...consumer’s interest in ecology, ethics, and the economy. Specifically, business needs to be innovative and try to create their products with the minimal amount of environmental impact. In addition, the business needs to be liable for the ethical treatment of all employees including the employees of their suppliers and the sustainability of their suppliers. A company cannot claim to be sustainable and yet their suppliers are causing destruction to the environment or becoming wrapped up in ethical violations of their employees. The following will review the sustainability and ethical practices of two leading brands, General Motors (GM) and Nissan. General Motors is based out of Detroit, Michigan, and produces brands that include Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, and others. Nissan is headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. These two companies are fairly different in focus. General Motors relies heavily on truck sales while Nissan released a vehicle known as LEAF that is a zero-emission vehicle. Both companies are concerned for the environment but both push forward and grow in different ways. Examination of these two companies will measure sustainability success, environmental stewardship, sustainable consumerism, and other factors relating to production, supply chains, and other...
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... One of the main goals of General Motors (GM) is to establish sustainability in the market place by creating long-term value. This approach is executed at every level of the company. Sustainability is a value proposition that takes into consideration environmental, social, and economic opportunities and supports the long-term success of the company. Value is created through top-line growth opportunities, bottom-line improvements, and risk mitigation. At this point, the response of the customers will determine the amount of value created. Strategy The sustainability strategy of GM aims to create long-term stakeholder value; align corporate policies, positions, and sustainability initiatives; focus efforts on areas of significant impact; and to be executed within every function by every employee. The strategic pillars are focused on four specific areas: 1) Innovation that grow business through new products and services that customers desire while addressing environmental issues and social concerns. 2) Integration that ensures sustainability is embraced throughout GM. 3) Transparency that builds trust and accountability. 4) Employee engagement that encourages a sustainable mindset at GM. Tollin and Jesper cited that in the area of sustainability as a marketing implement, Lozano and Huisingh (2011) reported that “In the sustainability literature it is pointed out that the evolving view on sustainability (e.g. a holistic, integrated and dynamic view)...
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...The Sustainability Business Case for General Motors April 22, 2014 Master’s Project for the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment Team Rose Buss Heather Croteau Steven Davidson Carole Kerrey Janet Van De Winkle Faculty Advisor Professor Thomas Gladwin Abstract The purpose of this report is to evaluate and articulate the business case for sustainability for General Motors Company (GM). After assessing the company’s exposure to risk and opportunities, the team recommends that GM should implement an internal price on carbon and a sustainable supply chain strategy. These recommendations will provide GM with tangible and substantial financial benefit in addition to improved risk mitigation and brand value. Additionally, the team found that these recommendations are viable within GM’s corporate structure and can generate systemic benefits throughout the company. Thank you to our client, David Tulauskas, and our advisor, Professor Thomas Gladwin. Executive Summary 4 Introduction 6 Client GM Corporate Overview 7 Sustainability & General Motors Sustinability & the Auto Industry Green Ranking Systems 14 Competitor Trends 17 About the Project Proposal & Opportunities Scoping 26 22 Contents 11 Research GM Interviews 28 Conferences 31 Corporate Trends & Innovations Regulations & Legislative Activity Recommendations Recommendation Development Carbon Monetization 39 Sustainable Supply Chain Strategy 32 35 36 42 Supporting Statements Support...
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...Automobile Sustainability Report Executive Summary In our report we discuss the various methods that today’s three major automakers are using to provide their customers with up to date, state of the art products. By implementing numerous breakthrough technologies into their production systems automakers are continuously working towards a more sustainable and environmentally friendly production process. Throughout our report we highlight major breakthroughs throughout the industry and how they have affected each individual company. By turning their attention to a more lean production process there have been many positive changes to help eliminate waste and reduce the cost of production. These companies are making conscious efforts to not only reduce the amount of waste produced throughout their systems but also how to reuse or recycle the waste that cannot be prevented. For example we talk about how Toyota has developed automated robotics systems to help control the amount of paint that is used during their topcoat operations to prevent the use of excess paint which is normally due to human error, another example is how they are using the paint sludge in the production of other products such as anti-rust paint sprays. We also discuss how the use of returnable metal shipping containers when shipping parts can greatly reduce the amount of wasted packaging materials and wooden creates from going to the landfills every year. All of these small changes have a large impact when...
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...Question 1: Efficacy of Monsanto’s Ethical Culture 4 Question 2: Costs and Benefits of Growing GMO seed 5 Question 3: Management of Harm with Plants and Animals 6 Question 4: Visit Monsanto website, what is CSR and Sustainability Strategy of Monsanto, and give suggestions for its strategy for Monsanto Company? 8 Conclusion 9 Bibliography 10 * * Executive summary Monsanto is one of the world’s largest industrial agriculture businesses, especially focusing on genetically modified products. Monsanto has obtained a progress in corporate responsibility, but Monsanto has deficiencies with ethical culture. Monsanto is in a difficult position, because the products are highly specialized and therefore most consumers do not understand them. Although, Environmental and health issues aside, Monsanto’s GM seeds provide an opportunity for farmers to increase profits by allowing them to grow crops on land that would not support traditional seeds. And it suggests creating ethical corporate system to help them to deal with the problem that products harm to plants and animals. Finally, it introduces the website, what kinds corporate social responsibilities and sustainability strategy does Monsanto has. For example, they pay attention to education, charity…. Introduction * The Monsanto Company is...
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...Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company In 2008, three major U.S. automakers asked the government for a bailout. Ford, along with GMC, was two of those companies. Ford was able to mortgage enough assets and avoid for a bailout to avoid bankruptcy. Since that time, Ford has made strides toward increasing their annual income, providing more fuel efficient cars, and becoming known in the global world market. After reviewing the 2010 income statement, Ford reported a full net income of $6.6 billion. It competitors, Honda reported a full net income of $6.88 billion and GMC a full net income of $6.17 billion. Even though GMC shares are higher, Ford showed higher earnings than GM. According to Ford’s 2010 annual report, the earnings per share increased by 80 cents a share from 2009 and that the net income is Ford’s highest in more than ten years (annual report). It would be beneficial for Ford management to investigate a variety of ways to increase interest among its internal and external stakeholders to purchase stocks which in turn will help to increase the overall net profit of the company. In looking at the balance sheet, Ford reported the most in liabilities and long term debt. However, Ford showed greater earnings assets than both Honda and GMC (Appendix B). Honda reported the lowest amount in liabilities and a significantly lower long term debt than Ford (Appendix B). Overall, GMC fared better than Ford on the balance sheet with the lowest long term debt and decreased...
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...Works Cited …………………………………………………………………………………………….12 Introduction GMC (General Motors Corporation) was founded at the turn of the century in the year 1908 by William Billy Durant. Mr. Durant was a manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint Michigan before he began his venture in automobile production. In the beginning GMC was comprised of only the Buick Motor Company, but in the matter of a few years GMC would acquire Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac. In those early years GMC’s philosophy was based around the strategy of “a car for every purse and purpose” (GM, 2012). GM dedicated itself to building quality products for every budget. During the 1920’s GMC experienced high volume growth, were they expanded to the point where more than a dozen new plants were opened outside of the United States. During this time GMC’s Cadillac would change the way people viewed automobiles. The design of this automobile brought GM into the forefront of automobile design quality innovations that made the corporation into a household name. GMC quality concepts for safety and luxury led it to create innovations such as, the one piece steel roof, independent front wheel suspension, and uni-body construction made GMC synonymous with quality...
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...any company distinguish itself? The answer to that is by constantly improving operations and working diligently through the different facets of operations to meet the bottom-line and its mission statement. General Motors is known for being among one of the world’s largest automakers by vehicle unit sales. They house over 10 automobile brands and they are more than just a well-known company that is effective and productive effortlessly, but most importantly for the environmental initiatives they take. I chose to write about General Motors and their efforts to aid the environment by recycling because operations management is about more than just the activities involved in creating products and services. General Motors has created sustainability in their industry by recycling others waste such as scrap metal and by creating alternative-technology vehicles requiring less gasoline which cause severe damage to the environment. In Forbes Magazine, it says that manufacturing is a “dirty business” and that billions of hazardous material is generated annually. General Motors has improved their operations by utilizing the waste as a resource for building vehicles and as added value to the waste. This gives General Motors a...
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...HBS Europe Research Center (ERC) Update July - December 2013 In this update: - New publications on EADS, Investindustrial, D'O, Siemens, Hg Capital, and Visma. - New completed research project on the transformation of European energy markets. - Ongoing research in General Management, Organizational Behavior, Technology and Operations Management, and Entrepreneurial Management. - ERC case interviews and field research in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, Selected events: Glocoll Program on campus; MBA events in Munich, Frankfurt, Paris and London; the European Area Conference; CSR Conference in Brussels; EAB meeting in Milan; L'Etudiant Conference in Paris; ELC Meeting in Geneva. It is with mixed feelings that we say farewell to our Research Associate, Mr. Karol Misztal. Karol first joined the ERC in 2010, and quickly became a valuable member of our team. We are thankful for his contributions to our organization and, undeniably, he will be deeply missed. Please join us in wishing Karol the very best of luck and success in all his future endeavors. We were also very fortunate to welcome two outstanding Harvard College students to the ERC team for a two-month internship: Ms. Nina Chen and Mr. Roland Yang. We would like to thank them for their great work and we wish them all the best for their future careers! br> And to all of you, Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2014! Newly Released Cases Case study "FX Risk Hedging at...
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...which discuss the connection between General Motors (GM) as a major car manufacturer, and the environmental issues and policies that concern the company: * Environmental legislation affecting GM is outlined. * The internal and external drivers of GMs policies are analysed. * The policies themselves are discussed. * Recommendations and conclusions relevant to the future of environmental protection from the automobile industry’s point of view are made. Contents 1. Executive Summary 2 2. Introduction 4 3. General Motors 4 4. Main Legislation (International, National and Local) Affecting General Motors 4 5. Analysis of the Main Drivers of GM Environmental Policy 9 5.1. Internal and External Drivers 10 6. General Motors Environmental policies 11 7. Analysis of General Motors Environmental Policies 12 7.1. Specific 13 7.2. Measurable 13 7.3. Achievable 14 7.4. Realistic 14 7.5. Timely 15 8. Recommendations 15 9. Conclusions 16 10. Table of Figures 18 11. List of Tables 18 12. List of References 18 13. Bibliography 20 2. Introduction This report investigates and analyse the impact of General Motors (GM) on the environment, the company’s environmental policies and an outline of the main environmental policies affecting GM. The problem of global warming and the depletion of natural resources is a major concern in the 21st century. GM as a major automobile maker plays an important role...
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...GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY (GM) History of the Company In 1900 New York held an Auto Show where there was a surprise turnout and it showed just how much interest the United States citizens had with automobiles. This enticed many different companies into entering the automobile history to try and meet the growing demand. On September 16, 1908, William “Billy” Durant founded General Motors Company (GM) who at one time was a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn vehicles in Flint, Michigan. Initially, GM consisted of only the Buick Motor Company but took only a number of years to acquire more than twenty different companies. Some of these companies include Oldsmobile, Cadillac, and Pontiac. Opel, a brand that was recognized worldwide, became General Motor’s first international acquisition (http://www.gm.com). The major recession that came about in 2008 dried up private sources of capital and had the United Sates Treasury give GM a bridge loan to aide in the restructuring of its operations. Furthermore, it is evident that sales of motor vehicles have increased since the rescue of the auto industry each year since 2009 (http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/). The economy is finally recovering and we will soon see if GM is in a place to again thrive. In the 80’s and 90’s GM encountered its largest single production expansion outside of North America in Spain. Furthermore, since GM had joint ventures in both China and India, they were able to provide a variety of automobiles...
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...than 120 countries. GM and its strategic partners produce cars and trucks in 31 countries, and sell and service these vehicles through the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Daewoo, Holden, Isuzu, Jiefang, Opel, Vauxhall and Wuling. (Elizabeth, GM, 2009). GM was the largest automaker for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007. It is longer than any other company in the world. In 2008, it was surpassed by Toyota (Elizabeth, GM, 2009). 2009 was a very important year in the 103 years history of GM. General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 8, 2009, after racking up losses of $81bn (£50bn) over four years, as part of the Obama administration’s plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government. GM sold its good assets to a new, government-owned company. Federal government took a 60 percent ownership stake in the new GM. The Canadian government took 12.5 percent, with the United Auto Workers getting a 17.5 percent share and unsecured bondholders receiving 10 percent. (Isidore, 2009) There is a serious of issues existing such as demand shift and uncertain energy policy, high financial burden incurs from legacy cost, failure in innovation and hyper competition that lead to GM‘s bankruptcy. The bankruptcy of GM not only impact on their shareholders but also the employees and consumers are involved. Impacts of the collapes Concerning with the employees of GM, the collapse leads...
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...1) What are the ethical issues in this case? The ethical issues involve a few companies using GM items in their products and selling their products which were not approved by government authorities for human consumption at that period of time. Some GM food companies even try to cut corner to shorten their testing duration so that they can push their products to the market. GM food opponents were concerned whether the testing has been sufficiently long term to really test environmental impact. 2) Do you think either group, pro-GM or anti-GM foods, is correct while the other group is wrong? If so, what reasoning do you give for supporting the position of one group over the other? Is it possible for both to be right? What ethical concepts help you decide? Both groups have their own perspective on GM foods and neither should be labeled right or wrong. Essentially, both groups have the concerns for the beneficial to the sustainability of the environment and the safety of consumers. Pro-GM aims to help feed countries with poverty by multiplying per-acre yields and at the same time will reduce the need for herbicides and pesticides. Anti-GM places concerns about the possible effect that GM foods might have in the long run. Tests are often limited in both time and space to reach a conclusion. 3) Is there any way to bridge the gap between these groups? If so, what would the advantages and disadvantages be? It is hard to come up with a way for these groups to bridge the gap. Environmentalists...
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...auto manufacturers, General Motors (GM) has over 212,000 employees in nearly 400 facilities over six continents. Due to the size and divisions, GM takes a multifaceted approach to organizational control mechanisms. This is considered as a balanced scorecard approach (Bateman & Snell, 2011). Their strategic vision is formed by their Board of Directors and CEO/President of the Board, David F Ackerson. Through his lead, the GM management team manages various control mechanisms to oversee this mixture of bureaucratic, market, and clan controls. These controls ensure that the goals formed in their strategic vision are realized at their bottom line. Control Mechanisms Using well-defined policies, procedures and formal authority, the GM management team transfers their strategic vision to its employees. GM uses market controls which includes, pricing mechanisms that influence the profits attained through the new model of vehicles it produces. GM uses clan control to thrive on employees’ creative problem solving skills, as much as on teamwork. Mutual respect, responsibility, and good judgment calls are keys. The controls allow GM to maintain set standards in the areas of product quality, customer satisfaction and competitive pricing. The controls considered perception of GM’s employees. There is concern with all types of controls regarding acceptance by employees and compliance with regulatory rules. Four Functions of Management GM uses the four function of management...
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...2015 Monsanto is one of the world’s largest industrial agriculture businesses, especially focusing on genetically modified products. The company specializes in biotechnology, modifying crops and genetic manipulation of organisms. These modifications help farmers by using less land and creating more crops, which equals more profits. Genetically modified (GM) food also helps create solutions to world hunger problems and is a rapidly growing product for famers. GM products have stirred up controversy everywhere they are distributed, and Monsanto, being a huge multinational corporation and a major producer, is at the center of the debate. Throughout the company’s history, Monsanto has been attacked with criticisms from governments, farmers and activists groups because of their controversial products. This case deals with the ethical implications of producing and selling a product without understanding the environmental and physical implications of the products. Monsanto claims that its products are safe, and the FDA has proclaimed that GM food is safe to consume but critics are not convinced and continue to try and stop the use of GM products. Monsanto has showed a clear disregard for ethical obligations in its history and continues to downplay the importance of environmental and physical risks to the consumer. Although Monsanto has claimed to realize the errors of its ways and has made a conscious effort for greater corporate responsibility in the future, the company is simply saying...
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