A THOUSAND SHADES OF GREEN Pieter Winsemius & Ulrich Guntram
"What does it mean for the environment?" is a strategic corollary of almost any significant business decision today, and it is growingly becoming imperative for companies to take seriously their responsibilities to regulators, customers, employees and the wider society. "A Thousand Shades of Green", written by Pieter Winsemius and Ulrich Guntram, is aimed at business leaders in need of a clear understanding of the key corporate environmental challenges and the insight and vision required to meet them - imperatives such as engaging stakeholders and developing partnerships, understanding the policy-making process, forming corporate responses and drafting environmental management strategies - with the promise of genuine sustainable competitive advantage for their companies. Though for some time now, cost-reduction and differentiation are recognized as key to achieving competitive advantage, there is a need for strategic reorientation by companies in the present-day world where environmental concerns have rightly made it to the center-stage in most world affairs. As technology matures and quality becomes a standard given for doing business, environmental management and social responsibility will provide a new impetus and workable levers to organizations. The two imperatives towards the environment and the society at large are considered to be one and the same. Companies are no longer seen to be environmentally responsible if they continue to be socially irresponsible. However, it needs just a change of mindset to have a renewed look at these imperatives. Rather than seeing sustainability principles as a barrier corporate leaders ought to regard it as an opportunity, with both short-term and long-term competitive advantages. This book is divided into three parts: Part I is dedicated to an all embracing