Before we can start with business, we need to do research and study on companies at various stages that dealing with environmental issues. For example, Sony have to learned it from the hard lesson with its main product, PlayStation game systems.
Sony spending over $100 million building a supplier audit system to solve problems before they emerge with other company. In terms of Sony entertainment products, all Blu-ray Disc Player parts and all other products that are lead and cadmium-free, based on EU ROHS directive being limited, and major plastic parts of the Blu-ray Disc Player that are free of predominated flame retardants.
In late 2008, Sony reduced Blu-ray Disc Player packaging volume about 55% on select models. This resulted 43% reduction of CO2 emissions as a result of more efficient shipping the environment and creating better environment for us. Read more
Companies find many ways to talk about how they handle environmental and social issues. Some focus on “triple bottom line” performance or sustainability.
Others frame their work in terms of corporate social responsibility, stewardship, citizenship, or environment, health, and safety. Any of these approaches can serve to galvanize action and create Eco-Advantage. The key lies in execution—including environment and social issues in business operations. But each company needs to find the language and organizational structures that work within its own culture.
At the operational level, managing sustainability issues, no matter what the company calls them, works best with a defined focus. Thinking about environmental challenges alongside social issues such as health care, poverty alleviation, or how to serve the “bottom of the pyramid”—the untapped market of the world’s poorest people—quickly becomes daunting. Our research suggests that the skills needed to manage environmental issues and social concerns are quite distinct. For example, what’s required to ensure that a company complies with air-pollution permits, say, will have little similarity to what’s needed to develop a strong employee wellness program. Read more
When Katsuaki Watanabe took over as President of Toyota
in zoo he made it clear that developing environmentally friendly technologies would be his top priority—even ahead of safety, quality, and cost. If this weren’t shocking enough, he also promised that his engineers would someday develop a car that could “cross the U.S. continent on one full tank of gas.” Talk about a stretch goal!
Goals for an organization can be splashy like Toyota’s or more concrete. Unilever, for example, set a fairly unsexy goal of zero liquid effluent from its 76 facilities in India. Watanabe himself set more realistic targets alongside his big 2oo-miles-per-gallon vision, including a sales goal of one million hybrid cars per year. Either way, fanciful or functional, stretch goals are a vital tool for provoking fresh thinking, promoting innovation, and building an Eco-Advantage. Read more
For some enterprises, a new green perspective will be trans-formative, leading to fresh thinking, new markets, profitability gains, and increased value. For others, the environmental lens may emerge more gradually and modestly, as another critical element of corporate strategy. With time, these companies may find long-term, sustained advantage, but not dramatic immediate gains, front being green. For the big, heavy industries, the gains are closer to being assured. But smaller and “cleaner” companies will find surprising benefits as well. Read more