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Case Study Report
‘The Delicate Quest for Corporate Environmental Sustainability’

Learning Development © 2012
Adapted from original student work by permission

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARYiii

1. INTRODUCTION1

2. THE DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK AT GREENHEART1
2a. A Sociological Perspective2
2b. The Phenomenon of Conformity3 3. THE DECISION-MAKING FRAMEWORK AT GREENHEART PLUS3
3a. A Sociological Perspective4
3b. The Phenomenon of Paradox5

4. CONCLUSION5

5. RECOMMENDATIONS6

REFERENCE LIST8

Executive Summary

This report employs a sociological perspective to analyse the decision-making framework of the food company Greenheart, and its subsequent entity, Greenheart Plus.
At Greenheart, decisions were made essentially by one individual, whose rationality was, naturally, bounded. His decision to create an environmental investment fund and to initiate other environmentally responsible production methods ultimately threatened the economic viability of the company.
From a sociological perspective, the CEO’s authoritative decision-making meant that the employees were not committed to the decisions, and therefore the decisions were not implemented successfully. The subsidiaries of the company did not share the environment objectives, and this also resulted in ineffective implementation of the objectives. A lack of conformity among employees meant a lack of co-operation in achieving the objectives.
This changed with the takeover in 2001 and the creation of a new company, Greenheart Plus, which focused on increasing sales rather than pursuing environment policies. The decision-making process changed to become one of consensus. From a sociological perspective, this is more positive as it results in a greater commitment by employees to the decision, and more effective implementation. The problem of contradictory objectives

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