1992_Hutchinson_Questões ambientais_O desafio para o chefe executivo

8/8/2019 1992_Hutchinson_Questes ambientais_O desafio para o chefe executivo

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50 Long Range Planning, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 50 to 59, 1992Printed in Great Britain

0024-6301/92 $5.00 + .OOPergamon Press Ltd

Environmental Issues : TheChallenge for The Chief ExecutiveColin Hutchinson

Businesses are under pressure to adopt environmental policiesand incorporate them into their strategic business planning asa matter of routine. These pressures are coming from at leastfive sources-stricter legislation, consumer demand, competi-tive advantage, staff concerns and community pressure. Thechallenge is enormous but there is growing evidence thatsound environamental management provides pay-off in bot-tom line results. Business organizations have a vitalrole to playand its good for them. There are opportunities for new businessas well as threats to those organizations which continue toignore the trends.

For the first time ever, a World Summit has beencalled and is due to take place in Brazil from 5 to19 June 1992 under the title of the United NationsConference on Environment and Development(UNCED). Th ere is sufficient concern about thehealth of planet Earth to attempt the formidable taskof getting all national leaders together in one place atthe same time to agree some crucial principles.

Maurice Strong is Secretary-General of UNCEDand he has appointed Dr Stephan Schmidheiny, aprominent Swiss businessman, to head up the

Business Council for Sustainable Development(BCSD). The Ch .irmen/Chief Executives of 50major organizations from around the world aremembers of BCSD-including Norsk Hydro,Volkswagen, 3M, Ciba-Geigy, Nissan Motors,John Laing, Dow Chemicals and Royal DutchShell. Their mission is to stimulate active partici-pation of the business community in the prep-arations for Brazil with particular emphasis onenvironmentally sustainable development.

In the U.K., Michael Heseltine, Secretary of Statefor the Environment has appointed a committeeunder the chairmanship of John Collins, ChiefExecutive of Shell UK Ltd, to address similarquestions in this country.* Three subcommittees

Cohn Hutchinson is a Management Consultant in EnvironmentalAffairs and chairman of the Conservation Trust.

have divided up the task and many top executiveshave been drawn in to work with the Departmentof the Environment.

Similar initiatives are being taken by other countriesaround the world and there is no doubt that allcommercial and industrial organizations are now orsoon will be taking their environmental responsi-bilities seriously. Sir Denys Henderson of ImperialChemical Industries plc has said As individuals, wecare about our environment and as a company weare increasingly judged on our environmentalrecord as much as on any other aspect of our overall

performance.

What are the Environmental Issues?In this article a very brief outline is provided but amore comprehensive coverage of the issues iscontained in Business and the Environmental Chal-lenge: A Guide fir A4anagers.3 This guide containsreferences to some 60 books as well as a briefdescription of 20 threats to the Earths life supportsystems.

PopulationIn 1900 the world population was estimated at 1.5billion, by the year 2000 it is expected to exceed 6billion and is unlikely to stabilize until it exceeds 10billion in the latter half of the next century. Theaverage annual increase in each of the last fivedecades is shown in Table 1.

As world population grows the impact on theenvironment grows with it. Every extra mouth tofeed, every extra person to consume energy, everyaddition to resource consumption and the resultingpollution creates further demands on the capacity ofthe Earth to cope and to provide healthy habitationfor all living things.

ConsumptionThe pattern of consumption varies widely, so the


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The Challenge for The Chief Executive 51

Table 1. World population growth by decade1950-2000

YearPopulation

(bn)

Increase AveragebY annual

decade increase

1950 2515

1960 3019 5041970 3698 6791980 4450 7521990 5292 8422000 6251 959

Source: Lester Brown et a/.. State of the World 1990.

5068758496

impact on the Earth from relatively small numbersof high consumers is much more significant than thelow levels of consumption of the vast majority ofthe people who live on Earth. About one quarter ofthe worlds population live in the developedcountries and they account for two thirds of theEarths energy consumption. The remaining threequarters of the worlds population live in develop-ing countries and account for only one third of theenergy consumed. This is shown in Figure 1.

It is estimated that of the worlds population of 5.3billion in 1990, one billion live in countries whosestandard of living (health, housing, diet, educationand material possessions) have improved over thelast century. The remaining 4.3 billion have notimproved their standard of living significantlyduring this period and one billion of these peoplelive in absolute poverty-they are too poor to grow

or buy enough food to maintain their health; theyare predominantly illiterate and therefore lack theideas and information which would enable them toescape from their predicament.

One comparative measure which highlights thedisparity of wealth and poverty in rich and poor

countries is GNP per capita as is shown in Figure 2.

At least 80 per cent of the world population, notonly in poor countries, wish to improve theirstandard of living-the poor in developing coun-tries for very good reasons. If this improvement inliving standards is achieved by conventional formsof development then the problems of the environ-ment which are now widely discussed-globalwarming, ozone depletion, loss oftop soil, pollutionin all its forms, destruction of rain forests, waterquality, acid rain etc.-will reach even morehorrific proportions.

Pollution and Use of ResourcesThe scale and nature of the threats to the environ-ment have been widely reported in many books, ontelevision and in the press. An interesting reportpublished in 1991 entitled Industry and the Environ-ment: A Strategic Overview4 lists 12 key environmen-tal problems as shown in Table 2. The interestingaspects of this report are that the environmentalsignificance of each problem is tabulated togetherwith the main causes and an estimate of thequantities of pollutant released. The industrieswhich contribute to each problem are identified,developments in legislation are discussed, the tech-

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Source: Gala Peace AtlasApproximate figures

0.0 7.5 15.0 22.5 30.0 37.5 45.0 52.5 60.0 67.5 75.0

Percentage figuresI Consumption % I7 Population %

L

Figure 1. World energy consumption and population


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52 Long Range Planning Vol. 25 June 1992

GNP Per Capita

OECD Members

Europe, M East, N Africa

South AsiaD

East Asia

D

Sub-Saharan Africa hP I I I I I I I I I I0.0 1.5 3.0 4.5 6.0 7.5 9.0 10.5 12.0 13.5 15.0

In Thousands

Source: World Development Report 1989World Bank weighted average figures 1987

GNP Per Capita $

Figure 2. The gap between rich and poor countries

Table 2. Key environmental problems

Issues

Estimated expenditure (fbn1991-2000)

U.K. E.C. U.S.A.

Greenhouse effectWater qualityWaste manage-mentAcid rainHeavy metalsOzone depletionAir qualityNoiseVOCs and smells

Persistent orga-nitsContaminatedlandMajor spills

TOTAL

48 23725 75-l 00

1 9 180-200 120-I 701 1 51 25

9 80 527 70 767 34 176 32 333 26 27

2 23 15

2 25 1501 7 7

140 860 1060

44371

Source: Industry and the Environment: A Strategic Overview, TheCentre for Exploitation of Science & Technology

nologies most likely to abate or remedy theproblems are explained and the probable expendi-ture in the U.K., Europe and the U.S.A. are

estimated.

The greenhouse effect tops the list of problemsassessed by CEST. Carbon dioxide accounts fornearly half the greenhouse gases with methane(18 per cent), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs-14 per

cent), Nitrous Oxide (6 per cent) and others (13 per

cent). Virtually every industry is involved inmaking their contribution to this environmentalissue. Remedies include landfill gas collection andflaring, afforestation, m-use of waste heat, districtheating, recovery of methane at coal mines, landfillsites, farms and abattoirs, use of efficient boilers,motors and domestic appliances, better insulation,energy management systems, traffic managementsystems, and use of more renewable energy (solar,tidal, wind, wave geothermal and hydro).

The countries which contribute the most to thegreenhouse effect are the U.S.A., C.I.S. (formerU.S.S.R.), Brazil, China, India, Japan and the U.K.which between them account for 60 per cent of theglobal problem, as shown in Figure 3.

One question that inevitably arises concerns theability to find the capital expenditure required totackle the problems that undoubtedly exist, at a levelthat will make a significant difference.

Military Expenditure

World military expenditure is now approaching$lOOObn each year and 70 per cent of this is incurredby the super powers and their allies. The pattern ofmilitary expenditure relative to the expenditure onhealth and education varies enormously fromcountry to country. For example Iraqs military


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1

10.50Brazil

6.60China --I

U.K.

17.60U.S.A.

40.00Other

Source: The Guardian June 15th 1990U.S.A. have Highest G-gas

Emissions Per Capita (Mn Tonnes p.c.1

Figure 3. Estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from specific countries

expenditure is 90 per cent compared with only10 per cent on health and education. Iran, Uganda,Oman, and Pakistan are all over 75 per cent onmilitary spending and under 25 per cent on healthand education. This contrasts with Costa Rica withonly 2 per cent military spending and 98 per centhealth and education. Mauritius, Trinidad &Tobago, Jamaica, Panama, Botswana and Brazilkeep their military expenditure under 30 per centwith over 70 per cent on health and education.These figures suggest that it is possible for nationalgovernments to exercise choice and that the com-parative levels of expenditure are more a matter ofpolicy than necessity.

Some interesting figures are quoted by NormanMyers in the Guia Atlus ofFuture Worlds5 drawingon calculations made by Lester Brown of theWorldwatch Institute. The estimated expenditurerequired to restore environmental security amountsto no more than 8 weeks global military expendi-ture at the levels being incurred in the late 1980s.

Table 3 gives the details.

Barry Commoner in Making Peace with the Planet6also provides some comparable estimates. He con-siders that the expenditure required to effect a globaltransition to an ecologically sound system would be

around $500bn a year for 10 years. Even at this level,it is still only half the annual global militaryexpenditure.

It is considerations like these that have led to the50 per cent initiative by Saferworld. They also givesome interesting figures of the trade-off betweenspending on specific military priorities and anenvironmental priority which might be an appro-

priate alternative. For example, 10 days of EuropeanEconomic Community military spending is kl.5bnwhich could, as an alternative, be spent each year oncleaning up hazardous waste sites in 10 EuropeanEconomic Community countries by 2000. Theyalso draw attention to the proportion of Research 81Development expenditure that is directed intomilitary R & D. In Israel, U.S.A. and U.K. over50 per cent of public R & D is for military purposes.

A Key Role for Bu sines sIt will already be apparent that industrial organiza-tions of every kind are directly involved in theenvironmental challenge. The target for the foresee-able future is to strive for sustainable development.This is defined by Gro Harlem Brundtland in Our


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54 Long Range Planning Vol. 25

Table 3. Estimated expenditure toRepair the Environment

Sbn

Protect Worlds top soil 9Restore Worlds forests 3Halt the march of deserts 4

Raise energy efficiency10

Develop renewable energy 5Slow down population growth 18Supply World with clean water 30Write-off Third World debt 30

Total 109

Total by year 2000 170

N.B. The equivalent of 8 weeks global militaryspending.Source: Myers, Gaia Atlas of Future Worlds(p. 162).

June 1992

Common Future8 as development that meets theneeds of the present without compromising theability of the future generations to meet their ownneeds. Since that report was published manynational governments have produced their owndocuments and white papers, set up committees towork out what should be done and how it might beimplemented etc. Britain is no exception.

The challenge facing any business inevitably focuseson current performance. For many companies thestruggle to manage short term cash flow takes

precedence over other matters. During periods ofrapid external change there is also a pressing need toassess the organizations potential and find ways toinclude time to attend to this perspective. If it isignored then the business may emerge from therecession having been overtaken by events. There isalso a third, equally important, perspective whichconcerns changing the business because the futurewill inevitably be different. All three elements canbe applied to environmental issues as well asconventional business performance. When this isincorporated the third dimension becomes chang-

ing the business into one that will be sustainable.The three dimensions of the challenge are summar-ized in Table 4.

In undertaking this challenge many organizationswill be daunted. The three elements cannot betackled sequentially. If that is attempted, urgentwork constantly takes precedence over importantwork and it becomes very difficult to get beyond thefirst challenge. Methods have to be found to exploreuntapped potential, to allocate resources to do thiswork and do it in ways that bring about continuouschange.

The arguments in this article so far have centredaround the global perspective, the threats to theEarths life support system, implied consequencesfor all life on Earth if there is no change to currenttrends and some worldwide perspectives on where

Table 4. The challenge to business

To make the present business effective and theenvironmental impact acceptable

To identify and realize its potential, including thepotential for:6 reducing pollution$r using resources economically and efficiently

* developing new business opportunitiesA providing fulfilling work for staff at all levels

To make your business into a different, sustainablebusiness for a future that will inevitably be different.

All three challenges have to be faced in the present.

the money might come from to tackle the issues. It isnow necessary to look at the issues from theperspective of the individual business.

John Davis, who was at one time Chairman andManaging Director of Shell Composites Ltd andIBE Ltd, recently wrote Greening Businesx.9 Inundertaking to write this book he decided that thebest approach would be to think in terms of a ChiefExecutive facing the challenge of changing hisbusiness into one that would be sustainable.Throughout the book he retains a highly practicalapproach and quotes examples which demonstratethat very significant progress can be made.

From that and other sources it is possible to identifysome of the consequences for businesses that decide

that the environmental challenge is not for them.They are likely to find that there are adverseconsequences of many kinds for their business.These will not all emerge at one time and they willnot affect businesses in different sectors to the samedegree. It is quite possible that many directors andsenior executives already experience a generalmalaise but find it hard to be specific. In thesecircumstances it is worth considering the degree towhich the checklist in Table 5 is relevant to yourbusiness now or could become relevant in the futureif nothing is done.

The case for early action is powerful and is alreadybeing borne out by companies who are leading theway in adopting a responsible attitude towards theenvironment. The benefits which many of themhave already identified range from an enhancedreputation or higher market profile, throughattracting environmentally aware customers, tosaving money through pollution control andresource conservation and to providing moresatisfaction to their staff. Table 6 provides asummary of tangible benefits that have beenobtained by some named companies.

Sustainable Business OpportunitiesIt is easy to recognize the potential for new businessgrowth for some sectors of the economy. For


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Table 6. Potential benefits for environmentallyaware companies

Table 5. Potential threats if the environment isignored

Corporate image deteriorates

Customers prefer products and services which do lessdamage to the environment

Investors become more difficult to attract. The companycannot meet the criteria for environmental and ethicalscreening

Material costs rise faster than for competitors who usematerials more sparingly and recycle resources

Penalties for pollution become greater-in money termsas well as in damage to reputation and possibly health

Insurance premiums increase because environmentaldamage is likely to be greater than it is for competitorswho reduce their pollution risks

Recruitment becomes increasingly difficult and itbecomes harder to keep good people as more seekcompanies which provide scope for personal growthand development as well as a company that cares for

the environmentFailure to give early attention to re-focused R & D andmanagement development create a time lag so itbecomes increasingly difficult to catch up withcompetitors

Alienation from the local community with theconsequences of a hostile neighbourhood

Failure to act may provoke stricter legislation or closerattention from regulatory authorities

Royal warrants may be withheld or withdrawn

The long term future for the Company may bejeopardized

example, those companies, like Emstar, which are inthe heating service business have done well. How-ever, they have found that even though theeconomic argument for economical heating andlighting has been there for years, it is the new trendin environmental concern that has done more tostimulate expansion in demand for their services.They also point out that the environment would bebetter protected if the extent of pollution frominefficient heating was reduced even more rapidlyand this could be greatly helped with more tangiblegovernment incentives.

Another area for predictable increase in demand is inthose services that provide information and adviceon environmental management. Sure enough therehas been rapid growth in this area which is beingtaken up by new ventures in many of the majorconsultancies such as Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte(they have just published a D-I-Y guidelo),Arthur D. Little, PA Consulting Group and Ernst &Young.

Fisons have a range of organic products under thebrand name Fisons Originals for gardeners whichare becoming more prominently displayed ingarden centres and more widely advertised.

Reference has already been made to the CEST

Enhanced reputation, or greater prominence in themarket (e.g. Norsk Hydro have acquired a reputation forbeing at the leading edge of concerned companies)

Attracting the Green Consumer (e.g. Safeway,Sainsbury and Tesco who are vying with each other for

this growing market in their supermarket stores)Achieving positive investment screening (e.g. TheMerlin Jupiter Ecology Fund Portfolio includescompanies such as Body Shop International, FreemanGroup, Rotork, Shanks & MacEwan, Ultramar)

Reducing material costs through recycling and bettercontrol of pollution (e.g. Dow Chemicals with theirWRAP-Waste Reduction Always Pays-and 3M withtheir PPP-Pollution Prevention Pays-have found onrepeated occasions that their slogans are true)

Saving money through efficient management of heatingand lighting of buildings (e.g. Ernst & Young haveachieved very worthwhile savings in many of their

offices)Avoiding excessive insurance costs (e.g. severalinsurance companies, especially in the U.S.A., are re-assessing risks and increasing premiums or refusing tore-insure unless money is spent on risk reduction)

Attracting and keeping environmentally aware staff (e.g.companies involved in graduate recruitment are findingthat they are closely questioned about attitudes towardsthe environment and surveys have revealed that this isan area of growing concern among prospective recruits)

Becoming better integrated with the local community(e.g. Pilkington have a reputation in St Helens of beingwell integrated with the community and to have gainedfrom this reputation as well as in more tangible ways)

Being a supplier of green goods and services (e.g.3Ms subsidiary Varta raised their market share from 4to 15% with their new cadmium-free battery; Emstar, asubsidiary of Shell have done very well with theirheating services business and have experiencedconsiderable expansion)

report and the very clear indications it provides forthe potential for business expansion to combatenvironmental threats and the opportunities thatwill arise for many different industries. Anotherperspective is provided by Lester Brown, Presidentof the Worldwatch Institute. His institute publishesan annual State of the World Report and theWorldwatch Papers, but he has also written anarticle A Stlstainable Ftlttlre13 which looks ahead tothe year 2030 and describes a global community thatcan endure. Some of the examples from this articleinclude the development of different kinds ofsustainable energy such as solar, wind and geother-mal to suit local conditions, more efficient heatingsystems and long life light bulbs which consume lessprimary energy. In the field of transport, moreeconomical cars capable of 100 mpg are described as

technically feasible now. As fuel costs rise andcongestion gets worse people might well live nearertheir place of work and increased travel by bicycle isprobable as well as more use of greatly improvedpublic transport. The development of telecommu-nications could well result in more conferences or


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use of electronic mail to reduce the need for peopletravclling long distances for meetings.

Clearly pollution control and recycling technologywill develop rapidly. The latter is already relevantfor glass, paper, aluminium and garbage. In the caseof glass and other containers there is also scope

for greater standardization and re-use as well asrecycling. For new product development, environ-mental ideas will be taken into account at theconception stage and create demand for significantchanges in the design and engineering disciplines.

It may seem unrealistic to think in terms of a 40-yeartime horizon for many of todays businesses especi-ally when they are struggling with immediate cashflow problems. However, for many organizations,the question of investing capital for the futurecontinues, new products are developed, new busi-ness opportunities are sought and replacement fordeclining business becomes a recurring challenge.Some companies will tackle these problems fromthe perspective of a continuance of passed trendswhilst others will look ahead with more imagina-tion and courage.

There arc many signs that the 1990s will see theconcept of sustainable development becoming moreclearly defined with more industries feeling theeffects. Those companies which invest in buildings,plants, machinery and products without taking intoaccount the evolving concept of sustainable dc-

velopment arc likely to find that they arc wastingmoney because obsolescence is more rapid than theyever imagined. Conversely a rash guess about thefuture with relatively unproven technologies andproducts is also likely to lead to failure. Strategicplanning which takes account of the environmentwill bc a demanding discipline but which will havemany rewards for those who do it well.

Some of the possibilities for business expansion areidentified in Table 7.

Implementing an EnvironmentalPolicyYou may be reading this article believing that yourcompany has done little or nothing about its impacton the environment. You may recognize a fewinitiatives that your organization has taken butbelieve that much more could be done. You may beone of those few executives who is directly involvedand in the forefront of environmental initiativeswithin your company but now see some additionalpossibilities.

In every case the dilemma with any individual,irrespective of seniority, is to find a way to tackle theissue that will lead to productive outcomes and notbc seen as working a personal or vested interest.

Table 7. Some specific business opportunities

Solar energy, especially in Asia, Africa and theMiddle East, Southern U.S.A., Central America andthe Mediterranean using solar thermal power as wellas photovoltaics

Geothermal energy, especially around the Pacific rim,parts of the Mediterranean and Africas Great Rift

Valley

Wind energy, especially in parts of Northern Europe

Telecommunications which help to reduce certainkinds of travel and enable more people to work fromhome

Recyling technologies applied to water, bottles,paper, aluminium, garbage, plastics, and metals ofvarious kinds

Engineering developments especially in the field ofgreater efficiency in fuel consumption and lesspollution

Organic farming and gardening and new ways tocontrol pests through biological methods

Re-use (rather than recycling) of containers whichwould mean greater standardization

Service industries growing up in the new field ofenvironmental management and appropriateprocesses

Transportation with greater emphasis on efficient,convenient public transport services, less use of thecar (which would be more economical-lOO+mpg),and more use of the bicycle

Replacement for CFCs, especially in refrigerators

Fertilizers made from treated human sewage

Desalination of sea water to supply fresh water,especially in coastal areas, using renewable energysuch as wind, solar and geothermal rather than fossilfuels

New methods of assessing corporate environmentalperformance-a challenge to accountants and othersinvolved in various forms of performancemeasurement

Computer software programmes providinginformation to manage many aspects of theenvironment

Sometimes when a new appointment of this kind ismade others use it as an opportunity to refer allenvironmental issues to this person. Alternativelythe newly appointed person tends to be ignored orrebuffed for fear of interference. Success oftendepends on assessment of the contribution that willmake a significant difference, a carefully plannedapproach which takes account ofothers needs, and astrategy which identifies and builds on the supportof those who are committed to this kind of change,coupled with appropriate confrontation on reallyimportant issues.

Some apparently obvious first steps that have beentried tend to work well only if they are giventhorough preparation. An environmental audit mayseem to be a good starting point but many havefound that the audit itself changes nothing-priorbriefing and follow-up are both crucial. The process


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way of working and reporting relationships are allimportant. How the interface with each departmen-tal head is managed and how the committee relatesto the board are important considerations forsmooth working.

should begin with building understanding andcommitment at top level that an audit is worthdoing, defining the objectives and scope, settingtime frames, deciding who will do it and the natureof involvement of internal staff, agreeing how theaudit findings will be reported and appreciating theobligations that are likely to arise for follow-up

action. If the preparatory work of this kind is notdone thoroughly, then much time is wasted after theaudit report is delivered and with the passing of timethe momentum dissipates and other priorities takeprecedence. Sometimes the report is filed with noaction and the whole initiative remains an expensivemistake. Getting value from an environmental auditdepends on building readiness before the audit isstarted.

Another self-evident starting point is to locateresponsibility for the environment with a named

executive. This can work well, it can have success incertain areas, or be futile depending again on how itis done. If the person is insufficiently senior then thedegree of importance will be assessed from thatindividuals standing, especially in hierarchical or-ganizations. The success of a specialist will beinfluenced by the way in which other specialists areregarded and the reputation of the department inwhich the new appointee is located. A generalmanagement appointment of a top executive who isalready widely respected will give clear signals tothe organization that the appointment is importantand has strategic significance.

Combining an environmental appointment withPublic Affairs carries an immediate connotation thatthe environmental responsibility is primarily aquestion of protecting the corporate image, ratherthan influencing the future direction of the business.

A board level appointment does not necessarilymean that the environmental perspective andinitiatives will be appropriate to the situation. Everydirector soon learns that it is not easy to influence

board colleagues, all of whom have their ownparticular responsibilities and interests which theytry to optimize through the way in which the boardfunctions. Some degree of collective responsibilityhelps to ensure that the whole organization recog-nizes the importance of sound environmentalmanagement and all that that implies for strategicmanagement of the business. It is worth giving sometime at a board meeting to consider the options, tobuild understanding and gain a degree of commit-ment to any new appointment. This will help toensure that the environmental issue is an integralpart of business strategy rather than a temporaryadjunct.

Some organizations have had success with environ-mental committees so that inter-departmental issuescan be addressed. This can work well but as with allcommittees the terms of reference, composition,

Sound environmental management will lead tochanges affecting every aspect of the business and thebasic principles of change management will behelpful. Part of the process must be effectivecommunication both internally and externally.Keeping people informed so that they understandwhat is happening and why is a vital part of theprocess. If this is done well, then every member ofstaff becomes an ambassador for the company and itsincreasingly responsible attitude towards the en-vironment, and should be able to describe how itrelates to his/her job.

An issue that is often overlooked or given inade-quate attention is the question of how an individualregards a new responsibility and the way in whichperformance will affect his/her tangible and intang-ible rewards. This is particularly important when anindividual has, for example, some environmentalresponsibility added to an existing job. Thatindividuals immediate boss may not have beeninvolved in the appointment and could easily ignoreall aspects of the environmental responsibility oreven penalize him/her for giving it undue attention.Even when the whole job is an environmentalresponsibility the criteria of performance may bevague unless there is specific attention given to it.The integration of new responsibilities into thereward structure is seldom given sufficient attention.

Davis, who wrote his book from the standpoint of aChief Executive, begins with a discussion ofsustainable development and follows on to visionsand values. Sooner or later any Chief Executivewishing his or her organization to become greenerwill need to face this issue. Without the underpin-

nings of appropriate, shared values and beliefssustainable development will have a transientexistence. If these values are specific to an individualthen they will disappear when that individual moveson. As with any other aspect of organization cultureit is important that values are shared and that asignificant degree of common understanding isgenerated. This will be part of the implementationprogramme for any organization that takes this issueseriously and will contribute to making the businessinto a different, sustainable business for a future thatwill inevitably be different. The actual values thatwill be appropriate for a particular organization andits situation will need to be worked out by keypeople within that company. It cannot be done byconsultants alone but good, facilitating help andsupport can be invaluable. One example of somevalues of a hypothetical company are given inTable 8.


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Table 8. Values and beliefs for a sustainablebusiness

Q Social and environmental results are as important aseconomic

Q The essential purpose of business is to meet somespecific aspect of market demand

Q The costs of doing business and staying in businessboth need to be managed well in the interests of allstakeholders

Q The company should behave in every way as a goodcitizen and accept that it does not own al l itsresources but is their custodian for future generations

ti Sound environmental management is not an optionbut a necessity

A New business development needs to take account ofthe environment from the design stage

Q Environmental management should be theresponsibility of staff at all levels as an integral partof their job

Q Environmental performance should be built into thereward structure of the organization

* Product and process responsibility should be fromcradle to the grave

b Agreed values and beliefs should be used as theguiding principles for conducting all business

N.B. These are incomplete statements for a hypotheticalorganization.

Management and Staff DevelopmentBecause environmental responsibility will permeatethe whole organization, it is necessary to plan how itwill be taken up in terms of management develop-ment and the follow through to staff at all levels.There is little doubt that for those companies whichtake this issue seriously basic attitudes and beliefswill alter and there will be a very significant effecton the organizations culture. Several organizationshave embarked on culture change programmes forvarious reasons, not necessarily environmental, andknow that this cannot be taken lightly nor achievedquickly. A carefully planned programme is essentialwhich involves staff at all levels but must be led fromthe top, by example. This will be equally true ofsound environmental management.

There are few examples in the U.K. where theenvironment agenda for management developmentis being addressed. In Sweden, however, Volvohave taken all their managers through a three dayprogramme, Perstorp Ferguson Ltd have under-taken a comprehensive programme and a few othercompanies have introduced short sessions into theirmanagement programmes or run discrete events for

small numbers of their managers. It is inevitable thatthis aspect of management development will in-crease as the momentum for environmental changedevelops and more companies wish all their staff tobecome familiar with environmental issues. If this isdone in a didactic way it is unlikely to have any real

effect. That is not a successful way to changeattitudes as many have found to their cost. Culturechange comes about through involvement andexperiencing what it is like to live and work inaccordance with the culture that is desired for thefuture health of the business.

There is now more work being done to identifymaterials that are suitable for management develop-ment from among the thousands of educational aidsthat exist for education in general. New materialsare also being produced in response to demand. Oneorganization that is cataloguing these materials isThe Conservation Trust,14 with the intention ofmaking this information available in an accessibleform. Amongst the materials that are alreadyavailable are self-administered environmentalaudits, business games, outdoor activities, videos,slides, audio tapes, short courses (The BrunelManagement Programme and the British Instituteof Management15 run courses on a variety ofenvironmental topics), audio-visual learning aids,consulting services from individuals and organiza-tions and some interesting developments from IBMin the form of a multi-media package. This last canbe adapted by any organization to describe its ownenvironmental policy to their staff or the public orboth, and has been used in interesting ways to gainunderstanding of environmental problems.

The challenge for Chief Executives is to make theright appointment at the right level to head up

Environmental Affairs. The challenge for PersonnelDirectors, Training Managers and managementdevelopment specialists is to work alongside the toppeople to interpret the strategic decisions intoappropriate development for managers and staff atall levels.

References(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

(6)

Business Council for Sustainable Development, World TradeCentre, 3rd Floor, 10 Rue de LAeroport, CH-1215 Geneva 15

(Tel: 010 41 22 788 32 02).Mr John Collins, Environmental Protection and Industry Depart-ment of the Environment, 43 Marsham Street, LondonSW1 P 3PY (Tel: 071 276 3000).

Colin Hutchinson, BusinessandtheEnvironmenta/chal/ange:AGuide for Managers, The Conservation Trust (ISBN O-9071 53-38-0), George Palmer Site, Northumberland Avenue, Reading,Berkshire RG2 7PW (Tel: 0734 868464).

industry and the Environment:A Strategic Overview, The Centrefor Exploitation of Science and Technology (CEST), 5 BernersRoad, London Nl OPW (Tel: 071 354 9942).

Norman Myers, Gaia At/as ofFuture Worlds, Robertson McCarta(ISBN l-85365-128-1). p. 162 (1990).

Barry Commoner, Making Peace With the Planet, Gollancz(ISBN 0-575-04903-O). p. 173 (1990).

Saferworld, 82 Colston Street, Bristol BSl 588 (Tel: 0272276435).

Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment andDevelopment, Oxford University Press (ISBN O-l 9-282080-X)(1987).


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(9) John Davis, Greening Business, Blackwell (ISBN 0-631-17202-5) (1991).

(10) Your Business and the Environment-a D-l-Y Review forCompanies, prepared by Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte andpublished bv Business in the Environment (ISBN l-85271 -193-0,. Additional Readings:

(11) Lester Brown eta/., State of the World 1990, Unwin Paperbacks Frances Cairncross, Costing the Earth, Business Books, The Economis(ISBN 0 04 440711 4) (1991). Books (ISBN o-09-174918-2) (1991).

(12) Hilary F. French, C/earing the AirtA GlobalAgenda, WorldwatchInstitute, Worldwatch Paper 94, January (1990).

(13) Lester Brown, A sustainable future, Resurgence, 8-l 3, July/Au-gust (1991).

(14) The Conservation Trust, George Palmer Site, NorthumberlandAvenue, Reading, Berks RG2 7PW (Tel: 0734 868442).


(15) Brunel Management Programme, Brunel University, Uxbridge,Middlesex UB8 3PH (Tel: 0895 56461). British Institute ofManagement, Management House, Cottmgham Road, Corby,Northants NN17 1TT (Tel: 0536 204222).

John Elkington, The Green Business Guide, Victor Gollancz (ISBNo-575-04675-9) (1991).

Ervin Laszlo, The Inner Limits of Mankind, Oneworld (ISBN l-851 68-009-8) (1989.

David Pearce et al., Blueprint for a Green Economy, EarthscanPublications (ISBN l-85383-066-6) (1990).

1992_Hutchinson_Questões ambientais_O desafio para o chefe executivo

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