Greening the Message
Ethical Decision-Making in Action
The production process is changing. These changes are to make things more efficient. The company wants to get the word out that things are changing for the company and the want the people to know. They want the public to know that they are going green. They can either keep quiet about it, or they can make the most of it let the public know. However, the waste has not been reduced. And the team must decide now what to do.
The team voted, and we are going to abandon the green message. It was concluded that company cannot win with this message that we are going green while the waste output is high. Instead we will send a more positive message. One that concentrates on being more energy efficient. We have to reconcile the benefits to the company to that of the stakeholders. The cost of going green is increasing. When you add in the cost of climate change, (things are heating up, temperatures are rising, thus companies have to spend more money to keep up.) now there is a better need of a collective vision that is shared that is based more on honesty, integrity, caring, and respect for each other, the planet, the economic way of life (Estes, 2009).
The decisions that we have made, to abandon the green message is the right course. The company can’t win with that. So, being more energy efficient will help us. The waste output is high, so we need a way to cut it. To do this, the company needs to implement Lean Six Sigma. The question is, how do they reduce waste? Reducing waste using Six Sigma is more ‘green’ than just going green. The basic goals are high quality, low cost, short cycle times, flexibility, an all-out effort to drive out waste from the company and all value being defined by the customer (Carreira & Trudell, 2006).
The Hierarchy of Strategies, like above, is essential in implementing the new strategies. According to Gluck, Kaufman, & Walleck, 1980, this is largely accomplished by three mechanisms:
1. A planning framework that cuts across organizational boundaries and facilitates strategic decision making about customer groups and resources.
2. A planning process that stimulates entrepreneurial thinking.
3. A corporate value system that reinforces managers’ commitment to the company’s strategy (Gluck, Kaufman, & Walleck, 1980).
By using this, and using the Lean Six Sigma, the company will cut waste and make the production more efficient.
The positioning strategy for the company is trade shows and the general public. Look at this way, the company has to communicate with everyone that may buy the product. So, what better way than to go to them. Trade shows provide a way to get to the bigger tech companies. Going to them and showing them why they need this product from us, can increase production, sales, etc. When going to the general public, having an open house of sorts to introduce the product to them and why they need it and how it will make their life easier, is a great thing.
The team can use these to make the decisions it needs to get waste down and make things more efficient. When making the decisions, they should look at the long-range plans and the long- range outcomes that can and will be affected.
REFERENCES
Carreira, B., & Trudell, B. (2006). Lean Six Sigma That Works : A Powerful Action Plan for Dramatically Improving Quality, Increasing Speed, and Reducing Waste.
Estes, J. (2009). Smart Green : How to Implement Sustainable Business Practices in Any Industry – and Make Money.
Gluck, F. W., Kaufman, S. P., & Walleck, A. S. (1980, July 1). Strategic Management for Competitive Advantage. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/1980/07/strategic-management-for-competitive-advantage
Hierarchy of Strategies. In: ManagementMania.com [online]. Wilmington (DE) 2011-2018, 06/25/2015 [cit. 09/04/2018]. Available at: https://managementmania.com/en/hierarchy-of-strategies
