Addressing sustainability and supply issues

"I've been amazed that there's been so much confusion about sustainability and what it is," said systems theorist and sustainability thought leader Fritjof Capra, in a morning session yesterday at the 2009 BSR Conference.

But considering how broadly and deeply sustainability issues can affect a company's operations, it's likely more surprising that this confusion hasn't been addressed before.

However, several sessions throughout the day offered frank explorations of some of the complexities that cause the most trouble to companies looking to reduce their impacts.

A two-hour session on supply chain traceability serves as a perfect illustration of the challenge at hand.

In the session, "Traceability and Responsibility: How Far Does Corporate Responsibility Extend Down Your Supply Chain?" leaders from three very different industries showcased the challenges and opportunities they face, and how they're working to overcome them.

Zoe McMahon, Hewlett-Packard's Supply Chain Social and Environmental Responsibility Manager, started the panel out with a mind-blowing statistic: the company sells five PCs and six printers every two seconds, and more than 3,500 servers a day. To meet that demand, the company has 600 direct or first-tier suppliers, and many hundreds of companies in their second- and third-tier supply chains.

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