Corporations looking beyond the bottom line, says group.
The issues of slavery in cocoa plantations faced by Cadbury, to the forced climb-down of the 39 pharmaceutical companies over the price for AIDS drugs, to British Petroleum facing tough shareholder resolutions all suggest that companies need to strategically manage their impacts on society to prevent being buffeted by similar unexpected shocks. The practices of a diverse range of companies, including South African Breweries, Ford, The Novo Group, Dow Chemical, Shell, Rio Tinto and DuPont explored in the report, indicate that leading boards are starting to address societal challenges. But the report also shows that there is still a long way to go for the vast majority of boards. Peter Zollinger, another co-author and the executive director of SustainAbility Ltd suggests that it is not just a matter of implementing a different approach but also an issue of leadership. They need to communicate what they consider to be realistic expectations of what business can and cannot achieve, and what they consider to be responsibilities of others.