Directors & Boards articles from September 1993

Directors & Boards archives from September 1993

The ecological imperative for business. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Business leaders must have their companies participate fully in the resolution of the complex environmental issues facing our world society. Over the past two decades, environmental considerations have become an increasingly important aspect of...

Changing the adversarial paradigm. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Here is what it will take to develop a real working partnership between business and government. Corporate environmentalism, eco-efficiency, sustainable development, green technologies, market incentives, and responsible care are all terms...

How to reshape environmental policy. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Here is a proposal to change the rules of the game before we waste more time and money on the wrong problems. Two decades after the "green" movement was born, the system that drives U.S. environmental policy is as obsolete as slide rules,...

CERES and Sun Co.: a bold partnership. (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies; Sun Company Inc.)(includes related article) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... The forming of this relationship heralds a new level of social and environmental awareness at the very top of Corporate America. In February 1993, the I board of directors of Sun Co. voted to endorse the CERES Principles (formerly the Valdez...

The director as environmental steward. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Here are five key questions directors can ask themselves and management about the company's environmental stance. Environmental issues now routinely play a role in the board of directors' stewardship of a company's overall well-being. The...

Bolstering the board's environmental focus. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Adding environmentalists to the board and establishing environmental committees are two trends that are becoming more prevalent. Consider the following: You are a board member for a Fortune 500 company. You have been on the board for some time...

Stewardship starts at the board level. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Clearly, the time for the creation of a Safety, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee of the board had come. In both of our businesses -- construction aggregates and industrial chemicals -- we make products that are essential or highly...

Of green lights and golden carrots. (EPA incentive programs) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... The EPA's incentive programs are powering corporations to embrace a more energy-efficient and pollution-free future. Few issues have gained as strong a hold on global consciousness over the past decade as the environment. As people of all...

Steady improvement, plus breakthroughs. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... Over the past 20 years, environmental values and shareholder values have become more closely aligned than many of us would ever have imagined. Indeed, today "CEO" does mean chief environmental officer as much as chief executive officer. At Union...

Opportunity knocks, and leaders answer. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... Conventional wisdom often casts opportunity as the opposite of risk. In reality, risk and opportunity are closely linked partners and must be managed together for an organization to succeed. Nowhere is this more evident than in the issues of...

So much waste that can be avoided. (Northwest Airlines Inc.'s environmental policy) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... Northwest Airlines has made a strategic decision to play a leadership role in our industry relative to the environmental movement. The value added to our company has been significant, if not easily measurable. Not only has it bound many of our...

Recycling: into the mainstream. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... More than just a slogan to spur the general public to action, "reduce, reuse, and recycle" represents a practical way to bring environmental ethics and cost-efficient practices into homes, schools, and corporate offices. Throughout the 1990s...

Opening new sources of support. (includes related article) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... On Earth Day last April 22, Citibank's 45,000 employees took part in a charitable campaign for Earth Share, the nation's pre-eminent federation of environmental organizations, in which the company pledged to match its workers' donations dollar...

A significant role for private capital. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... In the 1980s, the environmental industry grew substantially but was essentially consolidated around existing technologies and permitted facilities such as incinerators and landfills. Correspondingly, the large waste management firms with...

A constructive merger of values. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... In 1936, President Franklin D. Roosevelt convened the first North American Wildlife Conference to stimulate public interest in the management and development of America's natural resources. The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), founded as a...

Partnering for good works. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... The public demands nothing less than environmental excellence from the petroleum industry. At Phillips, we demand nothing less from ourselves. We know that for a company to live up to expectation, the environment must be woven into the very...

Media tools to reach and teach. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)(Special Section: Answering the Call for Leadership)
September 22, 1993... As threats to the environment and natural ecosystems have become more complex and pervasive, the National Audubon Society has broadened its array of strategies to meet the challenge. We have worked for legislation. Set up wildlife sanctuaries....

The right message to shareholders. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Environmental deeds speak much louder than environmental words, but it is still essential to convey a green message to shareholders. A number of years ago, an executive gave a very far-seeing speech on public issues entitled "Rivers and Boats."...

'Don't be smug' and other advice. (techniques in environmental policy planning) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Recognize that environmental issues won't go away. Ever. The world is only going to get smaller, more industrialized, and more garbage-filled. Consider the environment an investor relations problem. Overhanging environmental liabilities can...

Understanding the rules for radicals. (techniques in handling environmental problems) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... When dealing with an environmental crisis or problem issue that has potential to stir up confrontational forces, "know thine enemy -- and its tactics" is good advice. In that spirit, James Lukaszewski, a corporate troubleshooter, passes along the...

A guide to enhanced compliance planning. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... New and far-reaching environmental regulations require a much stronger integration of compliance plans with the overall strategic business plan. As environmental programs have continued to grow in scope and complexity, the need to integrate...

The next step in monitoring? (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Shareholders have been making increasing use of both state and federal authority to advance measures influencing corporation governance, both through actual changes to the bylaws or certificates of incorporation and through precatory proposals....

A guide for policies on stock ownership. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... In recent years, many companies have established policies on expected levels of stock ownership for their executives. Examples include Chrysler, Gerber, Eastman Kodak, Hershey, Honeywell, and SuperValu. The policies communicate to the executives...

The new diversity on the board. (board of directors) (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Just as many corporations are restructuring the way they do business, they are also restructuring their boards of directors in response to dramatic demographic changes, increased shareholder activism, and the emergence of a truly global market....

Welcome to the board: diversification personified. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... A recent report from Heidrick & Struggles, the international executive search firm, shows that 59% of public Fortune 1000 companies have at least one woman and/or minority member on its board of directors. The report states that the number of...

No one role model for all companies. (Leadership in Environmental Initiatives)
September 22, 1993... Should there today be hard-and-fast rules of corporate governance? Should every board have a certain number of directors? Every chairperson and CEO be separate? Every board committee wholly independent of management? Hardly a week goes by...