Sustainability as a compass for leadership

This is an excerpt of the original article. It was written for the November 2017 edition of Supply Chain Management Review. The full article is available to current subscribers.

November 2017

There are strands of sustainability and corporate responsibility through much of this month’s issue. James T. Prokopanko, the former CEO and president of The Mosaic Company, details how corporate responsibility became his compass for leader ship when he took over the reins of the company back in 2007. Similarly, Joseph Ludorf, the executive director of supply chain for Cipla Medpro, details how revamping the planning process enables the South African pharmaceutical company to prof- itably supply drugs to underserved populations on the continent as part of its corporate mission. We round out the issue with five tips for intelli- gent risk taking in…

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Leading an organization today requires navigating the pushes and pulls of multiple stakeholders: generating shareholder returns, delivering value to customers, recruiting and engaging a talented work force and being socially and environmentally responsible to name just a few top-of-mind demands. The leaders of The Mosaic Company—the world’s largest combined producer of potash and phosphate fertilizer faced many serious challenges when it was founded in 2004.

By the time James Prokopanko, one of the authors of this article, assumed the reins as chief executive officer and president in 2007, it was burdened with excessive debt; the prices of the products it produced and sold were at break-even or close to cost of production; its customers—the world’s farmers—were struggling financially; the company’s cash flow was the cause of sleepless nights for the CFO; safety performance was not what its employees deserved; and the company’s operational performance was nothing to boast about. That the company was beset with a barge load of problems was an understatement. In this environment, sustainability was nowhere near the top of the company’s “worry list.”

Since those early years, Mosaic has found its footing and has emerged as a growing, financially-sound enterprise with engaged employees making a remarkable positive difference to many lives around the world—an organization that is strong, resilient and enduring—a truly sustainable enterprise.

What makes Mosaic’s journey remarkable and unique is that it is substantively grounded in:

• the learnings around the notion of “sustainability” and the importance of developing a clear understanding of this important word; and
• the idea that a clearly defined, broad and inclusive understanding of “sustainability” can serve as a valuable compass to help leaders navigate the increasing challenges and vagaries of an ever more inter-dependent global economy.

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