In an editorial article in WSJ ("Greener Pastures" by Daniel C. Esty, Dec. 29 2006, pp. A8) the importance of environmentally conscious business operations in emphasized. The author notes, "Today, no company can afford to ignore the challenges posed by pollution control, natural resource management and energy consumption. Business leaders in manufacturing and services, big companies and small, must prepare for a world of tighter supplies of fossil fuels (and resulting high prices), greenhouse gas emissions controls, limited water and rising resource costs. Businesses also face demands from an array of new environment-oriented stakeholders including bankers, market analysts, customers, employees and communities, in addition to the traditional pressures from regulators, environmental groups and other NGOs."
Automotive manufacturers are off late facing increasing pressures on this front. Ford recently announced its plans to lay off one-third of its 47,000 salaried workforce and shutter 16 facilities. Esty provides the following three points for environmental strategy:
(i) '...the green wave is real. Companies need to learn how to manage environmental challenges or they will be taken under...Corporate leaders need to look at their operations through a green lens and fold environmental thinking into their core business strategy.'
(ii) '...to target their environmental efforts companies need to map their ecological "foot-print."...Ford's problem wasn't pollution at its factories, and it certainly wasn't deforestation of the jungle...The market shift toward more eco-friendly and efficient cars caught Ford flat-footed with a product line heavy on fuel-chugging and pollution-spewing behemoths like the Expedition and Navigator.'
(iii)'...there is money to be made solving society's environmental problems. If GE's multibillion dollar bet on ecomagination is not a sufficient signal of this reality, Toyota's success surely is..."