What kind of legacy should a responsible company aspire to? If we take Dell’s newest CSR plan as an example, companies ought to be working toward leaving a legacy of good.
Dell’s 2020 Legacy of Good Plan aims to set a path for how their social and environmental sustainability efforts can become “an accelerator for successful and sustainable customer and societal outcomes” for the immediate future, as well as for years to come.
In fact, the company isn’t just looking for incremental impact. They’re working toward having a positive impact to the power of 10.
“We believe that by 2020, the good that will come from our technology will be 10x what it takes to create and use it.
And our mission is to measure this impact — the ripple effect that our technology has, from our customers, to their customers, to the communities it affects.
10x more good.” – Dell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L5KYNYx2f8
Dell focuses on three areas for action, from the sustainability of the company’s operations to the well-being of their employees and their communities.
Environment: By incorporating environmental sustainability into every aspect of what we do, we provide customers with solutions that give them the power to do more while minimizing our collective impact on the planet.
Communities: When Dell team members apply their passion and unique skills in combination with our technology toward social change, it amplifies the effect of our grants and accelerates positive results in the communities where we live and work.
People: In order to enable people everywhere to grow and thrive, we first need to build enduring relationships with our fellow team members across the globe.
Some of Dell’s 2020 corporate social responsibility goals are concrete and definable, such as working to reduce GHG emissions from facilities and logistics operations by 50%, to divert 90% of the waste generated in their buildings from landfills, to reduce their water use in “water-stressed regions” by 20%, to have viable sustainability initiatives implemented at all of their company-operated buildings, and to source all of their product packaging from sustainable materials (and to have them all be either recyclable or compostable).
Other initiatives are a bit harder to quantify, but they include enabling “inspirational leadership” toward their company’s goals, helping under-served communities with their technology and expertise to directly impact millions of young people (and indirectly, many more millions in their communities), and increasing the percentage of employees that are engaged in community service work in their local areas.
More information on Dell’s 2020 Legacy of Good Plan can be found at their website, and the full CSR plan can be downloaded here: Dell 2020 Legacy of Good Plan (PDF)
