Sony Sustainability Sony: Sustainability and Corporate Social

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, Sony). 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 range of voices in the articulation of the company's mission, and thus the company will better understand how to serve a wider and more diverse array of communities and ecosystems. Sony has not simply issued CSR reports in praise of its activities, but has also received awards and accolades from outside sources, regarding its sustainability practices.

"ChemSem and Clean Production Action, identified the seven companies" that had shown the most impressive gains in sustainability, including Sony which was lauded for "removing substances of concern from their products, but also taking on the complicated task of establishing full chemical inventories for all their product lines. The company's products are now 99.9% BFR-free and will have no PVC components" (Apple and Sony lead green electronics charge, 2012, Sustainable Brands). Sony has also been praised for encouraging the recycling of its electronics.

Given that electronics have a shorter shelf life than in previous decades, thanks to the swift pace of changes in technology, more people are throwing out their computers and cellphones, but townships often make it difficult to recycle. "Sony took a giant leap forward...in making recycling easier with its GreenFill in-store recycling service. It's as easy as can be: just bring any portable electronic device (brand is unimportant) to one of 81 participating Sony stores and the company will recycle it for free" (Schwartz 2012).

Sony's ultimate goal, however, is far more ambitious than merely recycling or lessening its impact. It calls its ultimate goal a 'Road to Zero' -- that is, it desires to have a zero carbon footprint. Throughout its history, Sony has been on the leading edge of technology, and it wishes to continue this in its approach to sustainability efforts. "Sony's definition of zero environmental footprint is not only limited to the neutralization of carbon emissions, but.