Some companies have sustainability built in to their DNA. Companies such as Patagonia, Ben & Jerry’s, and Method were founded by folks who were more driven to create socially responsible products, companies, and business practices than to make money. But companies such as Unilever, BMW, and adidas—all current sustainability leaders—discovered over time that they could succeed financially in their respective industries while at the same time being kind to the environment and providing better working conditions. In fact, these companies contend that a sound strategic plan built on sustainable practices makes them better financial performers than they might be otherwise.

adidas came to that realization nearly 20 years ago. In 1998, the company issued its first official environmental statement. In the years that followed, it tracked its performance against social and environmental goals and made its progress transparent in an annual report. But in 2008, the company revised its sustainability strategy, making it more comprehensive and ambitious than ever before.

These days just about every company makes claims about reducing its carbon footprint. But adidas’s sustainability path stands as a model to any company that truly wants to make a difference. In short, making a difference when it comes to the health and well-being of the planet and its inhabitants takes more than just lip service. For a company to make an impact, sustainability must be ingrained in its organizational culture.

At adidas, such a cultural commitment is apparent in the degree to which the company has woven sustainability into its core business. Using a sports analogy, adidas’s sustainability statement describes its efforts to become more sustainable and socially responsible as a marathon, not a sprint. “It’s about preparedness and setting the right pace, having both the drive and the stamina to make it the distance. And most of all, it is about endurance: overcoming setbacks and difficulties, keeping the finishing line always in the forefront of our minds.”

Some time ago, adidas established a set of core values that have shaped its corporate culture: performance, passion, integrity, and diversity. If these were just words on the wall at corporate headquarters, they wouldn’t amount to much. But at adidas, these values “commit us to playing by the rules that society expects of a responsible company.” Such values create the cultural infrastructure that drives “designing products that are environmentally sound . . . reducing the environmental impacts of our day-to-day operations and in our supply chain . . . setting workplace standards for our suppliers to meet . . . looking after the well-being and careers of our employees . . . and making a positive contribution to the communities where we operate.”

To translate this culture into action, adidas sticks to the four Ps—but not the same four Ps that make up the marketing mix. Rather, adidas frames and reviews its sustainability goals and performance within the context of four pillars—people, product, planet, and partnership. It’s what adidas calls its “Fair Play Framework.”

People. “We positively influence the lives of our employees, factory workers, and people living in the communities where we have a business presence.” To achieve a more positive impact on the lives of people, adidas involves itself in hundreds of community projects with either financial support or providing employees as volunteers. But the “people” pillar also teaches common sense in doing the right thing.

When the owners of an apparel factory in Indonesia promptly closed and abandoned a factory just six months after being unable to resolve differences with adidas regarding its operations, hundreds of workers were left without jobs. adidas was there to ensure the workers were taken care of. This included millions of dollars in humanitarian aid, placement services, and direct advocacy with the Indonesian government to improve workers’ rights. These efforts had a direct and positive impact on the lives of people who had been working to make adidas products.

Product. “We find better ways to create our products—mainly through efficiencies, increased use of more sustainable materials, and innovation.” Among the product targets are specific goals, such as reducing the number of colors used in products by 50 percent, reducing product samples to intermediaries through virtualization, and increasing the use of sustainable materials in footwear and apparel. As the company focuses on these and other initiatives, compliance can be tracked, as can the impact on such factors as water usage, carbon emissions, and volume of product being disposed of in landfills.

For example, the adidas’s virtualization project has reduced the demand for samples by 2.4 million items over a four-year period. Its initiative to source 100 percent of its cotton as “sustainable cotton” takes into account the use of water, health of the soil, and quality of the fiber. adidas is 43 percent of the way to its goal and ahead of schedule. And increasing the use of innovative fabrics has saved 50 million liters of water by reducing the amount needed to launder such items.

Planet. “We reduce the environmental footprint of both our own operations and our suppliers’ factories.” In addition to product actions that reduce environmental impact, adidas also sets goals targeting operational facilities and human behavior. One of the main initiatives for this pillar is the ISO 14001 certification of company and supplier facilities. To move office buildings, factories, and distribution plants toward the international standards for certification, adidas sets specific goals and provides employees with specific directives.

For example, the company has a goal to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent. Some directives include turning off computers when they are not in use and turning off lights when people leave a room or their office. To achieve a goal of 50 percent reduction in paper use, employees are encouraged to “think before printing” and “reuse paper for notes.” adidas has almost fulfilled each of these goals.

Partnership. “We engage with critical stakeholders and collaborate with partners to improve our industry.” The partnership pillar provides direction and motivation to seek out supplier, distributor, and relationships with other organizations that are trying to achieve the same sustainability goals as adidas. This includes working with partners to help them develop strategies whereby they can get on track and make progress. As one example, the adidas Group is an active participant of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, a trade association that has worked to develop an index for measuring and tracking the comprehensive environmental and social impact of products across the value chain.

These are just a few examples of how adidas is putting sustainable concepts into action and achieving sustainability results. Not only is adidas achieving results, it is being recognized for them. Its recent fifth-place ranking is not its first time on the Global 100 Index list—it the company’s 11th appearance. adidas has also garnered Gold Class status and Sector Leader awards from ­RobecoSam—a well-known investment firm that focuses on sustainability investing. And adidas has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for each of the past 15 years.

Although adidas is clearly succeeding at implementing sustainable practices, one big question remains: Does all this do-gooding translate into sound financial performance as many companies claim? Many adidas stakeholders have asked that question. During Hainer’s watch, superstar Nike has risen to such global dominance that adidas’s financial performance is suffering. While Nike’s revenues have shown strong gains year over year, adidas’s have flattened. Not only has Nike been outperforming adidas in the United States, but Nike is getting the best of adidas in sales growth on its home turf in Europe. Nike is even stealing adidas’s thunder in soccer, a sport where the German company has long been the global leader.

But adidas continues to press forward in its efforts to make the company and the world better places. In Hainer’s own words, “We are not perfect and we do not always get it right. But as we go about our work, we aim to honor the spirit of ‘fair play’ in everything we do. Therefore, let me assure you that we continue to take serious responsibility for our actions. And we continue to integrate sustainability into our business strategy.”