| Introduction
Setting
the Stage: Questions to Think About
For
decades, corporate America has contributed to the pollution of
the environment. The stockholders, the employees, and even the
customers, were either unaware of the practices which damaged
the environment, or they just did not care so long as their stocks
earned dividends or the company provided jobs or the products
they wanted. This module addresses the following questions:
Should
corporations only adopt environmentally sound policies if it is
profitable for the corporation to do so?
Should
corporations be willing to forgo some of the profit so that humanity
will benefit in the long run?
Introduction
For
decades, corporate America has contributed to the pollution of
the environment. Often the stakeholders, i.e., the community,
the stockholders, the employees, the suppliers, and the customers,
either were unaware of the practices which damaged the environment,
or they just did not care so long as their stocks earned dividends
or the company provided jobs for the community.
Some American companies have embraced environmental principles
for decades and still made a profit. Patagonia followed its own
contrarian path to success since the 1970s by putting the Earth
first, questioning growth, ignoring fashion, making goods that
do not break or wear out, telling customers to buy less, discontinuing
its own profitable but environmentally unfriendly products, and
giving away chunks of earnings to environmental causes.
Both government and customers are beginning to demand both more
green products and more environmentally friendly business practices.
Some of these new products and practices will positively contribute
to profit of the company. Some companies, such as Wal-Mart, will
choose this path to improve their corporate image, and this may
even help to increase their stock prices. Other practices may
be undetected by the general public, but will be beneficial to
the society and future generations.
This module will allow the students to discuss whether corporations
should only adopt environmentally sound policies if it is profitable
for the corporation to do so, or if they should be willing to
forgo some of the profit so that humanity will benefit in the
long run.
Educational Objectives
•
The student will better understand the impact, both positive and
negative, that corporations can have on the environment.
• The student will reflect on the benefit and the costs
to the corporation of having an environmental initiative.
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