Author Archives: Nicole Sieverding

adidas Group receives Gold for its sustainable performance (SAM Sustainability Awards)

Nicole SieverdingJuly 4, 2012 2:52 pmOn-the-Job Records, Sustainability Aspects

Consumers have high expectations towards big brands such as adidas when it comes to their sustainability efforts. These expectations are additional motivation for the entire team to work hard on improving our products and processes. Therefore it is always very nice to also receive positive feedback on our work. Just recently, the adidas Group was rewarded as the best company in the industry for its global commitment to sustainable business practices. During an official award ceremony in Berlin, Robin J. Stalker, Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Executive Board adidas Group, accepted two awards on behalf of the adidas Group for the categories “SAM 2012 Sector Leader” and “SAM 2012 Gold Class”. With this, the adidas Group is considered to be the company within the “Clothing, Accessories & Footwear” sector that is best prepared to seize the opportunities and manage the risks deriving from economic, environmental and social developments. In addition to that adidas has recently also been named among the top 50 ‘greenest’ brands by Interbrand.

Transparency as a key value in sustainability reporting

Nicole SieverdingApril 26, 2012 2:32 pmSustainability Aspects

Today is the launch of Performance Counts: 2011 Sustainability Progress Report. The word ‘progress’ is key to understanding our approach this year: by focusing on our performance on the path to achieving our 2015 targets, the report assesses the progress we have made towards becoming a more sustainable company. It takes a close look at the milestones we set ourselves for 2011 and how we have done.

According to our CEO Herbert Hainer and in addition to reviewing our progress for ourselves “we also want to meet society’s evolving expectations of business practices. These include our responsibilities towards our employees, the people who make our products, the environment and the communities where we operate”. Therefor one of this report’s goals is to further improve transparency. Being open builds trust and we have nothing to hide.

The balance of economic and ecological targets

Nicole SieverdingFebruary 13, 2012 3:25 pmSustainability Aspects

To what extend are companies and politics able to reconcile an ecological consciousness while at the same time striving to reach growth targets? Are companies which are committed to sustainable goals in reality just doing “Green Washing”? These are some of the topics which were discussed in Berlin a couple of weeks ago following an invite from German Sunday newspaper “Welt am Sonntag”. Participants of the discussion included the German Federal Environment Minister, Dr. Norbert Röttgen, the CEO of the German DAX-company Henkel, Kasper Rorsted and adidas Group’s CEO, Herbert Hainer together with some journalists from Welt am Sonntag. As the article (read it here - in German only) was published in yesterday’s newspaper, I’d like to share with you some of the key topics which came up during the discussion as well as some background information. And maybe you want to share your thoughts on this topic with us, too.