The Business Case for Going Green

Question 1

What does the ‘business case’ mean?

Answer 1

A justification for a proposed project or undertaking on the basis of its expected commercial benefit

Convincing business to adopt practices because it is good business

Demonstrate why investment in environmental practices is necessary

Question 2

What does ‘going green’ man?

Answer 2

To adopt a corporate policy that priorities

• The identification of environmental aspects linked with business operations
• The implementation of a business strategy that: mitigates business impacts on the environment and sustains natural resources for current and future generations

Question 3

How can we increase environmental awareness?

Answer 3

Need to speak the right language to encourage adoption of environmentally friendly practices

Question 4

What does Steiner (2012) say about environmental protection?

Answer 4

Notion of highly interconnected economies (globalisation) necessitates planet protection and resource protection

E.g a flood in one part of the globe can challenge supply chains for markets in another part of the globe

Question 5

Where should policy makers direct public funds towards (Lubin and Etsy, 2010)

Answer 5

Sustainability Imperative:

• Climate change
• Industrial pollution
• Food safety
• Natural resource depletion

Question 6

What are the typical responses from companies according to Dunphy, Griffiths and Ben (2007)?

Answer 6

• Proactively resistant (stealthy saboteurs)
• Reactively resistant (fire fighters)
• Relatively embracing (risk catchers)
• Proactively embracing (strategic embedders)

Question 7

What is proactively resistant as a typical response?

Answer 7

Actively resist sustainability, typically working to undermine related activity
e.g Exxon Mobil paying scientists to product counter info against climate change

Question 8

What is reactively resistant as a typical response?

Answer 8

Not thinking about issues until being forced to do so, at which point they use minimal resources to return to business as usual

E.g Nike and child labour

Question 9

What is reactively embracing as a typical response?

Answer 9

Addressing issues as brought to their attention, but often to treat these issues as opportunities to improve e.g Gap and child labour reacted in a way that allowed them to improve their working conditions

Question 10

What is proactively embracing as a typical response?

Answer 10

Make social and environmental issues central t o their missions, operations and offerings e.g M+S don’t see environmental issues as a barrier but as an opportunity

Question 11

Why go green?

Answer 11

• Increased sales: legal and tax advantages and reduced waste -> sales
• Improved workplace - younger generational interest
• Customer loyalty and public response - better public and investor reaction, green investment growing
• Increased brand value
• Risk management
• Right thing to do

Question 12

How can we group firms motives?

Answer 12

Competitive: differentiate from other companies, CA, bigger market share, power

Legitimacy: social contract - enhancing legitimacy

• Society define what is acceptable according to norms and values
• Legitimacy granted by society if they meet these norms

Environmental responsibility

Question 13

What informed the 2015 Paris Agreement?

Answer 13

• Prevent increase in global average temperature to 1.5 degrees
• Reduce GHG emissions nay 2025-2030 by 40%
• Not feasible if private sector not involved

Question 14

What are the sources of GHG emissions caused by companies?

Answer 14

• Electricity consumption
• Consumption of fossil fuels: transport, heating
• Use and disposal of water
• Disposal of waste
• Staff commuting
• Business travel
• Supply chain emissions
• Carbon in materials
• Process emissions
• Imported what and steam

Question 15

What is carbon footprint?

Answer 15

The amount of GHG emitted that your org is responsible for, expressed in units of carbon dioxide equivalent CO2e

Question 16

How are different GHG emissions groups in terms of scope 1, 2 and 3?

Answer 16

Scope 1 - all direct emissions from the activities of an organisation e.g fuel combustion, gas boilers, vehicles

Scope 2 - indirect emissions from electricity purchased and used by the organisation

Scope 3 - all other indirect emissions - sources they do not own or control - travel, waste, water, procurement

Question 17

Why is scope 3 crucial (NHS example)?

Answer 17

• 22% business
• 60% procurement: pharmaceuticals, paper products, medical instruments, freight transport, business services
• 18% travel

Question 18

What are the world trends in energy consumption?

Answer 18

US decreased - probably because they already have access to all the electricity they need

Japan - decreased

Europe - increased

Central and South America - significantly increased

China and Africa - very very significantly increased

Question 19

How is there a global disparity in carbon footprints in terms of per capita CO2?

Answer 19

• US and Canada greatest (15t approx)
• South Korea (11.5t)
• Russia (9.97t)

whereas. ..
- UK (5.56t)
- Italy (5.37t)

and. ..
- Brazil (2.01t)
- India (1.57t)

Average 4.35t world and 9.02t OECD

Question 20

Where does our energy come from?

Answer 20

Non renewable: fossil fuels - natural gas, oil, coal and nuclear power

Renewable: hydropower, wine power, solar power, landfill methane

Question 21

What is the connection between energy and carbon dioxide?

Answer 21

Energy use = gases CO2, H20, methane (CH4) nitrous oxide N2O

CO2 makes up 85% of greenhouse gas emissions

Question 22

What is the connection between carbon dioxide and global warming?

Answer 22

Earth constantly receives energy from the sun and radiates it back to space. For the planet’s temp to remain constant, the net heat it receives from the sun must be balanced by the outgoing heat that it gives off

Question 23

What is some contradictory evidence regarding climate change?

Answer 23

JP Morgan invested $75bn to companies expanding in sectors such as fracking and Arctic oil and gas exploration

33 powerful banks total investment of $1.9tn to expansion of fossil fuels 2019

Question 24

What does Mark Carney say about firms ignoring the climate crisis (2010)?

Answer 24

They will go bankrupt

Question 25

What did Banerjee (2001) find about managerial perceptions of environmentalism?

Answer 25

• Corporate environmentalism follows economic bottom line: only look for win-wins
  E.g TQEM = enhancement of product and process quality as well as environmental quality
• Voluntarism is not the way towards organisational greening
• Legislation can encourage environmental innovation, resulting in productivity gains and CA

Question 26

What do Bansal and Roth (2000) say about why companies go green?

Answer 26

Motivations: competitiveness, legitimisation and ecological responsibility (can be mixed)

Influenced by field cohesion, issue salience and individual concern

• Issue salience magnifies the effect of field cohesion as field members are drawn together to protect the legitimacy of an industry
• Combined interest in competitiveness and ecological responsibility beneficial
• Relationship between field cohesion and issue salience affects desire for legitimacy
• If field cohesion is low, competition less fierce
• Impact of individual concern strengthens as issue salience increases