Sustainable development corporate commitment

For those executive directors in the 2004 DJSI chemical sector, sustainable development is a commitment, not window dressing for commercial purposes. Through then-personal commitment to stewardship and sustainable development, corporate leaders can help to ensure a secure future for their company and society at large. 

There was undoubtedly significant skepticism at the outset on the need to make a commitment to sustainable development. Why us now Most of our competitors seem to be doing well if not better without it was a common retort. And What about the shareholder Companies are not charities. Surely the prime responsibility of any corporation is to its shareholders This sentiment was driven by the widely held perception that although the moral case was clear, such a commitment might mean additional burdens on the business and therefore make it less effective. 

Leadership commitment was found to be a unifying element among the chemical companies in the 2004 DJSI. The personal passion of an executive officer or director of the corporation was found to be a critical element of corporate commitment to sustainable development. Each of the companies had one or more directors, often one of the executive directors, who emerged as the organizational mouthpiece or champion for the company on issues relating to sustainable development. The... 

Having a board comprised of individuals with diverse experience and who represent a broad range of stakeholders is important to corporate initiatives in sustainability. The corporations in the chemical sector of the 2004 DJSI valued the presence on their board of individuals with experience in, or commitment to, sustainability-related activities in other aspects of their lives. The companies have retained the services of individuals with demonstrated expertise in education, environmental affairs, and various philanthropic and social causes. The boards of Dow and DuPont are particularly noteworthy for the representation of directors who have received significant public recognition for their contributions to sustainable development. 

A commitment to sustainability compels organizations to pursue a course of action involving the recruitment and retention of directors who understand the value of sustainable development to the corporation and society. Criteria for the selection of directors should include evidence of involvement in, or representation of, stakeholder interests. Corporations can and should engage directors who have... 

In addition to attracting directors with a personal commitment to sustainable development, most of the boards showed the presence of board members from companies in other sectors of the DJSI. Corporations were relying on the resource dependency aspects of the director role (Zahra and Pearce, 1989) by selecting individuals who could link them to others with knowledge and experience in sustainable development. Each of the companies had directors who were either executives or directors at other companies who have demonstrated excellence in sustainability by virtue of their inclusion in one of the other market sectors in the DJSI (Table 8.9). 

The DJSI is not the sole measure of corporate commitment to sustainable development. The data were reviewed to determine whether any of the directors had an... 

D. R. Taschler, Characteristics of Board of Director Members and Corporate Commitment to Sustainable Development . Available at UMI Proquest Digital Dissertations, Publication No. AAT 3144876, 2004... 

Taschler, David R., PE is a business manager at Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. in Allentown, PA and an adjunct professor in the Engineering Division at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. He conducted his doctoral research on the Characteristics of Board of Director Members and Corporate Commitment to Sustainable Development at the University of Phoenix. Dr. Taschler is a former Management Verifier for the American Chemistry Council s Responsible Care program and is a member of the AIChE Sustainability Division and the Academy of Management. 

Policy the CER includes both Dainippon s guiding Principle and its Policy . The Principle states As a responsible corporate citizen, Dainippon Ink And Chemicals, Incorporated (DIC), recognizes that care for the environment, safety and health (ESH) is fundamental to the management of the company. DIC is committed to the concept of sustainable development and contributes to society by creating environmentally sound products and technology. ... 

This study supports the conclusions of Jackson (2003, p. 25) that the corporate sustainability in an interactive planning seeks to gain stakeholder approval for and commitment to an idealized design for the system being developed. In addition, this is meant to ensure that the maximum creativity is brought to the process of the corporate sustainability by replacing the current messy simation with which stakeholders are confronted and replacing it with a clear future that they all desire. 

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