...Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability MGT 551 Operations Analysis October 21, 2013 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability Many organizations today claim they are environmentally friendly, their businesses are sustainable, or they work at minimizing their carbon footprint. While stating the claims may be easy, they take commitment of time and resources, a culture or homogeneity of vision, and a great deal of planning to implement. The complicated part is that the change cannot occur in just one facet of the organization, the change must carry across the organization and the entire supply chain. Drew Schramm finds himself in a difficult position at the Herman Miller organization. His supply chain background is in conflict with the organization’s environmental sustainability position. While he may see easy money to be picked from the savings tree, it has now become forbidden fruit. The Herman Miller organization is committed to their stance of environmental sustainability and Schramm must now take that into serious consideration when making supply chain decisions. Their new chair design, the Mirra Chair, has yet to have a decision made on the construction and materials of its arm pads. They can either use the common polyvinyl chloride (PVC) that violates their cradle to cradle (C2C) protocol standards, thermoplastic urethane (TPU) which meets the C2C standards but is more expensive...
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...Herman Miller Darden Case Study 8Nov05.doc Herman Miller’s Design for Environment Program November 2005 Mark Rossi, Scott Charon, Gabe Wing, and James Ewell 1 Herman Miller launched its Design for Environment (DfE) program in the 1990s. At the core of the Herman Miller DfE program is the McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry (MBDC) Cradle to Cradle Design Protocol, which evaluates new product designs in three key areas: • • • Material Chemistry -- What chemicals are in the materials we specify, and are they the safest available? Disassembly -- Can we take products apart at the end of their useful life to recycle their materials? Recyclability -- Do the materials contain recycled content, and more importantly, can the materials be recycled at the end of the product's useful life? Herman Miller’s commitment to DfE includes requiring all new products be evaluated within the MBDC Protocol. Material Chemistry Assessment When Herman Miller launched its DfE program, the challenges for the DfE team were substantial: Learn how to use and integrate the MBDC protocol into the launch of new products, modify MBDC’s protocol to meet the needs and unique circumstances of Herman Miller, gather the data necessary to meet material evaluation criteria as required by MBDC’s material health protocol, gain acceptance from product development teams for design process changes, and complete all this work on a schedule that would not delay the launch of products. A core component...
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...Question 1: Herman Miller’s Strategies: evidence on its competitive advantage and good financial performance 1. Corporate Strategy: Diversified Strategy From the headquarters of Herman Miller Inc., Curt Pullen talks amid the unmistakable pounding sounds and commotion associated with a construction work site about his company's plan to rebound from the recession. Pullen, the firm's executive vice president and president of North America, says the workers are installing new lower-height Herman Miller workstations designed to accommodate a growing trend in offices toward more open, collaborative environments. The new product, called Canvas, is part of the company's market-shift strategy after the demand for office furniture fell hard during the economic downturn. The plan also involves diversifying into the health care and academic furniture markets and more emphasis on emerging economies. The plan appears to be paying off. For the first time in nearly four years the company reported two consecutive quarters of double-digit percentage sales growth after releasing its second-quarter earnings statement on Dec 15th. Orders in the second quarter rose 34% to $462 million. CEO Brian Walker noted the company's expanded market reach as a contributing factor to growth. Significant increases occurred in international markets where sales rose 33%. In 2010 the company acquired UK-based ergonomic workstation manufacturer Colebrook Bosson Saunders and purchased assets...
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...Strategy Management in Global Environment GM599 Case Study: Herman Miller Inc Professor Denis Juren JeanMary Hermann Colas October 10, 2011 Herman Miller Inc started back in 1905, as a furniture company. The Star Furniture Company was a manufacturer of traditional-style bedroom suites in Zeeland, Michigan. It changed its name to Michigan Star Furniture Company, in 1909. Dirk Jan De Pree was hired as a clerk during that transition. D.J. De Pree became the president of the company 10 years later. He then renamed the company Herman Miller in honor of his father –in-law in recognition of his support for purchasing majority of share to save the company from failing (Shipper, Manz, Adams, Manz, 2010). Herman Miller Inc. became a leader in "modern" furniture in the 1930s and 1940s; developed lasting ties through the 1950s with legendary industrial designers who led us in new directions; transformed the office furniture industry with the first panel system in the 1960s; invented and refined ergonomic work seating in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s; reinvented the geometry of systems furniture in 2000, and is today the second largest office furniture company with customers and locations around the world (Dowdell,2008). Herman Miller Inc. is a global company with operations, sales offices, dealers, and licensees in more than 40 countries in North America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. They serve customers virtually anywhere in the world. Their headquarters...
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...Herman Miller, Inc. Traditional Case Study June 18th 2012 David Maillie Andrew Hatfield-O’Hern Andrew Withers Isil Ecevit Nawaf Nizamudeen Current Status History Herman Miller began in Zeeland Michigan as a manufacturer of high quality furniture and bedroom suites entitled the Star Furniture Co. In 1909 the company’s name was switched to the Michigan Star Furniture Company. At the same time, Dirk Jan De Pree was hired as a clerk. Just 10 years later, Mr. De Pree became president of the company. Mr. De Pree saw great potential with the company and soon after talked his father-in-law, Herman Miller, to purchase the company by buying up the majority (51%) of the company stock in 1923. The company name was then changed and named after Herman Miller and remains that way today. Early on, Herman Miller became a company that treated workers very differently. Most manufacturing companies, De Pree stressed that all workers are important individuals with special talents and potential (Adams, S. B., Manz, C. C., Manz, K., Shipper, F. (2010). He saw that workers were more than just hourly labor and knew that if he could encourage them to expand their horizons and broaden their knowledge and interests that the company would also benefit from this. In the early 1930s, the Herman Miller company was known for producing high-quality, traditional furniture. However, this was the time of the Great Depression. A very trying time with unemployment rates as high as 25%...
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... ABL Tile & Bathroom - Huge Easter Sale. 19th To 21st Apr Adwww.abltilecentre.com.au/ (02) 9623 0499 Reduced Prices. Shop Online & Save! Baths and Spas Showers and Accessories Dorf Jovian Sale Bathroom Accessories Search Results Cpa Case Study 2012 - Term Paper Warehouse www.termpaperwarehouse.com › Business and Management Apr 22, 2012 - Cpa Case Study 2012. Australian Beverages Ltd-Pre-seen case study information. A Introduction to Australian Beverages Ltd In 1937 ... Case Summary - Term Paper Warehouse www.termpaperwarehouse.com › Other Topics Apr 26, 2012 - Case Summary. Extended case study. Australian Beverages Ltd—Pre-seen case study information. A - Introduction to Australian Beverages Ltd Case Study Comm 215 Free College Essay 301 - 320 www.termpaperwarehouse.com/subcategory/case-study-comm-215/16 Australian Beverages Ltd-Pre-seen case study information A Introduction to Australian Beverages Ltd In 1937, Australian Beverages Ltd (ABL) commenced. Abl Limited - Term Paper Warehouse www.termpaperwarehouse.com › Business and Management Apr 30, 2012 - Abl Limited. CASE STUDY ANALYSIS EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS Define the Type of Organisation...
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...Review Case 1.1 Explain how Henry Miller uses outside resources to drive innovation. Identify the additional resources might they need if expanding to a new market like Malaysia. Henry Miller work is innovated by his own expertise, but does not end there. Instead of creating the designs for his company within, he outsources the company’s creative work to professional designers and fully understands that he could benefit from the creativity of his staff as well. By allowing his staff to take part in design, he is able to generate unlimited ideas, which means the company’s chances of producing quality designs are greater. I like the fact that his company focuses on “green” production and design by recycling waste and using resources from renewable supply sources to support our environment. If he would like to expand to a new market like Malaysia, he and his staff should study the culture of Malaysia, and create designs in demand in this specific marketplace. If he hired local people from Malaysia, he would better understand the culture, and that could be of great advantage because hiring the right people matters. Mr. Miller could sponsor a trip for his employees to Malaysia where they could meet with potential co-workers from Malaysia in an effort to determine goals, challenges and opportunities in the specific marketplace. Boone, L. & Kurtz, D. . Contemporary business: 2011 custom edition (13th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Review Case 1.1 Considering each...
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...Herman Miller had spent years and a lot of money to try and design the perfect office chair. The design was unlike any other office chair and was considered “ugly” by many. When testing the chair in a market research study, they found that the aesthetic scores were between two and three out of ten, but the comfort scores were above eight out of ten. This was very strange because in every other example of office chairs, aesthetics and comfort have a strong correlation. Even with the low aesthetic scores, Herman Miller decided to take it to market anyway. After a slow start, the popularity of the Ergon chair started to grow. I can relate to this because if something looks what I think is “ugly,” I wouldn’t want it. This happens to me with food. If something looks nasty, I won’t even try it even if other people say it’s good. The few times that I do try something that looks nasty, it usually does taste good. This is one of the errors people, along with myself, make with their first impressions. Gladwell’s...
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...Arsenic in Apple Juice: Action Level December 6, 2013 Table of Contents Description of Proposal Background Problem Analysis Cons Flaws in Studies Used Flaws in Methodology Limit Unattainable Unintended consequences Pros Recommendation Works Cited 3 3 5 7 7 9 10 11 12 14 Description of Proposal The FDA has proposed a reduced limit on the inorganic arsenic present in apple juice in order to protect human health and believes the standard is attainable through the use of good manufacturing processes (US FDA, 2013). Background Arsenic is an element present in the environment from both anthropogenic and natural sources. It can be found in two different forms, organic and inorganic, which together are called total arsenic. Inorganic arsenic is considered to be the more toxic of the two, and consumption has been linked to cancer, skin lesions, developmental effects, cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity, and diabetes in humans. Organic arsenic can turn into inorganic arsenic in the environment and in the body through digestion by people or animals. Apple juice is just one example of a food exposed to arsenic, which is likely due to the contaminated soil the crop grew in. While some manufacturers may be able to make changes and reduce arsenic levels, it is often hard or even impossible to trace arsenic back to a specific cause. Apple juice poses a greater threat to children since they often consume more of the drink in relation to their...
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...Eschatology 4 Scripture 8 Support for Dispensational Premillennialism 8 Refutation of Dispensational Premillennialism 8 Theological Implications of Dispensationalism 10 Conclusions 11 Bibliography 13 Introduction Within the past few decades the interest in eschatology has shattered all previous interest in the subject. This has been in part to greater interest in Scriptural literature and also due to popularization of biblical dramatization. The modern push of interest is based on books and movies like The Late Great Planet Earth, or The Left Behind series. These publications are themselves based on theological arguments but place them in emotionally driven drama’s that attune people to want to relate to them, and in many cases believe these renditions without any critical evaluation. In the developing twenty centuries of the Christian faith there have been many disagreements on theology, doctrine, practice, and canon of scripture which were settled time and again by coming together and debating the issues and measuring those controversies and made a decisions on what was within the boundaries of acceptability of Christianity, it has been within the last few centuries that the time tested definitions of Christian theology have been razed to the ground and new systems have been rebuilt. Under the new schematics of self-appointed theologians and Christian leaders an innovative understanding of the Escahton and eschatology has supplanted traditional theology with an...
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...CONNECT FEATURES Interactive Applications Interactive Applications offer a variety of automatically graded exercises that require students to apply key concepts. Whether the assignment includes a click and drag, video case, or decision generator, these applications provide instant feedback and progress tracking for students and detailed results for the instructor. Case Exercises The Connect platform also includes author-developed case exercises for all 12 cases in this edition that require students to work through answers to assignment questions for each case. These exercises have multiple components and can include: calculating assorted financial ratios to assess a company’s financial performance and balance sheet strength, identifying a company’s strategy, doing five-forces and driving-forces analysis, doing a SWOT analysis, and recommending actions to improve company performance. The content of these case exercises is tailored to match the circumstances presented in each case, calling upon students to do whatever strategic thinking and strategic analysis is called for to arrive at a pragmatic, analysis-based action recommendation for improving company performance. eBook Connect Plus includes a media-rich eBook that allows you to share your notes with your students. Your students can insert and review their own notes, highlight the text, search for specific information, and interact with media resources. Using an eBook with Connect Plus gives your...
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...extensively in the organizational change and improvement literature. This paper will compare and contrast these two perspectives on organizational effectiveness. These paradigms then will be related to a real organization with consideration given to practical approaches at improving effectiveness drawn from these paradigms. Survey of High Performance Organization A recent global study defines high performance organizations as ones where the following conditions hold: “people are valued, critical thinking is optimized, and opportunities are seized”(Annunzio, S. pg 3, 2004). The most common characteristics of high performance organizations are the following: “Flatter, horizontal structure instead of vertical hierarchy, work done by teams organized around processes; teams empowered to make decisions so management is decentralized and participative, empowered workers with high skill levels and cross-training; rewards for team performance, collaboration among teams, between labor and management, with supplier, focus on customers, quality, and continuous improvement, and flexible technologies (Kerka, S., 1995). Another study entitled “The High Performance organization: An Assessment of Virtues and Values” defines high performance organization as follows: 1. An organization designed, bottom-up, around defined processes. 2. Fluid structure, adaptive and flexible, responsive to changing customers and environment. 3. Little hierarchy due to high self -management at lower levels. 4. Highly autonomous...
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...Scholarship@UNLV. It has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses/ Dissertations/Professional Papers/Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact marianne.buehler@unlv.edu. MANAGER RETENTION AND THE STEAMBOAT SKI RESORT by Michael D. Gumbiner Bachelor of Arts California State University Fullerton 1987 A professional paper submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Hospitality Administration William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas May 2007 1 PART ONE Introduction The material for this paper centers on the Steamboat Ski Resort Corp. The ski resort was chosen for this study because of its need for a management retention plan. Steamboat was ranked as a top 10 international ski resort in North America by Snow Country Magazine (“Top 50 ski resorts,” 1997). It has maintained this distinction for many years. It has been noted for its idealistic “champion power” and its unpopulated vast terrain. In particular, it has always scored high in the customer experience categories for exceptional down-home friendly people. A chart, prepared by Net promoters.com, on customer and employee...
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...Resiliency Factors What Research Tells Us Martha Morrison Dore, Ph.D. Columbia University School of Social Work 622 West 113th Street New York, New York 10027 212/854-5461 Paper prepared for presentation at the conference entitled “Protecting Children in Substance Abusing Families,” September 28, 1998, sponsored by the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare, University of Minnesota School of Social Work, Minneapolis, MN. Researchers are just beginning to demonstrate empirically what child protective services workers have been observing for nearly two decades now: many, if not most, families who come to the attention of the child welfare system are involved with drugs or alcohol or both. Founded cases of child abuse and neglect have risen exponentially since the mid-1980s, when the crack form of cocaine, a cheap, easily used form of the drug, became widely available. Studies conducted since that time have identified substance abuse as a contributing factor in 40% to 80% of substantiated cases of child maltreatment (Curtis & McCullough, 1993; Magura & Laudet, 1996; Murphy, Jellinek, Quinn, Smith, Poitrast, & Goshko, 1991). Further, studies of substance abusing parents have found child-rearing beliefs and attitudes that heighten risk for child abuse (Williams-Peterson et al., 1994), as well as elevated rates of first-time reports to child protective services (Jaudes & Ekwo, 1995), re-reports (Wolock & Magura, 1996), and out-of-home placements of maltreated children (Nair et...
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...within the organization? How can they compete with motivational employee benefits of larger corporations? This paper looks at one case company, a small accountancy firm located in Sweden that offers a wide range of financial services, mainly within four main categories: economic consultations, tax-returns, bookkeeping and auditing. The firm currently has 13 employees of different educational background, divided into two sections; bookkeeping and auditing. The firm has one manager who is also the sole owner of the company. This person is an authorized accountant who will remain anonymous in this paper but referred to as “Laura” in the remaining of this paper. The firm is currently expanding but is experiencing difficulties in motivating well-educated employees to stay long term. During the past year, two employees have quit their jobs and one of the replacers is currently on sick leave due to burnout. The concern is that if the firm does not improve its employee retention, they will spend an excessive amount of time trying to recruit and train new people, so retention of the current employees is important. They want to look into this issue and provide a plan to improve retention. Purpose The intent of this paper is to investigate the main retention factors relating to job satisfaction, derived from the work practice itself, at the given case company, and to suggest ways to improve retention. By applying a given theoretical framework on a small enterprise in the consulting...
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