Transforming automotive companies into sustainability leaders: A concept for managing current challenges

Abstract

Dieselgate and the public focus on sustainability raise the question to what extent sustainability is implemented in automotive companies. Although, mandatory reporting tracks companies’ sustainability strategies and goals, this does not entail comprehensive operational measures to increase company sustainability. To analyze internal sustainability perspectives and measures, we examine benchmarking initiatives and corporate sustainability reports and compare them to interviews with employees of automobile manufacturers from management to operational level. This comparison shows that the transformation to sustainable companies is hindered by a lack of a common understanding of sustainability, a failure to assign responsibility, and the absence of measurable sustainability targets. To close the gap between the communicated strategy and operational implementation, we propose the concept of the ‘‘Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Owner". Analogous to the Product Owner (from Scrum) and Process Owner (from Lean Management) concepts, an SDG Owner is responsible for implementation and performance of sustainable products or process transformations by setting transparent, quantified, and well-defined defined sustainability goals. Thus, the SDG owner links the sustainability goals at management level with those at implementation level enabling a successful corporate transformation into sustainability leaders.