Sustainability at Bose

The Bose sustainability program manages the social, environmental and economic responsibilities of our business. Our ambition is to adopt leading practices in sustainability management and embed sustainability comprehensively across the company. To accomplish this we have established a global multi-year sustainability strategy that creates value for our customers, our people and the communities in which we operate. Sustainability delivers customer value by driving innovation in our products and engages our employees to help them reach their full potential, while our community programs seek to give back in meaningful ways.

We strive to build even greater momentum behind the program over the coming years. Our sustainability governance structure is a key enabler. It cuts across different functions globally, and delivers consistent and reinforcing messages to successfully operationalize our strategy and objectives.

Our people are the heart and soul of our business, driving the innovation, creativity and excellence that have made Bose what it is today. By helping our people to live richer and more meaningful lives, we’re creating a work environment that can attract and retain the best talent that will perpetuate our business into the future.

Programs such as Wellbeing@Bose, Recognize & Celebrate, and Health & Safety all enhance the experience and wellbeing of our employees. We also have several important training programs that support employee development, including the Bose Lean Enterprise training and the Global People Management Initiative, which we work to have all of our managers complete.

Any truly sustainable business is beholden to the communities in which it operates and where its people and their families live. At Bose, we are happy to give back to our communities through a variety of efforts including volunteerism, charity drives and corporate giving. Our activities focus on continuing our longstanding tradition of bringing our innovative spirit to address the needs of our local communities, and advancing the cause of research and progress through education. Support for educational programs in particular allows our people to share their expertise with aspiring engineers, broadening their own life and work experience through the mentoring process, while fostering the next generation of engineers who will carry the Bose legacy into the future.

Bose recognizes that our operations and products have an impact on the environment and we believe in a responsible approach to mitigating these impacts. The energy and carbon intensity of our business is one of our most material environmental topics, and we’re committed to reducing it. As a company that follows Lean manufacturing principles, we have already begun pursuing many noteworthy energy reduction initiatives. We know these efforts will bring long-term benefits to our company and reduce our impact on the environment.

Through our Lean culture we also focus on reducing waste generation and repurposing waste materials. Managing material waste well is not only good for the environment, but can drive tangible value for our business.

In today’s world, more and more of our business customers and consumers are seeking and expecting products that demonstrate strong sustainability performance. We want to meet and exceed their expectations by improving the sustainability attributes of our products.

We offer products such as the Bose Energy Efficient Series, which uses 50% less energy than comparable Bose sound systems, and Bose Ride system, proven to reduce fatigue and pain for professional drivers. We also look for ways to redesign our packaging to minimize size and use environmentally preferable materials.