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The Green Business Strategy Collection 22 Publication date: Oct 15, 2009. Prod. #: 5308BN-BUN-ENG Just a decade ago, the term "green business strategy" evoked visions of fringe environmentalism and a high cost for minimal good. More recently, there's been a large shift in perception: an awakening of social consciousness combined with a realization that a strategy good for the world can also be good for your bottom line. This Collection gets to the heart of why you should and must put a socially responsible strategy at the top of your CEO's agenda. And it will show you how to organize your efforts, with practical, actionable advice from world-class experts. This specially-priced 5 volume set includes: "Harvard Business Review on Green Business Strategy "(Paperback); "Green Recovery: Get Lean, Get Smart, and Emerge from the Downturn on Top" (Hardcover) by Andrew Winston, a globally-recognized expert on green business, provides a road map for using green initiatives to deliver short-term gains and position your company for long-term strategic growth; "Green Recovery" (CD-ROM) your guide to establishing your competitive positioning in difficult times and emerging even stronger; "Strategy for Sustainability" (Hardcover), the definitive work on business strategy for sustainability by former Sierra Club President, Adam Werbach; and "Going Green Profitably" (HBR Collection), filled with real-world examples. Save more than 25% off the regular price of each item when you purchase this collection

Green Companies Will Grow

Develop a Strategy to Go Green
Sep 28, 2008 Sara E. Lewis

Business Advice: Go Green - Sara E. Lewis

The results of an Ernst and Young survey of business leaders advises companies that green awareness is rising. To ignore it would be unsustainable. In a 2008 report (released on recycled paper), corporate advisor Ernst and Young told clients that sustainable practices are a requirement for businesses that plan to sustain themselves. They say that, There is no doubt that the growing urgency around green issues will mean that they are set to rise ever higher on the business agenda. The impact of this will be felt across the board

The Truth
Scientists are issuing dire warnings and consumers are leading the charge as they search for responsible investments and consumption purchases. Forward thinking companies have been leading the charge too, but these days even the elephants are stampeding to supply the demand for greenness. In truth, the opportunity goes beyond the claim to be green. Businesses are looking hard at how to make the changes they need to make in order serve the customer and to sustain themselves. There are cost savings to be had and regulations to meet. Stockholders want growth, but they too acknowledge that the certainty of uncertainty in th2e markets make sustainable practices imperative While politicians continue to bicker, Ernest and Young strategists concede that climate change is another certainty. In fact, the Washington Post reported on September 26, 2008, that figures have been released that show the pace of carbon dioxide emissions now outpacing the direst predictions of the International Panel on Climate Change. For the sake of the future of business, Ernest and Young would like to see a timely resolution to regulatory uncertainty. New legislation, they feel, will place greater restrictions on carbon emissions within five years. United States businesses would be wise to initiate carbon cap and trade schemes, increase energy efficiency, recycle, and limit hazardous waste.

Efficiency Savings
Efficiency and sustainability are two sides of the same coin. Businesses can reduce carbon and costs by initiating better planning to reduce over-purchasing and overproducing. They should develop lean, energy efficient, and low-waste production methods. Retooling distribution methods is essential to save time and fuel. Managers should reconsider the cost-benefit of business meetings and travel as well as investment in more efficient facilities. One tool managers can use to increase efficiency is the carbon footprint analysis of their plans and budget.

Revenue Opportunities
Carbon trading is making money for some firms, but the opportunity should be viewed with caution. These offsets may be viewed as inaction on the part of the business. Consumers are learning more about sustainability issues and are demanding products and services that are manufactured by socially and environmentally aware companies who do less harm to communities worldwide. Consumers are rewarding companies that are innovative in their pursuit of sustainable practices. While marketing claims made green and sustainable buzzwords, businesses must recognize that they must now live up to their word. Retail consumers are pressuring businesses to act in socially and environmentally responsible ways and marketers who recognize the benefit are spinning their companies green practices as well as green products and services. The Ernst and Young report was compiled from data generated through board level executive surveys. A significant number of chief financial officers were among those surveyed. Read More: Go Green in 2009 and Green Economy & Job Growth

Read more at Suite101: Green Companies Will Grow: Develop a Strategy to Go Green http://green-businesspractices.suite101.com/article.cfm/green_companies_will_grow#ixzz0y40d2OGA

What it Takes to Green the Corporation

May 5, 2010 Brooke Cromar

Green Business - Yuriy Mazur

In his book, Getting Green Done, Auden Schendler illustrates the triumphs, frustrations, and failures of building a sustainable world. In Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution, author Auden Schendler asserts that while individual actions are important in the fight to combat climate change they will not solve the problem. A truly sustainable world will come from top-down action that is both measurable and credible. Schendler points to his detailed knowledge and experiences in the cultivation of a corporate eco-consciousness as evidence of the need for business buy-in and government action. As the current Executive Director of Sustainability at the Aspen Skiing Company, and a former research associate in corporate sustainability at the Rocky Mountain Institute, he has a lot of examples to draw from. Exploring some of the past, current, and future barriers to sustainability, Schendler provides a candid and insightful look at what he believes is needed to restore the planet.

Greening Corporate Culture

Schendler argues that corporations are crucial in establishing and implementing green norms. He points out that of the 100 largest economies in the world, 51 are corporations. This statistic puts businesses in an unparalleled position to influence policy. The problem has been that the traditional corporate culture has little desire (or incentive) to push for greening across industries.
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Freelance Writing Jobs Ideazz Advertising need Copywriters from any city in India.Apply now! PlugIntoProjects.afaqs.com Corporate greening is often hailed as being a sure-fire way for businesses to save money, but that is not always the case. Eco-friendly options do not always lead to an immediate return-on-investment. To Schendler, this means that environmentally conscious business leaders need to stand up and call for a moral mandate. Being a corporate climate crusader requires time and vision. These elements are often lacking. Schendler dedicates much of book to promote various ways to cultivate environmental responsibility amongst corporate leaders. The book explores the importance of green design, and his proposals to reform the Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) organization are definitely worth a look. Schendler also delves into the potential use of renewable energy credits and the need to determine a market-value for carbon emissions. He concludes that in addition to corporate action, governments must start putting their money where their mouth is and come up with a green mandate that has funding to back it up.

The Upside of Greenwashing

Schendler argues that environmentalists are going to be disappointed if they continue to demand that companies go green at the expense of their corporate system. If required to, companies will attempt to look green without doing the deep thinking and heavy lifting required to effectively combat climate change. Companies make small green changes that are ineffectual and uninspired. Referred to as greenwashing, these initiatives do nothing to mitigate climate change.

Read on

Ways to Brand a Company Green Sustainable Business Planning Green Companies Will Grow

The result of corporate greenwashing, claims Schendler is that businesses spend more time promoting their eco-initiatives than they do ensuring their actions are environmentally sound. At the same time, such shameless self-promotion can lead to positive consequences for the environment. As the consumer becomes more aware of what it means to sincerely 'go green,' every claim made by companies is open to scrutiny. In turn, this encourages improvements to environmental initiatives. Moreover, employees, the press, as well as a growing number of watchdog groups and quality assurance bodies all put the pressure on businesses to improve. Although this section is a compelling read, it would have been more compelling if Schendler had addressed the consequences of greenwashing going unnoticed or unchecked.

The Bottom Line

Auden Schendler makes a compelling case as to why and how corporations must improve their sustainability policies and practices. He argues that action must be taken now, and that the largest and most meaningful green measures are not ones that will have high financial returns within the next quarter. Schendler concludes that only when companies take a stand will they go beyond greenwashing and begin to impact the larger political and social bodies into action.

Read more at Suite101: What it Takes to Green the Corporation http://www.suite101.com/content/what-it-takes-to-green-the-corporationWal-Mart is the biggest employer in the world, and its revenue puts it second among Fortune 500 companies. Company Wal-Mart Stores China National Petroleum State Grid U.S. Postal Service Sinopec Deutsche Post Agricultural Bank of China UES of Russia Siemens McDonald's Source: Fortune Revenue rank 2 39 32 61 23 75 377 213 22 318 2005 employees 1,800,000 1,090,232 844,031 803,000 730,800 502,545 478,895 461,200 461,000 447,000

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Wal-Mart grows 'green' strategies

Updated 9/25/2006 2:57 AM ET

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By Tim Boyle, Getty Images

"They're sending a very powerful signal that already is having effects on the way people produce products for them," one environmentalist says of Wal-Mart.

THE WORLD'S BIGGEST EMPLOYERS

By Mindy Fetterman, USA TODAY BENTONVILLE, Ark. Andrew Ruben, vice president of strategic planning for the world's biggest retailer, leans across the table an embrace the compact fluorescent light bulb. Though a CFL bulb costs more, it uses 75% less energy and lasts 10 times longer than

"Tell everyone to buy this light bulb!" he says, his voice trembling a bit. "If we could get every American to change a single light bulb What's sparking Ruben's fervor is a new mission at Wal-Mart (WMT): Embrace the Earth.

The $312.4 billion retailing giant has launched an aggressive program to encourage "sustainability" of the world's fisheries, forests a reduce waste, to push its 60,000 suppliers to produce goods that don't harm the environment, and to urge consumers to buy green. reported on its carbon dioxide emissions the "greenhouse gases" that cause global warming. It said it emits 20.8 million tons wor released by an auto company but much less than that released by a major utility company.

"We asked ourselves: If we had known 10 years ago what challenges we would face today, what would we have done different?" sa world is much more fragile than any of us would have thought years ago."

Already, Wal-Mart has become the world's largest buyer of organic cotton. It introduced "fair trade" coffee at its Sam's Clubs. It bega and will introduce others this fall. And it is pushing suppliers to use smaller packages to cut waste.

Critics such as WakeUpWalMart call the efforts "green-washing." They say the efforts are an attempt to polish a corporate image tar limited health care benefits for its employees and "anti-big-box" feelings in some towns.

But many environmentalists are ecstatic. Wal-Mart is a very big rock to throw into the pro-environment pond, and its ripples, they sa

"Wal-Mart is a huge player, and they have enormous clout," says Scott Burns of the World Wildlife Fund, which has 10 employees w including sustainability of fisheries. "They're sending a very powerful signal that already is having effects on the way people produce Wal-Mart says it will:

Slash gasoline use by its trucking fleet, one of the largest in the USA, and use more hybrid trucks to increase efficiency by 25% ov 10 years. That will save $310 million a year by 2015, the company says.

Buy 100% of its wild-caught salmon and frozen fish for the North American market only from fisheries that are certified as "sustaina Council within three to five years. That designation means areas of the ocean aren't fished in ways that destroy fish populations.

Cut energy use at its more than 7,000 stores worldwide by 30% and cut greenhouse-gas emissions at existing stores by 20% in se electricity user in the USA. Reduce solid waste from U.S. stores by 25% within three years. The company, second-largest in revenue in the world behind ExxonMobil, has vowed to invest $500 million a year in energy-saving

It has built test lab stores in Aurora, Colo., and McKinney, Texas, where it is experimenting with everything from wind power to perm through parking lots to help refill groundwater aquifers. It wants to build stores that produce 30% fewer greenhouse emissions in the And it has reached out to environmental groups, many of which were once highly critical of the company; Wal-Mart has made them

On Climate Change Day in mid-July, it hosted former vice president Al Gore at its corporate headquarters here. "We know that Walcome to," Scott admits. Yet after Gore showed his global-warming film, An Inconvenient Truth, he got a standing ovation from a crow

"A lot of organizations in that room had campaigned against Wal-Mart. We were kind of skeptical," says Paul Rice, founding preside the only one in the USA that certifies products such as coffee as "fair trade," meaning they are bought from groups that pay growers says. Sustainability and self-interest

Wal-Mart isn't pushing sustainability solely out of the goodness of its heart. It has realized that it can make money by selling product make millions selling recycled trash and save hundreds of millions by cutting transportation costs.

It even is actively supporting the idea of a system for companies to "trade" carbon dioxide credits. Wal-Mart believes it can earn lots them for millions of dollars to companies that can't. All of those savings will go into keeping prices on its products low, it says.

Wal-Mart also says it is worried about having enough products, primarily fish and other foods, to sell to consumers in the future. "We obligation, a good-works effort," says CEO Scott. "But we discovered the truth: The real reason to do this is for the business itself."

Wal-Mart has formed 14 sustainable value networks made up of employees, suppliers and environmentalists. The groups get togeth to brainstorm how products that don't hurt the environment can be made or bought.

The networks work with Wal-Mart's buyers and suppliers, and the suppliers of its suppliers, to push change all the way down the bus before," says Matt Kistler, vice president of product and packaging innovation.

The company is mapping whole product lines to find out where the environment is hurt along the way and how to stop that. "When y mouths, it's amazing," says Suzanne Apple of the World Wildlife Fund. "These are issues we've been working on for years."

Manish Kumar supplies frozen fish to Wal-Mart. As with many of the company's 60,000 suppliers across the globe, he says Wal-Ma since he landed the business, he's become the retailer's largest supplier of frozen fish in the USA. That's tens of millions of pounds

The way he does business today is radically different than just eight months ago, when he and other fish suppliers were called to Be from sustainable fisheries. "We didn't even know what the Marine Stewardship Council was. Now, it's all we do. The speed with which things are happening is Co., based in Pittsburgh. Now, he works with 18 fish-processing plants that use only fish accredited by the MSC.

Wal-Mart, the world's largest buyer of fish depending on the species, now sells 10 fish products with the blue MSC label, including w

When you buy strawberries from a Wal-Mart today, they come in packages made not from plastic but from biodegradable corn. Sam dressing. And this holiday season, those Sam's Club gift cards you may put in your family's stockings will be made from corn-based

If you're selling to Wal-Mart, you'd better be thinking about smaller packaging, less packaging and recyclable packaging. Wal-Mart s on how well they do. Less, in this case, is more.

When it cut excess packaging on its private-label line of toys, Kid Connection, the company estimates it saved $2.4 million a year in

barrels of oil.

"A 2% reduction in a package's size is worth millions and millions of dollars," says Kistler, vice president of packaging innovation. "Y boat, more in a truck. The numbers are just amazing."

Downsizing a product's package is tricky, though. Products are sold on store shelves by volume. Bigger packages get more shelf sp

That was the problem when Wal-Mart started pushing Unilever to downsize its laundry detergents. It was reluctant to lose shelf spac

To compensate, Wal-Mart made All Small & Mighty, Unilever's concentrated detergent that comes in a bottle two-thirds the size of a house code for a "volume-producing item." It got heavy promotion and top space on the end of aisles with lots of signs. It's been a h Saving energy at its stores

The single biggest energy success that Wal-Mart has discovered so far is inside a newly designed refrigerator case. It's LED lights. loves the cold," says Don Mosley, senior engineering manager of special projects who helped design the energy-efficient mechanica stores in Colorado and Texas.

Wal-Mart spent about $30 million to develop the refrigerator LED lighting system with General Electric and Royal Philips Electronics semiconductor chips to create energy and emit light. LEDs have been used on digital clocks and cellphone screens but never for su

"This application will change the grocery industry," says Charles Zimmerman, vice president of new format development. "One-third the LED cuts 50% of the cost of lighting."

Wal-Mart began using LED lights in its giant, red Wal-Mart signs about two years ago. The life of the lights is much longer, even tho signs say Wal-Mart and not al-Mart," laughs Mosley.

The compact fluorescent light bulbs from GE that Wal-Mart is pushing for consumers to buy are beginning to catch on, says Michae "The cost is good, it comes on quicker, the colors are better."

GE sold $75 million of the energy-saving bulbs in 2005. Sales across the industry are up 20%, while sales of traditional incandescen

Wal-Mart has been doing "sunlight harvesting" through skylights at 2,000 of its stores for about 10 years. For much of the day, the o the inside outer walls. The rest of the floor is lit by skylights.

Now it's testing wind power in the Colorado store. So far, it's been a failure. "It might be our familiarity with the equipment," admits M good before we realize it." The company hasn't abandoned wind power yet but isn't blown away by it, either. A 'Machiavellian' strategy?

WakeUpWalMart, a union-funded group that criticizes Wal-Mart's wages and health care benefits, doesn't believe Wal-Mart is since good public relations in light of all the lawsuits against the company, including claims of discrimination against female employees an Wal-Mart also is being investigated for problems with hazardous waste disposal.

"We don't know whether Wal-Mart's environmental changes are real or a Machiavellian attempt to green-wash a declining public ima director. "But its long record of irresponsible behavior forces one to be skeptical."

The charges don't bother Wal-Mart. "I don't respond to that criticism," says CEO Scott. "We know what our goals are. We think we c environment."

Some environmentalists who are in the company's corner are reserving judgment. Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense,

but will be judged by "the results of its efforts." Still, Environmental Defense in July opened its first satellite office near a U.S. corporate headquarters in Bentonville.

"Wal-Mart has as much or more potential than any other company to change the way the world does business," says Krupp. "And w

Wal-mart second-largest in revenue in the world behind ExxonMobil, has vowed to invest $500 million a year in energy-saving technologies.Wal-Mart for green business taking different initiatives. Cut energy use at its more than 7,000 stores worldwide by 30% and cut greenhouse-gas emissions at existing stores by 20% in seven years. Wal-Mart is the largest private electricity user in the USA has been reduced solid waste from U.S. stores by 25% within three years. It has built test lab stores in Aurora, Colo., and McKinney, Texas, where it is experimenting with everything from wind power to permeable asphalt that lets rainwater seep through parking lots to help refill groundwater aquifers. It wants to build stores that produce 30% fewer greenhouse emissions in the next four years.