The following are the primary structures we use to manage and embed accountability for sustainability within Ford.
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Board and Executive-Level Responsibility: Ford's governance of sustainability issues builds on a strong foundation of Board of Director and senior management accountability for the Company's environmental, social and economic performance. At the Board level, the Environmental and Public Policy Committee has primary responsibility for reviewing strategic issues related to sustainability, though sustainability issues are also addressed in other committees and by the Board as a whole. Within management, the Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering – a new position created in 2007 – has primary responsibility for sustainability issues.
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Dedicated Sustainability Function: Ford's Sustainable Business Strategies office coordinates corporate-wide sustainability strategy and activities, including leading the Company's corporate-level sustainability reporting and stakeholder engagement. Over the past year, the group has been restructured to more closely link it with other functions with responsibility for key aspects of sustainability. The Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering now has direct responsibility for the Sustainable Business Strategies, Environmental Policy, and Safety groups, as well as dotted-line oversight over the Sustainable Mobility Technology group (which is formally part of the Product Development function).
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Integration into Core Functions: Numerous functions within the Company have responsibility for some or multiple aspects of sustainability. For example, the Workplace Health and Safety Office, Environment Quality Office and Human Resources Department each manage specific issues that fall under the umbrella of sustainability. In addition, as Ford works to embed sustainability more deeply across all functions, groups such as Product Development, Purchasing and Manufacturing are taking on an increasing role in the Company's sustainability efforts. For example, Product Development is taking the lead on the Company's sustainable mobility efforts, and Global Purchasing is managing Ford's Code of Basic Working Conditions supply chain assessment and training programs.
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Issue-Specific Structures: Ford has also developed structures to address specific, global sustainability issues facing the Company. For example, we have established a Sustainable Mobility Group, a senior-level team led by the Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering, that is working to define our climate change strategy and delivering our sustainability strategy in the marketplace. The strategic direction is provided by a senior executive forum, including Vice President and executive stakeholders, which guides the development of the vision, policy and business goals.
- Sustainability Learning Community: In 2005, we launched our Sustainability Learning Community, a voluntary, cross-functional network for Ford employees designed to build internal capacity on sustainability issues. In addition, the Learning Community aims to provide a mechanism for connecting people across the Company – as well as soliciting new and different perspectives – to help Ford address its key sustainability opportunities and challenges. The Learning Community holds two in-person meetings per year to allow members to share ideas on integrating sustainability in their own jobs and in Ford's overall strategic intent. In 2006, nearly 200 people attended some or part of the meetings, at which, among other things, they helped develop proposals for new, sustainability-driven approaches to the business. Also in 2006, Ford developed an intranet site to provide members of the Learning Community and others with sustainability information and resources, as well as the opportunity to network virtually. More than 600 Ford employees have signed up on the site to receive sustainability news and information. We view the Learning Community as a critical, grassroots structure for integrating sustainability across Ford's culture. See the Voices section for some employee views.
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