Corporate realities and environmental truths1993

With most strategic issues companies have a choice; not so with the environment. With the advent of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, the environmentally committed regime in Washington, and the emergence of a broad, ecology-minded consumer base, it is clear that being pro-environment is now a matter of corporate survival. Corporate Realities and Environmental Truths offers managers a total program for meeting the environmental challenge and turning what traditionalists see as a threat to profitability into a golden opportunity for new profits and improved performance. The first part of Corporate Realities and Environmental Truths focuses on internal organization. Drawing on examples set by Procter & Gamble, DuPont, Gillette, AT&T, and other major corporations, the authors demonstrate that the key to success in the environmental era lies in the development of a "green" corporate culture as well as the mechanisms for translating environmental initiatives into manufacturing, engineering, product development, marketing, PR, and all functional areas of a company, from boardroom to mailroom. With the help of numerous examples and case studies, they describe how to fashion an environmental management structure appropriate to your business; how to achieve environmental goals while improving internal communications; and how to tap the enormous grassroots energy of all employees. And they introduce Total Quality Environmental Management, a model that applies quality management techniques pioneered by organizational geniuses such as W. Edwards Deming to the management of an environmentally responsible company. The second part of Corporate Realities and Environmental Truths explains how to deliver your environmental message successfully to a wary public and a cynical media, while avoiding trouble with lawmakers, activists, and regulators. The authors offer the first comprehensive set of guidelines for environmental marketers, including strategies for launching retooled and new green products while complying with legislation concerning claims and terminology. They also show you how to launch a PR campaign that communicates your company's goals and achievements to an enlightened public without resorting to telling "little green lies" that can damage your company's reputation. And, drawing on examples such as McDonald's work with the Environmental Defense Fund, they show you how to form similar strategic partnerships as a way of boosting your public image. . Offering a blueprint for success in the environmental era, Corporate Realities and Environmental Truths is required reading for managers, executives, strategic planners, product developers, and marketers in virtually any business.