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RESULTS & DISCUSSION
3.2
Metric Development 3.2.1
INCREASE ECONOMIC PROSPERITY FOR THE COMMUNITY This core objective represents one of the four fundamental ways that Ford impacts social sustainability: the company’s economic footprint within its community. Ford achieves this impact through two means, namely by investing into the community (through the provision of goods and services, which includes providing employment—including indirect and induced jobs), and by building capacity for economic prosperity (through philanthropy). In doing so, the company creates wealth for its community and raises the overall standard of living. In terms of issue saliency (or the relative importance of the objectives to the general public), this core objective was the second most commonly mentioned in the interviews with the general public, second only to access to transportation. In terms of alignment with existing frameworks, this objective was one of the most widely addressed under the four frameworks considered here. Of the four frameworks, GRI had the highest extent of alignment (where it was considered under the umbrella of economic impacts and considered separate from social impacts). The objective was not considered under the SASB or MSCI frameworks. For the UN SDGs, this social impact aligns with the themes of SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). For example, as detailed in Table 2 (Appendix), the objective “increase economic prosperity for the community” through either production or capacity-building can contribute to the SDG 1 Target 1.2, related to reducing the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty. This core objective, its means and their associated metrics (total $ invested and GDP impact) are all transferable beyond the boundaries of Ford, to other companies and sectors, with no modifications needed.
DEFINING SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY’S MODEL OF HUMAN PROGRESS
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