Top Ten Sustainability Initiatives Of General Motors - Essay Example

Top Ten Sustainability Initiatives Of General Motors Introduction The concern of green initiatives and environmental sustainability has augmented substantially in the past decade. A large number of multinational companies publish environmental sustainability reports in fact it has become an integral part of the publication of multinational corporations. Majority of the companies are involved in struggles to integrate green initiatives into all of their business segments. Increase in the number of regulators, pressure groups, analysts, stakeholders, shareholders, labor unions, community, activities, organizations, news media, employees, and customers are probing companies to be accountable for environmental issues. There is an upsurge in the demand for transparency and expectations are soaring for companies to improve their environmental, social, and economic performance. This paper seeks to analyze the strategic analysis of a sustainable and green company. In this regard, the company that has been taken is Toyota Motors. A comprehensive sustainability analysis of Toyota Motors will be performed along with its competitors. It is then, followed by implementation of green initiatives and strategic formulation of the company. The paper ends with a brief analysis of control and evaluation plan that Toyota Motor would take in order to manage the green initiatives. Toyota Motor is one of that companies that are extensively engaged in environmental sustainability and green initiatives. The company is world’s largest automotive manufacturer, and manufactures, and designs a diverse product line that ranges from sports and luxury vehicles to minivans, trucks, cars, and buses. The subsidiaries of the company also manufacturer vehicles: Hino Motors manufactures buses and trucks while Daihatsu Motor manufactures mini vehicles. The company produces automotive parts for its own as well as for sale to others. Popular brand of company include Corolla, Land Cruiser, Camry, Lexus line and Tundra Trucks. Environmental Scanning A company is compelled to adopt strategy that is being implemented by its competitors. Toyota Motors has three major competitors. Ford Motors General Motors Honda Motors Green Initiatives of Ford Motors On April 22, for the recognition of Earth Day, Ford Motors developed a list of top ten latest green initiatives taken by the company. The global sustainability strategy of the company includes an emphasis on the development of environmental friendly technologies for the production of vehicles. Some of them include diesels, hybrids, advanced engine and transmission, bio-diesels, fuel cells, plug-in hybrids, E85 Ethanol, and hydrogen internal combustion engines. Moreover, the company is commencing sustainability efforts across the entire organization in material, facilities management, and manufacturing. The commitment of the company in green vehicle technologies will lead to improved fuel economy and reduced emission of CO 2. Other green initiative will assist in reducing the environmental impact through reduction in pollution and conservation of energy, along with saving the customers money (Noria Corporation). Top ten green initiatives taken by Ford Company are mentioned subsequently. 1. Ford is considered as leader in better performing fuel-efficient 6-speed transmission 2. Ford utilizes sustainable fabric for seats by recycling waste after processing polyester and plastic 3. For the segment of heavy-duty pick up, the company introduced first clean diesel. 4. It won Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Award for the year of 2007 and received the same awards for 2 years in a row 5. Ford installed 200 acres of sustainability landscaping, which not only preserve environment but also looks good 6. Ford recycles 75% of the content of automobile including iron, steel, copper, aluminums, and other non-ferrous metals 7. For Michigan Plants, paint fumes are turned into fuel. The fume to fuel system combusts the paint fumes for producing electricity. It is enough to meet the demand of an average block of houses in suburban area. 8. Lime Engine Plant of the company uses cold water to cool a portion of equipment and plant. Hundreds and thousands gallons of water are saved due to existing cooling towers. 9. According to Guinness World Records, Dearborn Truck Plant of the company has world’s largest living green roof. It is apparently maintenance free and absorbs nearly 4 million gallons of rainwater. 10. The company is the largest seller and manufacturer of police vehicles having 80% of the entire market. As government and police seek to move toward environmental friendly way, Ford provides energy efficient vehicles to the police fleet (Noria Corporation). Green Initiatives of General Motors General Motors is widely recognized as GM to the public. It is an American automotive multinational company. It is known for its renowned brands such as Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. It is not only GM automotive manufacturing that keeps it ahead in the lead but also its usage of renewable energy. Apart from the development of electric and hybrid vehicles, GM has taken number of initiatives for sustainability that are making its action much greener (Lesser, 2012). 1. GM builds fuel-efficient and greener vehicles that fit the lifestyle and needs of their customers. At the same time, they serve to environment protection. 2. From 2005 to 2010, the company has been able to reduce its usage of energy by 30%. It utilizes energy efficient HVAC systems, energy efficient lighting, technologies to track consumption, shutting down equipment etc. 3. In 2010, GM managed to reuse and recycle nearly 92% of all worldwide waste that converts into approximately 2.5 million tons. 4. The company’s primary sustainability goal is to aid in preserving the resources as well as the natural habitats of the vicinity. 5. GM has installed one of the biggest rooftop solar panel that is made up of around 85,000 lightweight panels. It covers an area of nearly 2 million square feet (Lesser, 2012). Green Initiatives of Honda Motors CEO of Honda has outlined green initiatives taken by the company. On the year-end speech of 2006, CEO Takeo Fukui mentioned product plans and green initiatives for the corporate roadmap of Honda. 1. The company plans to offer a new hybrid vehicle at a lower price level than the globally renowned Civic hybrid. 2. A project will be built in Wako that will aim to control the mass production of bio-ethanol. 3. The company intends to build “Energy/Resource Recycle Green Factory” in Yorii that target to reduce the emission of CO2 for 20% per automobile as compared to the CO2 emission level of 2000. 4. A new plant would be constructed in Ogawa to meet the increasing demand of feel-efficient advanced engines. 5. The company will launch “super clean diesel engine” to meet the U.S emissions standard in not only U.S but in Japan as well (Durham, 2006). Fukui assured that the company would reduce CO2 emission through production of clean energy and innovation of engine technologies. Along with it, it also pledges to reduce the environmental footprints (Durham, 2006). Strategic Formulation of Environmental Sustainability at Toyota As seen above that the competitors of Toyota are fiercely involved in green initiatives in order to comply with Environmental Protection Agency. Toyota has also taken measures to join the race and step into taking green initiatives and contributing for environmental sustainability. Toyota can take green initiative by reducing the impact of carbon footprints on environment. Several ways can help in reducing emission of CO2 and carbon footprints. Some of them include increasing recycling efforts, cutting usage of landfills, and reducing usage of water by installing cooling systems. The company needs to formulate strategic decisions and must set a timeframe of 5 years to execute those strategies. In order to do so, the company’s plants must be landfill free and the automakers factories should recycle more than 80% of their waste. Fuel and hybrid electric vehicles must be introduced that will help in making progress in in the water-conservation programs of the company. Moreover, the company must plan to cut down its carbon footprints by 25%, water usage by 20% and reduction of total waste by 15%. Along with that, the company must construct Home Energy Station that converts natural gas into hydrogen. It must also look forward for the options such as solar cell-based hydrogen station. If vehicles are equipped with Flexible Fuel Vehicle System known as FFV, it will allow gasoline based engines to operate on ethanol-gasoline mixture of fuel. It is believed that profits aid reinvestment. By reimagining the DNA of car with the help of R&D, more fuel-efficient and cleaner technologies, that preserve resources in a better way, lead to improved and safe vehicle as well as stability and job creation in the communities where we work and live. Strategic Implementation of Green Initiative With depleting natural resources and growing awareness of customers, environmental sustainability has become more important than ever before. Most professionals and experts insist companies to begin implementing green strategy with low hanging projects such as launching recycling programs, replacing light bulbs, or adopting energy efficient technology. The cost of these efforts is not high and they are easy to implement. It is also easier to get employees engaged in these efforts. However, when it comes to large multinationals, these efforts are diminutive. The core tool for implementing green initiative in Toyota is through Business Intelligence (BI). BI is the ability to fuse information and provide better insight into the business operations. It helps in monitoring performance across all units of business. Business intelligence can be applied to a wide variety of problems. For companies looking forward to apply this to manage emissions, energy usage and electricity consumption, BI is a good way to commence the procedure. BI provides criteria about how business can maintain and manage green initiative while taking the advantage of infrastructure. Information related to natural resource, power usage and energy consumption can be utilized with the framework. This can be obtained by determining desired usage, current usage and putting processes and practices into place for making required changes. Business intelligence can further help in following areas. Data Preparation and Current Infrastructure For new projects, data sources, and business rules need to be determined. In order to implement green initiative, a company may look for how to capture right data and essentials for developing effective ways to react and monitor events appropriately. Existing Green Initiatives If the green initiatives are not implemented before then the company needs to do trial and error along with communication with relevant stakeholders to determine business goals and rules. If company is expanding environmental awareness then it must use BI framework to ensure initiative goals are correctly captured and defined. Setting Realistic Expectations and Goals Company needs to determine what it expects to achieve and why. By making realistic goals, company can avoid scope creep. Evaluation and Control of Plan A comprehensive control plan for evaluating the performance of implementing green initiatives consists of three integral components. They include the following. 1. Impact Study This study measures the results of comprehensive interventions across the number of business units. This measurement will include primary and secondary results as well as will quantify the impact on individual customers, household, community, environment, site levels, and programs. 2. Cost Benefit Analysis Cost benefit analysis attempts to substantiate the approximate cost incurred while implementing the green initiatives. Cost benefit analysis will incorporate direct costs and real costs of program service delivery. After a certain period of implementing green initiatives, benefits must be analyzed in terms of serving environment and community, financial benefits, brand reputation etc. 3. Process Study This study will help in contextualization of benefits and impacts derived in the evaluation components mentioned earlier. With varying models across the participating sites, this study will help in striving to understand why and how outcomes differ. This study will also help in getting feedbacks regarding sharing of best practices and technical assistance. A well-designed study will also serve term need of implementing a healthy integrated green approach in further communities. Conclusion There are number of energy efficient options available for organization. Producing more efficient plants and engines are expected to be more energy efficient than previous plants. Less resin will be used in order to reduce the overall level of odor. By implementing green initiatives, the entire relevant environment will be benefited. Risks will be minimized and water facilities will improve at all levels. In addition, ground water control and new soil will improve the foundation of soil, ground, and water contamination. How these initiatives are formulated, planned, executed, and implemented, depends entirely on the organization. It must be borne in mind that companies are always benefited by implementing green initiatives. However, if they are implemented properly, then it is better for environment, people, communities, and other living beings. Works Cited Durham, Mark. (2006). Honda CEO Outlines Green Initiatives. Retrieved from: http://www.wired.com/autopia/2006/12/honda_ceo_outli/ Noria Corporation, (n.d.). Ford Motor Company outlines its top 10 green initiatives. Retrieved from: http://www.reliableplant.com/Read/5906/green-initiatives-ford Lesser, Shawn. (2012). Top Ten Sustainability Initiatives of General Motors (GM). Retrieved from: http://blog.cleantechies.com/2012/02/02/top-ten-sustainability-initiatives-of-general-motors-gm/ Read More