Dow Chemical is one of the few major U.S. industrial corporations, which was founded in the late 19th century, still exists. From its origins producing bromine from brine at Midland, Michigan, the company has evolved from a diversified chemical company product of advanced materials company whose products and services can make its customers more stable. In the 1960s and 1970s, the company has received a number of external shocks in the form of a negative public opinion of some of its activities. These challenge the perception of the company as a "good company" and made him realize that more needed to seek outside perspective, the company is considered and what it should do. This led to the formation of the corporate Environmental Advisory Council in 1992, which was renamed the stability of the external advisory board (SEAC) in 2008. With a substantial contribution SEAC, the company set up two sets of ten ambitious goals: 1996-2005 and 2006-2015 and largely successful in achieving them, or on the way to it. In 2011, Neil Hawkins, Vice President for Sustainable Development, and EH & S (Environment, Health and Safety) is trying to decide what content and format of the next ten goals should be to ensure the viability of the company in its 200-year anniversary. Whether they should be additional goals, such as those for 2005 or ambitious goals plot as those in 2015? Or should they be broad statement of principles that promote innovation sustainability of the company? Another challenge for the company, which is rapidly globalizing with a large share of the labor force beyond its Midland, Michigan headquarters, which makes it even more difficult to maintain a common culture and a commitment to sustainable development. "Hide
by Robert G. Eccles, George Serafeim, Shelley Xin Li Source: Harvard Business School 26 pages. Publication Date: January 25, 2012. Prod. #: 112064-PDF-ENG