A sustainable enterprise is dependent on a sustainable environment

Geneva, 3 February 2004 - "A sustainable enterprise is dependent on a sustainable environment. Management decisions that fail to reflect this put a company at grave, future risk.," says Samuel C. Johnson, former Chairman of SC Johnson. "We need to educate and enlist more business leaders to follow us, and to realize that shareholder value is enhanced through responsible sustainable development decision-making."

Why is sustainable development (SD) important to you?

Sustainable development is the only way to grow a business over the long run without wrecking the planet. My grandfather once said that the good will of the people is the only enduring thing in any business, and sustainable development is focused on what people want and need the most to ensure an acceptable quality of life now and in the future.

People will always need good jobs, and a safe, healthy environment. They cannot have one without the other. Short-term decisions that fail to consider this fact short-change the future, and threaten our planet’s very existence.

What prompted your company to incorporate the principles of SD in its strategy and operations, and how has the WBCSD helped you in achieving these goals?

“This We Believe” is the formal statement of the values and principles which have guided our family businesses for over a hundred years, long before anyone coined the term “sustainable development.” Long-term goals and specific metrics have been in place for years to make sure that what we believe is reflected in what we do – simply, to always do the right thing.

But we were the exception, not the rule, as were the other founding members of the WBCSD. We constantly need more enlightened business leaders to take up the cause, and the WBCSD built the business case that has motivated others to join our ranks and adopt sustainable development as a core strategy.

Individually and collectively the members of the WBCSD have made significant progress, earning us the reputation of companies people can trust. This has enabled us to work side-by-side with leaders in government, and environmental and social organizations to build a more sustainable world - one company, one community, one country at a time.

How has SD benefited your company’s bottom line and the market valuation?

Sustainable development has helped us grow steadily and healthfully over the years. While we can point to hundreds of millions of dollars in cost-savings from environmental efforts, nothing is more valuable than our reputation in helping us grow.

Take our decision to eliminate CFC propellants back in 1975 when other companies said it couldn’t be done, and years before government bans. People still come up to me today, and ask to shake my hand for having made that decision nearly 30 years ago. Can you imagine that? The enduring consumer goodwill and loyalty we earned from that single act has been priceless to our business which, like our reputation, grew in size and stature as a result.

What are the three greatest challenges facing business going forward in the pursuit of SD?

When I hear challenges, I see opportunity. The first opportunity is for more enlightenment among corporate leadership. A sustainable enterprise is dependent on a sustainable environment. Management decisions that fail to reflect this put a company at grave, future risk. We need to educate and enlist more business leaders to follow us, and to realize that shareholder value is enhanced through responsible sustainable development decision-making.

The second opportunity is for fast-tracking technologies which address the greatest environmental threats. For instance, a carbon-based economy is unsustainable. Fuel costs are rising as supplies dwindle, and people’s health and environment are suffering from a global over-dependence on antiquated and dirty energy technologies. Today investments in developing new cleaner energy solutions, like hydrogen, wind and solar power, pale in comparison to the dollars spent on building bigger coal plants around the world.

It is hard to blame power companies when government policies and regulations fail to provide meaningful incentives to shift to cleaner energy technologies. I am a firm believer in putting our incentives where our objectives are, and we need government policy that does that.

The third opportunity is for future business leaders to have the knowledge, skills and tools necessary to lead with vision, for making decisions that consider the impact on the next generation and not just the next quarter. The MBA programs at the Johnson School of Management at Cornell University, are now giving greater prominence to social and environmental issues, in part through an endowment for the SC Johnson Professorship of Global Sustainable Enterprise. More leading business schools should do the same.

What do you consider your most important contribution?

My personal involvement in the development of the WBCSD. When we set aside the obvious business benefits of being an environmentally responsible company, we are left with the simple human truth that we cannot lead lives of dignity and worth when the natural resources that sustain us are threatened or destroyed. For four generations our family enterprises have strived to leave a light footprint on this Earth. My children, the fifth generation of our family business leaders, are committed to doing the same.

Further information

• Read more about the WBCSD Order of Outstanding Contributors

Sam Johnson remembered for outstanding contributions to sustainable development

The WBCSD is saddened by the death, on May 22, 2004, of Sam Johnson, Chairman Emeritus of SC Johnson & Son Inc. Mr. Johnson was a founding member of the Business Council for Sustainable Development, one of the forerunners of the WBCSD.

He represented SC Johnson on the Council of the WBCSD until he handed over to his son Dr. H. Fisk Johnson in November 2003. To acknowledge his great support for our work, he was honored last year with the WBCSD's Order of Outstanding Contributors for Sustainable Development. In 1966, Mr. Johnson became the fourth generation to lead the 116 year-old family owned company and turned it into a leading manufacturer of products for home storage, personal care, household cleaning and insect control.

In recognition of his business, environmental and philanthropic contributions, he received numerous awards including a Lifetime Environmental Award from the United Nations Environment Program and induction into the prestigious U.S. National Business Hall of Fame. President Clinton appointed him to the U.S. President's Council on Sustainable Development in 1993, the first multi-stakeholder national policy advisory council in the world.

He also served as Chairman of the Nature Conservancy. In 1984, he donated USD 20 million to the Cornell Business School which was renamed the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell.

He will be remembered fondly and with respect by his friends at the WBCSD.

Author WBCSD Publication Date 3 Feb 2004 Document Type WBCSD news Issue/Topic Business Role/CSR Company S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc.