Stakeholder Engagement
Stakeholder engagement is a continual process at EMC. We actively engage with stakeholders to build trust, gain perspective, and to leverage our collective expertise to address the issues and strengthen our business. We believe effective and productive engagement not only helps identify emerging issues, but also creates opportunities to develop innovative approaches to addressing the issues important to stakeholders and our business.
In 2011, EMC held our second Stakeholder Forum facilitated by Ceres, a network of investors, companies, and public interest groups working to accelerate the adoption of sustainable practices. Stakeholders representing the NGO community, academia, investors, and customers were joined by more than 30 EMC executives, managers, and individual contributors from all parts of the organization in a constructive dialog covering topics including EMC’s reporting strategy, the results of our materiality survey, our take back and eWaste principles and programs, and our approach to building a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Key feedback from the forum included:
- Governance – our stakeholders commended EMC for the strength of its governance process and encouraged us to expand executive incentives based on social and environmental metrics.
- Materiality – stakeholders supported EMC’s expansion of our materiality process, and encouraged us to highlight issues in which we believe EMC could take a leadership role. In particular, they suggested that Information Privacy should take a greater role in our sustainability materials. To learn more, visit Materiality Assessment.
- Climate Change and Renewable Energy – in addition to continued emissions reductions in our own operations and the energy consumed by our products, our stakeholders suggested EMC set shorter-term goals for renewable energy and engage customers in their transitions to cleaner fuels. We are exploring various alternative energy sources at this time, as described in Efficient Facilities.
- Report Format – Stakeholders encouraged EMC to be sure that quantitative and critical qualitative material are available and downloadable in text form for ease of review and analysis, and that video and other multimedia content be used primarily for supporting examples and stories. The design of this report is in direct response to that feedback.
- eWaste – In response to our stakeholders, we have provided more detail about EMC’s performance in Product End-of-Life, and have published EMC’s Take Back and eWaste Principles on our public website. We are actively working both internally and with The Green Grid to establish performance metrics.
- Inclusion and diversity – our stakeholders were impressed with the breadth of EMC’s programs and asked us to consider providing more quantitative data and goals. This productive discussion with the interested stakeholders is ongoing.
- Public policy – EMC was encouraged to continue and expand active engagement on sustainability policy issues aligned with our strategy, and to disclose our positions. For more information, see Public Policy.
Below are some additional examples of how we engaged with stakeholders in 2011 and responded to issues raised.
| Stakeholder Group | How We Engage | Examples of How We Respond to Issues Raised |
| Employees |
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In response to interest by employees, EMC Ireland COE offered the Cycle to Work scheme to employees in 2011. The scheme offers a number of benefits including employee health and fitness and monetary savings. Nearly 400 employees have taken advantage of the scheme since it began. In EMC’s Customer Services organization, initiatives resulting from our ESMS survey included: A Process Engineer in Franklin, Massachusetts identified an opportunity for packaging efficiency by reusing corrugated inserts from a specific supplier’s packaging in EMC packaging when shipping those same parts to another facility. He worked with the packaging supplier to design a new box that could reuse the supplier’s corrugated insert. With this change, EMC will avoid 12,125 pounds of CO2e and $57,000 in costs annually. |
Customers |
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We produced a summary brochure in English and Chinese to use as a communication tool to share our sustainability strategy, goals and performance with customers. To see the brochure, visit http://www.emc.com/collateral/sustainability/emc-2011-report-in-brief.pdf In 2011, we added a GHG emissions calculation in the Power Calculator to help our customers better understand the impact associated with using our products. |
Suppliers |
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In 2011, we launched a project in collaboration with one of our largest logistics partners to help analyze our global logistics carbon footprint in more detail. Leveraging our partner’s expertise in the area of GHG accounting and analysis, our goal is to develop reporting capabilities for total carbon emissions, allocated by business units, with breakdown by scope. To learn more, visit Supply Chain Engagement and Transportation & Logistics. |
Shareholders |
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When designing our 2012 executive compensation program, the Leadership and Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors considered, among other things, the results of the 2011 advisory vote on executive compensation and comments received during our active shareholder engagement following the 2011 Annual Meeting of Shareholders, including feedback on our compensation program. Included sustainability information in our quarterly earnings communication materials. Enhanced discussion of sustainability in Annual Report on Form 10-K. Expanded disclosure regarding trade association memberships and percentage of dues used for political spending. |
NGOs |
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Partnered with Ceres to host our Annual Stakeholder Forum, an opportunity for stakeholders to provide input on our sustainability strategy, priorities, and challenges. Also invited Ceres to review a detailed outline of our sustainability report and offer guidance on the content. Provided grant money to support CDP’s development in Brazil in 2011. During the past year, CDP has continued to work with both investors and companies on climate change through the Investor CDP program. In 2011, the number of Brazilian signatories increased again, reaching a new record of 59. |
Industry Groups |
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EMC is a member of the EICC-GeSI Extractives workgroup to develop programs for the responsible sourcing of minerals, including the Conflict-Free Smelter program and mineral traceability schemes. Partnered with The Green Grid to establish industry-wide standards for energy efficiency metrics To learn more, visit Collaboration & Engagement. |
Prospective employees |
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EMC collaborates with colleges and universities globally to incorporate storage as part of the IT curriculum. To learn more, visit Academic Alliance. |
Local schools and communities |
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In October 2011, RSA employees volunteered to teach children safe and responsible use of the Internet to support National Cyber Security Awareness Month. To learn more, visit Strengthening Communities. |