Suppliers, B2B customers, unions and other keenly interested constituencies also each have their own reasons to be watching a company’s sustainability strategies: They may provide challenges or opportunities for those parties too.
Unilever CEO Paul Polman is learning that these days. He recently criticized “mindless consumption” even though his company makes only perishable CPGs. He said Unilever takes “responsibility from sustainable sourcing to sustainable living” and works with partners to foster “sustainable growth in its broadest sense: equality.”
Problem is, with global economies remaining sluggish and even cooling, the job-stunting aspects of corporate sustainability goals are falling into the crosshairs of unions. So Unilever was just blistered by a European labor group which claims that the company has “destroyed 70,000 jobs in Europe over the past 10 years” in large part because its corporate-sustainability strategy “has not brought the about-turn that was hoped for.”
So while Polman has been rhetorically focusing Unilever’s sustainability concerns on “over a billion people going to bed hungry,” its unions would rather the CEO first be concerned about thousands of its European employees going to bed jobless.
Unilever’s sustainability challenge is in keeping with the results of a new survey by the United Nations which showed that “while CEOs see a role for business in promoting sustainable development, their responsibilities to the more traditional fundamentals of business success, and to the expectations of markets and stakeholders, are preventing greater scale, speed and impact” from sustainability efforts.
In fact, the survey found, only 45 percent of CEOs surveyed worldwide believed that sustainability will be “very important” to the future success of their business, compared with 54 percent in the last survey carried out in 2010.
Read: https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304799404579154783041741944
Read: https://www.qsrmagazine.com/sustainability/sustainability-gap
Read: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/ceo-survey-corporate-sustainability-movement
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
