Zach Reeber
NTRES 1101
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program certifies a multitude of 18,000 companies, retailers and organizations across the globe (“About ENGERGY STAR,” n.d.). Among these is the office retailer, Staples Inc. Energy Star certifies both many of Staples’ appliances, and their facilities where their products are stored, shipped, and sold (“Environment,” n.d.). As a corporation, Staples would be interested in environmental responsibility and sustainability for two reasons: the first is that increased efficiency in facilities while in the short run cost more to build, will save money over time and the savings will accrue to be worth the initial investment. The second reason is that a more sustainable and environmentally responsible image might lure customers who are environmentally conscious. This produces a “win-win” situation for both capitalists and environmentalists. (Humphrey, Lewis & Buttel, 2002, p.230)
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These products can range from small kitchen appliances to entire homes and buildings (“About ENGERGY STAR,” n.d.). As a result, Energy Star is very business oriented, and primarily concerns itself with the consumer, proclaiming that “Energy Star can help reduce energy use, save money, and help protect the environment” (“Did you know?,” n.d.). Here, “protecting the environment” is only a convenient by-product of saving consumers and corporations money by saving energy. To the EPA and by extension, the Energy Star program, sustainability is much easier to sell if the consumer has some sort of incentive for it. As a result, a big selling point for the label is that it will save people and companies money in the long
I will start with the history of Staples. Myra Hart, Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg founded Staples in the late 1980s. The company opened its first store in Brighton, Massachusetts on May 1, 1986. Staples, Inc. is the country's largest operator of office supplies superstores, offering a vast selection of products at low prices, primarily to small business owners. Staples pioneered this concept in 1986 and grew rapidly after opening its first store in the Boston area. The company subsequently expanded to areas outside the Northeast; by the early 2000s, there were about 1,300 Staples outlets located both in major metropolitan areas and smaller markets in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and 10 Canadian provinces. In addition to the retail oper...
Staples Inc. is the largest retail office supply chain which operates world wide with almost 2000 stores operating in over 10 countries and several more via catalog and delivery order1. Staples offers supplies, office machines, furniture, technology and other business services such as their copy center2. Aside from providing services and products to meet the needs of stakeholders such as the employees, investors and customers, of the corporation, Staples offers a program called Staples' Soul. This program was instituted in order to meet the concerns of all the other stakeholders such as local communities, the government, private organizations, and regulatory authorities. To do so they seek environmental excellence by offering environmentally preferable products and educating stakeholders about environmental issues, they also work for the community through their alliance with the U.S. and international charitable organizations, cause marketing ini...
Supplying eco-friendly products has been on the Walmart agenda since the early 1990s. After a failed first attempt and much criticism, the company decided to try again. In a speech made in October of 2005, CEO of Walmart, H. Lee Scott Jr., declared Walmart would devise a “business sustainable strategy” to reduce the environmental impact the company had. Walmart could not pull this off alone. If they only focused on the confines of themselves, rather than all that they were involved with, it was estimated that they’d only reduce their impact by about 10%. To reach that goal of 100%, Walmart had to involve stakeholders to make networks which achieve sustainability. These networks proved to be vital in not only Walmart’s goal in minimizing its environmental impact, but recovering their reputation, avoiding criticism, saving money, raising awareness, improving customer satisfaction, and creating incentive for other businesses to work towards sustainability.
Sears Canada is meeting the environmental needs of our world in many different ways. To start with Sears not only sets goals, but the company also achieves them. Starting in 2007 Sears set the ambitious goal of reducing their paper consumption by 50% by 2013, one they achieved. One other goal they set was starting in 2007 to reduce their carbon footprint by 50% by 2020. As of 2010 they had reduced their carbon footprint by 15%, ahead of schedule. Helping to make our Earth cleaner with less garbage in landfills and less pollution in our air is what Sears is doing to help protect our Earth. The positive outcome to society that occurs by Sears meeting the environmental needs of our world is clear; less waste in landfills and cleaner air for everyone to breath.
This is not different with the retailing industry as this is one of the largest growing companies globally. Over the past years, this market was regarded to have less concern on environmental aspects but has since attracted significant changes. In terms of capacity, productivity and revenue, Tesco PLC boasts of being the third largest retailer globally. The firm is based in UK but operates in 14 states (Profile, 2014). The company also is known for its well established social respo...
Q_#1 What is Staples’s fundamental business strategy? How they plan to create and sustain competitive advantage? What actions do they plan to ensure that these advantages are sustainable? ANS:
The reason for this is because consumers can either shop online, or in store and Staples will provide their products to them. And Staples also recently launched their new B2B strategy which is their ecommerce site. This allows 3rd parties to buy products for specific industries, in which they plan to expand their variety of industry products. And in an effort to show that their impact stretches further then just office supplies Staples works alongside some very well meaning organizations. One of these organizations is The Boys and Girls club of America in hopes to keep the children on the path to success by making sure they’re prepared to go to school and succeed.
As environmental concerns become more of an issue for consumers, they will be more aware of the impact that a company has on themselves and the environment and therefore be more conscious of who they support with their dollar.
To help further explain these misleading claims, a well recognized company by the media is called Terrachoice. “The Terrachoice Environment Marketing Consulting practice converts knowledge of markets, science and marketing into winning, client-centered solutions to help sustainability leaders deliver results” (“The "six sins," 2007). Terrachoice has conducted a study of the “Environmental Claims in North American Consumer Markets” and found shocking results that made them want to give warning to potential consumers about the ‘six sins of greenwashing. The Terrachoice Company was designed to improve the communication between the purchasers and consumers, helping to enhance, strengthen, and prove market relationship.
The more experience you have putting these tips into practice, the more they will become instinct. And by making informed decisions and ensuring that the product’s claims are accurate, you can feel good about the choices you make and their positive impact on the environment. If more greenwashing means that marketers are increasingly responding to the demand for sustainable products, this could be a positive trend. If left unchecked, greenwashing creates significant risks. Consumers will give up on marketers and manufacturers, and give up on the hope that their spending might be put to good use. Recent developments suggest companies should be prepared for the new wave of measures. Greenwashing has become a buzz word for consumers and the media. Unfortunately, the rules are not always clear when it comes to responsible environmental marketing.
Important companies like Shell, DuPont, BP have been reorganised to generate profits from this green market of goods and services. In this sense, it may sound altruistic, "the sustainability", the logic of profitability and competition is what will determine the ability of companies of the future to meet the changing needs of consumers. This premise of "sustainability" as a necessary quality to be competitive, falls short, according to Bryan Walsh of Time magazine. In a 2007 article, the expert shows how "sustainable" is helping to drive out competition, given the approach taken by companies to become more efficient, flexible and cutting waste, which helps them provide better products and reduce costs. Companies that refuse to accept that they will face a strict and demanding environment.
Environmental awareness has also become a distinctive competence for Walmart. The company has a genuine concern to reduce their environmental footprint, which will appeal to customers who support this initiative. They are leading the way for other big-box retailers who can make a big difference with small changes. All of their goals and objectives are published in the annual statement for shareholders and the general public.
The primary goal of The Walt Disney Company is to become one of the world’s leading producers and providers of not only entertainment, but also information (The Walt Disney Company, 2014). The company aims to achieve this by utilizing its immense brand portfolio so as to differentiate services, content, and consumer products. While this is the overall goal, there exist other innate milestones that essentially touch on socially responsible business in enhancing sustainability. They include, but are not limited to; zero net greenhouse gas emissions, whereby the company aims to have reduced net greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2020; zero waste, whereby Walt Disney hopes to achieve a 60% reduction in waste from
The Earth captures around 342 W/m2 of energy from the sun. This energy is in the form of solar radiation, which the atmosphere reflects about 77 W/m2 and will absorb around 68 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. Therefore, the Earth’s surface is receiving, on average, about 197 W/m2 of solar radiation annually. This amount of energy received is roughly more than 10,000 times the amount of all energy humans consume per year. This energy can be used to produce electricity or heat. This energy source is not being used to it’s potential considering how much effort would come into effect to store and transport this energy.
The sustainability of ecosystems on which the global economy depends must be guaranteed. And the economic partners must be satisfied that the basis of exchange is equitable” (World). This quote demonstrates the complexities of sustainability. Another thing corporations should focus on when trying to be sustainable is their environmental impact. Annie Leonard in her book The Story of Stuff says that companies can significantly reduce their toll on the environment by changing their design. The design determines “the amount of energy used in making and using the product,” “the length of the product’s life span” and “its ability to be recycled” (Leonard). All these things determine the amount of resources a company must use, so simply changing a product’s design is one way a company can have a large impact on the sustainability of the environment in which it operates. One example of this is that “Wal-Mart attributed more that $100 million of its 2009 revenue to a decision to switch to a recyclable variety of cardboard in shipments” which it sells to a recycler instead of paying to send it to a landfill