Coco-Mat
S.A.
Corporate
Environmental Responsibility
Written Individual Project- Level 6
Meletios Lioulis
ID:131247
MG 4128 A1 Corporate Social Responsibility
November 23, 2018
Professor: Kyriaki Metinidou
Fall Semester 2018
Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3
Corporate Environmental Responsibility ........................................................................ 3
CER Stages ...................................................................................................................... 4
Environmental Management in Practice (EMPs) ............................................................ 5
Top Management Commitment and Leadership .................................................... 5
Clear Goals and Metrics .......................................................................................... 6
Employee Engagement ........................................................................................... 6
Rewards and Incentives .......................................................................................... 6
Environmental Monitoring, Auditing, and Reporting .............................................. 6
Environmental Partnerships.................................................................................... 7
COCO-MAT Case Study ................................................................................................... 7
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 9
References.................................................................................................................... 10
Acronyms...................................................................................................................... 11
Appendix 1 ................................................................................................................... 12
Appendix 2 (Interview Questions) ................................................................................ 13
Introduction
According to the expanding mindfulness on fundamental issues, and the
greatness of expenses related, it has turned out to be essential for organizations to
coordinate environmental endeavors into their business methodology. There is a
developing awareness among associations on preservations and ideal use of natural
assets to increase also competitive advantage through corporate environmental
responsibility (Hart, 1995). As a result, the green part of CSR is characterized as an
obligation to cover the natural implications of the organization's activities, items, and
offices, reduce waste, augment the effectiveness of its assets, and minimize activities
that burden the environment. This project will investigate the stages and the
management practices concerning Corporate Environmental Responsibility (CER)
within an organization.
Moreover, the project will be examining the costs, benefits, and the approaches
that a company have to take into consideration the application of Corporate
Environmental Responsibility. COCO-MAT S.A Athens profile has been picked, with
the end goal to have more extensive and more precise information. Human Resource
manager Eugenia Liannou has directed orderly qualitative research.
Corporate Environmental Responsibility
Corporate environmental responsibility as examined by Jamison et al. (2005),
considering natural duty, whereby the organization completely enfold and has a net
positive effect on condition and society. Partner commitments such as stakeholders with
full straightforwardness and responsibility, and a procedure to connect with and enable
stakeholders are punctuated. Generally, CER can be portrayed as precautionary
measures and arrangements that companies receive to decrease and forestall risks for
the environment (Kusku, 2007), alongside stakeholder's support to initiate
transparency. It fits well for organizations to be environmental accountable in light of
their several substantial and insubstantial benefits (Hansen and Mowen, 2007).
According to this event, companies implement programs concerning corporate
environmental responsibility. The developing countries tend to focus on the material
well being according to Dasgupta et al. (2000) arguments, consequently at the first ages
of development, and pollution is an effect that can be referred as agreeable according
to economic growth.
However,
in
developed countries that have to accomplish an adequately high standard of living,
environmental enactment is achieved, foundations for the insurance of conditions are
introduced, and nature quality strides through higher implementations of practices and
innovative technologies about manufacturing goods. Some firms do not follow the
protocol to implement their responsibilities for the environment if the fines of violating
environment are smaller than the cost of compliance (Kusku 2007). As a result, some
challenges differ from a developing country to a developed country. Also, strategies
and environmental approaches of associations vary from the way to implement them
from country to country. The literature review on this paper continues to explain the
stages, management practices and cost and benefits regarding CER.
CER Stages
Porter (1991) recommended that great environmental performance is a potential
hot spot for competitive advantage as it can be prompt more proficient procedures,
enhancements in profitability and brings down expenses of consistency and new market
openings. A Harvard Study (Kotter & Hesket, 1992) recommends that great social
administration inside an organization has a positive relationship with great financial
performance. As a result, the environmental management of a corporation has a
significant impact on the whole operation of a company. The types of management in
this particular occasion listed as proactive and reactive management (Zhingang Fan &
Dong Wu, 2013), therefore both of them have core characteristics, but the results of the
study indicated that firms should pay more attention to the proactive management. To
emphasized better in environmental issues, three major stages covered as pollution
prevention, product stewardship, and clean technology (Lawrence & Weber, 2017).
Indeed natural assurance requires the prevention of pollution as opposed to the control
of squanders toward the finish of the pipeline. Prevention of pollution is the practice
that controls the utilization of materials, forms, and "practices that reduce, minimize,
or eliminating the creation of pollutants or wastes as a source (Michael Berry & Dennis
Rondivelli, 1998). Pollution prevention advances in assembling incorporate materials
substitution, process alternation, reusing of materials inside existing procedures. As a
result, this stage of management becomes a challenge for firms.
As following the second stage of CER regarding product
stewardship referred as the practice that is related to the life-cycle of the products
according to their effects on the environment. Product stewardship tends to be similar
to pollution prevention. They are two practices that could be operated in parallel
because of the common goal of reducing waste, recycling, and reusing of materials in
order to operate with sustainability. However, coming up to the third and last stage of
CER, the term of clean technology became very crucial, especially at the proactive
management. Also, developed countries have greater possibilities to reach this stages
because of the better conditions according to innovative technologies. Broadly, clean
technology is the practice in which companies emphasized in depth for the
implementation of CER. According to Lawrence & Weber (2017), we can define this
stage as a continuing attitude of the firms to upgrade their technologies through
innovations to support sustainability. The special target of this stage is to "provide
environmental benefits rather than prevent harm." As a result, companies looking for
the expansion of technology to better implement CER. Finally, evidence from
McKinsey (2014) shows that nowadays corporations driving their concerns through this
stage.
Environmental Management in Practice (EMPs)
Associations of all kind of dimension have an extensive degree for enhancing
their ecological execution. With inspirations going from eco-friendly to notoriety and
worries about the manageability of their operations, numerous associations tend to
diminish their effects on nature. Environmental management practices (EMPs) are
characterized as the common framework that incorporates natural systems and
procedures for the training of employees in a firm, for observing and controlling
ecological effect and for concluding, coordinating and revealing natural execution
(Robert Sroufe, Ram Narasimhan, Frank Montabon, Xinya Wang, 2017). As also
explained from the above authors, EMPs vary from internal and external operation
according to stakeholders. The levels of being participated in environmental
management practices are listed as operation, tactic and strategic. This paper will
emphasize in operational and tactic levels which are being utilized broadly because of
changing business condition and focus on environmental performance. Is going to be
described the nature of proactive environmental elements of performance with respect
on EMPs. These practices listed as following:
 Top Management Commitment and Leadership
 Clear Goals and Metrics
 Employee’s Engagement (line manager involvement)
 Rewards and Incentives
 Environmental Monitoring, Auditing, and Reporting
 Environmental Partnerships
Top Management Commitment and Leadership
Top management commitment and leadership are described as to which top
management or leadership of a firm is accountable for producing a sustainable effort
for the greater implementation of environmental performance (Isaiah O. Ugboro, Kofi
Obeng, 2000). These aspects cover the participatory attitude of CEOs to the
involvement in sustainability practices. This event focuses on starting and keeping up
quality objectives and culture of performance, correspondence with the best
administration vision and duty of nature related to green practices and the nearness of
approaches and methodologies upon the based idea regarding corporate environmental
responsibility (CER). Duties are made to continually enhance natural execution in an
organization's procedures, tasks, and exercises. An organization appears administration
in CER that endeavors to persistently enhance, tracks its enhancement and shows how
it has enhanced execution and lessened its natural effect (Jamison, Raynolds, Holroyd,
Veldman, 2005).
Clear Goals and Metrics
Clear goals setting is also a key for environmental performance since goals will
profit the business and grow open doors for the organization. Goals should be
optimistic, and it is appropriate to have a significant effect on a firm's ecological
footprint. From a business point of view, this is the manner by which support to
environmentalism can be sustainable for the company regarding in the long term
(Sustainability Goals,2010). Metrics, additionally, are primary devices to evaluate the
execution of the sustainability commitment program and can help reveal regions for
development (C2EC).
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is a working environment approach bringing about the
correct conditions for all individuals from associations to give their best, focused on
association's objectives and qualities, roused to add scholarly achievement with their
imposed feeling. It depends on trust, uprightness, and correspondence between
associations and their employees (Nita Clarke & David Macleod, 2008). Additionally,
employee engagement is a way to give the opportunity to the employee to identify clear
goals and be creative. This practice of sustainable management referred to the
involvement of line managers in decision making when we conclude the argument
about CER management practices. Cross-functional teams which referred to all
managers of every department in a firm, also, participate in environmental management
practices in the manner of efficiency and for the best ecological company's image
concerning nature.
Rewards and Incentives
As (Alfand & Shabieb, 2014) claimed in their research paper, rewards and
incentives in the working environment have benefits for representatives and the
business too. At the point when perceived for excellent execution and efficiency,
workers have expanded spirit, work fulfillment and contribution in hierarchical
capacities. Subsequently, managers encounter more exceptional proficiency through
rewards and incentives, and both managers and laborers are working in the manner of
a pleasant workplace.
Environmental Monitoring, Auditing, and Reporting
Auditing, monitoring and reporting sustainability practices as referred by
(David Nitkin & J. Brooks,1998) is the practice that mirrors developing
acknowledgment that is alluring and fundamental for associations to comprehend the
expenses and advantages of their activities upon partners. This practice covers the
consideration of the life cycle outcomes of items and services according to the current
environment or the worldwide economies. Triple bottom line (TBL) is a reporting tool
that is proposed to propel the objective of sustainability in management practices in
which the consideration of the firm is stretched out past benefits to incorporate social
and ecological issues and to indicate the aggregate expense of apply business.
Environmental Partnerships
Organizations have to make viable utilization of knowledge and outsourcing
data to perpetually reexamine their proactive projects and equalization ecological and
business needs. As a result, environmental partnerships are needed following
organizations to became broadly sustainable though expertise of a third party
collaboration for the enormous potential of CER (Lawrence, Weber,2017).
COCO-MAT Case Study
Coco-Matt is a Greek company with establishment stores around the world,
especially organization has a developing system of stores in 12 nations and supplies
clients in any place of the world. The organization of Greece was the first and
established in 1989, and its operations focused on the production of the mattress
through eco-friendly and natural materials. In 1992 the central organization station
moved to a new territory of industries in Xanthi (Northen Greece), which factory can
reach the appropriate requirements of the sustainable operating company through the
more extensive capacity of items such as the production of mattress and furniture.
Moreover, the specific strategy about quality worked in parallel with the application of
CER, because these actions operated for sustainable improvement and highlighted for
environmental quality materials for making goods. As a result, customer and employee
satisfaction, and the using of exclusively natural raw materials were the core
characteristics of the company's operation (Coco-matt, 2018).
Coco-Matt stages of (CER) worked in parallel with the business initiatives as
much as the voluntary initiatives and this sustainable forcing practices have a big
correlation with the company's environmental performance. Its structure and executed
program for utilizing plastic was one o the core actions. Besides, the plastic that has
just been utilized in the creation procedures of the organization is gathered after its
utilization and then reusing them as mentioned above for CER stages (Lawrence &
Weber,2017). The same action occurs with the paper utilized for authoritative needs of
the organization. Business initiatives following with the application of program which
promotes the slogan "less plastic." For this reason, company continuing the
supplantation of plastic through recoupment the plastic bedding case with texture and
the shipping of furniture is done in wooden boxes. Additionally, bags manufactured
from cotton as a whole are distributed in contrast to plastic bags. As a result, pollution
prevention is an accomplished goal for the company through substitution materials
using and process alteration. The second stage of CER is also achieved by the event of
reusing and recycling of materials. The sustainable horizon of initiatives is continuing
by the voluntary actions that have been made. The specific significance of natural
mindfulness that Coco-Matt illustrates focused on it is sponsorship to ecological
associations and on actions such as planting trees and cleaning rivers and beaches by
organization's voluntary teams. As a result, the company has won real honors for
ecological mindfulness.
The interdependence between environmental management practices, the
environmental audits, and technology that the company uses to manufacturing goods is
a vital characteristic of Coco-Matt. The company from the first act of its operation has
built up an arrangement with attention on quality and takes an interest in the "EFQM
Business Excellence Model." Also, the organization executes a quality and
environmental management system which are structured and worked in relation the
"OEKO- TEXT Standard 100" which is an outsourcing tool that investigates and
validates a framework for materials at all phase of generation to guarantee items
sheltered and don't comprise unsafe synthetics or chemical materials. The
environmental audits also based on "ISO 9001:2000" and "ISO 14001:2009" that
referred to the factory requirements for the sustainable process of production and the
meet of quality and environmental management (Liannou,2018). Under these
circumstances, Coco-Matt is an environmentally conscious company, so it actualizes
plenty of arrangements to diminish the negative impact on nature. The core practice,
examined from Coco-Matt perspective is to avoid the chemicals all through the creation
procedure. All of the materials that used by the specific company are natural such as
rubber, wool and cotton, horsehair, linen, and fibers that included in the coconut. The
commitment to keeping up biological instruments is additionally clear by the way that
the virtue level of the natural rubber created in the company highlighted up to 96%
(Liannou,2018). By the recognition of the environmental audits based on "GOTS"
company's products such as mattresses are made by 100% organic cotton. The
innovative technology of using and combine materials for a sustainable product and the
event of covering high standards, the EMPs of Coco-Matt work in relation also with
the stage of clean technology. The company of Coco-Matt is committed to decreasing
its environmental footprint, as it is elaborated above by promoting and use natural and
healthy materials. The organization has adequately restricted the utilization of synthetic
compounds in the treatment of items absolutely. Coco-Matt also takes a stab at limiting
the measure of waste. Its factory that is located in the industrial are of Xanthi (Northen
Greece) achieved the challenges that avoid industrial noise and has no chimney to
prevent pollution through the utilization of gas both to the machines and cars. By
putting the resources into new generation strategies company has accomplished a
sustainable rate of 96% today and reached the test by utilizing 100% natural wool and
focuses on making beds that are 100% organic(Coco-Matt website, 2018).
Moreover, according to the
implementation of CSR, the company has a persistent exertion concerning employees
to give development prospects, perfect working conditions and lower working hours.
Representatives get an expansive number of benefits such as proceeding with education
through participation in conferences and events for environmental accountability. Also,
it is basic to evaluate the singular achievements of staff as progression and gifts and the
chance to participate in the implementation of CER as we examined in the literature
review (Nita Clarke & David Macleod, 2008).
The environmental impact of the task of the focal processing plant of
Coco-Matt is ceaselessly decreased to a minimum. For example, the only waste of water
is the water used for the production line, those of the staff used and for the standard
cleaning(Liannou,2018). Machinery also is confirmed by CE check for avoiding
pollution. Additional, advantages are the fulfillment of the general public, the
acknowledgment of the organization as a model of social commitment, the expansion
of efficiency, the decrease of expenses and the way that organization through natural
process and sustainable outcomes created loyalty with customers and clients and both
attract and retain talented and connected employees. The welfare on the society also
creates a positive reputation for the company as well as Coco-Matt is remaining on a
firmly accounting report and has perfect relations with local and outside suppliers and
franchisees with durable contracts
Conclusion
To sum up, CER is a crucial factor for all companies, especially if take into
consideration the climate change concerns. Companies have to respect the environment
in which they operate. Coco-matt is an example of that kinds of companies and has as
a purpose not only to apply the CER, but to create an ecological and environmental
attitude in people’s live and inspire them for environmental welfare.
Words count: 2.200
References
David Macleod, Nita Clark, (2008), "Engaging For Success: Enhancing Performance
through Employee Engagement.
David Nitkin & Leonard J. Brooks, (1998), "Sustainability Auditing and Report:
The Canadian Experience," Journal of Business Ethics 17: 1499-1507.
Dasgupta S., Wang H., Wheeler D., (2000), “What improves environmental
compliance? Evidence from Mexican Industry". Journal of
Environmental Economics and Management, vol. 39 No. 1, pp.39-66.
Jamison A. Raynolds M., Holroyd P., Veldman E., (2005), "Defining Corporate
Environmental Responsibility," Canadian ENGO Perspectives, The
Pembina Institute.
Hansen D.R. & Mowen M.M., (2007), "Managerial Accounting," Thomson South and
Western, Mason, OH.
Hart S.L., (1995), "A Natural-Resource-Based View of the Firm," Academy of
Management Review, Vol. 20 No.4, pp. 986-1014.
Kotter John & Hesket James, (1992), "Corporate Culture and Performance."
Kusku F., (2007), “From Necessity to Responsibility: Evidence for Corporate
Environmental Citizenship Activities from a Developing Country
Perspective," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, Vol. 14 No.2, pp. 74-87.
Mazurkiewicz & Priot, (2003), “Corporate Self-regulations and Multi-stakeholder
Dialogue, in Handbook of Voluntary Environmental Agreements, "Klyver
Academic Publisher.
Michael A. Berry & Dennis A. Rondvielli, (1998), “Proactive Corporate
Environmental Management: A new industrial revolution, "Academy
Management Institute, Vol. 12 No. 2.
of
Porter Michael, (1991), “America’s Green Strategy”, scientific American 264(4); p.96.
Robert Sroufe, Ram Narasimhan, Frank Montabon, Xinya Wang, (2017), “Greener
Management International: Environmental Management Practices."
Sumita Sindhi & Nirah Kumar, (2012), “Corporate Environmental Responsibility Transitional and Evolving”, Management of Environmental Quality:
An international journal, Vol.23 Iss:6, pp. 640-657.
Zhigang Fan & Dong Wu, (2013), “Proactive and Reactive Strategic Flexibility in
Coping with Environmental Change in Innovation," Asian Journal of
Technology Innovation, 21 (2): 187-201.
Websites: COCO-MATT Official Website,2018.
Acronyms
EMPs : Environmental Management Practices
CEOs : Chief Executive Officers
CER : Corporate Environmental Responsibility
TBL : Triple Bottom Line
C2EC : Center for Climate Energy Solutions
GOTS : Global Organic Textile Standards
OEKO-TEX : International Association for Research and Testing in the
Field of Textile and Leather Ecology
EFQM : European Foundation Quality Management
Appendix 1
(Table 1. EMPs Graphic)
Appendix 2 (Interview Questions)
Please describe if the company follows business or voluntary initiatives in order to act
sustainable ?