Items tagged with

supply chain

I recently interviewed Kurt Kuehn, CFO of UPS for my forthcoming book, “The New Corporate Facts of Life” (AMACOM 2013). Kurt described how globalization has impacted the 105 year-old company, and continues to be a key strategic driver for the future. UPS went through a phase of building a global footprint, followed by a phase of adding broader capabilities.

Build the Global Brown Footprint

"Life can be much broader once you discover one simple fact, and that is, everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you ... the minute that you understand that you can poke life ... that you can change it, you can mold it ... that's maybe the most important thing." 

 - Steve Jobs (Just before he died, in the documentary “One Last Thing”) 

Can a drink build a better planet and inspire others? Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) thinks so.  Last week CCE brought together internal and external stakeholders to give a taste of the company’s endeavor to “deliver for today and inspire for tomorrow. ” 

NIKE announced last week an “unwavering” commitment to eliminate all hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by 2020.  Achieving this goal requires working with brands, material suppliers, the chemical industry, NGOs and others to find innovative solutions. 

Tantalum [1] is a rare refractory metal used in many electronic devices such as cell phones, Blackberries, laptops and i-phones. While most tantalum mining occurs in Australia, about 20% of the world’s supply is in the Congo.

Have you integrated sustainability into the organization’s strategy? Do you have a culture characterized by innovation, engagement, responsibility and leadership? Sustainability is believed to be the greatest business opportunity of our time. Early adopters of sustainable development are changing the rules of the game in business, education and communities. Examples are scattered across this website and in our blogs.

On the same day I posted the blog on “Deforestation and Your Supply Chain”, Earthkeepers posted a statement from Jeffrey Swartz, Timberland’s CEO in an Update From the Amazon. The deforestation referred to by Greenpeace is caused by cattle ranchers who cut down the rain forest to raise livestock primarily for food. Less than 10% of the proceeds of the cow are for the leather sold as raw materials to suppliers who turn the hides into products such as footwear.

Amazon Deforestation: Source - mongabay.com

Nearly 20 percent of global warming causing emissions are from forest destruction, more climate pollution than all the world’s cars, trucks, trains, planes, and ships combined.