“Greener Way” Is Bhutan’s First Waste Management Company

The case study is about the entrepreneur Mr. Karma Yonten who is the founder of Greener way (waste management). This case mainly brief about who they are, what they do, vision and mission or the principle on which their business is based and functions, ideas and motivation on becoming the entrepreneur, challenges while starting and doing the business and their future plan. All those sort of questionnaires are done through personally interview, email and massager.

Moreover, he shared about the opportunities for the young entrepreneurs to put their ideas into working business and the incentives provided by the government to the various agencies in terms of financial and funding.

Karma is the founder of Bhutan’s first waste service firm established in 2010. The Prince’s Youth Business International has also recognized him as the Environmental Entrepreneur of 2013 at the Global Youth. He also shared that he is happy to have lived up to His Majesty the Kings expectations of being the best not only in Bhutan but also globally. (Karma Yonten / Loden Foundation, 2013)

“Greener way” is Bhutan’s first waste management company which was established in 2010 aim to manage and recycle waste in Thimphu in an efficient and environmentally sound, technically feasible, cost effective and publicly acceptable manner. Once collected, the waste is separatedbetween dry waste and wet waste. Dry waste is sent to the resource recovery center where it is recycled and reused, while wet waste is transported to a composting plant to produce manure.

The company also serve the community by organizing presentations and workshops in schools and colleges to educate individuals on waste management. Greener way employs about 70 workers.

”Greener way is an integrated municipal solid waste management company that goes beyond waste collection but focuses on recycling and diversion of waste to minimize waste going to the landfill”, said Karma Yonten (CEO)

Greener Way is an integrated waste management company established out of a mere passion of a single man in attempts of creating Waste management industry in Bhutan. The company today, is manned with 80 plus committed individuals, fragmented in to three groups to address the Municipal waste collection in Thimphu.

Greener Way currently is contracted to collect Municipal Waste in Thimphu. With 75% of Thromde (City) being catered by our hard working team, our collection team ensures the supports from every household by accepting only segregated waste before it’s being dumped in our Refuse Collection Vehicle. Thereby encouraging our people for waste segregation at source. Today, our collection schedule is styled based on two types (Wet waste and Dry Waste) of Municipal Waste Collection in Thimphu.

We also manage Thimphu’s Material Waste Recovery Plant, where all the dry waste is being dumped and screened for recovery before transporting the residual for landfill. Greener way have also started recycling waste plastics (recovered from waste stream) in to poles that can be best used for electric fencing.

In an exclusive interview with the CEO of the Greener Way, he said, “Development of entrepreneurship is not always spontaneous. It is very often affected by environmental factor such as economic, social, political, legal and cultural factors. Those factors may have both positive and negative influences on the emergence and development of entrepreneurship”. It is very enriching to learn about the entrepreneurial journey of a native successful entrepreneur karma Yonten and his venture the Greener Way.

Through intensive interview and field visit, I have known the entrepreneur well and the motives behind his successful venture. Moreover, Bhutan currently having a few entrepreneurs, it’s a great opportunity for the youth to come up with new and innovative ideas to start the business such as this. He also shared that to be a successful entrepreneur a person should be proficient, indomitable and passionate to take up any risk as an opportunity in undertaking such activities keeping in mind the customers’ demand, its impact to an environment and future scope of the business.

To undertake such assignment, I found it worth doing for it gives us an insights and first-hand experience of the entrepreneurial journey. This is an opportunity to explore and understand the current state of the entrepreneurship culture in Bhutan and its possible scopes. It is a life-time opportunity to have gotten to interact and learn about Karma Yonten as a person behind this successful venture of Greener Way. This has made me realized on the potentials of youth like me to be an employment creator, instead of employment seeker. The assignment is an eye-opening opportunity to explore and work on the business ideas.

Read more

An Argument In Favor of Banning Bottled Water

It has been a constant debate as to whether bottled water should or should not be banned. However, I believed that bottle water should not be banned. That is because, there are many benefits of having bottled water around. Bottled water is very convenient, acts as an aide to the recycling process at Humber College and it is considered to be more cleanly than water fountains.

To begin, as stated above, bottled water can be considered as a great convenience. Bottled water typically comes in various sizes and shapes. All in which are fully portable thus making them one hundred percent versatile. Furthermore, many students have a very rushed and complex lifestyle.

Being able to conveniently pick up a bottle of water to take to school ensures that students will have water at their reach at all times allows for hydration throughout the day without any complications. Although most schools have water fountains that can be found throughout the school, they are not always convenient.

For instance, if a student is writing a test and suddenly becomes thirsty, they would have to ask to be excused from the test to get a drink of water. This causes complications as it cuts in to the time they have to write the test and the water fountain may not be located close to the student. Because water bottles are convenient to the average student, they should definitely not be banned.

In addition, bottled water does not harm the environment but does act as an asset to the recycling process throughout Humber College. Humber College has multiple bins located around the school in which are separated into three divisions. The three divisions include, paper, garbage and recycling. By having this style of bin, students are more encouraged to recycle their water bottles as opposed to throwing them out. By encouraging recycling, it helps reduce global environmental damage thus making the earth a better place to live which is why it would an unscholarly decision for Humber College to ban water bottles (Schenker, 2012).

Lastly, bottled water should not be banned throughout Humber College because, it is known to be more of a clean alternative of drinking water than the school provided water fountains. Many individuals consider water fountains to be clean due to the fact that there is a new flow of water with each press of a button. However, what many be surprised by is that public water fountains in schools can be one of the most bacteria infested source of drinking water.

A study conducted at St. Thomas University located in New Brunswick, Canada found that throughout eight of their drinking fountains, there were high levels of lead detected in the fountains (Aquasana, 2015). This causes a huge health risk to those who use the drinking fountains because, long term exposure to small amounts of lead can harm the nervous system. Banning water bottles across Humber College would mean that students would have to drink out of the public drinking fountains located around the school which may pose as a health risk.

To conclude, although many may argue that bottled water poses a risk to the environment and an individual’s health, there are more benefits that outweigh these risks. Bottled water is a great convenience for induvial who do not always have access to taps or other sources of drinking water, it does not harm the environment and lastly, is a more cleanly than public drinking fountains located around the school. Given the following reasons, bottled water should not be banned throughout Humber College.

References

Aquasana, P. (2015). Is it safe to drink from public drinking water fountains? Retrieved November 28, 2016, from http://livehealthy.aquasana.com/2010/06/is-it-safe-to-drink-from-public-drinking-water-fountains/
Schenker, A. (2012, April 16). Why is recycling so important? | earth’s friends. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from Recycling, http://www.earthsfriends.com/why-recycling-important/

Read more

Business enterprise: business & sustainability

Table of contents

Primark store Limited is one of the major clothing retailer company that is based in Ireland with more than 120 stores in the UK, more than 30 stores in Ireland, and has a 8 stores located in Spain. Primark limited also have opened a store in Netherlands. Primark is a subsidiary of ABF (Associated British Foods) Plc, as at the end of 2008, the company had a total of 27,500 employees working in about 187 stores that the company owns in several countries.

Primark stores mainly sell clothes at budget prices, its success depends on sourcing for supplies at a cheaper price, fashioning cloths with plain designs using simple fabrics, and making these clothes in popular sizes hence being able to cut a lot of costs. This study paper will take a critical look at ethical issues and environmental management issues of Primark. Ethical operations Ethical issues are issues that mainly deal with correct or moral business practices that an organization has to follow when carrying out its operations.

Primark on several occasions has been seen has being unethical in some of its business practices. In order to try and improve its ethical ranking and create a positive image, Primark in 2006 joined other organizations in Ethical Trading Initiative, which is a collaborative agency that brings together various businesses, NGOs, and labour unions to address labour issues that arises in supply chains. Ethical Trading Initiatives members commit themselves to work towards implementing a code of conduct that is founded on the ILO (International Labour Organization) main principles.

ETI also gets its support form the British government. Accordingly when ETI assessed Primark in 2007 it concluded that Primark was operating ethically. Primark states that:

  •  It is an ethical organization which stipulates that its suppliers have high standards.

At the same time the company has a firm supplier code of conduct that strictly prohibits child labour. More so, all Primark suppliers are not allowed to sub-contract before getting consent from Primark allowing to the supplier to sub-contract. Lastly, Primark does not allow any serious violation of its basic principles.

Ethical code of Primark The following are the main ethical principle of Primark:

  • Equally opportunity for all regarding employment
  • Safe and clean working conditions
  • No use of child labour
  • Employees have freedom of association
  • Living wages should be paid
  • No discrimination at the work place
  • Standard working hour for the employees
  • Regular employment is offered
  • Inhumane treatment of its workforce is not permitted (Primark Stores, 2008). Assessing the Primark Ethical issues Unethical practices Primark limited has in the past had a very negative ethical perception from the public.

For instance, in 2005, the company was ranked the lowest among all the major clothing stores in the UK, it only managed to obtain 3. 5 points out of the possible 20 points, on the ethical index used. The ethical index used takes into account issues such as worker’s rights, if the company carries out business with governments that are oppressive among other aspects. Child labour Primark has also been accused of using child labour. For instance in 2008, June, a program called Panorama from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), showed what appeared as unethical manufacturing activities in Primark stores’ supply chain.

BBC undercover reporters’ unearthed child labour being used in three different garment companies in India that were sub-contracted to work for Primark. Following this revelation the BBC notified Primark about there discovery. Primark replied by stating that it was not aware of such activities in India and that it could never allow such things to happen if it was aware. Accordingly Primark stooped business transactions with those companies that were mentioned as involved in child labour. However, child protection advocates criticized Primark for being irresponsible.

They further pointed out that the action taken by Primark could result in more hardships for the labourers. According to them, Primark would have tried to make sure that working practices are corrected in those implicated companies. According to Fashion Victims (2009) workers in Bangladesh work for 80 hours every week and they are paid only 5p for an hour, at the same time these workers are forced to do overtimes despite the fact that they are working under deadly conditions, all this is done because of companies like Primark , Tesco and Adsa.

These budget stores though they have promised that their suppliers’ be ethical, they continue to buy from companies where labourers work in terrible conditions. Recent research from “Fashion Victims” links a number of sweatshops workers to big clothing stores that are supplied to them. Previous, this connection was hard to ascertain, however garment labourers who were interviewed by Fashion Victims (2009) proved that they were indeed sewing clothes for Primark and other big clothing stores. However, Primark refuted any involvement.

But, Fashion Victims (2009) assert that Primark was very much aware of what is done in these factories. Fashion Victims (2009) argues that when Primark demands its suppliers to supply it with lower priced materials, the only variable that can be reduced is labour costs, if Primark squeezes suppliers, the suppliers will only do one think: cut down on wages paid to the labourers. Fashion Victims (2009) sums it up by stating that it important that important retailers such as Primark remain in Bangladesh so that they can make sure that their suppliers are treated well and compensated fairly.

Use of immigrant workers

Primark has also accused of using immigrant workers in one of their stores and paying them just slightly than 50% of the minimum wages. It had earlier been reported by both the Observer and the BCC that one of the Primark stores located in Manchester known as TNS Knitwear could have possibly violated major employment and immigration legislations. Violating these laws could result to Primark being fined as much as 10, 000 sterling pounds, for every illegal employee working from the store, and a possible law suit against Primark for evading tax and abusing employment laws.

Those workers, who were caught on hidden camera by the Observer undercover reporters, were seen being paid 3 pounds as their hourly pay. This is only about 50% of stipulated 5. 73 pounds minimum wages that a worker is supposed to earn per hour. Furthermore, the immigrants were reported to be working for 12 hours every day all through the week. A lot of these immigrants were Pakistanis, Indians as well as Afghans. The Observer reports indicate that this has been going on for the last five months.

The garments that are sewed by these immigrants’ workers who are lowly paid end up retailing in biggest and highly profitable clothes stores in Manchester’s busy market. Workers working at TNS as well as Fashion Waves were captured on camera confessing their illegal presence in UK. For instance one Pakistani who was busy trying to finish a order form Primark explained that his visa had expired nearly eight years ago, still he managed to remain in the UK working without the authorities being aware.

At the same time, the working conditions and environment of TNS as well as Fashion Waves were revealed. According to these investigations, the working environment at these two stores is cold and overcrowded. Thus, according to McDoungall (2009) this is clear violation of health and safety rules. Most remarkable is that the undercover journalist who was involved in these investigations was paid 3. 50 pounds for an hour of hard labour, which are 2. 20 less pounds for recommended minimum wages.

Nonetheless, even after this compelling evidence TNS Knitwear went ahead to deny these allegations made against them, Fashion Waves chose to remain silent on the issue. Because of the seriousness of these allegations Primark agreed to take away all Ethical Trade Initiative references that it had placed on its stores. This was in understating that ETI, which advocates for ethical conduct of major British retailers requested Primark to withdraw its membership until those allegations are sorted out.

Accordingly Primark stated after this revelation by the Observer together with the BBC that it was launching an investigation into the issue. Primark as well added that it had given all the information it has discovered to the Britain Border Agency for further investigations. Form this discussion it can be deduced that Primark Stores has been involved in a lot of ethical issues concerning its operations and its suppliers. Environmental management With increased understanding how important our environment is to us and our future generations, organizations are now required to create sustainable use of environment.

Such ways could through recycling, proper production processes to avoid wastage and industry best practices. In this section we are going to examine how Primark tries to meet its environmental duties in order to reduce the impact of its operations and other processes on the environment. Primark being vast chain of stores with suppliers as far as in India, it naturally monitors various separate facilities as well as operations. Thus, it has to have some kind of measures and structures put in place to improve its environmental performance and prevent pollution.

To this end Primark has endeavoured to:

  • Improve its general environment performance as well as compliance by following international environment standards such as the ISO 14001 (International Organization Standardization)
  • Has provided a structure for use of pollution prevention practices
  • Promotes of use raw material efficiently Primark also restated it objective to environmental managed.

The company restated that:

  • It aims at improving its recycling systems and waste management. In this regard the company aims to recycle substance like food wastes coming form its workers’ canteens.
  • In has improved its recycling capacity of other materials. For instance in 2008, Primark recycled over 8800 tonnes of cardboard as well as more than 1190 tonnes of polythene bags.
  • All its cardboard as well as plastics are later colleted then recycled later by a specific waste collecting company named Sevenside.

Assessing environmental management in Primark: Environmental complains because of dumping Primark has been accused of produced cheap clothes are discarded after a short period.

for example in 2008, the Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs in its study that was titled as Public understanding of sustainable clothing, it was established that low-priced clothes were highly likely to be thrown away in landfills instead of being donated to charities. Last year when committee members form the Department made a visit to Croydon dumping site, there found what was being referred to as “Primark effect” going on which was increase in amount of textile waste on that dumping site.

According to head of David Moir who is the head of charity shops, the increase of budget stores such as Primark was making it hard to sell low quality material; this was is because it becomes very complex to price such clothes if buying them when new is very cheap. Indeed, Sharma (2009) reports that the British government in its effort to educate the public on the dangerous of discarding used or unused clothes, the government recently launched a campaign. The main objective of this campaign that started during the London Fashion Week was to tackle the clothing dumping problem referred to as “the Primark effect.

” According to different sources, each year British consumers purchases over 2 million tones of clothes, but nearly 1. 2 million tones of these cloths end up being discarded (Sharma, 2009). Another environmental issue that seems to follow Primark is use of pesticides on farms where cotton supplied to Primark is planted. Some reports seem to indicate that a number of these pesticides or chemicals used could degrade the environment in the long run. However, Primark seems unable to address the issue.

Recommendations

In order for the Primark to improve it’s ethical and environmental management it should attempt to incorporate the following:

  • Primark should embark on training its workers and suppliers, this training should be carried out together with the local workers’ rights groups as well as labour unions. This training is particular necessary in Bangladesh and India since a lot of complains on ethical issues comes from these two countries. The company ought to expand its assessment teams in these countries to enhance the effectiveness of its assessments and ensure that its entire stores, partners and suppliers comply with the set standards.
  • The company should also endeavour to create a more conducive working environment in all its stores, to address the poor working conditions cited in a number of its stores.
  • Primark should come up with strict but workable code of conduct that has to be followed by all its suppliers particularly regarding minimum pay and working conditions, there should be away to measure how Primark suppliers’ are adhering to this code, and regular appraisals should be carried out.
  • On environmental management, the company out to create a sustainable way of its products, i.e. the company should expand its recycling processes since it has been established that a lot of clothes bought from its stores end up in landfills.
  • There is also need to carry out a consumer educative campaign aimed at educating consumers on need to properly dispose their clothes,. This can be by taking the clothes back to Primark stores for recycling. This campaign is also necessary to the suppliers who formulate sustainable and environmental friendly ways for the raw materials like cotton used by Primark.
  • Primark has the ability to be a compel good practices through establishing and maintaining ethical and accountable business practices, in order to apply this abilities, Primark has to adhere to labour laws as an integral aspect of its product outsourcing plan. The duty of meeting of fundamental labour as well as environmental regulations can not merely be passed to suppliers.

In summary we recommend that Primark should ensure that:

  1. Employees and procedures at each level of production are accorded their fundamental rights, respected and given rightful wages
  2. No use of child labour at any given level of production
  3. Sustainable environmental managements methods should be used at all level of production

Conclusion

From this study we can conclude that Primark has weak ethical and environmental practices and it needs to improve on these two issues. This is very important for sustainability of the business.

References:

  1. BBC News (2008): Minister pressed on child labour: www. news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/business/7467846. stm Carbon networks (2009) low quality clothes increases textile waste: Accessed on 25/3/2009 Available at: http://www.environmentalexpert. com/resultEachPressRelease. aspx? codi=44839
  2. Chyssides G and Kaler J (1998): An Introduction to Business Ethics: London; Thompson Business Press Fashion Victims (2009): poor working condition in Bangladesh: Accessed on 25/3/2009, Available at: http://www. waronwant. org/campaigns/supermarkets/fashion-victims/inform/13593-fashion-victims
  3. Kotler, P (2003): Marketing Management: International Edition, New Jersey; Prentice Hall Marketing Week: (no author cited), (2008, June 18): Primark fires Indian suppliers: Marketing Week, p.5.
  4. McDoungall, D (2009): Use of immigrants workers: Observer (sun/ 11/ Jan 2009): http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2009/jan/11/primark-ethical-business-living Primark Stores (2008): Our ethical code of conduct: Accessed on 25/3/2009, Available at: www. ethicalprimark. co. uk
  5. Sharma, N (2009): British Government Launches Campaign to Target “The Primark Effect” in Clothing: Accessed on 25/3/2009, Available at: http://wastersblog. com/407/primark-effect-recycling-clothing/

Read more

What Positive Steps

If you ask anybody what positive steps will you take to tackle climate change? Moreover everyone’s answer would be “What will happen if only I start taking positive steps to tackle climate change? First let someone start then I will also start;” Friends this is wrong. To start anything the steps should be taken by us but we will wait till others start and others do the same. What’s the first thing that comes in your mind when you hear about climate change? Answer is Global Warming or Rising Temperature.

Global warming is one of the main reasons of climate change. Rising sea level, drought and Increasing temperature are the cause of climate change. And the one who suffers It are we and nature. And the main reason for it is human activities. What positive steps can you take to tackle climate change? There are many ways to do so like using renewable resources, using solar light, windmill, etc. The first way Is very simple and easy. The way Is traveling small distances by cycle instead of scooter/car. These reduce the use of forest fuel like terror which is getting lesser and lesser day by day.

We should also save petrol for future generations. We can also travel by public transport. Traveling by public transport could reduce the use of fuel by individual four or two wheelers. Some people feel uncomfortable in public transport. The recent launched car/bus by which run on hydrogen rather than petrol is also one way. The second thing I or we can do is save energy in the form of electricity. Day by day energy resources are getting scarce. The thing you or I can do is finish your work in daytime when there is natural eight given by sun, so there Is less use of artificial light.

Another thing that we can do Is when there Is no need of electric appliances Like computer, bulbs, lights, fans, T. V. ‘s etc. Just don’t forget to turn It off. Also In summer at night when you go to sleep Just open the windows rather than turning on the A. C. ‘s, so there Is natural air, electricity is conserved and pollution of air by A. C. Will not happen. The next boy is, to use 3 magical Or’s. Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. They are the most common topics when we start talking about climate change. 1. Reuse

Reuse the thing which you have used once like plastic, bottles, plastic bags, glass bottles, etc. These are the materials which are very harmful to the climate. 2. Reduce Reduce the use of non- biographer waste like things made up of plastic. They take 100 of years to decompose. In the dump yard they Just burn it to finish it up. By burning It very poisonous smoke is formed which can harm the climate and human beings. 3. Recycle After using the things once never throw It If It can be recycled. We can put things Like bottle in the bottle bank. NAS into save-a-can and give paper to the person who ND I can take is the one most people in the word have ignored. That is being vegetarian. Friends, at least we can be vegetarian we could reduce 51% of greenhouse gases. The step is weird and simple but very powerful. Going vegetarian indirectly reduce deforestation. Non-vegetarian people are the cause of 1/3rd deforestation of grass in the word. They cut forest for grazing animals and to make them health in order to produce good meat. Meat industry produces more carbon dioxide then all word’s cars and rare planes.

Also being vegetarian could expand our fife by 15 years, and could protect us from diseases like Swine Flu and Bird Flu. In you and l, some people are farmers. So the next point is for them. People which are farmers amongst ‘us’ should use. New methods of irrigation by which the use of water would become less and also should take interest in soil conservation for growing good crops and not letting a place become drought affected by making embankments, dress and forestation. So readers think that we should not wait for anyone to get on, instead we take a real step forward to save our mother planet.

Read more

Lush company

Table of contents

A retained customer suggested the name LUSH in 1995, and it means being fresh, green, verdant and drunken women. This company started in England and a Canadian couple Mark and Karen Wolverton on one of their vacation trips decided to introduce it to North America. In 1996, the first international LUSH Company opened in Vancouver in 1996, while the first American store opened in San- Francisco.

In 2007, the company launched a new product into the market named the Charity Pot Hand and Body Lotion. Any money gotten from this product excluding tax is given to the Charity Pot Foundation to encourage environmental, humanitarian, and animal rights charity organizations. Since then, this company donated more than 4,000,000 $ over 350 charities in 31 countries.

In 2008, the company went Greener oriented when it introduced the Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Bottles. This is to reduce waste from environment, and energy on bottle production. In 2012, they had their first ever-official LUSH Prize Award; designed to reward individuals working in the field of Cruelty-Free Scientific Research.

LUSH over time has 830 stores in 51 countries; it produces & sells a variety of handmade products, including soaps, shower gels, shampoos and hair conditioners, bath bombs, bubble bars, hand and body lotions and facemasks. This Company is extremely Unique because of its distinct quality of using Fruits and Vegetables, essential oils, synthetic ingredients, honey, bees wax for product productions, and its Policy against using Animal Products.

Vision Statement

The LUSH Vision is to produce effective products that are Fresh and Organic and does not involve animal testing.

Goals and Objectives

The goals of the Company is to become a global brand with more than 830 worldwide and production laboratories in Europe, Australia, Canada, South America, Singapore, and Japan, and they focus to provide their customers with the freshest products in the history of cosmetics. Their Objective is to market the company’s products in such way that it is aimed towards creating value that can have long-term sustenance for shareholders, employees, and consumers. Learn about

Crocs mission statement 

Key to the Success

  1. Lush can increase their product line to hold their existing customer.
  2. They should participate in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) activities and highlight them to the consumers effectively.
  3. Try to use their USP (unique selling proposition) to create stronger brand recognition.
  4. They can offer innovative flavors in their existing product.
  5. In order to ensure supply of the freshest product, they should balance their product supply and demand accurately.

References

  1.  “LUSH Fresh Handmade Soaps and Natural Cosmetics”. Usa.lush.com. 7 March. 2009.
  2.  “Our Story.” Our Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sept. 2013.
  3. Companychheck.co.uk/company
  4. http://www.retail-week.com/knowledge-bank/analysis-overseas-success-for-beauty-retailer-lush/5043965.article
  5. Teather, David (13 April 2007). “Interview: Mark and Mo Constantine, founders of Lush cosmetics | Business”. London: The Guardian. 7 March. 2009

Read more

Iso Standards and Tqm

Table of contents

Environment may be broadly understood to mean our surroundings. It can be divided into non-living and living components. The Environment provides resources which support life on the earth and which also help in the growth of a relationship of interchange between living organisms and the environment in which they live.

ISO

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer and publisher of International Standards. ISO is a non-governmental organization that forms a bridge between the public and private sectors.

On the one hand, many of its member institutes are part of the governmental structure of their countries, or are mandated by their government. On the other hand, other members have their roots uniquely in the private sector, having been set up by national partnerships of industry associations. The organization’s logos in its two official languages, English and French, include the word ISO. The organization adopted ISO based on the Greek word isos , meaning equal. This, in itself, reflects the aim of the organization: to equalize and standardize across cultures.

HISTORY:

ISO is the world largest standards developing organization. Founded on 23rd February, 1947, it has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Between 1947 and the present day, ISO has published more than 18 000 International Standards, ranging from standards for activities such as agriculture and construction, through mechanical engineering, to medical devices, to the newest information technology developments. ISO was born from the union of two organizations – the ISA (International Federation of the National Standardizing Associations).

Established in New York in 1926, and the UNSCC (United Nations Standards Coordinating Committee), established in 1944

WHO CAN JOIN ISO?

Membership of ISO is open to national standards institutes most representative of standardization in their country (one member in each country). ISO has three membership categories:  Member Bodies: They are national bodies that are considered to be the most representative standards body in each country. These are the only members of ISO that have voting rights.  Subscriber members: They are countries with small economies.

They pay reduced membership fees, but can follow the development of standards. Participating members are called “P” members as opposed to observing members which are called “O” members. ? Correspondent members: They are countries that do not have their own standards organization. These members are informed about ISO’s work, but do not participate in standards promulgation. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 159 countries, out of the 203 total countries in the world, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.

When products and services meet our expectations, we tend to take this for granted and be unaware of the role of standards. However, when standards are absent, we soon notice. We soon care when products turn out to be of poor quality, do not fit, are incompatible with equipment that we already have, are unreliable or dangerous. When products, systems, machinery and devices work well and safely, it is often because they meet standards. And the organization responsible for many thousands of the standards which benefit the world is ISO. When standards are absent, we soon notice.

What standards do? ISO standards ? make the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner ? facilitate trade between countries and make it fairer provide governments with a technical base for health, safety and environmental legislation, and conformity assessment  share technological advances and good management practice ? disseminate innovation ? safeguard consumers, and users in general, of products and services ? make life simpler by providing solutions to common problems .Who standards benefit

ISO standards provide technological, economic and societal benefits.  For businesses, the widespread adoption of International Standards means that suppliers can develop and offer products and services meeting specifications that have wide international acceptance in their sectors. Therefore, businesses using International Standards can compete on many more markets around the world. ? For innovators of new technologies, International Standards on aspects like terminology, compatibility and safety speed up the dissemination of innovations and their development into manufacturable and marketable products. For customers, the worldwide compatibility of technology which is achieved when products and services are based on International Standards gives them a broad choice of offers. They also benefit from the effects of competition among suppliers. For consumers, conformity of products and services to International Standards provides assurance about their quality, safety and reliability. For trade officials, International Standards create “a level playing field” for all competitors on those markets. The existence of divergent national or regional standards can create technical barriers to trade.

International Standards are the technical means by which political trade agreements can be put into practice. ? For developing countries, International Standards that represent an international consensus on the state of the art are an important source of technological know-how. By defining the characteristics that products and services will be expected to meet on export markets, International Standards give developing countries a basis for making the right decisions when investing their scarce resources and thus avoid squandering them. For everyone, International Standards contribute to the quality of life in general by ensuring that the transport, machinery and tools we use are safe. For the planet we inhabit, International Standards on air, water and soil quality, on emissions of gases and radiation and environmental aspects of products can contribute to efforts to preserve the environment.

Examples of the benefits standards provide  solves the repair and maintenance problems caused by a lack of standardization that were once a major headache for manufacturers . Standards establishing an international consensus n terminology make technology transfer easier and safer.  Consensus on grades of various materials gives a common reference for suppliers and clients in business dealings.

Agreement on a sufficient number of variations of a product to meet most current applications allows economies of scale with cost benefits for both producers and consumers. An example is the standardization of paper sizes. ? Standardization of performance or safety requirements of diverse equipment makes sure that users’ needs are met while allowing individual manufacturers the freedom to design their own solution on how to meet those needs. Standardized computer protocols allow products from different vendors to “talk” to each other.

Advantages of ISO:

  • Implementing ISO has following advantages:
  • Create a more efficient, effective operation
  • Increase customer satisfaction and retention
  • Reduce audits
  • Enhance marketing
  • Improve employee motivation, awareness, and morale
  • Promote international trade
  • Increases profit
  • Reduce waste and increases productivity
  • The need for International Standards is very important as more organizations operate in the global economy by selling or buying products and services from sources outside their domestic market.

Disadvantages of ISO

  • Does not guarantee better quality ISO certification definitely does not automatically lead to better quality product. While it does encourage operations to think in terms of systems, it does not require them to be good.
  • Focus on certification .
  • Frequent audits Full system audits every three years with annual surveillance audits.
  • ISO 9000 ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained by ISO and is administered by accreditation and certification bodies. The rules are updated, as the requirements motivate changes over time.

Some of the requirements in ISO 9001:2008 include a set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business; monitoring processes to ensure they are effective; keeping adequate records; checking output for defects, with appropriate and corrective action; regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness; and facilitating continual improvement ISO 9001:2000 – What does it mean in the supply chain? ISO 9001:2000 is an international standard that gives requirements for an organization’s Quality Management System (“QMS”).

The objective of ISO 9001:2000 is to provide a set of requirements that will provide confidence that the supplier can consistently provide goods and services that:

  • Meet needs and expectations and
  • Comply with applicable regulations How can you have confidence that your supplier meets ISO .There are various ways in which your supplier can claim that its QMS meets the requirements of ISO 9001:2000.

These include:  ‘Supplier’s declaration of conformity’: supplier’s internal audit system, or on second party or third party audits; Second party assessment: check if its QMS meets ISO 9001:2000 requirements and your own requirements – sometimes used in contractual “business-to-business” transactions; Third party assessment: (Often referred to as certification or registration)

CASE STUDY KERALA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS),is a 450-bed multispecialty Hospital which has been awarded the ISO 9001:2000 certificate for a high-end cardiac cauterization laboratory, hi-tech operation theatres, a 24-hour emergency department, CT scan, facility for open heart surgery, blood bank, neurology and neuro-surgery departments.

Quality and accreditation are prominent strategies adopted by KIMS to ensure world-class treatment at third-world prices. KIMS has acquired ISO 9001: 2000 certificate from BSI Group. ISO 12000: Plastics/rubber — Polymer dispersions and rubber (natural and synthetic) – Definitions and review of test methods .ISO 14000 The ISO 14000 family addresses “Environmental management”. This means what the organization does to:  minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its activities, and to Achieve continual improvement of its environmental performance.

The ISO 14000 is a standard for environmental management systems that is applicable to any business. The aim of the standard is to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste a business produces. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series of norms is “to promote more effective and efficient environmental management in organizations”. It offers source of guidance for introducing and adopting environmental management systems based on the best universal practices.

The ISO 14000 is a standard for environmental management systems that is applicable to any business, regardless of size, location or income. The aim of the standard is to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste a business produces. The major objective of the ISO 14000 series of norms is “to promote more effective and efficient environmental management in organizations and to provide useful and usable tools like cost effective, system-based, flexible tools that help organizations in gatherong environment related information.

It offers source of guidance for introducing and adopting environmental management systems based on the best universal practices, in the same way that the ISO 9000 series on quality management systems represents a tool for technology transfer of the best available quality management practices The two major standards under ISO 14000 ISO 14001:2004  SO 14004:2004 Business benefits of ISO 14000  reduced cost of waste management  savings in consumption of energy and materials lower distribution costs  improved corporate image among regulators, customers and the public Framework for continual improvement of environmental performance. In the global economy CASE STUDY Copley Square Hotel A prominent hotel created an aggressive environmental program that provides a foundation for ISO 14001 registration. Energy Use Reduction:  Energy efficient lighting was installed in public areas .Install compact fluorescent bulbs in guest room table lamps , hanging lamps and back areas .Remind employees to turn off all energy using devices that are not being used. Water Use Reduction:  Installing toilets with 1. 5 gallon capacity, replacing ones with 3. gallon capacity will save $3,276 and 430,000 gallons annually.  Showerheads of greater efficiency will save $6,546 and 859,000 gallons annually.  Guest have been offered the option of reusing their towels and linens when staying more than one night. Comments Some of the reasons the program has been successful are: Everyone in the hotel participates in the program and can contribute from within their job responsibilities. Small savings are as important as big ones.

CASE STUDY NOKIA ISO 14001 standard is used to control and manage the environmental aspects of Nokia’s production sites and large offices.

Nokia has a corporate level ISO 14001 certificate in place for all manufacturing sites.

What’s the difference between ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 ISO 9001 contains a set of requirements for implementing a Quality Management System and ISO 14001 for an Environmental Management System ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 have become thoroughly integrated with the world economy. ISO 9001:2000 (the transition to ISO 9001:2008 is now taking place) is now firmly established as the globally accepted standard for providing assurance about the quality of goods and services in supplier-customer relations.

ISO 14001:2004 confirms its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. In the global economy ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 14001:2004 have become thoroughly integrated with the world economy. ISO 9001:2000 is now firmly established as the globally accepted standard for providing assurance about the quality of goods and services in supplier-customer relations. ISO 14001:2004 confirms its global relevance for organizations wishing to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. ISO 16000-1:2004 is intended to aid the planning of indoor pollution monitoring.

Before a sampling strategy is devised for indoor air monitoring, it is necessary to clarify for what purposes, when, where, how often and over what periods of time monitoring is to be performed. The answers to these questions depend, in particular, on a number of special characteristics of the indoor environments, on the objective of the measurement and, finally, on the environment to be measured. ISO 16000-1:2004 deals with the significance of these factors and offers suggestions on how to develop a suitable sampling strategy.

ISO 16000-1:2004 is applicable to indoor environments such as dwellings having living rooms, bedrooms, do-it-yourself rooms, recreation rooms and cellars, kitchens and bathrooms; workrooms or work places in buildings which are not subject to health and safety inspections in regard to air pollutants (for example, offices, sales premises); public buildings (for example hospitals, schools, kindergartens, sports halls, libraries, restaurants and bars, theatres, cinemas and other function rooms), and also cabins of vehicles. Latest ISO(15270:2008) On Plastic Recycling

Plastics – Guidelines for the recovery and recycling of plastics waste. The standard has been developed to assist all plastics industry stakeholders in the development of:  A sustainable global infrastructure for plastics recovery and recycling Establishes the different options for the recovery of plastics waste arising from pre-consumer and post-consumer sources. The standard assists in the selection of methodologies and processes for the management of post-use plastics that may be approached using various strategies. ? A sustainable market for recovered plastics materials and their derived manufactured products.

Plastics material for recovery may be obtained from various sources and the major markets for plastics are packaging, building and construction products, electrical and electronic products, automotive/transportation, and household/consumer items. ISO promotes role of International Standards in tackling climate change at COP15 ISO International Standards can help fight climate change by providing a basis for ensuring trust, integrity and effective management in the quantification, measurement and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation efforts, and practical tools for the development of energy efficiency and alternative energy sources.

These messages were underlined by ISO at COP15, the 15th conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), held on 7-18 December 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark. ISO Guide 64:2008 Guide for addressing environmental issues in product standards It proposes a step-by-step approach, based on the principle of life-cycle analysis, in order to promote a reduction of potential adverse environmental impacts caused by products. The Guide is intended for use by all those involved in the drafting of product standards, encouraging them to: Identify and understand basic environmental aspects and impacts related to the product under consideration, Determine when it is possible and when it is not possible to deal with an environmental issue through a product standard an approach for continuously improving the quality of goods and services through the participation of all levels of organization, especially for the benefit of the customers

COMPONENTS OF THE MODEL

Quality Policy and Communication If an organization is to start implementing TQM, a sound quality policy is a fundamental requirement.

The TQM foundation consists of strategic quality management, executive leadership and a continuous focus on consumer. This must be clearly stated, documented and communicated, as a quality policy to each and every employee of the organization in an easily understood language. The next step is to clearly define the key objectives and quality goals that must be achieved if the company has to realize its vision. Team Work and Participation From time to time, Indian industry has realized the importance of both Team Work and Participative Management.

To institutionalize both the concept s of team work ad participation, Cross functional Management Teams, Quality Circles and Suggestion Systems have to be formed. This has indeed been done in organizations like THERMAX, ALFA LEVEL, NLC, BHEL, SAIL, MADRAS CEMENTS, MODI XEROX, and SONA STEERING SYSTEMS

Problem solving Tools and Techniques One very common approach of problem solving is use of Deming Cycle, which is reproduced below: As shown in the cycle, the Planning Stage will primarily involve defining a Quality mission, getting the organization relevant data, and going in for experiments in quality.

And when we do something (Stage Two), the effects or results are checked in stage three. Recognizing people and rewarding them and changing processes form the essential steps of stage four. Standardization Standardization is a management tool for encouraging and securing optimum utilization o resources and maximum efficiency of operations through formal establishment of the most suitable, pre-determined, solutions and answers to recurring problems and needs. Technical specifications in design, procurement, production and control are company standards.

Similarly, administrative specifications in supervision and management, which may deal with products, processes, methods, materials, parts, etc. , are also company standards.  Design and implementation of Quality System Standardization can be attained through ISO-9000 certification. ISO -9000 is not product standard, but it is Quality Systems Standard. It is a practical standard for a Quality system. There are four Quality System Standards as shown in the table . Quality costs and measurements Contrary to popular belief high quality is not high cost.

If things are done right the first time, tremendous savings in cost can be obtained. Around 10 – 25 % of the sales revenue is being spent by manufacturing companies due to poor quality. Hence, calculating the cost of quality is a must. ? Quality audit and review It is conducted by people who have no direct responsibility for performance and is always an independent examination to compare given aspects of quality performance with standards or specifications. Hence, an internal quality system should be developed for addressing customer requirements and complaints as well as internal quality problems. Process Control If processes are controlled properly, deficiencies are not with product and process control gives feedback for initiating necessary action.  Customer supplier integration Effective integration between customer and supplier identifies mutual needs and fulfilling expectations becomes easier.  Education and training Today, Indian companies that have implemented TQM spends thousands of rupees in preparing employees and educating them on various aspects of quality improvement.

ONLY customers determine the level of quality , what ever you do to foster quality  improvement , training employees , integrating quality into processes management , ONLY customers determine whether your effort were  worthwhile ? EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT Removing fear from work place by providing the proper environment ? PROCESS CENTERED Fundamental part of TQM is to focus on Process thinking.

INTEGRATED SYSTEM

All employee must know business mission and vision, must monitor the process . an integrated business system may be modeled by   ISO 9000.

STRATEGIC APPROACH

Strategic plan must integrate quality as core component.

CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

Using analytical and creative thinking in finding ways to become more effective.

FACT BASED DECISION MAKING

Decision making must be ONLY on data, not personal thinking or situational.

COMMUNICATION

Communication strategy, method and timeliness must be well defined.

  • Chain Reaction of TQM
  • Improve Quality
  • Improve Productivity
  • Decrease costs
  • Decrease prices
  • Increase market
  • Stay in Business
  • Provide More jobs
  • Return on investment
  • Deming’s Fourteen Points
  • Constancy of purpose
  • Drive out fear
  • Eliminate Exhortations
  • Encourage education
  • Institute training on the job
  • Improve every process
  • End “lowest tender” contracts
  • The New philosophy
  • Institute Leadership
  • Cease dependence on inspection
  • Break down barriers
  • Eliminate arbitrary numerical targets
  • Permit pride of workmanship
  • Top management’s commitment

IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF TQM :

  • Customer-driven quality
  • Top management leadership  and commitment
  • Continuous improvement
  • Fast response
  • Actions based on facts
  • Employee participation

BENEFITS  OF  TQM :

  • Increased pride of workmanship among individual  workers
  • Increased  readiness Improved  sustainability Greater  mission  survivability
  • Better  justification  for  budgets ? Streamlined  maintenance  and  production processes Many companies have difficulties in implementing TQM. Surveys by consulting firms have found that only 20 – 36 % of companies that have undertaken TQM have achieved either significant or even tangible improvements in quality, productivity, competitiveness or financial return. As a result many people are skeptical about TQM. However, when you look at successful companies you find a much higher percentage of successful TQM implementation.

Why ISO 9000 Should Be a Company’s Guidepost, And Not TQM The ISO-9000 quality standard and total quality management (TQM) is both necessary for any organization to become world class. But ISO is far superior because it offers a set of guidelines for quality management and can stand alone, while TQM can not.

The reasons are:

While ISO-9000 is a clearly defined system, TQM is a philosophy ? ISO-9000 is preventive. TQM is remedial.  TQM is aimed at identifying the causes of quality problems and eliminating them TQM is not quality management but process management —  the process of improvement.

ISO-9000 is total quality management ? While ISO-9000 requires documentation and record keeping, there is no such requirement in TQM

One of the greatest features of ISO-9000 is that it is self-policing EQM Various countries, 8 including India, have set up standards with specify the limit pf emission of various pollutants that are permitted in specific media i. e. air or water. They may take the firm of emission standards, or relate to the content of products in food, or phosphates in detergents.

Environmental Quality

Management includes : Management of Air Quality The air quality standards are prescribed by CENTRAL POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD. They provide quantitative limits within which the pollutants may be present in the environment. There are three types of standards . Emission standards : they are the maximm tolerable level of a pollutant that are permissible to escape the chimney of an industry or the thermal power plant . Immission standards : it specifies the ambient air quality i. e. the amount of various pollutants that are tolerable in space surrounding the source of generation Vehicular emission standards : they have been prescribed recently, it specifies the maximum tolerable limit of the various pollutants that are allowed to escape the exhaust of an automobile ? Management of water quality Water quality management involves multidisciplinary approach in which the required water quality is related to municipal, industrial and agricultural requirements. Water quality standards are based on two standards ? Stream standards: It is based on the beneficial uses of water which fixes the threshold value of specific pollutants permissible in the water required for various uses.

As specified by Central Pollution Control Board in 1979. It states that drinking water should have a minimum of 6 mg/1 dissolved oxygen and a maximum of 2mg/1 of Biological oxygen demand. ? Effluent standards: They are based on the maximum concentration of a pollutant of maximum pollution load discharged into receiving water. In India under the Water Pollution Control Act enacted in 1974, effluent standards, based on the maximum concentration of a pollutant (mg/1) have been prescribed.  Management of land It is essential to improve man quality to grow more and to meet the increasing demands for food and other essential agricultural items.

Large scale use of fertilizers is not advisable. Chemical fertilizers can improve soil and land quality but they are costly. Various ways to improve land quality are ? Organic farming : organic fertilizers in the form of biomass not only provide nutrients to soil but also enrich humus content. Biomass is used as fuel in the form of dung cakes agricultural residues etc. ? Mixed cropping : under this leguminous and non-leguminous crops are grown together in the same area in a mixed pattern. It always the crop to derive nutrients from the soil. Use of helophytes : excessive irrigation leads to salinisation of soils rendering it useless for agriculture. Thus, special plants known as halophytes are grown, which are tolerant to salinity. These plants improve the soil condition. ? Ariel seeding : packets containing seeds along with little fertilizers are sprayed from aircrafts and they are left togrow undisturbed. This mproves the performance of degraded land. Land use planning : for maintaining the land quality excessive irrigation should be avoided, proper avenues for drainage and mixed cropping should be practiced.

The positive roles played in globalization by ISO’s standards for quality and environmental management systems include the following:  a unifying base for global businesses and supply chains – such as the automotive and oil and gas sectors. a technical support for regulation – as, for example, in the medical devices sector)  a tool for major new economic players to increase their participation in global supply chains, in export trade and in business process outsourcing; ? a tool for regional integration –  as shown by their adoption by new or potential members of the European Union in the rise of services in the global economy – nearly 32 % of ISO 9001:2000 certificates and 29 % of ISO 14001:2004 certificates in 2007 went to organizations in the service sectors, and ? in the transfer of good practice to developing countries and transition economies

 

Read more

Green Marketing Examples

Table of contents

According to the American Marketing Association, green marketing is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Thus green marketing incorporates a broad range of activities, including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes, as well as modifying advertising. Yet defining green marketing is not a simple task where several meanings intersect and contradict each other; an example of this will be the existence of varying social, environmental and retail definitions attached to this term.

Other similar terms used are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing. Thus “Green Marketing” refers to holistic marketing concept wherein the production, marketing consumption an disposal of products and services happen in a manner that is less detrimental to the environment with growing awareness about the implications of global warming, non-biodegradable solid waste, harmful impact of pollutants etc. , both marketers and consumers are becoming increasingly sensitive to the need for switch in to green products and services.

While the shift to “green” may appear to be expensive in the short term, it will definitely prove to be indispensable and advantageous, cost-wise too, in the long run. Why Green Marketing? It is really scary to read these pieces of information as reported in the Times recently: “Air pollution damage to people, crops and wildlife in he US totals tens of billions of dollars each year”. “More than 12 other studies in the US, Brazil Europe , Mexico , South Korea and Taiwan have established links between air pollutants and low birth weight premature birth still birth and infant death”.

As resources are limited and human wants are unlimited, it is important for the marketers to utilize the resources efficiently without waste as well as to achieve the organization’s objective. So green marketing is inevitable. There is growing interest among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of environment. Worldwide evidence indicates people are concerned about the environment and are changing their behavior. As a result of this, green marketing has emerged which speaks for growing market for sustainable and socially responsible products and services.

Thus the growing awareness among the consumers all over the world regarding protection of the environment in which they live, People do want to bequeath a clean earth to their offspring. Various studies by environmentalists indicate that people are concerned about the environment and are changing their behavior pattern so as to be less hostile towards it. Now we see that most of the consumers, both individual and industrial, are becoming more concerned about environment-friendly products. Most of them feel that environment-friendly products are safe to use.

As a result, green marketing has emerged, which aims at marketing sustainable and socially-responsible products and services. Now is the era of recyclable, non-toxic and environment-friendly goods. This has become the new mantra for marketers to satisfy the needs of consumers and earn better profits. Green marketing is the process of developing products and services and promoting them to satisfy the customers who prefer products of good quality, performance and convenience at affordable cost, which at the same time do not have a detrimental impact on the environment.

It includes a broad range of activities like product modification, changing the production process, modified advertising, change in packaging, etc. , aimed at reducing the detrimental impact of products and their consumption and disposal on the environment. Companies all over the world are striving to reduce the impact of products and services on the climate and other environmental parameters. Marketers are taking the cue and are going green. Green marketing was given prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s after the proceedings of the first workshop on Ecological marketing held in Austin, Texas (US), in 1975.

Several books on green marketing began to be published thereafter. According to the Joel makeover (a writer, speaker and strategist on clean technology and green marketing), green marketing faces a lot of challenges because of lack of standards and public consensus to what constitutes “Green”. The green marketing has evolved over a period of time. According to Peattie (2001), the evolution of green marketing has three phases. First phase was termed as “Ecological” green marketing, and during this period all marketing activities were concerned to help environment problems and provide remedies for environmental problems.

Second phase was “Environmental” green marketing and the focus shifted on clean technology that involved designing of innovative new products, which take care of pollution and waste issues. Third phase was “Sustainable” green marketing. It came into prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000. Green marketing is a vital constituent of the holistic marketing concept. It is particularly applicable to businesses that are directly dependent on the physical environment; for example, industries like fishing, processed foods, tourism and adventure sports.

Changes in the physical environment may pose a threat to such industries. Many global players in diverse businesses are now successfully implementing green marketing practices.

Marketing MIX of Green Marketing

When companies come up with new innovations like eco friendly products, they can access new markets, enhance their market shares, and increase profits. Just as we have 4Ps product prices, place and promotion in marketing, we have 4ps in green marketing too, but they are a bit different. They are buttressed by three additional Ps, namely people, planet and profits.

Product

The products have to be developed depending on the needs of the customers who prefer environment friendly products. Products can be made from recycled materials or from used goods. Efficient products not only save water, energy and money, but also reduce harmful effects on the environment. Green chemistry forms the growing focus of product development. The marketer’s role in product management includes providing product designers with market-driven trends and customer requests for green product attributes such as energy saving, organic, green chemicals, local sourcing, etc. For example, Nike is the first among the shoe companies to market itself as green. It is marketing its Air Jordan shoes as environment-friendly, as it has significantly reduced the usage of harmful glue adhesives. It has designed this variety of shoes to emphasize that it has reduced wastage and used environment-friendly materials.

Price

Green pricing takes into consideration the people, planet and profit in a way that takes care of the health of employees and communities and ensures efficient productivity. Value can be added to it by changing its appearance, functionality and through customization, etc. Wal Mart unveiled its first recyclable cloth shopping bag. IKEA started charging consumers when they opted for plastic bags and encouraged people to shop using its “Big Blue Bag”.

Place

Green place is about managing logistics to cut down on transportation emissions, thereby in effect aiming at reducing the carbon footprint. For example, instead of marketing an imported mango juice in India it can be licensed for local production. This avoids shipping of the product from far away, thus reducing shipping cost and more importantly, the consequent carbon emission by the ships and other modes of transport.

Promotion

Green promotion involves configuring the tools of promotion, such as advertising, marketing materials, signage, white papers, web sites, videos and presentations by keeping people, planet and profits in mind. British petroleum (BP) displays gas station which its sunflower motif and boasts of putting money into solar power. Indian Tobacco Company has introduced environmental-friendly papers and boards, which are free of elemental chlorine.

Toyota is trying to push gas/electric hybrid technology into much of its product line. It is also making the single largest R&D investment in the every-elusive hydrogen car and promoting itself as the first eco-friendly car company. International business machines Corporation (IBM) has revealed a portfolio of green retail store technologies and services to help retailers improve energy efficiency in their IT operations. The center piece of this portfolio is the IBM SurePOS 700, a point-of-sale system that, according to IBM, reduces power consumption by 36% or more.

We even see the names of retail outlets like “Reliance Fresh”, Fresh@Namdhari Fresh and Desi, which while selling fresh vegetables and fruits, transmit an innate communication of green marketing. Green marketer can attract customers on the basis of performance, money savings, health and convenience, or just plain environmental friendliness, so as to target a wide range of green consumers. Consumer awareness can be created by spreading the message among consumers about the benefits of environmental-friendly products.

Positing of profiles related to green marketing on social networks creates awareness within and across online peer groups. Marketing can also directly target the consumers through advertisements for product such as energy saving compact fluorescent lamps, the battery –powered Reva car, etc.

Why Is Green Marketing Chosen by Most Marketers

Most of the companies are venturing into green marketing because of the following reasons:   In India, around 25% of the consumers prefer environmental-friendly products, and around 28% may be considered healthy conscious.

There fore, green marketers have diverse and fairly sizeable segments to cater to. The Surf Excel detergent which saves water (advertised with the message—”do bucket paani roz bachana”) and the energy-saving LG consumers durables are examples of green marketing. We also have green buildings which are efficient in their use of energy, water and construction materials, and which reduce the impact on human health and the environment through better design, construction, operation, maintenance and waste disposal.

In India, the green building movement, spearheaded by the Confederation of Indian industry (CII) – Godrej Green business Center, has gained tremendous impetus over the last few years. From 20,000 sq ft in 2003, India’s green building footprint is now over 25 million sq ft. b. Social Resoponsibility Many companies have started realizing that they must behave in an environment-friendly fashion. They believe both in achieving environmental objectives as well as profit related objectives. The HSBC became the world’s first bank to go carbon-neutral last year.

Other examples include Coca-Cola, which has invested in various recycling activities. Walt Disney World in Florida, US, has an extensive waste management program and infrastructure in place. c. Governmental Pressure Various regulations rare framed by the government to protect consumers and the society at large. The Indian government too has developed a framework of legislations to reduce the production of harmful goods and by products. These reduce the industry’s production and consumers’ consumption of harmful goods, including those detrimental to the environment; for example, the ban f plastic bags in Mumbai, prohibition of smoking in public areas, etc. d. Competitive Pressure Many companies take up green marketing to maintain their competitive edge. The green marketing initiatives by niche companies such as Body Shop and Green & Black have prompted many mainline competitors to follow suit. e. Cost Reduction Reduction of harmful waste may lead to substantial cost savings. Sometimes, many firms develop symbiotic relationship whereby the waste generated by one company is used by another as a cost-effective raw material.

For example, the fly ash generated by thermal power plants, which would otherwise contributed to a gigantic quantum of solid waste, is used to manufacture fly ash bricks for construction purposes.

Benefits of Green Marketing

Today’s consumers are becoming more and more conscious about the environment and are also becoming socially responsible. Therefore, more companies are responsible to consumers’ aspirations for environmentally less damaging or neutral products. Many companies want to have an early-mover advantage as they have to eventually move towards becoming green.

Some of the advantages of green marketing are,  It ensures sustained long-term growth along with profitability. * It saves money in the long run, thought initially the cost is more.  It helps companies market their products and services keeping the environment aspects in mind. It helps in accessing the new markets and enjoying competitive advantage. Most of the employees also feel proud and responsible to be working for an environmentally responsible company.

Problems of Green Marketing

Many organizations want to turn green, as an increasing number of consumers’ ant to associate themselves with environmental-friendly products. Alongside, one also witnesses confusion among the consumers regarding the products. In particular, one often finds distrust regarding the credibility of green products. Therefore, to ensure consumer confidence, marketers of green products need to be much more transparent, and refrain from breaching any law or standards relating to products or business practices.

Paths to Greenness

Green marketing involves focusing on promoting the consumption of green products. Therefore, it becomes the responsibility of the companies to adopt creativity and insight, and be committed to the development of environment-friendly products. This will help the society in the long run. Companies which embark on green marketing should adopt thefollowing principles in their path towards “greenness. ”  Adopt new technology/process or modify existing technology/process so as to reduce environmental impact. Establish a management and control system that will lead to the adherence of stringent environmental safety norms.  Using more environment-friendly raw materials at the production stage itself.  Explore possibilities of recycling of the used products so that it can be used to offer similar or other benefits with less wastage. Marketing Strategies The marketing strategies for green marketing include: Marketing Audit (including internal and external situation analysis)  Develop a marketing plan outlining strategies with regard to 4 P’s Implement marketing strategies Plan results evaluation.

Conclusion

A clever marketer is one who not only convinces the consumer, but also involves the consumer in marketing his product. Green marketing should not be considered as just one more approach to marketing, but has to be pursued with much greater vigor, as it has an environmental and social dimension to it. With the threat of global warming looming large, it is extremely important that green marketing becomes the norm rather than an exception or just a fad. Recycling of paper, metals, plastics, etc. in a safe and environmentally harmless manner should become much more systematized and universal. It has to become the general norm to use energy-efficient lamps and other electrical goods. Marketers also have the responsibility to make the consumers understand the need for and benefits of green products as compared to non-green ones. In green marketing, consumers are willing to pay more to maintain a cleaner and greener environment. Finally, consumers, industrial buyers and suppliers need to pressurize effects on minimize the negative effects on the environment-friendly. Green marketing assumes even more importance and relevance in developing countries like India.

References

  1. Chopra, S. Lakshmi (2007), “Turning Over a New Leaf”, Indian Management, Vol-64, April-2007 Ottman, J. A. et al, “Avoiding Green Marketing Myopia”, Environment, Vol-48, June-2006 www. greenmarketing. net/stratergic.
  2. html www. epa. qld. gov. au/sustainable_ industries www. wmin. ac. uk/marketing research/marketing/greenmix. html http://www. coolavenues. com http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Green_marketing Presented by MD. Mudhassir P. Swapna

Read more
OUR GIFT TO YOU
15% OFF your first order
Use a coupon FIRST15 and enjoy expert help with any task at the most affordable price.
Claim my 15% OFF Order in Chat
Close

Sometimes it is hard to do all the work on your own

Let us help you get a good grade on your paper. Get professional help and free up your time for more important courses. Let us handle your;

  • Dissertations and Thesis
  • Essays
  • All Assignments

  • Research papers
  • Terms Papers
  • Online Classes
Live ChatWhatsApp