Success in the marketplace poses challenges even to companies that don't experience setbacks. There's no denying that 1998 was a banner year for SEI Investments Co., a teamwork-obsessed firm that provides bank-trust automation for 85 of the top 200 U.S. banks and back-office services for leading mutual-fund providers. SEI's stock has traded as high as $120 per share (up from a high of $37 in 1997), giving the outfit a market value that approaches $2 billion. But doesn't runaway growth put extra pressure on a company that's organized around 140 teams and that has neither a centralized support staff nor an HR department?
"Teams are difficult to manage," admits CEO Al West. "If you're the head of a team, you have to become more of a coach than a leader. Your success is based on how well you work with peers. We couldn't have achieved our current level of growth and success within a hierarchy. The problem with hierarchies is that they require you to engineer everything. And there's just no way that we could have engineered everything that has gone right for us."
SEI's biggest challenge, says West, is to reinforce a shared sense of purpose within a fast-paced, decentralized environment. "We all need to be singing from the same hymnal," he says.
Another big challenge involves taking time to enjoy the sweet smell of success -- and to recognize the performance of successful teams. Toward that end, SEI sponsored a 1998 holiday bash that resembled an Academy Awards ceremony more than it did a run-of-the-mill office party. The 1,600 people who attended the event were treated to short videos made by teams that had registered better-than-expected performance.
"We gave these teams video equipment and an editor," West says, "and they each communicated something about the job that they did. One of our teams from asset-management services -- a team that grew faster than any other team in the company last year -- created a hilarious video about conquering the world. It was a real hit and very informative." West plans to archive the videos and to make them available on the company-wide intranet. And he expects to see even better videos next year: "Teams are no longer happy with just having the best job performance. Now they want to make the best videos too!"
The most tangible environmental innovation at Interface Inc. in 1998 was its product catalog -- a 2-pound, 10-ounce book that could prove to be a revolutionary force within the interior-design world. Interface is one of the world's leading producers of commercial carpet, and its products are everywhere -- from the floors of the U.S. Capitol to the offices of MTV. The company has launched an effort to become completely sustainable -- to reinvent its products and production methods so that new carpet is made out of old carpet. In the words of Ray Anderson, founder and CEO, Interface aspires to be the "first fully sustainable industrial enterprise, anywhere."
One of the most wasteful aspects of Interface's operations is the manner in which the company markets its line of products. Like other companies that sell floor coverings, Interface presents its range of carpets and colors (more than 1,000 combinations in all) to designers, architects, and customers in bulky architectural folders that contain small squares of carpeting. A complete set of Interface samples weighs 400 pounds, costs $1,500 to produce, and takes up as much shelf space as an entire design library.
Last June, Interface introduced a catalog that dramatically reduces carpet-sample waste. The catalog, a perfect-bound book titled "Square Feet," displays every design and color of carpet that Interface offers. It has the stylish presentation and photographic quality of a coffee-table book, and it costs just $30 a copy to produce. By using it, Interface expects to save tens of thousands of pounds a year in carpet and cardboard.
There were several other innovations. In January, Interface introduced a carpet tile in which both the pile and the rubbery backing are composed of 100% recycled material. In February, it turned on a solar array at one of its factories in the Los Angeles area. The half-acre array is the largest commercially operating solar grid in the contiguous United States.
All of which has made Anderson a source that people turn to when they need advice on bringing sustainability to business. During one recent month, he spoke to audiences in China, Japan, and Maine. He has also written a book, Mid-Course Correction: Toward a Sustainable Enterprise (Chelsea Green, 1999), that describes how he is re-creating Interface. Says Anderson: "I want to pioneer the company of the next industrial revolution." -- Charles Fishman
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