The Calculus of Green Business

Over the past few years, environmental issues have become increasingly more important, not only as an ecological concern lead by activists but as an economic matter lead by business savvy individuals. For many corporations the green movement can translate directly into increased efficiency and therefore increased profits. Flextronics for example has found a way to refurbish their own products, Motorolla cell phones, to optimize resource use and profits. This comes after the realization that their competitors were using the Flextronic products and refurbishing them to compete against Flextronic and make a profit. Other companies such as HP and Xerox are going green in order to increase efficiency and competitiveness. The ultimate goal of a manager is to achieve high performance (profits) by using resources in an effective and efficient way. Flextronic’s competitors were able to make profits using minimal resources, simply by buying and refurbishing the products of Flextronics. As a result Flextronic had to find a way to compete against their own refurbished products. They effectively copied their competitors green strategies which increased their profits at no added cost. The managers adjusted to keep up with their competitors while simultaneously making Flextronic more efficient. Not only does implementing the green movement into your management strategy increase efficiency it also increases your competitive edge. Taking an eco-friendly stance in a companies marketing campaigns can give the business an edge over the competition, especially now when environmental issues are so sensitive. Flextronics competitors were able to present their product, the same product Flextronic was producing, in an eco-friendly way making it overall more appealing without incurring any further costs and therefore Flextronic followed suite, something all managers aim to do. Going green is not just good for the environment, it is good for business. It can make a company run more