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  • 2003
  • Article
  • Corporate Environmental Strategy

BMW Group's Sustainability Management System: Preliminary Results, Ongoing Challenges, and the UN Global Compact

By: Michael W. Toffel, Natalie Hill and Kellie McElhaney
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Abstract

This article describes preliminary results and ongoing challenges faced by Designworks/USA, an industrial design subsidiary of BMW Group, in its sustainability management efforts since it implemented the world's first certified Sustainability Management System (SMS). In addition, the extent to which the SMS promotes BMW Group's commitment to implement the United Nations Global Compact's human rights, labor, and environmental principles is analyzed. A detailed description of the development of a SMS standard and its deployment throughout the business operations of Designworks/USA was provided in the previous issue of CES Journal.

Keywords

Environmental Sustainability; Management Systems; Standards; Social Issues; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Outcome or Result; Auto Industry

Citation

Toffel, Michael W., Natalie Hill, and Kellie McElhaney. "BMW Group's Sustainability Management System: Preliminary Results, Ongoing Challenges, and the UN Global Compact." Corporate Environmental Strategy 10, no. 3 (2003).
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About The Author

Michael W. Toffel

Technology and Operations Management
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  • How Firms Respond to Worker Activism: Evidence from Global Supply Chains By: Yanhua Bird, Jodi L. Short and Michael W. Toffel
  • Calyx Global: Rating Carbon Credits By: Michael W. Toffel and Adam Chen
  • Arla Foods: Data-Driven Decarbonization (A) and (B) PowerPoint Supplement By: Michael Parzen, Michael W. Toffel and Susan Pinckney
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