June 16, 2008 by
Frances ,
John Morelli ,
,
admin | Filed under: In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3]
One of the most commonly suggested strategies for environmental managers is to make the “business case.” However, some argue that making the business case is not enough to bring about the type of change needed to move to environmental sustainability. The perception is that what may be a good case for business will surely be a bad case for the environment. What if, though, that as a change agent, an environmental manager could use the “business case” to bring the company and environment closer together than at odds?
So for this conference, I’d like to discuss what the business case means or includes in regards to the environment and the extent that it can or should be used by an environmental manager.
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May 28, 2008 by
Brian Butler and
John Morelli | Filed under: In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3],Overview
There was consensus that environmental managers in the workplace are change agents who lead the workplace beyond compliance and ultimately towards sustainability.
Definition: A Change agent is a person whose presence or thought processes cause a change from the traditional way of handling or thinking about a problem.
Business Dictionary. Dictionary of Business Terms. Copyright © 2000 by Barron’s Educational Series, Inc.
Environmental managers can do this by:
learning the business from the corporate level to the facility level and knowing
effectively using EHS management systems and the system’s components.
making the business case (i.e., identifying opportunities and impacts to the bottom line) and using business tools (i.e., quality tools, lean thinking, six sigma)
understanding the formal and informal organizational structure
using risk-based thinking
consensus building
proactively educating others
actively crafting their own jobs within the organization
Environmental managers must also take responsibility for their profession and must actively craft their own job.
You can view the symposium powerpoint HERE.
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June 9, 2008 by
Frances and
John Morelli | Filed under: In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3]
These are some articles and websites I found about the status of environmental management in Hungary in order to help me put the workshop into their context. I thought they would be helpful for you all too:
- http://ezproxy.rit.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.rit.edu/pqdweb?did=1340887871&sid=2&Fmt=6&clientId=3589&RQT=309&VName=PQDGyorgy Malovics, Gabor Racz, Sascha Kraus. “The role of environmental management systems in Hungary – Theoretical and empirical insights*.” Journal for East European Management Studies 12, no. 3 (January 1, 2007): 180-204. http://www.proquest.com.ezproxy.rit.edu/ (accessed June 9, 2008). This article discussed the presence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Hungary [80% of exported goods from Hungary come from foreign companies] and how that presence has led to the importation of not only those funds but of principles such as environmental management systems
- http://www.eeac-net.org/bodies/hungary/hu_okt.htm The Website of Hungary’s National Council on the Environment Sandor participates in this council that acts as an advisory board for new government regulation and policy. The council is made up of the Ministor for Environment and Water, academia, NGO reps, and industry. The council is also a member of the larger European Environment and Sustainable Development Advisory Council (EEAC).
- http://www.kovet.hu/view/main/224.html The Hungarian member of the International Network for Environmental Management and CSR Europe Interestingly their “Tools for Business” were very similar to the tools listed after the May conference for the EM in the workplace. Their recent projects include: Training for the Future- Sustainability Vocational Training for Decision Makers and Managers, EMAS Easy for SMEs Coaching Program, and Eco-land (Focused on local government sustainable development). They focus a lot on small business, the EMAS environmental management system, local government, and CSR verification. And their article on Alternative Entrepreneurs is very a la Morelli
- http://www.environmental-savings.com/ Kovet published their annual report, this time about “Financial savings with environmental measures” titled Money Back Through the Window. They categorized environmental projects from high hanging fruit, low hanging fruit, and (my favorite) washed fruit on the table that needed no investment. With just the “washed fruit on the table” projects the organizations studied saved over 12 million euros a year. Unfortunately all other details are in Hungarian.
Some current environmental news coming from Hungary:
- European Parliament is going to vote soon on a new “Directive on the environmental quality standards in the field of water policy for the European rivers” which is a big deal in effectively handling “cross border” pollution of rivers like the Danube and the tributaries that flow into Hungary from Austria.
- Hungary is leading a fight to change its and its other Eastern European neighbors’ contributions to the EU’s CO2 reduction proposal. They argue that the baseline year used is not fair because it is too low. The baseline year used by the EU members aligns with a large drop of CO2 emissions in Eastern Europe due to “economic weakness” after the break up of the Soviet Union.
- A Slovenian nuclear plant manually shut down due to a water leak but lied to the EU stating the shut down was a normal exercise. Slovenia apologized this weekend to Italy, Austria, and Hungary.
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April 29, 2008 by
AROMAKE AFIEGBE | Filed under: General,In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3],Literature Review,RESEARCH CATEGORY: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER
As corporations have come of age in their sensitivities to environmental concerns, this article beacons on the environmental manager to seize the opportunities present to accept a leadership role in guiding corporations to meeting their desire to becoming more environmentally responsible. It also challenges the environmental manager to look beyond their roles as compliance promoters in the industry to helping companies incorporate environmental concerns into their corporate strategy and decision making albeit in conformity to the peculiar situation of the company.
Andrew J Hoffman. “Environmental strategy: Emerging market for consulting services. ” Consulting to Management 13.4 (2002): 15-24. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. RIT Lib., Rochester, NY.. 29 Apr. 2008 <http://www.proquest.com/>
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April 21, 2008 by
John Morelli | Filed under: General,In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3]
If it turns out that there is only time for one question to be addressed, I think the question posed by Joe Rosenbeck, i.e., “Should environmental managers in the workplace be viewed as “change agents” who lead the workplace beyond compliance and ultimately towards sustainability?” is the most on-target with our purposes here.
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April 21, 2008 by
AROMAKE AFIEGBE ,
Brian Butler ,
and
admin | Filed under: In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3],Literature Review,RESEARCH CATEGORY: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER
The environmental manager has come a long was since the early days of being viewed in the industry “as harbingers of additional cost and restrictions” (Voluntary Environmental Management:The Inevitable Future-John Morelli)) to a more defined professional seen as needed to facilitate change in environmental culture. But with the establishment of the environmentalism culture and metamorphosis of the driving reasons for companies to become environmentally friendly, the environmental manager has gradually left the forefront of decision making to become more of a shared service provider now being joined with other departments such as human resources, information technology safety and so on. The environmental departments are not anymore insulated from cutbacks because management feared government penalties due to non compliance. Many businesses have gotten used to the new culture of compliance and if not anything being seen as being environmentally responsible and so believe that the “environmental problem” has largely gone away and so do not feel impelled to invest in an area that seems “under control”. Also, by and large the past activities and and efforts of environmental compliance has created in the consumers an image of environmental responsibility, so the drive to pursue an up-scaled environmental department has reduced. For management, the environment has reduced to a two dimensional landscape-compliance and right public image- leaving little room for much contribution by environmental managers.
The question now is, where does the profession of corporate environmental management go for here? How can the role of the environmental manager move with this shift in culture from becoming relegated service provider to a strategic decision maker? The following article considers these questions and more.
Richard MacLean. “Corporate Environmentalism: In Search of Vision, Leadership, and Strategy. ” Environmental Quality Management 1 Oct. 2005: 1-14. ABI/INFORM Global. ProQuest. RIT Lib., Rochester, NY.. 21 Apr. 2008 <http://www.proquest.com/>
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April 11, 2008 by
LYNN DALEY | Filed under: General,In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3]
Focusing merely on compliance with federal regulations does not guarantee environmental protection. In many cases, compliance still allows a negative impact on the environment. This article addresses ISO 14001 and evaluates it effectiveness as an environmental management system whose fundamental principle is continual improvement. It suggests that the environmental paradigm must shift from a compliance-focused one to that is more performance-based, where compliance is an outcome. This article suggests that environmental management systems need to be integrated into an organization’s normal operations. It also suggests that EHS should be addressed together. Although Environmental Managers and associated skills/tasks are not specifically addressed, it is clear that a environmental management resource would be necessary to implement such a system at an organization, public or private.EMS and ISO 14001
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April 3, 2008 by
Joe Rosenbeck | Filed under: In the industry and in the workplace [1, 2, 3],RESEARCH CATEGORY: THE ROLE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER
One of the subject areas for our group to discuss is the “role of the environmental manager in the workplace”. Typical roles of the environmental manager in the workplace may vary; however, we should be able to come up with and discuss a list of potential roles. What do you believe the role of the environmental manager in the workplace should be?
In addition, how is the role of the environmental manager in the workplace evolving and how should the role continue to evolve? For example, in the past the primary role of the environmental manager in the workplace was to advise and assist the workplace with its environmental regulatory compliance efforts. Over the last 10-15 years, in many workplaces this role has evolved beyond compliance assistance. Now, many environmental managers lead efforts to integrate environmental management into business management processes looking for and finding opportunities to add value to the business and to drive the workplace towards sustainability. Also, in many workplaces environmental managers are actually environmental, health and safety (EHS) managers with roles and responsibilities in all three areas.
How is the role of the environmental manager in the workplace evolving? Should the role be expanded to include health and safety? Should environmental managers in the workplace be viewed as “change agents” who lead the workplace beyond compliance and ultimately towards sustainability?
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