E - Finmeccanica

F O C U S
9/2010 FINMECCANICA MAGAZINE
SUSTAINABILITY
IS A TEAM GAME
THE 2009 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT REPRESENTS THE START OF A QUIET ‘REVOLU-
TION’ THAT WILL MAKE THE REPORT A KEY TOOL IN THE GROUP’S MANAGEMENT
PROCESS. A WINNING PROPOSAL THAT AIMS TO BRING ABOUT A CHANGE IN
CULTURE IN WHICH THE ENTIRE GROUP PARTICIPATES AT EVERY LEVEL
The third edition of the Finmeccanica
Sustainability
Report is now here. Is it just
an update to the second edition?
Not at all: the 2009 Sustainability
Report, which was finished at
the beginning of July, when all
those who worked on it were given
a sneak preview of the final
report, represents the start of a
quiet revolution, transforming a
communication tool into a fundamental
part of the management
process that is integrated
into the Group’s strategic plans.
Finmeccanica’s commitment to
sustainability is more than just
skin deep: it is a winning proposal
for cultural change, because it
requires the integration of new
measures for assessing sustainability
into all company decisions
at every level, thereby helping to
add value for the stakeholders.
When taking decisions, we no
longer just consider the technical
feasibility or the cost, but also
look at the impact our actions
will have on the interests and expectations
of the wider society:
environmental protection, the
careful use of resources, social
cohesion, the promotion of culture,
the quality of our relationships
with stakeholders and so
forth. The demand for social responsibility
from outside the
Group has changed. It is no longer
enough simply to behave
well – we have to prove it, with
facts and figures.
This is where the Report comes
in: it is our starting point for engaging
with our stakeholders.
The 2009 Report, which was officially
presented in Milan in September,
boasts lots of new features.
First and foremost in terms
of content: there is less text, to
make it easier to read and find
information; there are more facts
and figures, and fewer general
observations. For the first time
ever, we are able to provide a
copy on USB flash drive and on
the Internet website, supplemented
with additional in-depth
information. We have also set up
a dedicated e-mail address (sostenibilita@finmeccanica.com)
on the Finmeccanica website to
provide a direct means of gathering
thoughts, suggestions and
questions. Finally, there are the
‘workshops’, or projects looking
at different aspects of social responsibility
with the aim of improving
our products and actions.
Our attempts to ensure
concision were made even more
challenging by the fact that, for
the first time, the Report also included
the Environmental Report
in order to provide an integrated
analysis of all aspects of
sustainability in one document.
Furthermore, it also includes a
number of in-depth articles on a
sample of Group companies, albeit
on a trial basis, to reflect the
gradual broadening of the scope
of reporting. However, it is in
terms of processes that the most
significant progress has been
made: the communications department,
which is responsible
for the project, facilitated, co-ordinated
and edited the Report.
The choice of topics and the revision
of the text was handled directly
by the various departments
with responsibility for each
particular field. The clear
objective was to achieve the highest
possible level of involvement
within the different organisations:
in this way, the Sustainability
Report becomes a ‘team
effort’ that finds increasing acceptance
and – most importantly
– can reach and motivate more
and more people within the
Group, starting with all those
who can help to improve it. A
point of co-ordination is certainly
needed, and to this end a
dedicated working group was
established to monitor all stages
of the project, from the planning
and data collection through to
processing and the end product.
The value added that a group of
staff can provide to the other departments
and the companies
fosters a greater dissemination
of the culture, and is an important
way of supporting the development
of new processes and
application tools, by constantly
facilitating dialogue with the various
internal and external
authors, comparing performance
against best practices and
proposing new ideas and
projects. There is still a lot of
complex work to be done. Starting
with the results already obtained
on an accounting level,
we need to apply these to corporate
decision-making processes
with increasing determination,
measuring the social and environmental
impact of our production
activities with ever greater
accuracy.
The experience that we have
gained thus far will help us to
progress, with the prospect of
producing a proper fully certified
Sustainability Account in the
near future. The achievements
made this year thanks to the ongoing
support of senior management
and the increasing awareness
of the employees with
whom we worked encourage us
to keep going, placing ever greater
emphasis on ‘sustainable’
conduct so that together we can
create a stronger Group, ready to
face a future that offers us even
more opportunities.
The Sustainability Working Group
Finmeccanica
in the Dow Jones
Sustainability Indexes
Finmeccanica has been included for
the first time in the prestigious
Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes
(DJSI World and DJSI Europe), the
major stock market indexes that
track company performance in
terms of financial, environmental
and social sustainability. The DJSI
includes only the sustainability
leaders that represent the top 10%
of the 2,500 biggest companies
worldwide. Finmeccanica was the
only aerospace and defence
company in the world to be added.
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