Intel Inside: The Supply Side of CSR

At a Product Stewardship summit last week, Wood Turner from Stonyfield Farms sat on a panel.  He spoke about Stonyfield CSR tips and tricks.

Turner mentioned that his company links employee compensation with environmental reporting.

Turner said that linking salary with environmental performance engages all employees.  And that it makes sense for Stonyfield. After all, he said, Stonyfield is a company built on concepts of sustainability, responsibility and progressive environmental initiatives.

Well, it turns out that Intel— not set upon the greenest foundation of all time— has a similar compensation program. They also have a relatively sophisticated substance tracking system for raw materials.  Things like tungsten, tantalum and tin aren’t going to fly under the radar in their supply chain.

World’s largest semiconductor chip maker gets green
Intel’s summary of 2011 Corporate Responsibility published this week. In it, Intel says that since 2008 it has linked a portion of every employee’s variable compensation — from front-line employees to CEO — to the achievement of environmental sustainability metrics.

Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip maker, says it believes linking pay to green, as it were, helps the whole workforce focus on achieving environmental objectives.

Notably, Intel’s 2011 Corporate Responsibility report also links corporate responsibility performance and the creation of business value.

“At Intel, corporate responsibility is a crucial component to the overall growth of our business,” said Michael Jacobson, Intel’s director of corporate responsibility.

And, to our interest, the report also hones in on increased supplier assessments.

Intel inside: the supply side
In the lengthy Corporate Responsibility report, Intel says it is committed to operating with transparency.  This, it says, provides accountability and encourages two-way dialogue with employees and other stakeholders.

“Acting on stakeholder input,” says the company, “we also expanded our disclosure on our policies, approach, and management systems related to human rights in our operations, our supply chain, and the use of our products. Assessments and audits of suppliers help the company identify compliance gaps and develop system solutions and improvements.

Conflict minerals approach
In 2011, Intel says it completed or reviewed the results from 49 third-party audits of supplier facilities in nine countries, a five-fold increase over 2010. In 2011, they also continued to address concerns about minerals derived from unsavory mines, whose profits may be fueling human rights atrocities in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As of the end of 2011, we had mapped 92% of the tantalum, tin, tungsten, and gold supply lines supporting our core business, and had visited 48 smelters in nine countries.  Impressive?  Kind of.  If it’s not too greenwashed it’s really good work.

For the lurid details, see: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/corporate-responsibility/corporate-responsibility-report-overview.html