SRO Stories

Pathways to Social Responsibility: Successful Practices for Sustaining the Future

The stories shown below are all companies and organizations that have embarked on their own paths to social responsibility, providing a broad spectrum of engagement and business success.

2011 Issue

You can download the entire publication as a PDF.

Aloca

Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of aluminum. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum industry Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation, consumer electronics, and industrial markets over the past 120 years.

Instituto Ethos

The Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility (Instituto Ethos de Empresas e Responsabilidade Social) is a non-governmental organization in Brazil with the mission of mobilizing, encouraging, and helping companies manage their businesses in a socially responsible way, making them partners in the building of a sustainable and fair society.

Kohler

Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately held companies. With more than 50 manufacturing locations worldwide, Kohler is a global leader in the manufacturing of kitchen and bath products, engines and power generation systems, cabinetry, and tile and home interiors, and an international host at its award-winning hospitality and world-class golf destinations

5^th Town Artisan Cheese Company

The Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company is a privately owned producer of fine handmade cheeses using fresh, locally produced goat and sheep milk.

United Health Group

UnitedHealth Group serves more than 75 million people worldwide, touching nearly every aspect of healthcare. Since its inception in 1974, UnitedHealth Group and its affiliated companies have led the marketplace through innovations that make healthcare services more accessible and affordable for customers, improve the quality and coordination of healthcare services, and help individuals and their physicians make more informed healthcare decisions.

Tata Group

The Tata Group comprises more than 90 operating companies in seven business sectors: communications and information technology, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products, and chemicals. The group has operations in more than 80 countries across six continents, its companies export products and services to 85 countries, and its total 2009 revenue was $67.4 billion.

Perkins+Will

For more than 75 years, the architectural and design firm Perkins+Will has been dedicated to the philosophy that design has the power to transform and enhance the mission and business of its clients and improve society overall.

Walmart de México y Centroamérica

Walmart de México y Centroamérica is a Mexican company, 68 percent of which is owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. It operates more than 2,300 stores, restaurants, and supermarkets under a variety of names throughout Mexico and Centroamérica.

PEARLS for Teen Girls

PEARLS for Teen Girls Inc. is a dynamic and innovative nonprofit leadership development organization serving at-risk, primarily African American and Latina girls, ages 10 to 19 in Milwaukee, WI. The PEARLS organization helps girls achieve in school, avoid teen pregnancy, and use their personal power to achieve their goals and dream.

University of California- Berkeley

One of the top universities in the country with almost 36,000 students, the University of California–Berkeley makes key contributions to the economic and social well-being of the San Francisco Bay area, the nation, and the world.

Marks & Spencer

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is one of the United Kingdom’s leading retailers with more than 21 million customers visiting the stores every week. The stores sell 2.7 billion articles of clothing, home products, and food, and everything is sourced responsibly from 2,000 suppliers around the world.

The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC)

The Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WWBIC) works to promote economic development by providing access to capital including direct lending, one-on-one individualized business assistance, business education, and asset building financial awareness education programming, with an emphasis on women, people of color, and people of lower wealth and incomes.

Booz Allen Hamilton

For close to a century, Booz Allen Hamilton has been providing consulting services to major government and commercial clients. While the company focuses on helping clients succeed, it never loses sight of how its work can make the world a better place—starting with its own operations and organization.

Roots Restaurant and Cellar

Founded on a passion for the art of food, Roots Restaurant and Cellar, Milwaukee’s only farmer-chef owned restaurant, offers quality fare, exceptional service, and a focus on social responsibility.

2010 Issue

You can download the entire publication as a PDF or zipped.

Abbott

Founded in 1888 by Chicago physician Dr. Wallace C. Abbott, Abbott has emerged as one of the world’s most diverse healthcare companies. A critical component of Abbott’s approach to citizenship is the company’s efforts to integrate values-based, sustainable decision making throughout all levels of the organization.

Berea College

Founded in 1855 as the first interracial and coeducational college in the South, Berea College is a Christian liberal arts work college in Berea, KY. The school is unique in that it charges no tuition and admits only academically promising students, primarily from Appalachia, who have limited economic resources.

Boeing

Boeing is the world’s leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Most people are familiar with the impact the company has on aerospace, but what makes Boeing stand out in the world of social responsibility is its willingness to bring the same quality tools and processes it uses in its own factories and offices to the world of nonprofits.

Cisco

Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. Helping communities through education, healthcare, and economic development improves the welfare of individuals, their families, their communities, and their countries while nurturing new and existing markets to make business more sustainable.

Discovery World

Discovery World is committed to demonstrating business innovation and environmental sustainability by tackling local issues and providing technical approaches that also can create an engine for economic development.

Dominion Resources

Dominion is one of the nation’s largest producers and transporters of energy. Dominion employees have worked for years with local agencies on projects to improve the environment and the community as part of the “Putting Our Energy to Work for the Environment” campaign.

IBM

IBM is a globally integrated technology and services corporation headquartered in Armonk, NY. The objective of IBM’s corporate social responsibility initiatives is to strategically focus the company’s best and most valuable resources and its employee talent and expertise.

Johnson Financial Group

Founded in 1970 by Samuel C. Johnson, Johnson Financial Group is a full-service, financial services company. Through a comprehensive campaign to improve its operations, the company is finding social, environmental, and economic success.

McDonald’s Corporation

McDonald’s works closely with its direct suppliers to continuously improve the practices that impact employees, communities, the environment, and—most important—customers.

NMMC

North Mississippi Medical Center is the flagship hospital and tertiary referral center for North Mississippi Health Services. NMMC’s mission and vision—to continuously improve the health of the people of the region—is woven into its organizational culture and governance.

Potawatomi Bingo Casino

The Forest County Potawatomi tribe in Wisconsin opened Potawatomi Bingo Casino in 1991. Potawatomi Bingo Casino focuses on five key areas of SR, but its no. 1 social priority is responsible play, which addresses responsible gambling.

Smithfield Foods

Smithfield Foods is a global food company and the leading processor and marketer of fresh pork and packaged meats in the United States. The company began utilizing an environmental management system (EMS) to identify and manage operational elements that could affect the environment, and to reward employees who advance the initiative.

MILWAUKEE’S PAST: Gathering Place by the Water…MILWAUKEE’S FUTURE: World Water Hub

Long before oil became an important commodity, the availability of water determined where civilizations would gather, take root, and grow. And where water is scarce, people face enormous challenges.