Driving Sustainability From a Functional Role: Strategy
About the Webinar
When we think of careers in corporate responsibility or sustainability, we often think of a dedicated CSR Manager or Chief Sustainability Officer, spending his or her working days trying to bring people, planet, and profits together. But when we look closer at the people who arguably have the most impact on responsible or sustainable business, a different picture emerges. More and more, we see people in "regular" functional roles such as operations, strategy, marketing and product development leveraging sustainability to do their day job. These professionals are helping to define — and redefine — how their companies do business.
Sound strategy has always been a cornerstone of corporate success, and companies are increasingly creating social and environmental strategies as those issues become material to their business. Individuals in strategic roles are now expected to understand issues around energy, resource efficiency, environmental design and social impact management in addition to core corporate strategy. They work across functions in their organization and create value by having a clear sense of both critical business issues and issues of environmental and social relevance. Hear from a Senior Manager of Marketing Strategy at Target currently working on the marketing strategy for several elements of the company's entry into Canada.
Jo Mackness is the Executive Director of the Center for Responsible Business at the Haas School of Business. Jo and the Center aim to have every Haas graduate apply the sustainability perspective they learned at Haas to their day jobs post graduation. Her favorite thing about her job is that she helps students get inspired about corporate responsibility, understand how they can integrate it into their jobs, and thus enjoy a more fulfilling career (and hopefully a better world).
Steve Brunn is the Senior Manager of Marketing Strategy at Target.