Introduction
As the need to enhance environmental conservation and sustainability has continued to grasp attention in all regions all over the world, organizations have boldly come out in support of and recognition of their role in protecting as well as sustaining the very environment they operate in.
The following is an environmental friendly strategy for Quality Computers Limited (QCL) a fast-growing and one of the leading company dealing with computer systems such as desktop computers, netbooks, servers as well as work stations to individuals, organizations and other businesses. The company also deals with other computer applications and peripherals that include LCD monitors, displays, printers and USB drives.
The company that was established in 1998 has over the years continued to manufacture computers parts and products of high quality for personal, business, or even corporate use. The strategy laid out is in accordance with the company’s set goals and objectives.
One such objective is enhancing environmental conservation and creating a production atmosphere that is environmental friendly. The strategy is inclusive of important business components that include social responsibility, ethical leadership practices, sustainability, as well as legal considerations.
Discussion
Social responsibility
With the unprecedented environmental disasters which have been reported in the 21st century, the environmental protection and the conservation of the natural resources for future generations have become integral elements of the international policies.
At present, every company has to come to realization of its social responsibility before the society and develop the strategies which correspond to the principles of ethical and environmental sustainability.
The term of sustainable development is used to define the principles of integrating the ethical and environmental consideration into the companies’ strategies. Though environmentally-friendly projects can be rather expensive, the principle of environmental sustainability should not be associated with the increased expenses only.
The use of the innovative strategies opens up new opportunities which allow recycling the remains and using the alternative sources of energy.
At the same time, along with the realization of their social responsibility and the importance of the application of the principles of sustainable development, the transformed legislation and regulations, as well as the accountability principles, are the factors which motivate contemporary companies to develop environmentally-friendly strategies.
In line with its set out objective that calls for the development of a program that works towards maintaining social responsibility, sustainability and society development, QCL needs to ensure that their activities, products, methods and process of production are those that aim at achieving this integrative objective.
The company will aim at reducing the external impact it has on the environment through the adoption of programs that promote energy efficiency that will result in process undertakings and manufacture of products that are energy efficient.
Other than its impact on the external environment, the company through its programs will also be able to create an internal environment that is also energy efficient and that will be beneficial for the company through various ways that include the reduction of production energy costs, increased productivity and profitability.
Through power management of personal computers, for example, the company will be able to save approximately $ 1.3 million in terms of costs of energy through the use of particular soft wares for energy management.
Creation of eco-friendly environment within the company will require setting up of goals geared towards this purpose as well as setting up projects that will work towards the achievement of these targets (Blomstrom, 1995).
One such goal is the promotion of product recycling whereby materials used to manufacture all computer systems; products are peripherals are those that are recyclable. Another goal of the company will be to reduce the level of carbon intensity by 20 percent by the year 2015.
QLC’s environmental level of performance will be reported in the Corporate Social Responsibility annual report in accordance with protocols laid out by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The presented report will include information on the various components that include sustainability, corporate social responsibility issues like, for example, those to do with the protection of the environment as well as the rights of workers.
As opposed to the obsolete misconceptions concerning the negative impact of the eco-friendly strategies on the companies’ profits, the concept of the triple bottom line which comprises the three P (People, Planet, Profit) shows that the human, ecological and economical dimensions of the companies are interconnected and the implementation of the principles of the environmental sustainability can be beneficial for each of them.
The application of the concept of the triple bottom line as one of the central accountability principles allows evaluating not only economical success of the firm but also taking into account its progress made in the spheres of social development and environmental protection.
With the increasing social expectations applied to business, the companies’ objectives cannot be limited to meeting economical targets only and need to be based on the values-driven management and principles of sustainable development.
Legal and regulatory considerations
The goals and programs set up are those that are in accordance with the various environmental standards and legal laws that have been put up to ensure environmental conservation and to protect members of the public from harm caused by toxic waste products and emissions obtained from manufacturing companies and industries.
These standards will be used as a guide not only in the planning but also in the implementation process to ensure quality performance and successful achievement of positive results.
The principles of sustainable development are declared in the international legislative documents and the integration of the component of the environmental consideration into the company’s strategy has become one of the directions of the international policies. “Ecological sustainability was implied in the Brundtland Report on sustainable development and, more importantly, in the 1992 Rio Declaration” (Bosselmann p. 41).
Along with the efforts of the international organizations and commissions, the principles of environmental sustainability are reflected in the local regulations of every state specifying the standards which are to be met by all the firms.
For the purpose of controlling the fulfillment of the proclaimed goals of environmental sustainability in concrete companies, the government has developed the reports for making the firms accountable for their actions.
Filling in the Corporate Social Responsibility annual report, the firms have to provide the relevant information on the measures which were imposed by organizations for meeting the goals of protecting the environment and using the natural resources reasonably.
The implementation of the environmentally-friendly strategies into practice was followed by the transformation of the existing legislation and regulations for stimulating the companies to proceed from words to actions on their path of sustainable development.
The transformed legislation and regulations on the local, state and international levels have made the companies accountable for implementation of the environmentally-friendly strategies, enhancing their environmental responsibility.
The environmental friendly strategy for Quality Computers Limited corresponds to the current legislation acts and regulations which control the integration of the principle of environmental consideration into the company’s strategies.
Sustainability considerations and recommendations
As a way of ensuring sustainability, a few sustainability measures will be used. One such measure will include making an estimate of the amount of greenhouse emissions of gas is produced by each of the various products they bring into the market. This estimate will be inclusive of the various factors through the entire product life cycle that starts with the acquisition of raw materials for each product through mining.
Another measure is the production of laptops and LCD screens that have glass as well as aluminum enclosures that are recyclable, displays and display glasses that do not contain any amount of mercury and arsenic respectively. Manufactured electrical components, computer cables, internal parts of the system, circuit boards and other mechanical parts will not contain any trace of PVC and BFR.
Designing laptops that are energy efficient will be another effective measure. More focus will, therefore, be placed on manufacturing laptops and screens that consume only a minimal and manageable amount of energy.
In addition to this, the level of energy consumed by QLC’s computer systems will further get reduced through the enhancement of power management practices of the Central Processing Unit and by increasing the efficiency of computer hardware.
Another essential measure that if undertaken is going to be a great success in terms of ensuring that the products brought out into the market are environmental friendly will be the adoption of a system called.
The Eco Highlights label. Here, each of the products manufactured by the company and that is in accordance with all environmental laws and standards will be fixed with a label to indicate so. Through this, consumers will then be able to purchase products that are eco-friendly as per their different choices or preferences.
This system will enhance continued energy efficiency, use of recyclable materials during manufacturing as well as eco-friendly packaging for the company. Information on this undertaking will be placed on the company’s website. Reduction of the level of carbon emissions will be measured through obtained quarterly reports that will be filled obtained from recorded data of the emissions.
Corporate Social Responsibility has been defined as a company’s continued commitment to ensure that all processes and company undertakings are done in an ethical way and make a contribution the development of the society. Through CSR, companies are able to improve the living conditions of not just their employees but also that of community members and society as a whole.
CSR calls for all companies and businesses to integrate both environmental as well as social concerns in their various company undertakings and transactions with different partners and stakeholders. CSR works in what is referred to as the triple bottom line that entails people or the community, the environment and company profit-making (Visser, 2007).
Ethical leadership considerations
Commitment to promoting an environmental friendly production process that is successful and sustainable and the promotion of corporate social responsibility requires efficient and effective leadership skills among the various managers and team leaders involved. This process will entail having considerations of the various ethical standards, good management skills as well as a good level of decision making.
Other than making profit and fulfilling their economic responsibility, managers have a great role to play in ensuring that the society or surrounding community benefits from the various undertakings of the organization. This means that the society should be able to feel the positive impacts of the organization and that the actions of the organization should not in any way bring harm to society members.
The rights approach calls for the need to ensure that actions undertaken are those that have minimal or no harmful effects on individuals.
Based on this approach, managers have a responsibility in ensuring that community members are not harmed by the various activities and actions that a company may be undertaking in search for profits (Singer, 132). Promotion of eco-friendly manufacturing processes is one way through which this can be done.
Disregarding all the recent progress in the sphere of promoting the principles of environmental sustainability and transformation of the current legislative acts and regulations, the development of the environmental friendly strategies remains one of the ethical issues, and their settlement requires strong leadership. Dealing with the risks and opportunities of the environmental friendly project is a true leadership challenge.
The costs which are required for the implementation of the environmentally friendly strategies can be easily measured while the advantages and the positive results of the project are not that obvious. In particular cases, a substantial time lag is required for the assessment of the benefits of deciding on environmental friendly strategies.
It means that the company managers need to obtain strong ethical principles and avoid concentrating on the actual financial profits for the firm only. Though contribution of every employee to the development of environmental friendly project is valuable, the choice of the strategies and decision-making process depends upon the views of senior management.
The strength of the ethical considerations of the leaders of the company is critical for the integration of the environmental component into the company’s strategies and making the ethical choices on the company’s level.
The implementation of the environment-friendly strategy at Quality Computers Limited would depend upon the strength of the ethical considerations of the firm’s senior management and leaders of the departments. The views of the leaders and their personal example can have a significant impact on the success of the realization of the environmental friendly project.
Conclusion
By creating an environmental friendly production process, QLC will be able to promote sustainability, social responsibility, business and leadership ethics as well as work in accordance with set up environmental legal standards and laws.
Enhancing eco-friendliness will be one way through which the company will be able to promote Green IT and join other major computer manufacturers who have successfully been able to achieve this. The development of environmentally-friendly strategy is preconditioned with the contemporary demands of social responsibility and accountability of business.
Requiring strong ethical leadership and certain expenses, the realization of the environmentally-friendly project corresponds to the international standards and regulations aimed at preserving the natural resources for future generations.
Reference List
Blomstrom, K. (1995). Business and Society: Environment and Responsibility. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Bosselmann, K. (2008). The principle of sustainability: Transforming law and governance. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.
Singer, P. (1993) Practical Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Visser, W. et al. (2007) The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility. London, England; New York, NY: Wiley.