Better Green Business


Book Description

Better Green Business brings together practical insights and start-to-finish strategies for moving any enterprise to a higher level of environmental stewardship. Drawing on his extensive experience at IBM, Dr. Eric Olson shows how to systematically drive “win-win-win” gains: growing top-line revenue, helping customers increase efficiency, and improving the environment at the same time. Olson’s business-focused guidance covers every step of your green business program, from strategy formulation through continuous improvement. He first offers a complete framework for approaching and formulating green strategy, using case studies to identify potential opportunities and business benefits. Next, using real case studies, he demonstrates how to define initiatives, construct roadmaps for transforming vision into reality, and link each investment to business strategy, so businesses can accurately measure results. Olson introduces powerful business process transformation methodologies and technologies for increasing operational efficiency and reducing waste, including IBM’s breakthrough Green Sigma approach. He also identifies new opportunities to drive value by “instrumenting the planet,” and introduces new technologies that make this possible. Finally, Olson assesses long-term trends that will make “green business” even more crucial in the coming years.




75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference


Book Description

With environmental concerns a top issue for consumers everywhere, the green market is the next big boom industry for entrepreneurs looking to make money—and make a difference. Discover 75 green startup ideas in multiple industries, including eco-tourism, small wind power, green schools, water conservation landscaping, green investment consulting and more. For each business, Croston shows you the market, product to be delivered, resources needed, major hurdles ahead, competitors and strategies for success.




The Truth About Green Business


Book Description

Everything you need to know to green your business and grow your profit. • The truth about what climate change means for your business • The truth about running lean and green • The truth about future proofing your business Simply the best thinking THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH This book reveals 52 PROVEN GREEN STRATEGIES and bite-size, easy-to-use techniques that get results. “This little book is inspiring in its range and practicality—not just for CEOs, but for every member of the enterprise…an exceptionally useful guide for ‘going green’ at any scale of enterprise.” CHIP CONLEY, CEO, Joie de Vivre Hospitality “In a world where green business advice is rampant, this is the one resource you need: a field guide that combines insight and inspiration with a solid, actionable path forward.” JOEL MAKOWER, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com




Build a Green Small Business: Profitable Ways to Become an Ecopreneur


Book Description

Grow an eco-friendly business that creates limitless profit potential From organic groceries to fuel-efficient cars and toxicity-free dry cleaning, the opportunities to profit from a business that builds local communities, heals the environment, and feeds the growing green demand are almost endless. As an entrepreneur who has developed successful eco-friendly businesses, Scott Cooney gives you expert advice and guidance on starting, building, and growing a green business--and then delivers a gold mine of business ideas for every kind of product and service. Grow a Green Small Business also gives you: Green Entrepreneur Rules that will get you started on the right foot Marketing, advertising, and networking techniques that build a loyal customer base Valuable resources, including green franchises, contacts, and web links for more information Whether you're a novice or a veteran business developer, Cooney points the way to productivity and profit strategies you can build into any small business model.




Varieties of Green Business


Book Description

This book provides rich new empirical evidence on green business as it examines its variation between industries and nations, and over time. It demonstrates the deep historical origins of endeavors to create for-profit businesses that were more responsible and sustainable, but also how these strategies have faced constraints, trade-offs and challenges of legitimacy. Based on extensive interviews and archives from around the world, the book asks why green business succeeds more in some contexts than others, and draws lessons from failure as well as success.




Eco-Business


Book Description

Two experts explain the consequences for the planet when corporations use sustainability as a business tool. McDonald's promises to use only beef, coffee, fish, chicken, and cooking oil obtained from sustainable sources. Coca-Cola promises to achieve water neutrality. Unilever seeks to achieve 100 percent sustainable agricultural sourcing by 2020. Walmart has pledged to become carbon neutral. Big-brand companies seem to be making commitments that go beyond the usual “greenwashing” efforts undertaken largely for public-relations purposes. In Eco-Business, Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister examine this new corporate embrace of sustainability, its actual accomplishments, and the consequences for the environment. For many leading-brand companies, these corporate sustainability efforts go deep, reorienting central operations and extending through global supply chains. Yet, as Dauvergne and Lister point out, these companies are doing this not for the good of the planet but for their own profits and market share in a volatile, globalized economy. They are using sustainability as a business tool. Dauvergne and Lister show that the eco-efficiencies achieved by big-brand companies limit the potential for finding deeper solutions to pressing environmental problems and reinforce runaway consumption. Eco-business promotes the sustainability of big business, not the sustainability of life on Earth.




Green to Gold


Book Description

From the Publishers Weekly review: "Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake-up-call du jour-environmental responsibility-from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long-term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward-thinking, green-friendly (or at least green-acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company's bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as Wal-Mart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys-watchdogs and industry associations, mostly-working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take-back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought. "




Starting Green


Book Description

"Green entrepreneur and scientist Dr. Glenn Croston outlines green business essentials and helps you uncover eco-friendly opportunities, build a sustainable business plan, and gain the competitive advantage in today's environmentally mindful market."--Publisher description.




Understanding Green Business


Book Description

Why Understanding Green Business? With every new day society has become more aware of the increasing threats to the globe due to the non-environmentally friendly practices that have been occurring in the previous years. Due to the newfound awareness, people have taken greater lengths to pass laws, alter company policies and change their everyday lives to do their part in helping to preserve the environment and prevent any further damage. Rather than taking the easy route and continuing their habits, society is putting forth a consciousness effort to go out of their way to improve the environment in any way they can. As a collective force the going green movement will better the environment and allow further generations to enjoy a clean and productive world. How is Understanding Green Business structured? Dr. Tehrani and Dr. Sinha dedicate each chapter to a different aspect of "going green" in this book such as products, transportation, networking, research and energy alternatives. In addition, the authors discuss green careers and provide useful information on how to go about working at a green company. The future of the green movement and its impacts are mentioned so as to provide a potential impact of current changes in the future. It also shows a possible interpretation of how the future green movement shall be exercised. Who is this book for? This book has been created as the core textbook for Business professionals, industry practitioners, academicians and students who would like to hone their business skills, and keep up with the latest trends in Green Business. As a result, Understanding Green Business will support students pursuing a master degree in MBA, Certificate in Management or a Diploma in Management and/or Business while undergraduate students in business programs.




The Green to Gold Business Playbook


Book Description

"Implement the green strategies outlined in Dan Esty's and Andrew Winston’s bestseller Green to Gold" Hard-nosed business advice for gaining competitive advantage through sustainability action in buildings and operations, information technology, product design, sourcing, manufacturing, logistics and transportation, marketing, accounting, and other key business functions Whether you are a climate change skeptic or an environmentalist, sustainability issues cannot be ignored in today’s corporate world. With rising energy and natural resource costs, intensified regulations, investor pressures, and a growing demand for environmentally friendly products, sustainability is no longer an option—it’s a business imperative. Unlike many green business books, the Playbook skips the environmental ideology and deals exclusively with tools and strategies that have been shown to cut costs, reduce risks, drive revenues, and build brand identity. Builds on Dan Esty and Andrew Winston’s prizewinning Green to Gold, which has become a business classic and a staple of management training across the world. Shows in detail how each business function or department can achieve an eco-advantage over the competition Offers frameworks, checklists, and action plans applicable to any business–big or small, in manufacturing or services The Green to Gold Business Playbook gives you the tools to make green work-and work profitably-for your business.