A recent survey found that the majority of corporate sustainability leaders believe that their sustainability initiatives have significant strategic value for their organizations, but also feel that measurement for these initiatives are lacking, which makes communicating the outcomes of their efforts more challenging.
Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) is gaining much importance in many industries due to pressure from the government and environmental consciousness among the customers, to gain competitive advantage. We have compiled a list of Green Supply Chain studies to assist you in your efforts to address these issues. The green supply chain studies we spotlight cover the following topics: the role that the logistics and transport sector plays in reducing emissions; the effects of ISO 14001 certification on the promotion of green supply chain management (GSCM), research on interest and implementation of green supply chain initiatives; a quantitative picture of current sustainable supply chain practices and plans; a measurement and quantification of how companies are managing the complexities of supply chain demands, distribution costs and environmental concerns; key drivers of sustainable supply chains;a new integrated supply chain model that takes into account sustainability parameters such as CO2 emissions reduction, reduced energy consumption, better traceability and reduced traffic congestion;best practices for companies looking to green their supply chains ; an outline of the supply chain green initiatives currently implemented or planned in manufacturing, warehousing and distribution;survey of sustainable packaging policies ;a look at the growing role of procurement organizations within sustainability efforts institutions of higher learning; a categorization of research and practice in purchasing, manufacturing, outbound, and reverse logistics dimensions;a framework for measuring the “green-ness”of green supply chain initiatives, the business case for green supply management initiavies, research on the debate by empirically evaluating the relationship between EMS and GSCM practices.
Sustainable Life Media,the people who bring you the Sustainable Brands conference each year, launched their first online Sustainable Brands Boot Camp on Friday. The 13-week series, taught by sustainable business/brand thought leaders, is for those interested in a training program designed to bring professionals up to speed with the latest in sustainable business practices, metrics, product design and market drivers.
Al Gore delivered the keynote address to green building professionals at the Greenbuild conference. He praised the leadership of the USGBC for bringing real change to the marketplace. He also urged the crowd to take responsibility for expanding green building globally and to call out greenwashing.
There’s been a lot of discussion about elevating corporate responsibility to become a strategic driver of your business. Most companies would like to benefit from their ethical efforts in the form of increased customer attraction and loyalty, yet few have figured out how to do it successfully. When marketing and PR are relied on, it can often backfire in accusations of greenwashing. The secret is to apply brand-strategy principles to build your ethical reputation.
There is a serious lack of trust among consumers these days. Citizens of every country are eying large national and multi-national corporations with a narrowed, suspicious gaze. Questions are being asked. Answers demanded. With taxpayers around the world bailing out stupendous failures in the financial, housing, and insurance sectors, there is more than a lack of consumer confidence affecting the market. Frankly, we’re over it. We just don’t trust big business anymore. This is actually nothing new. But the uniform opinion of distrust, leveraged by the social media tools of Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ning sites, and blogging seems to have brought us to a tipping point.
When I was a freshmen in high school, I had an English teacher that assigned my class to find a piece of writing, then copy the structure using my own words. The idea was to understand and internalize how the masters do it, but with our own personality and creativity. It was a great exercise that I have used over and over in all kinds of areas of my life, not just writing. Any time I have wanted to learn a new skill, stepping in to the shoes of those that do it REALLY well has always helped me to understand where I want to end up.
Your company has been progressing nicely up the sustainability curve from compliance to cost savings. The next logical step is reputation and revenue generation, and itʼs here that many sustainability pros hit a roadblock. Without a CEO mandate, business units usually have little incentive to deviate from whatʼs been working in the past. Sustainability and CSR initiatives have safely been tucked away behind the scenes, dealing with internal and supply chain issues that reduce risk and cost to the business. Objections to customer-facing sustainability initiatives range from “Why put our neck out and riskgreenwashing charges?” to “Itʼs still a niche market” and “Why would we promote our values for commercial ends? Weʼre doing this because it’s right, not to make money from it.”
I recently published a post on Triple Pundit that fleshes out the market-facing aspects of a model I’ve been working on with The FairRidge Group. Called the Sustainability Management Maturity Model (SM3), it’s a tool to help businesses assess their readiness to address business sustainability challenges and opportunities. The internal management components were outlined a few months ago on Triple Pundit – Strategy, Organization, Process, Measurement and People – which all relate to an inside-out perspective of the business.
