An interview with Gary Mayo, Visteon Corporation's Global Director of Environmental Affairs

Visteon Corporation and Environmental Leadership

In a highly competitive global marketplace, can a large company create economic value with products that are safe and ecologically intelligent? Tier 1 automotive supplier Visteon Corporation thinks it's not only possible, but strategically imperative.

With about 80,000 employees and a global delivery system of more than 180 technical, manufacturing, sales, and service facilities located in 25 countries, and nearly $18 billion in annual sales revenues, Visteon is finding ways to put those assets to work for eco-effective ends by making sustainability a corporate priority. The company is an environmental and corporate citizenship leader in the automotive industry, and their experience in making a strategic commitment to sustainability and incorporating that into their everyday business processes, while still developing, is instructive.

Gary Mayo, Global Director of Environmental Affairs at Visteon, is responsible for driving the company to leading edge environmental performance. He raises awareness of sustainability issues throughout the company, identifies sustainable product design opportunities, and champions Visteon's environmental leadership and global citizenship. In 2001, Mr. Mayo articulated Visteon's corporate environmental strategy, which was adopted by senior executives and embraced as one of the company's top strategic priorities. We talked with Mr. Mayo recently about making sustainability a core business value.

What place do you see the environment, or sustainability, having in the world of corporations like Visteon?

The environment and sustainability are rapidly becoming mainstream issues in corporations. A number of things are contributing to increased awareness. Some of those factors include the need to create shareholder value, the increasing importance of innovation and technology, concern for corporate reputation, new customer requirements, emerging societal needs and demands, legislation, globalization, limited natural resources, and an environment under stress. In my opinion, the environmental front will be the next major competitive battlefield. Companies that understand the need to address environmental issues and sustainability in their strategic business plans TODAY, versus waiting until action is legislated, will be in a significantly better competitive position.

What do you think are some keys, and key challenges, to articulating a good corporate environmental strategy?

I think there are two very important challenges to overcome. One is effectively articulating the intentions of the strategy without creating the appearance of 'green washing.' And the other is linking the Environmental Strategy to the corporate Business Strategy. You have to have the capability and the resources to communicate it throughout the organization in a way people can relate to. In order to capture the creativity and cooperative spirit of an organization, the strategy has to be communicated at a personal level. It should capture the support of all stakeholders.

How have you been successful in getting strong support from the top executives at Visteon?

Gaining the support of senior leadership at Visteon was not difficult. Long before the formulation of our Environmental Strategy for Sustainable Development, Visteon's Strategy Leadership Council of the top seven corporate officers had established a Mission Statement and number one Strategic Priority, and both of those stress Visteon's commitment to being a responsible corporate citizen. And our heritage is also rooted in a deep concern for the environment. So our current posture with regard to environmental stewardship is really a natural extension of our past.

How have the top executives at Visteon shown they are serious about pursuing the Environmental Strategy?

The strongest demonstration of commitment from the senior leadership was the incorporation of Visteon's environmental responsibility and commitment into our corporate Mission Statement; our corporate Strategic Priorities, listed as our #1 corporate priority, and most recently for 2002, into our Strategic Business Plans. Our Chairman, Pete Pestillo, has stressed our environmental commitment in his weekly e-mail messages to our employees around the world, and in a recent feature article interview in green@work magazine.

How have you begun to execute the environmental strategy throughout the company?

Probably the most immediate and concrete development is that Visteon employees have recently formed a voluntary-based group called Visteon's Global Environmental Forum. This is an employee-led global team, made up of Visteon's expert knowledge base in advanced engineering, research and development, manufacturing, and various strategic areas from around the world. The Forum has started to leverage this expertise to develop initiatives to address the environmental challenges in our business and product development practices.

What are some of the opportunities and challenges of carrying the strategy forward?

One of the biggest challenges we face today is addressing the needs of our customers as they prepare to meet the requirements of the European Union's End-of-Life Vehicle Directive. But this also represents an opportunity for Visteon to develop more eco-effective products to deliver those solutions to our customers.

How will you know if Visteon is achieving its environmental strategy? What will the benefits be?

We are currently establishing a set of metrics, which go beyond the traditional compliance metrics, to track Visteon's progress and performance. We expect our strategy to contribute to both top and bottom line. It will benefit Visteon's image and reputation in our industry as leaders in sustainable development initiatives; offer new opportunities for eco-effective products; and create a sustainable competitive advantage.

With such tight cost pressures being applied throughout the automotive supply chain these days, how does that affect the pursuit of Visteon's environmental strategy?

Cost pressures are a fact of life in all areas of our business. That being the case, it is imperative that we do two things: first, develop environmentally intelligent solutions with zero to minimal incremental cost impact; and second, fully develop the value proposition for those products where we do have an incremental increase.

What advice would you give to others in your situation who are trying to articulate and pursue environmental strategies at their own companies?

I'd say that as business leaders, we must take responsibility and take action TODAY. This includes influencing other business leaders to take action. It is never too early or too late to develop a strategy.

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May 2001, "The Five Steps to Reinventing the World" (Step 1: Free of...)

June 2001, "Positive Design Decisions in an Imperfect Market" (Step 2: Personal Preference)

July 2001, "Textile Mills Lead Another Revolution"

August 2001, "Synthetic Materials for Eco-Effective Design"

September 2001, "Transforming Product Design within Current Production Systems" (Step 3: The Passive Positive List)

October 2001, "Do you know what they want to do now?" by Tim O'Brien, Director, Ford Environmental Quality Office

November 2001, "The Breakthrough to True Eco-Effectiveness" (Step 4: The Active Positive List)

December 2001, "Just Doing It. Nike's Track to Ecologically Intelligent Products" by Darcy Winslow, Nike Director of Women's Footwear

January 2002, "A Footprint Worth Celebrating" (Step 5: Reinvention)

February 2002, "The Promise of Nylon 6"