How a bottle of Russian salad dressing inspired corporate social responsibility

Timberland's former chief operating officer sheds light on the company's lofty sustainability practices, but argues more needs to be done to develop an industry standard for emissions reporting

The first decade of the 21st century was a boom time for corporate sustainability. Iconic US companies, including GE, IBM, Walmart and Google, embraced the movement. Fortune 500 firms published their first corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports. Conferences, consultants and awards proliferated.

Timberland - where I worked for 15 years through 2007 - won more than its share of plaudits. One personal highlight was attending the 2002 ceremony at the White House, where Timberland received the Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership, joining the ranks of other US exemplars of corporate citizenship such as UPS, General Mills, HP, Alcoa, Johnson & Johnson, SC Johnson, Procter & Gamble and many more.