Written by Iman Attari and Jing Wang

What motivates businesses to initiate their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movements? What are current practices? What can we learn by considering the past, present, and future of ESG? Four industry leaders, Kelly Alonzo, James Greffet, Tim Gawne, and Mark Lemon, answer these questions through the lenses of food and beverage, energy, accounting disclosure, and pharmaceuticals. Their conversation provides insights into the inherent motivations for the ESG movement and analyzes challenges in the process from different perspectives.

Discussion on environmental and social responsibility: past, present, and future, with panelists (from left): Kelly Alonzo, Jim Greffet, Tim Gawne, Mark Lemon

Kelly Alonzo, Deloitte Consulting LLP

The food and beverage industry is one of the first sectors to readily adopt ESG frameworks. As Kelly Alonzo explains, that initiation is driven by consumers’ desires to know the production process and their concerns about its environmental impact. The food and beverage industry is a major contributor to global emissions, and it is also one of the least digitalized industries. Rather than framing this sector as the villain, we might recognize the unique possibility for improvement and advancement. The success or failure of the food and beverage industry lies in its ability to cooperate and invest in digital technology in an intelligent way that is geared not only toward making money, but creating value for the entire value chain. To that end, the FDA has begun efforts to improve traceability in the supply chain. Traceability is a useful tool for making some of the more invisible attributes of the supply chain visible. While this tool has been effective in improving other industries, its implementation within the food and beverage sector has its own unique challenges that companies will have to overcome. Additionally, we must look to more sustainable agricultural practices, such as soil sequestration and regenerative agriculture programs. The issues surrounding sustainability are complex and multi-faceted, so the solutions will need to be too.

(more…)

Written by Ling Li and Vinit Tipnis

Professors Serguei Netessine from University of Pennsylvania, Jay Swaminathan from University of North Carolina, Jamal El Baz from Ibn Zohr University, and Beril Toktay from Georgia Institute of Technology took part in the inaugural Symposium on Environmental and Social Responsibility in Supply Chains held at the Kelley School of Business on October 19, 2022. Their panel covered various topics in the operations management community, and the scholars answered a range of questions from the audience. The panel discussed the position of sustainable operations management and emphasized the importance of taking a multidisciplinary perspective. The professors shared their unique experience of working with industry partners, from startups in Africa to large organizations such as UNICEF. Currently, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) metrics are sparse, but creating a unique measurement scale not only contributes to improved industry practices, but also supports responsible and sustainable research. In addition to academic and industry collaborations, the panel stressed the value of teaching responsible operations management to MBA students and other broad groups. The panel collectively expressed the need for more impactful and inclusive research in the future.

Discussion on research and teaching in environmental and social responsibility, with panelists (from left): Serguei Netessine, Jay Swaminathan, Jamal El Baz, Beril Toktay

(more…)