A Case of Radical Reinvention: Umicore

Abstract

There are many competing understandings of the implications of sustainable development for companies. Some companies talk about the ‘sustainability’ in terms of the company itself while others have seen sustainability in terms of the company’s responsibility to contribute to the sustainability of the economic and social systems within which the company and its products or services are part. When the managers of a company takes on board the second perspective and its ambition this often involves a fundamental review of what the company is doing to create value and that may in turn lead to a transition to a new approach to business.This chapter presents the case of Umicore – a Belgium company – that undertook such a transition. The case charts the change process that took place in the company focusing particularly on the role of human agents, pinpointing their roles and beliefs of the key actors who brought about change.Umicore was chosen for study because its transformation has been recognized by other organizations as contributing to sustainable development while achieving successful financial results. However, the transformation process that was undertaken at Umicore has not been studied. The chapter describes and analyses the main elements of the change process that ran from 1989 to 2008, as Union Minière – the predecessor of Umicore – transitioned to become the new Umicore, with an integrated approach to business and its contribution to sustainable development.The chapter addresses three main questions: What were the internal and external factors that drove the process of organizational change at Umicore? How did the company undertake change? What roles did internal agents play in the process?The transformation process is described by dividing the 19 year process into discrete phases while pinpointing the roles and beliefs held by key decisions makers during each of those phases.Conclusions are drawn about the process and the leadership provided by individual actors and groups of actors working together.