A. K. Townsend

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Green Business

This book offers a five-part model companies can follow to "green" themselves. Moreover, it shares the success, and failures, of forerunners in this fast-growing business trend. This book details why and how businesses are becoming more environmentally firendly. It sites seventeen case studies that illustrate "green" advantages enjoyed by companies like Interface, Inc., Patagonia, IBM, Mitsubishi Corporation, and others. Winning "green" practices like the following have enahanced the performance of companies, both in employee retention, customer loyalty, and overall profits. * Patagonia encouraged employees to be active outdoor and paid them to work for non-profit organizations, and enjoyed a rise in loyalty among its staff * IBM saved $17.8 million dollars one year simply by encouraging employees to turn off unused lights and equipment * The implementing of greener practices is credited for a 1,100-percent increase in stock value since 1992 for Suncor Energy * By encouraging green practices and making sustainability a company-wide goal, Interface, Inc. was named one of Fortune's "Top 100 Places to Work in the Country" * Since it started producing "greener" products, Electrolux has experienced a 3.5-percent increase in profit margins This groundbreaking book suggests that the future of green business may lie in the new field of "business ecology." Learn what is driving this movement and what a company needs to do to improve its environmental performance. While many companies have made great strides in improving their environmental performances, there is little standardization for what is "greened."