Michael A. Berry

Multimodal transportation, logistics, and the environment: managing interactions in a global economy

As transportation and logistics systems continue to integrate, their impacts on the physical environment (air, water, and land resources) will become more complex. Economic globalization, agile manufacturing, speed-to-market delivery, and supply chain management are creating greater demand for intermodal transportation services and multimodal transportation infrastructure. Coping with the environmental impacts will require the transportation industry and its customers and stakeholders to move from strategies based on regulatory compliance to those emphasizing proactive environmental management. Proactive management of environmental issues requires corporations to identify: (1) the interactions among transportation activities that have negative environmental impacts, (2) the types of environmental impacts emanating from transportation operations and facilities, and (3) alternative means of controlling and preventing environmental pollution and natural resource degradation.

Environmental management in the pharmaceutical industry: integrating corporate responsibility and business strategy

International pharmaceutical companies are becoming increasingly proactive in their approach to environmental management, and the results so far are impressive. The forces that affect the global pharmaceutical industry will most likely push these companies toward even greater commitments to environmental improvement and, ultimately, sustainability.

Strategic programming for environmental management: Sonoco's take-back policy

T he spiraling worldwide demand for environmental protection is thrusting a bewildering set of challenges upon international corporations. The regulatory system that requires U.S. companies to reduce noxious emissions into the air and water and dispose of hazardous waste safely is spreading to other nations as the threats to human health from environmental pollution become better known. Many countries, especially in Europe, are moving beyond the regulation of end-of-pipe emissions to pollution prevention. The global concern with waste disposal, for example, has led to greater pressures on international companies to reduce packaging in consumer and industrial products, recycle materials, and lower waste disposal costs for manufacturers, retailers, and consumers. At the same time, these corporations face equaliy serious challenges in responding strategically to the business implications of ever-changing environmental regulations. The parameters of strategic action are often set by external forces, but beyond complying with local laws, corporations have wide latitude in how they adapt to envirc bnmental standards. Translating broad corporate “green” policies into environmental management systems requires companies to understand those forces, develop a vision of the future, and articulate operational strategies for achieving it. Some management theorists, such as Henry Mintzberg, argue that strategic planning, as it has been practiced by most corporations, is really Str~teX’icproRrammi~g. Companies that understand the differences between planning and strategic thinking engage in a strategy-making process that captures what managers learn from experience and synthesizes that learning into programs for achieving their “vision” for the future. Most firms have both environmental policies and business strategies that must be reconciled if they are to be implemented effectively. Strategic programming elaborates and operationalizes the strategy making process. It involves: 1. co&@ation-clarifying and explicating strategies so that their consequences can be worked out in detail; 2. elaboration-articulating policies into plans and actions that specify what must be done to realize each strategy; and 3. conve&or+making changes in the firm’s operations, budgets, and performance controls to attain corporate objectives. IMintzberg contends that corporate strategic programming should combine formal and informal methods of analysis, thereby drawing heavily on the judgments and experience of operating managers as well as on formal planning tools. The process often evolves through a continuing dialogue in which options are identified, assessed, tested, and reformulated over time. Rather than attempting to produce a one-shot plan, strategic programming continuously builds on the knowledge and experience of managers to develop

When business and government clash: Environmental crisis management in the carpet industry

In an era of increasing stakeholder scrutiny, virtually any company or industry is vulnerable to exaggerated claims of environmental harm against its products. When these claims are picked up by the media, the company can suddenly have a full-fledged crisis on its hands. Thats exactly the position the carpet industry found itself in a few years ago. But, as this article explains, carpet makers were able to fight back effectively using sound science and diplomacy. The carpet industrys experience offers valuable lessons for the entire business community.