Companies need coalitions, science and continuous improvement

January 28, 2009

Feedstuffs

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McDonald's Corp. has been working on sustainability initiatives since 1989, which has helped the company meet the increasingly substantial challenge to the environment, McDonald's vice president for corporate social responsibility Bob Langert said in a second closing presentation.

"You can't do this (respond to environmental issues) in a crisis mode because you will make short-sighted decisions that are not good for business," he said. Rather, companies need to be working ahead of the curve to proactively develop environmental policy, he said.

He also said companies should be working in coalitions of producers and other suppliers and even with appropriate non-governmental organizations. "You need coalitions, you need science, you need continuous improvement. Think ahead. If you wait for a triggering event, you will be back on your heels" and react wrongly, he said.

Coalitions are important to McDonald's because consumers do not view the company as a restaurant system "but the entire supply chain," Langert said. "They don't see a Smithfield (Foods Inc.) or a Tyson (Foods Inc.). They see us," and coalitions can keep the chain from breaking down.

"We have to have consumers' trust," he said, "and just one break in the entire chain can be devastating to that trust."

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