Case Studies

BSR helped Freeport-McMoRan develop a new approach to engaging local communities, shifting from an emphasis on philanthropy to a participatory approach to investments that satisfies both the company’s and the community's needs.

Through performance assessments, identification of high-risk suppliers, and collaborative initiatives, Bayer uses its influence over global suppliers to ensure accordance with the company’s ethical, environmental, and social standards.

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) is the leading global brewer and a top-five consumer-goods (FMCG) company with operations in 25 countries and procurement departments in 22 countries.

Each year, Cathay Pacific Airways uses millions of plastic items for its in-flight services, ranging from meal trays to cutlery to amenity kits. While the company has made tremendous efforts to reduce, reuse, and recycle, it still has to rely on single-use disposable plastic for some items due to concerns about hygiene, and regulatory and operational constraints. Could choosing a different type of plastic help Cathay Pacific to meet their environmental goals?

BSR helped Microsoft develop a global human rights strategy that ensures human rights are considered in all major business decisions.

Over the past few years, BSR has helped dozens of companies improve supply chain greenhouse gas performance in China through a portfolio of initiatives.

BSR's Clean Cargo Working Group, founded 10 years ago, now works with 85 percent of the container ship industry to report on and improve the environmental performance of ocean shipping.

Since its formation in 2008, the Global Network Initiative has created standards on freedom of expression and privacy that have been implemented by the major internet and telecommunications companies, which reach a total of more than 2 billion users.

Since its founding at the BSR Conference 10 years ago, the EICC has grown from a handful companies to nearly 100 businesses representing more than US$2.6 trillion in revenues, and its influential code of conduct is the information and communications technology industry's standard for practices related to ethics, labor, health, safety, and the environment.

Through a robust process that engaged more than 100 stakeholders, Sanofi was able to cut its list of priority CSR issues in half and focus on the most relevant topics to create value for the company and stakeholders, especially patients.

Best Buy has more than 1,000 stores in the United States, all of which have many in-store displays. In 2012, the company partnered with the Center for Sustainable Procurement (CSP) to explore ways to improve its procurement process for displays and define the criteria for making them more sustainable in the future.

Dell wanted to improve the lifecycle sustainability impacts of its notebook computers. Through its own work gathering lifecycle data from suppliers, as well as involvement in collaborative initiatives, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s PAIA (Product Attribute to Impact Algorithm) and The Sustainability Consortium, Dell had already identified the hot spots and other critical impacts that must be addressed to substantially improve the sustainability of notebooks.

Of the 5,200 buildings Telenor Real Estate maintains in Norway, most are small buildings made to house technical equipment. For this reason, most of them are situated on islands, along coastlines, on mountaintops, and in other areas with harsh weather.

Vodafone, the world's second-largest mobile operator, engaged BSR to help align its human rights strategy with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

BSR worked with the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica to assess its human rights impacts, risks, and opportunities in each of its 16 operating regions.