Abstract
Statement of Problem
Many companies around the globe have increased efforts to raise awareness of the environmental impacts that result from their business activities. The everyday costs of doing business around the world were putting an extreme strain on the environment. Some companies began to realize that their businesses, while profiting the population and society, were hurting ecosystems and the environment at large around the earth, especially in the United States. Some businesses decided to do something about it -to act diligently to fulfill the commitments to their companies and constituents while maintaining a corporate responsibility to improve environmental awareness. The term "going green" is a reference that has become increasingly popular since the late 1980s and early 1990s. This concept refers to companies that are making specific, and often times strategic, decisions to improve their accountability to the impacts the day-to-day business operations and overarching business plans have on the environment.
Environmental accountability and the "going green" movement initially started with an effort of various companies to engage in more environmentally friendly, or "cleaner", practices within company policy and procedures. Along the way, many companies, some of the largest and most powerful in the United States and the world, began to realize that there may be more benefits to going green than environmental aid and a positive image with consumers and communities. Certain businesses realized that they could save thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars each year in energy conservation, recycling, environmentally conscious construction choices and many other practices. This new wave of eco-friendly business methods seemed to create a win-win situation, not only for the environment but also for company's bottom lines.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, hundreds of companies had joined the effort to go green. Many of these businesses were finding ways to save money each year through cost-effective practices that reduced company spending. As this effort became increasingly popular among businesses of all types, some companies found a way to take the going green movement a step further. Some companies began investing large amounts of money into the research and development of new ideas, products and ways of doing business that would not only help the environment, and not only save them money each year, but create vast profit margins. Companies such as Toyota, Cameo International and General Electric all developed products, services and business strategies that have garnered huge profits in terms of corporate and consumer spending strategically riding the wave of the massive movement to go green.
Sources of Data
Extensive online and secondary data and research was collected on Toyota, Cameo International and General Electric, as well as the going green movement as an entity. Articles, company profiles, official web sites and various case studies have all added information about the profiled businesses and about how the going green movement has affected company cultures and business strategies throughout the corporate world. Interviews with corporate executives and local sales teams from Toyota also added to the depth of the project, giving additional insight into the decision-making processes on how the company, and specific branches of the business, have come to the current strategy the car company embraces today. The interviews also added primary data to the research, strengthening the theories and concepts retrieved from much of the secondary and online data examples. The three profiled companies were chosen partly because of their strong visibility and resources available to gather secondary data. The three companies are all publicly traded companies with financial information and data readily available, an effective tool when researching the financial impacts the going green movement has had on these businesses. All sources, quotes and appropriate data are cited throughout the project. A complete list of sources cited can be found in the "Bibliography" section at the end of the report.
Conclusions Reached
The research and data discovered lead to numerous conclusions and insights into not only the above-mentioned profiled companies, but also into the entire going green movement of the past 15 years. Conclusions discovered revolve around two very important concepts. The first, and most important concept to remember when studying business, is that the vast majority of companies exist for profit. Profit is what drives strategy, stimulates the economy and upholds the largely capitalistic society that it business. While many companies have different goals, some more philanthropic or specific than others, all have a need for sustainability. The businesses highlighted in this report, while environmentally conscious, all operate to maximize profits. It is through this realization that all major decisions and business plans and strategies are designed. The going green movement within these companies, while applauded socially with an extremely positive effect on the environment, was developed and is sustained through profit maximization, and great successes both environmentally and financially, has been achieved with Toyota, Cameo International and General Electric under this umbrella.
The second conclusion is that companies have different ways of reaching success. Thousands of non-profit, not-for-profit, government agencies, foundations and charities all strive to accomplish specific goals, some of which are environmentally focused. For those specific companies and organizations, success is measured differently than with the majority of businesses. This project focuses on business that have discovered the green movement and profited from taking it to the next level. These companies have incurred not only social responsibility and goodwill for the environment, and not only cost savings from going green, but additional profits and revenues by changing all or part of their business strategies. This new strategic thinking from companies like Toyota, Cameo International and General Electric has successfully profited with product and service innovation during the green movement.
The third conclusion, as explored further in the project, is that Toyota, Cameo International and General Electric have all demonstrated success both environmentally and financially with their efforts by going green.