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The Greening of Procurement: How Social Consciousness is Re-Shaping Procurement Practices
Written by: Jon HansenArticle Overview: Cannibals With Forks? “In our rapidly evolving capitalist economies, where it is in the natural order of things for corporations to devour competing corporations, for industries to carve up and digest other industries, one emerging form of capitalism with a fork – sustainable capitalism – would certainly constitute real progress.” From Cannibals With Forks – The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business John Elkington Capstone Publishing Limited, Oxford, 1997
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The Greening of Procurement: How Social Consciousness is Re-Shaping Procurement Practices
The following is an excerpt from a recently published white paper.
Table of Contents
DO CANNIBALS WITH FORKS CONSTITUTE PROGRESS? 3
A TALE OF MISSED OPPORTUNITY 7
A DIFFERENT TYPE OF CANNIBAL 6
THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONNECTION? 8
A FINAL WORD ABOUT KODAK 10
A THREE PRONGED FORK 10
A PRELIMINARY SCORECARD? 13
THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT! 14
GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE – THE FUEL FOR CHANGE? 15
THE INNOVATOR’S DILEMMA 17
OTHER INDUSTRIES 19
GREENWASHING! 20
FINANCIAL DISCONNECT 21
CLOSING SUMMARY 22
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 24
Appendices
APPENDIX A 26
EXCERPT FROM CANNIBALS WITH FORKS – THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE OF 21ST CENTURY BUSINESS - TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE (TBL)
APPENDIX B 27
EXCERPT FROM CANNIBALS WITH FORKS – THE TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE OF 21ST CENTURY BUSINESS – THE 7-D WORLD
APPENDIX C 28
ECOMARKETS 2007 SURVEY - SUMMARY REPORT
APPENDIX D 43
COMPARISONS OF DISRUPTIVE OR REVOLUTIONARY INNOVATIONS
APPENDIX E 44
TOP 10 ECO-HOTELS
APPENDIX F 45
GREEN IT: MARKETING PLOY OR NEW TECH?
© Hansen Consulting and Seminars Inc. 2008
Cannibals With Forks?
“In our rapidly evolving capitalist economies, where it is in the natural order of things for corporations to devour competing corporations, for industries to carve up and digest other industries, one emerging form of capitalism with a fork – sustainable capitalism – would certainly constitute real progress.”
From Cannibals With Forks – The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business
John Elkington
Capstone Publishing Limited, Oxford, 1997
Do Cannibals With Forks Constitute Progress?
Taking his cue from Polish poet and aphorist Stanislaw Jerzy Lec, John Elkington’s book titled Cannibals With Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business, attempts to answer the question “is it progress if a cannibal uses a fork.”
I am certain that the aphoristic character of Lec’s writings were not lost on Elkington when he decided to use the “cannibals” analogy as in many ways it symbolizes the at times vague certainty of the importance of sustainability. Or to be more precise doing something because it is supposedly good for you without really quantifying what the “good” actually is.
This is an important distinction as the substantive elements that drive corporate decision-making can and in fact does change based upon financial imperatives and the realities that drive them.
For example, industry watchers often refer to Ford Motor Company’s historic tendency to backtrack on previous commitments such as the promise to improve the fuel efficiency of their SUV vehicles in 2000 and a 2005 pledge to build 250,000 hybrid vehicles.
In 2003 the SUV efficiency initiative was abandoned as was the hybrid production pledge in 2006. This of course has caused many to question their most recent promise to reduce CO2 emissions by 30% between now and 2020.
There are of course a number of questions (as well as interesting answers) regarding the Ford vacillation between being a self-serving corporate pillager of the environment and a socially responsible global partner in the emerging world of “sustainable capitalism.”
Some analysts believe that the change of heart at Ford was largely predicated by an internal resistance mechanism that was and still is sympathetic to the powerful lobbyists that represent the nation’s corn ethanol (re farm states, ADM and conagra) and petroleum interests.
Certainly these two groups, at least according to the “environmentally informed,” have a “vested stake in not improving fuel economy,” and are therefore hostile to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards that were originally enacted by Congress in 1975. Fans of the 1999 movie The Insider, could naturally draw a parallel between the apparent “cataleptic might” of the fossil fuel advocates and those that represented the tobacco producing states in the past. Does anyone remember the old television commercials where doctors would expound on the benefits of the “smoothness” of one brand of cigarette over another? Or TV physician Ben Casey suggestion to a recent heart attack patient to “light-up” as a means of reducing the stress that led to his coronary?
These as well as countless other examples regarding both the complexity associated with competing interests and the subsequent duality of corporate leadership demands precise answers in order to make any meaningful headway. In reality however, it is the timing of these answers and not their veracity that will govern the pace of change.
In a recent exchange I had with a well-informed environmental advocate, he made the following statement regarding the benefactors of change, which I believe strikes at the very heart of the sustainability issue. And I quote, “of course, those gains won’t be enjoyed by the same companies as today, which profit from carbon extraction and emission. Industries like wind power, nuclear, solar, etc. will benefit from a “carbon constrained” world. Others will lose. The latter are spending millions on disinformation campaigns and lobbying, just as the tobacco companies did for decades, to preserve their profits and to discourage competing technologies.”
This is a true statement to be certain, and one that can be applied to any situation in which the demise of an incumbent is required to pave the way to a new future. If you were the incumbent in this case, the reality of your situation, and therefore the interpretation of the so called facts may be somewhat different.
So in a situation where irresistible force (sustainable capitalism) meets immovable object (traditional capitalism), where neither side feels that the other is truly informed and therefore qualified to decide, what is the answer? Ironically the answer involves elements from both perspectives.
Eastman Kodak Company
A Clear Picture of a Hazy Future
“Many schools are finding it more financially feasible to provide digital labs because all the components for digital imaging can be housed in one room – the only need being adequate electrical power. The expense of building darkrooms because of the large footprint that is necessary for separate lecture rooms, developing rooms, and darkrooms is challenging school budgets. It’s argued that computers, hardware, and software are not cheap. However, most school budgets and overrides earmark technology as a big part of their budgets. Most students have computers at home and are acquiring digital cameras on their own. They can work when motivated without being dependent on an institution with a darkroom. Health hazards and the mess that traditional film and print processing presents to our environment is another concern worthy of consideration.”
From Digital Imaging Vs. The Darkroom; Developing Our Attitudes As We Expose The Future
Ron Hildreth, Shutterbug, November 2005
A Tale of Missed Opportunity
Whether he knew it or not, Ron Hildreth’s 2005 article provided important insight into the very nature of the paradoxical differences as well as similarities between traditional capitalism and sustainable capitalism. And with it, offered a critical reason for the decline of what was once considered to be a venerable corporation which exemplified all that was good with American industry.
Staying on the financial feasibility track of Hildreth’s article, in the very next paragraph he states, “purchasers for schools must consider future purchases and budgeting for the maintenance of photographic equipment. Enlargers, film washers, and dryers as well as processing chemicals will be less affordable and obtainable in the foreseeable future. The marketing budgets and strategies of imaging icons have already announced that they have eliminated their Photo Lab Management programs. Their future research and development will be mostly in the realm of digital imagery.”
The article went onto say that while photography teachers maintain a “certain bias” for traditional film, they are ultimately driven by the needs of their students. So even though their leanings may wax nostalgia, centered on the “magic of the darkroom,” as Hildreth put it, it is generally recognized that digital imaging has “transformed” photography and will be the medium “that motivates the youth of tomorrow.”
What is poignant about the Hildreth article and the Eastman Kodak story is that ultimately the attributes of two seemingly disparate streams (financial feasibility versus social responsibility) converged to create a new industry reality. A reality I might add in which Kodak had both the ability and the opportunity to lead.
A Different type of Cannibal
On January 13, 2004 Kodak made the announcement that it would stop producing traditional film cameras in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. With the exception of disposable cameras, Kodak’s decision was based on their desire to focus on the digital market. As one of the original pioneers of the digital imaging technology, their decision as the old saying goes was “a day late, and a dollar short.”
To obtain a copy of the paper in its entirety contact the author.
How do you create corporate values?
The Greening of Procurement Revisited (Part 2)
How does policy either motivate or undermine employee performance?
How Your Procurement Practices Affect Your Sales and Brand
What type of Corporate Social Responsibility and/or Environmental Sustainability programs are you implementing in your Sourcing organization?
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Manufacture of POTATO Flour / POTATO Powder
- Manufacture of POTATO Flour / POTATO Powder
About Project
Setting up of a unit for manufacture of potato powder
About Product and its use:
Potato powder is increasingly being used in a variety of food preparations like snack foods (Mc Donald, Pringle, Haldiram namkeens etc.), soups, curries and other dishes as a thickening agent. Its use at present is mainly in hotels, restaurants, but acceptance in household is growing due to its inclusion in items like ready to cook soups, dals, curries, etc.
Market Potential:
The potato powder is supplied in bulk to the manufacturers of the various snack food items and restaurants/ hotels. The major demand is in cities like Mumbai, Delhi , Chennai, Nagpur , etc. The demand is much more than the supply at present and is likely to grow with the increasing popularity of the snack foods and other items where potato powder is used as input. There is good potential for its export also.
Production process and technology:
Procurement of potato -> Washing -> Cooking -> Pulping -> Drum drying -> Potato Powder -> Packaging -> Marketing
The plant and machinery can be used for producing other products like fruit powder, tomato powder, etc.
Key risk factors:
Availability of adequate quantity of suitable chip varieties, which are used for powder making (like Kufri Jyoti, Kufri Chipsona) is the major factor which could affect the project.
Availability of alternatives to potato powder for thickening like tapioca, corn starch etc., could affect the market of potato powder adversely. However at present there is no problem
Quality control and Statutory Requirements
The unit need to obtain a licence under FPO 1955 from the Ministry of Food Processing Industry
Clearance from State Pollution Control Board
Capacity of processing raw material (potato):
a) Indigenous technology - 32 MT/ day of potato for 90 days per annum.
b) Imported technology - 96 MT/ day of potato for 90 days
Capacity utilisation is assumed on 90 days basis as the storage facilities for these varieties are not commonly available. However, capacity utilisation can be increased if the existing cold storages are modified suitably with an additional investment of about Rs 2000/ MT.
Potato powder recovery: 17% of the raw material.
Cost of raw material (potato): Rs 2500 per MT,
Sale price of powder: Rs. 55000/ MT.
Manpower requirement:
a) Indigenous technology: Skilled and trained - 2 Nos; Unskilled - 3 Nos
b) Imported technology: Technical - 2 Nos; Skilled - 2 Nos; Semi-skilled - 3 Nos.
Power requirement:
a) Indigenous technology: 40 HP
b) Imported technology: 60 HP
Water requirement:
a) Indigenous technology: 1,50,000 litres per day.
b) Imported technology: 5,00,000 litres per day.
Contact Us for FULL Project Report and Project Implementation Consultancy
alphabeta24365@yahoo.com
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