SONY Sustainability

Sony: Sustainability and corporate social responsibility

Virtually all companies today have publically-articulated commitments to sustainability and the Japanese company Sony is no exception. Broadly speaking, corporate sustainability entails "acting with long-term consequences in mind and managing a business such that its processes or overall state can be maintained indefinitely" (Phillips 2012). Using renewable resources is a key component of sustainability, as is creating products and services that do not tax the environment and ideally help consumers to lessen their ecological footprint. The ecological footprint determines how much an entity consumes of the world's resources -- how much it takes away from the environment, and also how much it gives back (Footprint basics, 2012, Footprint Network)

Sony defines its sustainability initiative as follows: "Sony Group recognizes that its business activities have direct and indirect impact on the societies in which it operates, and therefore sound business practice requires that business decisions give due consideration to the interests of its stakeholders including shareholders, customers, employees, suppliers, business partners, local communities and other organizations" (About CSR report, 2012, Sony). According to the words of its sustainability statement, Sony strives to honor the needs of local communities as well as persons who have a stake in corporate profitability.

The first principle of Sony's corporate sustainability report is to create "effective systems for corporate governance and compliance to ensure sound business practices" and minimize the impact of its operations on society (About CSR report, 2012,...

Its second is "to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society" through its products and by working with other stakeholders (About CSR report, 2012, Sony). Sony states that its key focus is "expressed in the key phrase 'For the Next Generation,'" in the sense that it focuses upon how its policies will impact people and the planet tomorrow, not just today (About CSR report, 2012, Sony).
In essence, Sony states that it will try not to harm the planet when it manufactures and designs its products and that it also strives to make the world a better place by creating more effective production methods and by ensuring that its products help, rather than harm the ecosystem. Socially, it tries not to harm the areas where it operates while still honoring the needs of consumers for technology. Economically, it strives to be on the cutting edge of technology, and capitalize upon the desire for green technology to gain market traction. And environmentally it strives to improve the world through technology, by making technology greener and using technology to undo past damage.

Sony has six different CSR categories to which it devotes its energies: that of corporate governance, compliance, social contributions, products and services, environment, employees, and innovations. Some of these directly relate to preserving the environment, while others are supportive of CSR goals, such as having stringent corporate governance to ensure that Sony employees obey the company's ethical policies. Other policies seem somewhat tangential, such as setting the goal of having a diverse workforce under the 'employee' category. However, it is clearly hoped that by making employee diversity a priority, there will be a greater…