Stories by: Elana Varon

Saab Group, a defense and aerospace company with a global supply chain and customers in 100 countries, must comply with a growing set of local environmental regulations and with customer requirements that it run a greener business. Plus, the $3.7 billion company has its own goals: cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 2 percent a year, save energy and water, increase recycling and reduce its use of hazardous chemicals.

A recent analysis by Retail Systems Research (RSR) sheds some light on how sustainability fits into corporate strategy at top-performing companies.

Frederic Chanfrau, senior vice president of IT for governance, quality and vendor management with Schneider Electric, wants everyone in the company's IT organization to understand three points about going green. First, that energy demands are increasing at the same time as the company must decrease its greenhouse gas emissions; next, that each employee is responsible for helping address this challenge; and finally, that running a sustainable technology shop doesn't necessarily cost more. "They can put their own stone in the building of a greener IT organization," Chanfrau says. But they have to know how.