Nike CEO, Mark Parker, in a recent letter "To everyone," illuminated Nike's commitment to innovation and sustainability. This reflects a cultural shift coming from the core values of the organization. Parker explains:

I grew up in design and innovation. I grew up at Nike. And for all the athletic and cultural and financial successes of the company, I believe our work in sustainable business and innovation has equal potential to shape our legacy. For that to happen, we have to focus on the lessons we've learned:

• Transparency is an asset, not a risk
• Collaboration enables systemic change
• Every challenge and risk is an opportunity
• Design allows you to prototype the future, rather than retrofit the past
• To make real change, you have to be a catalyst

Consistent with Nike’s commitment to reporting and transparency, Parker’s letter and a short video are a prelude to a thorough Corporate Responsibility Report FY 07 08 09. The report credits The Natural Step, Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), Deloitte & Touche and the World Economic Forum as collaborators that helped Nike define its strategic path toward sustainability.

As part of this work, we tested the real business impact of our changing world on NIKE, Inc. and explored how our consumer brand could thrive in a sustainable economy. We concluded that we need to continue to refine our existing business model while simultaneously looking at new ways of doing business.

This work underlined two key challenges: that solutions will demand industry-level systemic change, and that the scale and complexity of changes needed demand new approaches to innovation and collaboration.

As we enter 2010 this work continues, with a number of ambitious goals:
1. Put investing in sustainability as a key innovation/R+D priority on consumer brands’ agendas.
2. Fast track innovation through investment and collaboration.
3. Launch the GreenXchange as a platform for enabling the sharing of intellectual property to fast track changes efficiently.
4. Build an advocacy agenda to push for large-scale policies and investments in sustainable innovation

Nike’s commitment did not come about over night. It has been transforming how the organization sees its place in the market and the world for 10 years. We are proud to be part of that ongoing transformation and hope other organizations will recognize and rise to the challenges we face with similar optimism and enthusiasm. We applaud Nike's vision and grasp of reality. Download excerpts of the report. If you don't have time to read the entire report, here is one additional insight: