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I wrote (and subsequently updated) a post a few weeks ago reviewing the Sustainability Reports of various companies in the technology space.
I updated the review again this afternoon (see the updated review below) with the 2009 reports from IBM, Adobe and SAS.
Something which struck me previously, and which hasn’t changed with the new rankings, is the yawning chasm in attitudes to sustainability reporting between hardware versus software companies.
Obviously this divide has a lot to do with risk – hardware companies who have significant manufacturing facilities, with massively complex supply chains, often containing toxic substances have far more exposure to risk than software companies.
This is reflected in the table below where eight of the top ten listings are hardware companies.
On the other hand, the bottom of the table is all software companies (with the exception of Apple – because they refuse to produce a sustainability report!).
The real odd one out though is the leader, SAP. Their sustainability reporting is out on its own. It is way ahead of any other organisation I have come across and this despite the fact that they are a software company!
One factor may be that they have a significantly European representation in senior management – they have a very different thought process when it comes to sustainability. SAP say they want to be an exemplar and an enabler – and, so far, they seem to be delivering on that.
None of the other software companies seem to take sustainability reporting anywhere nearly as seriously as the hardware companies.
Why do you think that is?
| Company | Latest Report | Format | Remarks | External Audit | GRI Index | CEO involved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAP | 2009 | Online with downloadable data | Highly interactive, includes social media, video & ability to comment inline | Independently audited by KPMG | Yes - A+ Rated | Yes |
| BT | 2009 | Online and PDF | Granular links and multiple PDF download options | Yes | Yes - A+ Rated | Yes |
| Nokia | 2009 | PDF only unfortunately | Yes | Yes - A+ Rated | Yes | |
| Fujitsu | 2009 | Fujitsu's 10th annual Sustainability Report - all in all a very comprehensive report | Yes | Yes | Chairman & President both | |
| NEC | 2009 | Website, PDF and e-book | NEC's report is delivered via a comprehensive website with a digest available in both PDF and e-book formats | Yes | Yes | President |
| HP | 2009 | Online with PDF download | Granular links, some videos & interactivity | Some, yes | Yes - B Rated | Yes |
| Intel | 2009 | PDF custom builder | High level of granularity | No | Yes - A Rated | Yes |
| IBM | 2009 | Online with PDF download | Highly detailed, with granular links & Social Media options - a good report let down by the online ui and lack of external audit | No | Yes - A Rated | Yes |
| Dell | 2009 | Very detailed document - v little detail on website | No | Yes - B Rated | Yes | |
| SAS | 2009 | Online with PDF summary | Significantly improved report on 2008 still could do with moving to a higher GRI rating and external audit | No | Yes - C Rated | Yes |
| Cisco | 2009 | Mostly PDF's with some info available on web | Lots of good videos and comprehensive PDF download(s) | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sony | 2009 | Online and PDF | Comprehensive report | No | Yes | Yes |
| Microsoft | 2009 | Lacks necessary detail | No | No | Yes | |
| Adobe | 2009 | Online and PDF summary | Lots of pretty pictures but light on details - more like a marketing document | No | No | Yes |
| Logica | 2008 | Online and PDF | Comprehensive report | No | Yes | Yes |
| CA | 2008 | CA's first sustainability report - good 1st effort | No | Yes - C Rated | Yes | |
| Oracle | 2008 | Summary of 2009 report available but full report still not out | No | No | President | |
| Indra Sistemas | None | Nice looking Sustainability site but no report obvious and no stated numbers or reductions | No | No | No | |
| Apple | None | |||||
| Amazon | None | |||||
| None |
