Just how green is your company? Consider the
Four Dimensions of Greeness and ways to measure it in your operation:
- How well a company works to limit its greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprint.
- How actively a company supports resource conservation, recycling, and waste reduction.
- How effectively a company demonstrates an organizational commitment to environmental leadership and stewardship through donations, public service, and other forms of outreach.
- How believably a company offers green, earth-friendly, or environmentally conscious products and services.
Paul Schwarz,
in his GreenBiz.com article: The Four Dimensions of Greeness, writes:
As more companies embrace corporate responsibility and environmental stewardship, they are beginning to realize that becoming a greener company takes more than a simple check-the-box approach.
Rather, becoming greener requires a comprehensive organizational commitment that is focused first on the inward actions of the company. It must then make a concerted effort to help customers become more environmentally friendly, before reaching out to involve communities and society.
All of this is supported by recent research we conducted to better understand business decision maker attitudes regarding the environment and green corporate behaviors among U.S. midsize and enterprise companies. Nearly 70 percent of businesses in our survey strongly agreed that companies have social responsibilities beyond the operating of their businesses.
What does this mean? It strongly suggests that business decision makers and hence, businesses in general, are embracing a broader role in society that extends beyond providing products and services to customers, and jobs to employees. This socially responsible viewpoint also establishes a baseline for understanding decision maker attitudes and opinions about environmentally conscious corporate behavior.
Paul Schwarz is the vice president at
HANSA|GCR, where he leads the technical development and analysis of
Gartner's syndicated research service,
IT Watch, focused on B2B spending trends and vendor selection.
