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When Muhtar Kent took the helm at Coke, in 2008, he had two top priorities: to establish a long-term vision and to restore growth in North America. The vision called for doubling Coke's business in 10 years-something "not for the fainthearted," Kent says, "but clearly doable." In this edited interview he talks about the role of social media (Coke has 33 million Facebook fans), which today get 20% of the company's total media spend; the importance of creating sustainable communities to preserve the future of the business; and Coke's commitment to water neutrality by 2020-which means giving back a liter of water for every one the company uses. As the CEO of a company with 140,000 employees, Kent says, "you can only influence." He takes a low-key approach, treasures the team, and loves to visit supermarkets and observe customers.

If your firm is debating whether to hire a chief sustainability officer (CSO), you may be like fictional electronic components manufacturer Narinex. After losing another big contract to competitor Glistrom, an internal analysis of previous-versus-current RFPs has highlighted one clear area of concern: sustainability. Glistrom recently hired a CSO who has been very visible in promoting its green strategies, even though they don't differ much from Narinex's. With customers increasingly interested in the "greenness" of the products they buy, Narinex needs to change its approach. The executive team debates the questions of cost, brand image, and strategy, and tries to decide whether to handle the issues in-house with current resources, to bring in a consultant to investigate changes, or to hire a CSO. How do you think Narinex should resolve its dilemma? This fictional case was authored by Eric J. McNulty, who writes about sustainability, and Rupert Davis, who heads the sustainability practice at MontaRosa. Commentary is offered by Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer at SAP; Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola; and HBR's readers. Two experts comment on this fictional case study in products R1012N and R1012Z.

If your firm is debating whether to hire a chief sustainability officer (CSO), you may be like fictional electronic components manufacturer Narinex. After losing another big contract to competitor Glistrom, an internal analysis of previous-versus-current RFPs has highlighted one clear area of concern: sustainability. Glistrom recently hired a CSO who has been very visible in promoting its green strategies, even though they don't differ much from Narinex's. With customers increasingly interested in the "greenness" of the products they buy, Narinex needs to change its approach. The executive team debates the questions of cost, brand image, and strategy, and tries to decide whether to handle the issues in-house with current resources, to bring in a consultant to investigate changes, or to hire a CSO. How do you think Narinex should resolve its dilemma? This fictional case was authored by Eric J. McNulty, who writes about sustainability, and Rupert Davis, who heads the sustainability practice at MontaRosa. Commentary is offered by Peter Graf, chief sustainability officer at SAP; Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola; and HBR's readers. Two experts comment on this fictional case study in products R1012N and R1012Z.