Green Management

Green Management is an initiative aiming at continuously improving the foundation of environmental management, such as the development of personnel responsible for environmental activities, environmental management systems, and environmental communication as well as conservation of biodiversity.

Meaning:

• Green Business Management is not a concept describing new business management style. It describes the construction of businesses. A Business functioning in a capacity where no negative impact is made on the local or global environment or the community or the economy.
• A Business that serves to meet the triple bottom line often, businesses have progressive environmental and human rights policies. A Green Business will also engage in forward thinking policies affecting human rights.
• These businesses adopt principles, policies and practices that improve the quality of life for their customers, employees and environment.

Evolution:

• Green Movement and Green Policies began in the late 1970’s when the first Green party was formed in Germany. The Term ‘Green’ is the English translation of the German word ‘Grun’. Green politics advocated issues pertaining to Ecology, Environment, Feminism, Conservation and Peace.
• It is believed that Green politics draws its inspirations from Mahatma Gandhi, Spinoza and Uexkull who advocated and urged personal responsibility to make the right moral choices is the pillar of the green politics ideology.

Scope of Green Management:

1. Green Foods: Green Business ideas allow people to grow garden parks or small seeded trays. Green foods are an extremely important part of a healthy diet. There are numerous options to choose from and they can easily be incorporated into meals.
2. Green Consulting: An increasing number of individuals, families and business are starting to look for ways to reduce the carbon footprint and decrease their use of the earth’s resources.
3. Green Vehicles: Green Vehicles are nothing but clean vehicles or eco friendly vehicles or environmentally friendly vehicles which produces less harmful impacts to the environment than the conventional one’s which run on Diesel or gasoline or some other.

(i) Fuel Efficient Cars

(ii) Alternative Fuel Vehicles

(iii) Hybrid Electric Cars

(iv) Electric Vehicles

4. Green Appliances: The more efficient the appliance, the less energy it will use. Lower energy use means less pollution.

Importance of Green Business Management:

1. Cost Saving: Companies that focus on reducing energy consumption not only help the environment but also reduce their costs in the form of lower energy bills. Smaller businesses can also benefit from reduced energy costs by taking simple steps like switching off lights and fans when they are not required for usage.
2. Reduced Energy Use: Green Management often include measures to reduce energy use. To increase the efficiency of the building envelope it may use high efficiency windows and insulation in walls, ceilings and floors.
3. Healthier Workplace: Companies that promote a healthier workplace have a decrease in the number of sick days used by employees. This benefits the companies through increased productivity and less money paid out through medical benefits.
4. Reduced Waste: Green Management also seeks to reduce waste of energy, water and materials. During the construction phase, one goal should be to reduce the number of materials going to landfills. By collecting human waste at the source and running it to a semi-centralized bio-gas with other biological waste, liquid fertilizer can be produced.
5. Tax Credits: Tax Credits are available to companies that utilize environmentally friendly business practices such as switching to renewable energy source like solar power and using electric or hybrid automobiles and trucks as fleet vehicles.
6. Decreased Productivity: It is easier for the staff to toss paper plastic and other items into one trash can, then it is to sort the trash. If a company adds recycling to the office, company can see a slight decrease in worker productivity
7. Improved Public Image: Anytime companies can add a green initiative to the workplace. Companies can use the event to generate positive public relations. They can also include green initiatives on product packaging, advertisements and marketing materials to appeal to consumers who prefer green products.
8. Increased Capital Outflows: Some green conversions require an initial cash outflow that decreases the bottom-line performance while the investment is paying for itself. This can increase the company’s quarterly earnings on annual profits.
9. Increased Business Opportunities: Some Government agencies, Commercial businesses and non-profit institutions mandate that only businesses that meet specific green standards can bid on their contracts. Not all standards are government mandated with the office of the management and budget directing federal agencies to look for companies that meet voluntarily rather than Government standards when possible.

Nature of Green Management

1. Nature-Based Knowledge and Technology: It involves emulating one’s own self in terms of growing their own food, harnessing their energy, constructing things, conducting business, healing themselves, processing information and designing their communities.
2. Products of Service to Products of Consumption: Products of Service are durable goods unlike products of consumption which have shorter life span. Products of Service are made of technical materials unlike products of Consumption which are made only of biodegradable materials.
3. Solar, Wind, Geothermal and Ocean Energy: These are used extensively without any negative effect on the earth.
4. Local-Based Organizations and Economies: This characteristic includes durable, beautify and health communities with locally owned and operated business and locally managed non-profit organizations, along with regional corporations and shareholders working together in partnerships and other collaborations.
5. Value Production: The triple value production establishes three simultaneous requirements of sustainable business activities as financial benefits for the company, natural world betterment, social advantages for the employees and members of the local community.
6. Continuous Improvement Process: The continuous process of monitoring, analysing, redesigning and implementing is used to intensify value production as conditions change and new opportunities emerge.

Types of Green Management:

1. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM): It includes repurchasing, recycling, reuse and substitute of material. This concept gains popularity because the customers are concerned with environment improvement which encourages the supplier to make environment friendly product.

Companies which adopted Green Supply Chain Management are British Telecom, Nike, Toyota and so on.

2. Green Marketing: It is the marketing of products that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Green Marketing incorporates a broad range of activities including product modification, changes to the production process, packaging changes.

Eg., Bank of America reduced Paper usage by 32%

3. Green Production: With this type of production, we could reduce all the harmful pollution to the environment and also reduce the cost from their starting step to finished product. Companies that follow Green Production are: Ikea – Using Solar & Wind Energy,

Nike Using recycled aluminum frames and underground energy storage

4. Green Research and Development: With only proper Research and Development the customer can provide a suitable product. Eg., Volkswagen Creating cars which are following environmental and safety standards to reduce carbon emissions.
5. Green Criminology: Criminology is referred to the study of Crime and Criminals whereas Green is related to environment issues. Some of the Green Crimes are Deforestation, Animal Trafficking, Cutting of Shark fins for trading.
6. Green Human Resource Management: It is based on Green Environment related to protection of environment. The term Human Resource refers to the contribution of Human resource policies and practices towards the broader corporate environmental agendas of protection, prevention and conservation of natural resources.