Mars

With $50+ billion in annual sales and operations around the world, Mars Inc. was one of the world’s largest family-held companies. Since its founding, Mars believed in the importance of “mutuality” with groups with which the company interacted. In 1947, then-chairman Forrest Mars, Sr. described “the total purpose for which the company exists” as promoting “a mutuality of service and benefits” among a wide range of stakeholders: consumers, distributors, competitors, direct suppliers, governmental bodies, employees, and shareholders. As a family-owned, family-managed company, this philosophy was understood and passed from one generation to the next.

By the 2010s, few members of the Mars family worked in the company. The family saw a need to codify the ethos of Mars as well as their expectations as shareholders, to articulate what the company was doing and why Mars was doing it.

In 2016, family members and Mars senior management began to develop a framework linking corporate purpose to shareholder objectives. Called “Mars Compass,” the new tool included financial measures as well as a commitment to make a meaningful difference in the lives of people in the company’s extended supply chain.

By spring 2023, Mars had fully embedded Compass into enterprise and segment planning and its regular operating cadence. For the company’s top 400 leaders, Mars Compass was used to determine incentive compensation, including substantial, long-term pay for meeting select sustainability goals. In 2024 this approach was extended to an additional 1,000 leaders. Would Mars Compass work as desired?