Green Marketing - Corporate Strategies of Multinational Companies - Essay Example

?Research Proposal Green Marketing: Corporate Strategies of Multinational Companies Table of Contents Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 3 1 Background 3 2 Research Objectives 3 1.3 Research Questions 4 Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 4 Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 6 Gantt chart or Timeline for Conducting the Research study 7 Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 8 Chapter V: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 9 REFERNCES 10 Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background The focus of the companies towards green marketing shifted in the 80s while during the 90s the legislation related to environmental increased subsequently. This increased the environmental awareness level even in the business domain. The organizations for global business and industries round the world have taken various steps to understand and fight against the risk of climate changes and greenhouse gas emission. All the countries round the world are concerned about the carbon footprints and its effects. The developed countries have already taken various measures and adopted policies under the Kyoto Protocol. The other developing countries are taking steps towards reduction of greenhouse effect but none of them have accepted the international legal bindings to do so (Ackerstein, and Katherine, 2007; Ginsburg, and Bloom, 2004). This study would be focusing on green marketing, which would not only include the corporate strategies of the multinationals towards manufacturing and selling their products in an eco-friendly manner, but also analyze the other functions of the companies, which also depict their eco-friendly initiatives such as adoption of green accounting, and eco-friendly promotional strategies. Few well-known multinational companies would be chosen to discuss their green strategic framework within which environment friendly production, operation, promotion, supply chain, and even financial practices would be comprehensively discussed. 1.2 Research Objectives The aim of this research study is to scrutinize the eco-friendly marketing strategies that are adopted by the multinational companies. The major objectives would be to recognize the green or eco-friendly strategic framework of few multinational companies, and evaluate the benefits that these companies enjoy for such an initiative. 1.3 Research Questions The research questions have been formulated in line with the aims and objectives of this research study. They are stated below: Q1: How does the multinational companies segment their target market on the basis of customers; preference for green marketing or products? Q2: What prerequisites are considered for selecting green marketing strategies in these companies? Q3: How does the marketing mix change when the company chooses to shift towards green marketing? Q4: What benefits or advantages companies enjoys after adopting eco-friendly strategies? Q5: How does green accounting benefit multinational companies? Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW Literature review assist in evaluation of scientific theories and literature that has been identified through research. These are information available through existing database on green marketing and related strategies adopted by the companies in the past and also during the present business environment. These information or data in turn also assist in laying foundation for further research studies. Ginsberg and Bloom (2004), stated in order to proceed with conducting a research on the stated research question, firstly, a rich understanding on green marketing and the preferences of the customers for it, has to be gained. Various research studies show that in order to identify the target market in this case, there is requirement for customers’ tendency towards green marketing (Fuller, 1999; Coddington, 1993). There is no fixed green marketing strategy on the basis of which all the companies design their strategic framework. It depends on the aims, objectives, mission, and vision of the company (Polonsky and Charter, 1999). The consumption of energy and change in climate are closely related. Multinationals understand the relation between the greenhouse gases and the energy consumption. In short if the usage of energy consumption is reduced then the emission of green house gases can also be reduced. Companies need to find short-term solutions to reduce their greenhouse gas emission. Many non-government organizations have come up with initiatives to conserve the environment and take actions to protect it (Peattie, 1999). The middle-east countries are highest emitters of greenhouse gases. Developments of strategies for green marketing in case of multinational companies are complex. Studies and surveys have revealed that green marketing has not only identified innovative ways for the companies, so that they make a difference in the market, but also assisted them to achieve success (Grant, 2007). Different authors have proposed diverse models, and theories for green marketing. However, a holistic and integrated approach is required, so that the marketing mix ingredients can be properly blended (Polonsky and Charter, 1999). This is because the companies would be able to convert their plans into actions only when the marketing mix is designed in line with the environmental norms and green objectives of the companies. The strategy to be implemented has to be such that it would be environmentally superior and also act as a competitive advantage by encouraging innovation, and tap desired target market. Fuller (1999) suggested that in this competitive environment, the companies which do not put into practice green marketing or innovative eco-friendly strategies have to struggle in order to sustain in the global market, and apart from this, they are also considered unresponsive and uncompetitive. According to Ottman (1998), green marketing strategies assist companies to escalate their market share and generate more revenue (Klonski, 1991). Other authors have stated that other benefits like reduction of trade barriers, operational cost, improvement in relation with employees, and community, and environmental and societal improvement are some of the positive effects of green marketing (Kuhre, 1995). The literature review will critically analyse the effect of green marketing corporate strategies in multinational companies. Generally green marketing is associated with production of eco-friendly products, but in the literature review of this research study, green marketing strategies in case of operational functions, accounting, and promotion, supply chain would be analysed, so as to reveal how green marketing strategies can benefit companies internally. Chapter III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In this study the researcher would be adopting a case study approach in order to achieve deeper insights in green marketing and corporate strategies associated with it. The case study approach is used when researchers try to focus on various research studies in order to get a deeper insight of the situation. It has been observed that when researcher has less control over certain events and when they want to focus on the current phenomenon based on real context in order to answer why and how questions, then case study approach is the most preferred way (Ghuari and Gronhaug, 2005). The research would be conducted through a comparative analysis between five eminent multinational companies and a qualitative research study would be carried out that would assist the researcher to understand and interpret the nature of the data collected for the research. The research would be initiated with an in-depth study and critical review of the literature that would be specific to the research problem. This would also include operationalisation of the environmental issues that are present within the marketing mix, and the strategies would be developed accordingly. The objective of the researcher would to understand the strategic development of the companies towards establishment of sustainability through green marketing techniques. In order to conduct the qualitative analysis, secondary data would be collected from authentic sources, such as journal articles, newspapers, books, magazines, and other electronic sources. Secondary data sources are easily available at less cost and they are not raw data, as they have been collected and tested already. Moreover sustainability reports of the companies are the most authentic sources of data that would be valuable for conducting this research study (Creswell, 2003). This research study does not involve any human subjects since primary research would not be conducted. However, it would be kept in mind that the secondary data are collected from authentic and valid sources. It would be also kept in mind that infringement of any intellectual property rights is not done. Gantt chart or Timeline for Conducting the Research study In order to conduct a research study, it is important to manage time efficiently, and this is possible by following certain deadline or timeline. In order to conduct this research efficiently and complete the research study on time, a Gantt chart has been stated below: Activity Date April 13 May 13 Jun 13 July 13 Aug 13 Sep 13 Oct 13 Nov 13 Dec 13 Jan 13 Planning the research study                     Preparing the proposal of the study                     Submitting the proposal                     After approval preparing the 1st draft of the project                     Submitting for approval of research subject                     After approval collection of secondary data                     Drafting the literature review                     Submitting for approval                     After approval analyzing the research data                     Draft submitted for approval                     Finally concluding the research report with appropriate recommendations                     Submitting the final research report and preparing for oral exam                     Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS The findings and analysis section would be including the case study analysis of the data collected through secondary sources and a discussion that would relate the data findings and analysis, with the research objective and question. Chapter V: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION The conclusion and recommendation section will not only summarise the research study but also state the limitations that the researcher faced while conducting the research study, and other aspect that could be also focused towards conducting further research. It would also include recommendations that can be suggested to the companies for further enhancing their green marketing strategies. REFERNCES Ackerstein, D. S., and Katherine, L. A., 2007. Greening the brand: Environmental marketing strategies and the American consumer: Business research methods. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Coddington, W., 1993. Environmental marketing: Positive strategies for reaching the green consumer. New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. Creswell, J. W., 2003. Research design: Qualitative, quantitative and mixed method approaches. California: Sage Publications. Fuller, D. A., 1999. Sustainable marketing: Managerial-ecological issues. London: Sage Publications. Ghuari, O., and Gronhaug, K., 2005. Research methods in Business studies: A practical guide. 3rd ed. Harlow: Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Ginsburg, J. M., and Bloom, O., 2004. Choosing the right marketing strategy. MIT Sloan management review, 46(1), p. 79-84 Grant, J., 2007. The green marketing manifesto. Cornwall: TJ International Ltd. Klonski, R. J., 1991. Foundational consideration in the corporate social responsibility debate. Business horizons, 34 (4), p. 9-18. Kuhre, W. L., 1995. ISO 14020s environmental labelling – Marketing. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Ottman, J., 1998. Green marketing: Opportunity for innovation. 2nd ed. Lincolnwood, IL: NTC Business Books. Peattie, K., 1999. Trappings versus substance in the greening of marketing planning. Journal of strategic marketing, 7, p. 131-148. Polonsky, M. J., and Charter, M., 1999. Greener marketing: A global perspective on greening marketing practice. Sheffield: Greenleaf Publishing. Read More