Aspirin put Bayer on the map. First synthesized over a century ago, it became one of the world’s most trusted drugs and a symbol of scientific progress. Today, Bayer is a global life sciences leader, operating in more than 80 countries across pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and consumer health. Its products reach billions of people, from heart medication to crop protection solutions. That reach brings influence. It also brings responsibility.
With a legacy rooted in industrial chemistry and genetically modified seeds, Bayer has drawn intense public scrutiny. The 2018 acquisition of Monsanto only intensified the spotlight. As climate pressures mount and ESG expectations rise, the company faces a clear imperative: rebuild trust and show that sustainability is not just a promise, but an integral practice.
Internally, that means changing how work gets done. Bayer isn’t relying on a new slogan or a single initiative. Instead, it’s rewiring its operating model to make sustainability part of every decision. Bayer’s approach to sustainability isn’t headline-grabbing. It’s pragmatic, deeply cultural, and quietly radical. A deliberate shift in how decisions are made, how accountability is shared, and how trust is rebuilt in one of the world’s most scrutinized industries. It may just be the company’s most important transformation since aspirin.
In 2018, Bayer’s acquisition of Monsanto was meant to signal strength: a bold merger of two global leaders in agriculture. Instead, it set off a reputational crisis that continues to shape perceptions of the company today.
Inside Bayer’s offices in Leverkusen and around the world, employees were asking hard questions. Could a company rooted in industrial chemistry and crop protection become a credible force for sustainability? And how could Bayer deliver meaningful impact in one of the world’s most closely watched and contested sectors?
At the same time, expectations were rising. Climate targets were tightening. ESG metrics were moving from optional to essential. Regulators were demanding more transparency. Investors wanted performance and accountability. Bayer found itself at a crossroads. The merger had amplified public scrutiny. Yet the company’s long-term success depended on its ability to lead in sustainability, not just through science and product innovation, but through a transformation of its internal culture and external credibility.
That meant more than setting ambitious goals. It required embedding sustainability into every decision, restructuring governance, and equipping teams to act with greater autonomy. It meant navigating a complex regulatory landscape while aligning a global workforce around a shared sense of purpose. And it meant doing so under intense public observation, where every move could either build trust – or further erode it.
This was Bayer’s challenge: not simply to restore its reputation, but to reshape what the company stood for.
Transforming a company like Bayer doesn’t start with slogans. It starts with structure. In 2019, Bayer made a quiet but radical shift that would come to shape its entire sustainability journey. The CEO also became the Chief Sustainability Officer. That move wasn’t symbolic. It signaled that climate, social impact, and long-term resilience were now embedded in the core of how Bayer operates.
“What makes the difference at Bayer,” explains Schneiders, “is that our CEO is also our CSO.” In practical terms, that meant sustainability was no longer a separate initiative or departmental target. It became a board-level mandate, influencing how capital is allocated, how products are developed, and how success is measured across the company.
This top-down alignment enabled the creation of Bayer’s impact generator strategy, a framework that ties environmental, social, and governance performance directly to business outcomes. Each of Bayer’s three divisions is now responsible for clear sustainability targets. These include reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 42% by 2030, reaching full carbon neutrality in operations, and lowering the environmental impact of crop protection by nearly a third. The targets are integrated into business unit plans and executive scorecards. Progress is tracked, audited, and reported with the same rigor as financial results.
But strategy on paper doesn’t move culture. That required something more personal. And that’s where Dynamic Shared Ownership (DSO) comes in. Launched in 2023, DSO is less a process than a mindset. It invites teams to step into shared responsibility, flatten hierarchies, and move faster. Instead of decisions moving slowly through chains of approval, cross-functional groups are assembled around specific problems. Their task is simple: solve it, own it, and deliver results.
Schneiders led one of the early DSO teams focused on Bayer’s carbon transition plan. In just six months, the team built a new decarbonization pathway, a process that might have taken more than a year under traditional structures. “With DSO, we get the right people in the room. We define the goal, and we get to work,” he says. “You don’t wait for permission. You create progress.”
The model is still taking root. Not everyone finds it intuitive. For some, it requires letting go of established ways of working and embracing ambiguity. But for those who step in, it’s shifting how sustainability is perceived – not as an add-on, but as a core business objective that demands creativity, urgency, and cross-functional ownership.
Technology is helping underpin that change. Bayer now monitors more than 400 environmental indicators across its operations, but the focus has sharpened around six strategic KPIs. These cover not just emissions and energy use, but also topics like gender equity and support for smallholder farmers. The KPIs act as a compass, guiding decision-making and helping leaders stay accountable to both internal goals and external expectations.
None of this is positioned as a quick fix. Bayer isn’t claiming victory. But it is doing the hard work of rebuilding credibility from within. And in doing so, it’s starting to shift the story. Not just about what it makes, but about how it works, who it empowers, and what kind of future it is trying to build.
Bayer’s experience offers insight for any organization pursuing sustainability under tough conditions – whether due to industry, public scrutiny, or internal complexity.
When sustainability is part of the CEO’s job, not just the CSO’s, it sends a powerful signal. It ensures the topic stays on the agenda, not once a quarter, but in every strategic conversation.
Sustainability doesn’t scale through mandates alone. New governance structures like Dynamic Shared Ownership help teams take the lead, not because they’re told to, but because they’re trusted and empowered to.
Bayer tied emissions targets to business unit scorecards and executive incentives. That made climate goals not just a moral imperative, but a measurable responsibility at every level.
With hundreds of metrics in play, focus is essential. Bayer focused on six KPIs that cut through the noise and guide decision-making with clarity and consistency.
For any company under scrutiny, progress must speak louder than promises. Bayer’s path shows that credibility is built through consistent action, internal alignment, and transparent reporting, not campaigns.
As Bayer moves into the next phase of its transformation, the focus is on scaling shared ownership, embedding resilience, and turning cultural change into long-term business value.
Internally, the DSO model is just beginning to take hold. Designed to break silos and flatten hierarchies, DSO empowers cross-functional teams to lead, rather than wait for top-down directives. “We aim to foster an agile organizational culture that empowers employees to take initiative and drive sustainability efforts,” says Schneiders. It’s a shift that requires trust, focus, and a willingness to challenge long-established ways of working.Externally, Bayer continues to expand the use of data and digital infrastructure to build credibility through transparency. Over 400 environmental indicators feed into performance dashboards across the business. The aim isn’t to impress, but to improve. “We can only improve what we can measure,” Schneiders emphasizes. Progress is now tracked through a small set of shared KPIs tied to climate, equity, and impact, giving the company a clearer compass for sustainable decision-making.
But the real test will be maintaining momentum. As Bayer deepens its efforts to integrate sustainability across divisions, the challenge is to turn a shift in governance and culture into a shift in outcomes. “This is not just about compliance or risk. It’s about building a future-ready business. One that’s aligned with our customers, our people, and the planet.”
Bayer knows it still has work to do. But with a more inclusive model of leadership, stronger metrics, and a willingness to act, the company is laying the groundwork for a new chapter. If successful, its transformation will not just redefine what leadership in life sciences and agriculture looks like – it will prove that even the most scrutinized companies can rebuild trust and lead the way to a more sustainable future.
This case series was developed as part of a research project supported by Capgemini Invent.
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