Introduction
Global warming, climate change, ozone layer depletion, marine pollution—these are just some of the biggest environmental problems that the world is currently facing. It’s no surprise that in the past year, there has been an increasingly urgent call for action to help save the earth. More people are jumping on the vegan bandwagon, and even celebrities have publicized their support for the green movement. All these efforts may either be a mere trend that will eventually go out of style in a few years or they could very much be genuine attempts to save the environment. Either way, one thing is for sure: they are not enough.
This is because one of the biggest causes of environmental destruction is the existence of unsustainable businesses (White & Kiernan 2004). What makes things worse is that there are not just a few handfuls but actually quite a multitude of these huge corporations that are remaining ignorant to the negative effects of their operations on the environment. If the earth is to be saved, businesses must first learn how to create and implement more responsible environmental policies.
Review of the Literature
According to the European Environment Agency’s project manager, David Gee (2001), “the integration of the environment into the activities of economic sectors is a key step on the road towards sustainable development” (Gee, 2001). There are multiple points that this simple statement is able to make. First, it puts emphasis on the integration of the environment. If a person wishes to live a sustainable lifestyle, one should be able to assimilate the existence of an external environment into his or her own life. This is the same way for corporations. They should acknowledge the fact that their actions are not without consequences; there is a world that exists outside their own businesses, a world filled with living things that are affected by their actions (Welford 2000).
This segues to the next point of Gee’s statement, and that is the emphasis on “the activities of economic sectors” (Gee, 2001). Understanding that the environment is affected by a business’ operations is not enough; there should be concrete actions. Every activity of a corporation must be in support of minimizing their environmental impacts. A company cannot be just environment-friendly on paper; it must be manifested in all their activities. Perfect examples of how businesses should tackle environmental issues can be seen in a case study administered by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment (2004), which analyzes how different Japanese companies in China implement advanced environmental measures. In particular, some of these companies started implementing the Three Synchronization system, which requires the inspection of factory design, construction stages, and formal operations to determine whether any of those would cause pollution or not (Japanese Ministry of the Environment 2004). Other Japanese factories focused on maximizing how they monitor their emissions by installing online monitoring equipment and conducting on-site inspections regularly. As opposed to common businesses where they only impose a petty fine whenever violations of environmental regulations are found, the Japanese companies in China imposed a far more severe penalty. They take actual administrative measures like suspending the operations or, if improvements are deemed impossible, closing the factory altogether (Japanese Ministry of the Environment 2004).
Similarly, L. M. Ericsson is known for being one of the most environmentally aware business corporations in Europe. Its Environmental Management System (EMS) consists of different requirements that their suppliers must meet (LM Ericsson 2000). Specifically, it entails that all suppliers must have an environmental policy, must be aware of and comply with environmental legislation and common practice, and must consider environmental issues in its operation system (LM Ericsson 2000). In addition to these, suppliers are also required to document significant environmental aspects, to implement an environmental improvement program, and to ensure that their employees have satisfactory environmental education.
It is apparent that Ericsson and the Japanese companies in China are carrying out their responsibilities to the environment in clever and efficient ways. This is, of course, easier said than done. After all, it has been concluded in many studies that environmental issues present a myriad of economic challenges to businesses (Meyer 1995). Due to the demanding processes required in diminishing the environmental impact of each business activity and the expensive equipment required to constantly monitor factory emissions, environmental policies often take up most of a business’ expenses (Vercaemst, Vanassche, Campling, and Vranken 2007).
One way for a company to handle these new environmental challenges is to implement an old management method, the Scientific Management. Developed by Frederick Taylor, it is supposedly a rational and scientific-based management method that uses systematic analyses to maximize employee productivity (Parker and Ritson 2005b). There is no single way of implementing an environmental policy while ensuring economic growth (Heames and Breland 2010). However, Henri Fayol might disagree and instead, put forward his theory of the five functions of managerial activity. A pioneer in management theory who proposed the 14 principles of management, Fayol believed that properly executing his suggested managerial activity functions would help businesses contribute to the fight against climate change without having to risk their own economic growth. The five functions are said to be “forecasting, planning, organizing, coordination, and control” (Parker and Ritson 2005a). Upon analyzing the case studies presented in this paper, it can be concurred that Fayol’s theory does seem credible. Both Ericsson and the Japanese companies displayed excellent execution of all five managerial functions. Because of this, they were able to stay on top of every activity that was conducted by their company; and as David Gee (2001) said, saving the environment starts with being able to have a handle on all of the business’ activities.
Conclusion
The world is in need of serious saving, but that wouldn’t be possible without the help of every business and corporation in it. As one of the major causes of pollution, land destruction, and excessive carbon dioxide emissions, huge businesses can provide an equally huge helping hand if only they start strictly implementing environmental policies. Companies such as L.M. Ericsson and the Japanese manufacturers located in China have already blazed the trail; it’s high time for other businesses to follow suit.
References
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Parker, L.D. and Ritson, P.A, 2005b. ‘Revisiting Fayol: Anticipating contemporary management’, British Journal of Management, 16, pp. 175-194.
Vercaemst, P., Vanassche, S., Campling, P., and Vranken, L., 2007. Sectoral costs of environmental policy. [online] Available at: <http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/industry_employment/pdf/sectoral_costs_report.pdf> [Accessed 30 September 2014]
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