Corporate Governance and Strategy

Cadmus’ Governance and Strategy Practice focuses on providing advice and counsel to senior management at organizations, especially as they undergo profound environmental-related market shifts.

As one of the premier consultants focused on the commercial sector, we are viewed as strategists and problem-solvers focusing on progressive environmental issues and emerging environmental needs. Our clients look upon us as trusted advisors to assist them with their toughest challenges, help them break new ground, and translate an environmental management vision into effective action.

Our services include the following:

Environmental Assurance – the management function used by corporations around the world to monitor their implementation of environmental sustainability practices and to report to senior management and boards of directors whether they are managing environmental, health and safety (EHS) obligations responsibly, including EHS compliance and internal auditing.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)/Sustainability – the process by which organizations manage the impact their activities have on customers, employees, shareholders, communities, and the environment to produce a positive result.

Capacity Building and Training – courses to help organizations achieve their EHS and sustainability goals.

Evaluation and Measurement – tools and techniques for evaluating and measuring the performance of EHS and sustainability activities.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG)/Carbon Management – practices related to emerging market and regulatory pressures associated with GHG inventory reporting, target setting, mitigation strategies, offset investment decisions, and other climate change issues.

Project Example: Review of an Environmental Assurance Program

Environmental assurance is the number one management tool companies around the world use to monitor their implementation of environmental sustainability practices and to report to senior management and boards of directors whether they are managing environmental obligations responsibly.

The Challenge

Stakeholders increasingly are asking companies to prove that they are making real gains in environmental performance as a function of their environmental assurance program. Cadmus was asked by a global pharmaceutical company to review its environmental assurance program to address this stakeholder need.

Our Approach

Cadmus’ approach to reviewing the effectiveness of our client’s environmental assurance program involved gathering detailed information about the design and implementation of program activities. We interviewed staff at every level of the organization and reviewed documents covering each stage of program execution. We evaluated the program relative to global standards and leading industry practices; identified program strengths, provided specific recommendations for improving or enhancing the program, and assessed whether the program was gathering the information necessarily to adequately conclude as to whether the company was managing its environmental obligations responsibly.

Our Success

We provided our client with a detailed report that clearly made the link between environmental performance and the structure and execution of an assurance program. As a consequence, our client could clearly and confidently report to stakeholders that the program was delivering value in terms of enhancing performance, exhibiting a level of transparency that would stand up to external scrutiny, and providing the data to substantiate that key issues characterizing the environmental footprint of the company were being managed in accordance with governmental and internal requirements.

Moreover, based on our broad industry experience, we provided our client with a professional opinion regarding the following program attributes: senior management supported the achievement of internal environmental sustainability objectives through the continued and sufficient allocation of both staff and financial resources to execute the assurance program; the company had an established process in place to identify emerging issues and resolve concerns; and the program was organizationally situated such that it strengthened the achievement of environmental sustainability goals.