Sustainable Development at Alcoa

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Case Details:

Case Code : BECG034
Case Length : 23 Pages
Period : 2003 - 2004
Pub. Date : 2004
Teaching Note :Not Available
Organization : Alcoa Inc.
Industry : Aluminum
Countries : USA

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This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.

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"Sustainability requires environmental excellence, economic success and social responsibility. This is the Alcoa Business System at work. We have developed a strategic framework that allows each of our businesses worldwide to develop its own goals and action plans within that framework. This set of goals will be milestones along the way to the ultimate vision of a company where all wastes have been eliminated, where all products are designed for the environment, where the environment is fully integrated into manufacturing, where the workplace is free of injuries and leaks, where protecting the environment is a core value of every employee and where all stake holders recognize Alcoa as a leader in sustainable development."

- Alcoa Environment Health and Safety Report 2001.

"Sustainable development is the basis for our future."

- Alcoa Sustainability Report 2002.

Alcoa Wins Accolades

In 2003, the world's largest aluminum¹ company, Alcoa Inc (Alcoa) was named among the top 50 in a survey of 'America's Most Admired Companies' by Fortune magazine. The company had earned this recognition for being strongly committed to ethics and environment-related issues over the years. The rankings were compiled by New York based corporate consultants, Hay Group, which studied the 10 largest companies (based on 2001 revenues) from 58 industries.

The Hay Group had asked 10,000 directors, executives and securities analysts from various industries to rate these companies on eight criteria - financial soundness, innovation, employee talent, long term investment value, use of corporate assets, quality of management, quality of products and services and social responsibility. Barring innovation, Alcoa earned the highest scores in seven criteria, topping the list of companies from the metals category.

Significantly, the company had earned this distinction for the 20th time in the 21 preceding years. This recognition was however not new for Alcoa, for it had won several national and international awards for its various sustainable development (SD) initiatives.

One of the biggest recognition for its efforts came in the form of the prestigious 'Prime Minister's Award for Excellence in Community Business Partnerships,'² won by Alcoa World Alumina Australia (Alcoa's Australian unit) and Greening Australia (a non-profit organization working on managing and repairing Australia's vegetation) in December 2003.

The above two outfits won more awards in 2003 for having made a significant impact on the local community and for the longevity of their partnership (dating back to 1982). Their alliance had delivered long term benefits in Victoria and Western Australia (Refer Exhibit I for details). The partnership contributed to the community and environment of Australia through initiatives like planting of over 10 million trees, extensive environmental education, practical knowledge transfer to rural and urban population about environmental and community management issues, and improving seed supply to farmers (Refer Exhibit II for details). Commenting on these achievements, Wayne Osborn, Alcoa's Managing Director, said, "Through this partnership, our two organizations have shared ideas, challenges and staff.

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1] Aluminum is the most abundantly found element in Earth's crust. It is a silvery-white, ductile, metallic element that is found in a combined form in nature. The most common source is the bauxite ore. Its alloys are used for a wide variety of commercial purposes including electrical transmission lines, construction, automobiles, kitchen utensils, packaging, heat dissipatives and storage deposits among others.

2] Given at the state and territory level, this award recognizes the small, medium as well as large businesses.