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THIS ILLUMINATING NEW BOOK presents a series of in-depth case studies from around the world based on numerous personal interviews with organisational leaders and focusing on their journey towards sustainability. The aim is to provide visions of a more sustainable future, and shed light on the path, milestones and solutions—in particular the management processes these organisations employed— to provide a reliable compass that others can follow. Although each organisation must take steps to fit its particular circumstance, business conditions and culture, Mapping the Journey proves that valuable lessons can be learned by setting aside critique as to where these organisations may yet make progress and instead focusing on the guidelines, targets, measures of success, tools and techniques, and valuable wisdom about how pioneer organisations are travelling toward a prosperous, sustainable future.While none can be said to have reached the end-point of a sustainable development strategy, all have found that, by addressing the challenge of sustainable industrial practices, they have found innovative solutions, new opportunities for revenue generation, better relationships with customers, new business and product opportunities and a boost to morale from the executive ranks to front-line employees. Mapping the Journey examines both public and private organisations worldwide including Sony; SC Johnson;TransAlta; Patagonia; Henkel;Volvo; Interface Flooring Systems; and The Dutch National Environmental Policy Plan. These case studies provide an inspiring framework of effective processes for defining a Sustainable Development Strategy and transforming it successfully into actions and results.

Founded in 1876, Henkel is a family-owned global company that specialises in applied chemistry. Henkel believes in a style of corporate management based on shareholder value aimed at meeting the expectations of shareholders, customers and employees. As Henkel is a family-owned corporation, the economic health of the company is directly linked to the owner's economic sustainability. In its history, Henkel was faced with environmental pressures such as concern over phosphates in detergents. In the 1950s, the 'foam mountains' created by detergents in rivers became a serious environmental problem. At Henkel, a systematic and open communication strategy was developed to achieve the best possible market impacts. This communication strategy targets not only the traditional consumers but also professionals, scientists, communicators in media and government, as well as the financial sector. The company is developing guidelines on business ethics and has an international committee comprised of senior managers who are examining the social aspects of the company in relation to sustainable development.

Suncor Energy's history throughout the 1990s is one of significant change and transformation. Suncor's stated goal is to become a 'sustainable energy company'. This means that it aspires to supply energy in a responsible way that meets the environmental, economic and social needs and expectations of its stakeholders. Suncors action plan is based on the company's parallel approach to climate change: developing hydrocarbon resources responsibly to meet current needs while taking action to support the diversification of energy sources over the longer term. Suncor, in conjunction with the stakeholders, developed a set of principles to guide the consultation process. These principles act as the 'rules of the game' and enable all parties to evaluate whether an individual stakeholder is in compliance. Suncor's managers talk about principle-based leadership, and this approach is reflected in the company's statement of values and beliefs, its interactions with stakeholders and its actions on climate change.

Patagonia's brand awareness and reputation are distinctly out of proportion to its size. Nestled in a quiet street just yards from the ocean in Ventura, California, Patagonia has for over two and a half decades been renowned for supplying high-quality outdoor clothing and equipment to discriminating enthusiasts. Patagonia manages the research and development, design, manufacturing, merchandising and sales of adult and children's outdoor clothing, hardgoods such as packs and travel bags, and surf boards. Customers choose Patagonia products because of their technical excellence, performance and quality. Patagonia is a leading example of a company that has examined the life-cycle impacts of key products and used this analysis to prioritise aggressive action. Patagonia is clearly leading the market. Although there is a growing confidence in the strategic rationale for sustainability, both environmental and social initiatives in Patagonia stem largely from a strong internal conviction about 'doing the right thing'.

AB Volvo, at year-end 1998, is the largest industrial group in Scandinavia, with over 79,000 employees and 55 production plants in 26 countries. To the car-buying public, Volvo is well known for the core values of safety and quality related to all aspects of product concept, design, engineering, production and service. As an extension of its established commitment to high-quality, safe transportation, Volvo has for the first time since 1927 added a third core corporate value: 'Environmental Care'. Volvo's other major business segment, the commercial products industry, is expected to remain a growing sector globally, spurred by the requirements in developing nations for transportation systems infrastructure and the demand in industrialised areas for efficient urban mobility. Volvo is working to create a culture of openness and transparency of data, both internally and within its supply chain. In both personal dialogue and external publications, Volvo managers openly acknowledge the realities of transport as intrinsically environmentally destructive.

SJ Group is the traffic operator, building owner and service provider of the Swedish railway. SJ Group has two main entities: SJ Rail and its subsidiaries. SJ Rail's progress toward integrating environment into its core strategy, product and service offerings, and operational processes is inextricably intertwined with its corporate turnaround more generally. The SJ strategy is particularly comprehensive, covering all aspects of SJ operations, customers' needs, competitors' capabilities, demographic trends and environmental issues. SJ's high-speed trains, sleeping coaches, family coaches, cinema coaches, business office coaches, central station restaurants, computerised ticket services and ticket programmes, breakthrough environmental programmes and performance are all receiving high praise from customers. SJ instituted the business planning process over a six-month period, starting with significant management training over a five-day programme. SJ trained employees in customer service and created international alliances to make it significantly easier for both passengers and freight to travel to and from Europe.

Netherlands has been a key to the development and implementation of its National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP). The sustainable development journey in the Netherlands began with the planning and development of NEPP in 1989, prior to which environmental policy was largely focused on toxic substance management and the sectoral regulation of processes that posed a threat to human health. The Netherlands has developed an extensive capacity for tracking performance indicators, with periodic National Environmental Outlook reports monitoring progress on the targets established in NEPP. The NEPP is described as a national strategy for the environment, which has the ambitious goal of 'achieving sustainable development in the Netherlands within one generation'. The planning and implementation stages of NEPP are difficult to separate. A number of key planning steps were conducted in advance but, through continuous monitoring and feedback, the planning process is constantly being revised.

The ASG Group is one of northern Europe's leading transportation and logistics companies. Operations include road, rail, sea and air-based transport and logistics activities. ASG operates warehouses and terminals, and contracts most of its transport services. ASG managers have a clear strategic rationale for aggressively tackling the company's environmental impact. ASG customers are increasingly concerned about environmental performance. An important starting place for ASG was guiding an understanding of the process by which it develops transport and logistics services, and identifying the environmental impacts associated with each process step. The goal of ASG's seminars is to solidify its leadership position in environment and logistics. Its experience is that customers are becoming increasingly aware, requesting more and more details. ASG has been diligently building the foundation for sustainability as a core competence contributing to increased competitive advantage, shareholder value and customer value.

SC Johnson was founded in 1886, originally as a manufacturer of parquet floors, but soon thereafter as a supplier of wax products for hardwood floor care. In 1935, SC Johnson initiated a corporate policy of donating 5% of pre-tax profits, and has sustained that level or higher for 50 years. With its environmental commitment becoming ever more explicit, SC Johnson restated and clarified its core principles in 1976, codifying them into a statement called, 'This We Believe'. In addition to spearheading the case for eco-efficiency, SC Johnson has also created several new structures which have moved the eco-efficiency orientation more deeply into product development and brand identity. Virtually all major corporations participate in significant philanthropic endeavours. SC Johnson, however, invests a level of conviction and enthusiasm that is much more than simply money. The ethic of serving local communities runs as deep at SC Johnson as it does in any company in the world.

Center For Technology Assessment (CTA) mission is twofold: to explore the consequences and impacts of scientific and technological developments; and to initiate, organise and promote the evaluation of and decision-making about technology with and by society, through the use of sophisticated social dialogue and conflict resolution processes. CTA is committed to a collaborative, democratic process in which it catalyses collective deliberation and action toward sustainable development. CTA specifically calls its citizens' panels an 'analytic deliberative process' and is continually assessing and improving the approach as a vital tool in creating a sustainable society. Along with the comprehensive intellectual approach, CTA also made a substantive commitment to supporting specific case studies. As CTA has attempted to support its region in designing and implementing a strategy of sustainable development, it has developed six pragmatic principles of sustainable development and has begun to articulate specific policy tools that can be used to operationalise sustainable development.