia (@patagonia) February 9, 2016

This leadership in creating durable products and then encouraging customers to extend product life caught the attention of Ethical Corp. when it featured case studies of businesses demonstrating how to make a circular economy work.  The circular economy is a concept of doing business, ideally, with no waste and no pollution.  Simply put, this approach could keep us as a society from filling up so many landfills with disposable goods.

Could more manufacturers successfully sell the message to buy more, not less? Encourage customers to repair and reuse goods instead of replacing them?  Minimize use of natural resources?  Still maintain profitability?

Patagonia's CEO, Rose Marcario, encourages a culture of people who consider themselves owners rather than consumers and take responsibility for making the company's sporty, outdoor gear last as long as possible. She also encourages business thinking that supports the concept of goods made to last, not be replaced next year. Without this cultural shift, she warns of what she called "ecological bankruptcy."

Ethical Corp. highlights Patagonia's leadership in its case studies, which feature a total of eight companies that are contributing to a circular economy.  The report is a lead-up to the 15th annual Responsible Business Summit coming up in London in June.

The report notes, "Stronger sustainability performance is a crucial part of attracting younger customers and building brand loyalty among this demographic."  Youthful customers are strongly identifying with business initiatives that show a sense of care for people and the planet.

Patagonia is receiving accolades for its Worn Wear program that includes instruction guides for repairing Patagonia goods, encourages customers to make items last longer, and facilitates reuse of items.  The company now boasts the largest garment-repair facility in North America, in Reno, Nevada.  Adding to the lore of outdoor sporting experiences, now the company can add the skillfully-woven stories of customers' reuse of repaired garments to its narrative.

The Worn Wear system even allows for sales of gently-used and repaired secondhand clothing, making these goods available at a lower price point. Racks of perfectly-repaired Patagonia clothing entice shoppers during special promotions where they can sometimes trade in one item for another.

Patagonia is demonstrating that customer loyalty extends well beyond a short clothing lifespan and can even deepen when people want to keep their favorite jacket or jeans beyond a little wear-and-tear.  Voluntary recycling of Patagonia products is also offered as another customer service.

Unlike many manufacturers that warn you not to tamper with a product because it could void the warranty, Patagonia makes a point to say repairs will not void its quality guarantee.  Detailed repair guides suggest ways you could repair items yourself for little to no cost.  They're as simple as "repairing a loop of loose stitching in a Patagonia nano puff jacket" or as complicated as how to install a new zipper in a jacket. If you prefer not to do it yourself, the option is available to send items in and pay a nominal cost for repairs.

Other companies featured as examples of the circular economy are Hewlett Packard, Jaguar Land Rover, British telecom BT Group, shipping company Maersk Line, fair-trade smartphone maker Fairphone, upcycling legend Terracycle, and eco-packaging firm Vegware.  Through these examples and practical advice, Ethical Corp. is offering fresh ideas on how even more industry players can become environmentally conscious about the way they do business.

More information about the upcoming Responsible Business Summit is available here.

Image credit: Flickr/Hajime NAKANO

By Robert Bikel

Over the last decade, corporate social responsibility, or CSR, has become ingrained in the culture of many corporations. But a new global survey has found that consumers are demanding more than a handful of contributions and a glossy end-of-year report.

The report from global marketing agency Havas Worldwide, entitled Project Superbrand: 10 Truths Reshaping the Corporate World, describes the evolving demands on companies, beyond core business functions, which seek to “do well” by “doing good.”

Their survey of consumers and “prosumers” – influential consumers whose impact extends beyond their own economic impact to influence the brand choices and behaviors of others – found that consumers are now making purchasing decisions based on strong corporate values. Seventy percent of prosumers are actively seeking out information on the companies that provide the products and services they buy. Two-thirds of Prosumers globally avoid buying from companies deemed to have a negative social or environmental impact. And 80 percent of prosumers agree that a clear set of values can help a company be more profitable.

Given what consumers not just want, but increasingly demand, the question has moved beyond, "How can small businesses develop and launch a successful CSR program?”  At Pepperdine Graziadio School, in the corporate world and among key stakeholders, the answer extends beyond the idea of “giving back.” The fact is, companies must integrate social and environmental values into strategies that create long-term competitive advantage. There’s no playbook for this, but entrepreneurs can focus on a few salient ideas:

Recognize that entrepreneurism and values are not mutually exclusive

One of the most visible – and impactful – examples of values-based innovation is headquartered in Los Angeles. Most businesspeople know the Toms story. In 2006, Toms founder Blake Mycoskie witnessed the hardships faced by Argentinian children growing up without shoes. In response, he created Toms Shoes and a one-to-one business model in which every pair of shoes purchased is matched with a new pair of shoes for a child in need.

Since the company began operations, it has given away 10 million pairs of shoes and provided free eye care to more than 150,000 people. And it launched Toms Roasting, a coffee venture under which for every bag of coffee sold, Toms provides a week’s worth of water to a person in need. That new venture has provided more than 175,000 weeks of clean drinking water to people in need around the world.

Oh, and along the way, entrepreneur Mycoskie has built a business estimated to be worth $625 million.

Work locally

Not all companies want to emulate the model of Toms, a company that proudly states that “giving is our DNA,” and most don’t have the business models or resources where this would make sense. That doesn’t mean they can’t make an impact.

Small businesses sometimes operate under the assumption that their social impact must be large-scale in order to resonate with customers and create shared value for stakeholders.  In fact, the Havas study found that local efforts pay big dividends: “Solving global problems is important, but meaningful connections also must take place at the local level. A majority of our global respondents — including nearly three-quarters of prosumers — are looking for their favorite brands to play a bigger role in their local communities. Nearly 9 in 10 prosumers believe it’s important for companies to improve the communities in which they operate.”

There are thousands of opportunities to have a meaningful impact here in Los Angeles, for example, including with local food banks and at-risk children, at local schools, and through clean-ups at local beaches. Business owners should ask themselves what areas of impact they’re passionate about – and pursue those passions locally – to build their local brand.  (For the record, Pepperdine is also joining in by supporting the once-homeless start small businesses though the Pepperdine Microenterprise Program.)

“Goodness” begins at home

In our Social, Ethical and Environmental Responsibility (SEER) program at Pepperdine University, in which we examine how to integrate sustainability, corporate social responsibility and ethics into entrepreneurship and innovation, we’ve found is that a culture that integrates values into strategy must originate in the C-suite and be practiced at every operational level.

Just as consumers are demanding more, employees report that they want more than a paycheck – including a sense of pride and fulfillment from their work, a purpose and a company whose values match their own. According to a survey by the nonprofit Net Impact, 53 percent of workers said that “a job where I can make an impact” was important to their happiness. Most would even take a pay cut to achieve that goal.  

Minimally, that translates to fair salaries, consideration of working arrangements that suit individual needs (such as flexible schedules and provision for religious observance), and a safe, healthy and harassment-free workplace. Most broadly, it requires that the company apply basic minimum standards -- the respect for human rights and dignity -- in all facets of business operations. The result: happier employees whose values align with the shared purpose of the company. Beyond helping with employee engagement and retention, such values-alignment unleashes the creativity of the whole organization potentially producing break-through innovation.

We’re lucky that, here in Los Angeles, entrepreneurs have unprecedented talent and resources at their disposal to target challenges through their very business models. By drawing on those resources and deploying them strategically, small businesses can build their brand and inspire customer loyalty – all by “doing good.”

Image credit: Flickr/Virginia State Parks

Robert Bikel is a Professor of Strategy and Director of the SEER Program at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management. Click here for more information about Pepperdine Graziadio SEER certificate program.

By Emma Elisse

It’s a fact of life these days that by using increasingly sophisticated big-data tools and technologies, we’re able to take the convergence of our “digital” and “real” selves to the next level. And for companies in the private sector, the digital footprints left behind when consumers ‘like’ a Facebook post or ‘share’ their feelings toward a certain product are an invaluable way to discover how that person may shop in the future. Because so much of our lives are now connected to the broader Internet of Things, it’s possible for marketing teams to understand almost everything about our lives, and use the import social issues and current events – including environmental policy and action on climate change -- to shape their campaigns.

To ensure success in this year’s presidential election, political strategists in both the Democratic and Republican parties have teamed up with big data firms to create massive datasets which hold detailed characteristic and trait profiles of millions of individuals. These political funding initiatives, which effectively target specific slices of the electorate, help candidates tailor their messages to whomever they are attempting to reach.

For example, a candidate attempting to reach pro-environmental voters in the Houston area could send certain ads only to specific registered voters registered who have typed “Nissan Leaf” into Google, or shared information from the COP21 event on their timelines.

Candidates who have based their platform around climate change may be able to use data-based advertising strategies to move people to action – but of course, the inverse is also true as well. Republican candidates, notorious for their allegiance to fossil fuel industry, also invest heavily in data-mining tools to more effectively disseminate their messages to voters across the country.

How campaigns collect your data

Xaxis, a top data mining firm, has supported several political campaigns by harvesting massive quantities of data from people across the United States. By scanning the social media profiles, online purchases and Internet searches of millions of Americans, Xaxis compiles a comprehensive list of likely voters and where they stand on certain issues. Political campaigns purchase this information to make their efforts more effective. In this way, instead of distributing a single advertisement about a candidate’s positions to every household in Detroit, highly specialized advertisements are sent only to likely supporters.

Yet for political campaigns, the realm of digital is still relatively new. Television has long been the standard medium through which to connect and communicate, and it’s still the most effective -- reaching 87 percent of people over 18, as Derek Willis wrote in the New York Times earlier this year.

To this end, it was in the interest of pay-TV companies Dish Network and DirecTV to begin offering services allowing political campaigns to utilize their digital data to distribute certain advertisements for particular households. Dish and DirecTV had previously joined audiences in their “D2 initiative," which mined TV set-top box data to target ads at a household level for consumer advertisers. By bringing this technology to politics with the addition of voter files and data provided by i360 and Clarity Campaigns/TargetSmart (Republican and Democratic data companies, respectively), big data will increasingly alter the way politicians buy ads designed to persuade or to move people to action.

Data demographics

After all of the data is gathered, it is further analyzed to create a granular picture of each individual’s demographic profile. Once likely-voter profiles are assembled, the information is delivered to the campaigns. Campaigns use video advertising companies like Eyeview to create videos that appeal to voter personalities and interests. Some videos may utilize logic and fact-based strategies and others may use emotional appeals.

Keyword data can also be used to locate certain interest groups. By discovering individuals who searched for terms like 'Honda Prius,' 'green living' or 'vegan diets,' campaigns can learn where they can effectively concentrate their advertisements about environmental issues. This is an important aspect of informing and mobilizing voters for an election. Identifying Internet users who frequently visit science and energy websites can also be used to find people who support the environment. To this end, similar methods can be used to flag potential voters who support gun rights or free trade.

Climate action and the 2016 election

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, a denier of climate change, uses data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica to gather psychological profiles of potential voters across the United States. Using this revealing information, Cruz has been able to create specific attack-advertisements on gun legislation and environmental issues. Because Cruz is showing these advertisements to individuals whose beliefs are in opposition to these causes, he is attracting quite a bit of support from voters in certain areas of the South and Midwest. This could increase the likelihood of Cruz surging forward to take the Republican nomination for the upcoming election.

That said, substantial funding and the same data-based strategies can help environmentalists elect a leader who will support strong action on climate change. Environmentalist Tom Steyer's super PAC, NextGen Climate Action, has expressed support for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. This may help the Sanders' campaign move forward and target the right voters, raising further awareness of his plans to move away from fossil fuels and toward more renewable sources of energy.

Consistently showing potential voters advertisements about topics that they are interested in can increase voter turnout. The technological tools of big-data analytics make this possible on a unprecedented scale. Data-mining has transformed the strategic landscape of modern political campaigns. With the proper funding, the resources of big data can be used to elect leaders that will protect the environment from the effects of anthropogenic climate change.

Image credit: Pixabay

Emma Elisse is a freelance writer and blogger from the Midwest. After going to college in Florida she relocated to Chicago, where she now lives with a roommate and two rabbits. She primarily covers entertainment topics and issues pertaining to the environment.