Environmental Minimization Strategies for Nokia Siemens Corporation - Assignment Example

Corporate Social Responsibility Environmental Minimization Strategies for Mobile Telecommunication Gadget Manufacture: Nokia Siemens Corporation Introduction In recent years corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly critical concept in shaping business competitiveness and sustainable development (Business for Social Responsibility, 2009). According to Haigh and Jones (2006), on the basis of generic definitions for sustainable development, it implies a situation whereby a firm combines its economic goals with the responsibility for the social and ecological impacts those goals have on the environment. Among scholars and researchers in business management, there are both critics and supporters of CSR. While critics indicate that CSR is mostly a self-interest and PR practice with no benefits to the society (Margolis and Walsh, 2003), supporters of the concept believe that it provides value for businesses, societies and ecosystems (Porter and Crammer, 2006). According to Haigh and Jones (2006), CSR has great potential as a strategy for value addition both business and the environment if two important conditions are achieved. The first condition is that CSR has to be integrated in the company’s core strategy while the second condition is that the company should be able to monitor the additional values resulting from the CSR. Manufacturing companies, like all other businesses, have embraced the concept of CSR for its benefits. CSR is particularly important for manufacturing firms because of the impact of their activities on the environment which have been associated with pollution and climate change. Over the past two decades, CSR strategy for environmental sustainability has been made a legal requirement for manufacturing companies in most countries (Smith, 2010). One of the companies that have been affected by this is Nokia Siemens Corporation. The company has had to come up with CSR strategies both for meeting legal requirements and for its own benefits, this paper examines the CSR strategy of Nokia Siemens Corporation, benefits of the strategy, one environmental concern it has to cope with and strategies for dealing with it. Nokia Siemens Corporation CSR Strategy Nokia Siemens Corporation has one of the most detailed and globally recognized CSR strategies for the environment which basically touches on two important areas, products and services. Every year, the company continues to search for various possibilities for reduction of the environmental impact of its devices ad operations at each and every stage of their product life cycles (Nokia Siemens Corporation, 2012). The company largely focuses on material usage, energy efficiency, manufacturing processes, and recycling. According to the Nokia Siemens’s environmental management vision, the company views mobile technology as an enabler for a more sustainable world. The vision states that in combination with better product design, tighter production controls, greater material reuse, and proper recycling, mobile communications can contribute towards reducing the usage of scarce natural resources and energy (Nokia Siemens Corporation, 2013). Nokia Siemens’s strategy covers a whole value chain and its implementation is carried out through four key company programs including design for environment, supplier network management, environmental management systems (EMS), and end-of-life practices. These strategic programs are aimed at eliminating risks for the company, gaining acceptance among customers and other stakeholders, and increasing company profits (Nokia Siemens Corporation, 2013). The company’s strategy is based on three main aspects; Mobility: This implies making the best out of mobile phone reduction of infrastructure and travelling impacts. Nokia Siemens Corporation bases its strategy on the fact that mobile technology and the digital services associated with it now often replace the need for travel or transport; this contributes to reduction of greenhouse gas impacts through less burning of fossil fuels. On the other hand, mobile technology simplifies many transactions and enables greater economic and social activity thus driving industrial growth. Growth: Growth strategies are targeted at dealing with the increasing use of mobile devices and their short life spans through eco-efficiency and establishment of cooperation. Nokia Siemens strives to deal with the short life cycles of the mobile devices it produces and the related increase in consumption in a sustainable and responsible way. The corporation takes part in a number of collaborative initiatives with other organizations all over the world for research, knowledge sharing and shaping of effective environmental policies. Nokia Siemens also strives to reduce material land energy consumption in their own activities to reduce negative impacts on the environment. Quality: This involves linking product quality to environmental performance. Nokia Siemens Corporation closely links reduction of waste as an environmental goal with quality of its products. Quality as defined in the organization includes factors such as material and technology sourcing, product design, product assembly, and product end-of-life practices. Nokia Siemens’s main approach in CSR targets continuous improvement in the environmental sustainability of all the company’s products. Rather than sporadic efforts at introducing “eco” friendly devices, the company’s strategy is based on rolling out environmental innovation across a wide range of products. The design for Nokia Siemens products now focuses on sustainability throughout the product’s life cycles in aspects such as material use, energy efficiency, packaging and software and services that help people to make environmental sustainable choices when using Nokia Siemens products (Nokia Siemens Corporation, 2012). For example, in 2007 Nokia became the first mobile telephone manufacturing company to introduce alerts in its devices that remind users about unplugging their chargers after the battery is full. The company has also achieved milestones in restrictions on application of substances with environmental and health concerns. For example since 2008 the company introduced mobile devices that were fully free of brominated compounds. The company has also been slowly upgrading its products to use greater proportions of recycled plastic e.g. bio-plastics. Just as the company is developing strategies for making its products more environmental friendly, its services are also benefitting from similar strategies. The company has developed eco services for mobile devices that are helping consumers make choices that help sustainability and consider the environment in their everyday activities (Nokia Corporation, 20008). The company provides a collection of free eco-services that can be downloaded through its products. These help people to play their part for environmental sustainability by joining communities of like-minded people. The company estimates that so far these services have reached millions of its customers globally (Nokia Siemens Corporation, 2013). Potential Commercial Benefits of CSR for Nokia Siemens Corporation Studies indicate that now consumers expect much more from corporations in terms of environmental sustainability, this results from the many grave concerns about environmental sustainability and the effects of pollutions (Wargo, 2009). Environmental awareness is now driving purchase decisions both for goods and services including in the telecom industry. All over the world, increasingly tight regulatory policies and legislative interventions have become the norm. All these challenges look formidable for Nokia Siemens and other Corporations in the telecom industry but they also provide beneficial opportunities. The first benefits of good environmental sustainability CSR strategy is that all over the developed world investment funds have been established to encourage environmental technology and many investors now rank companies according to their environmental performance (Smith, 2010). Nokia Siemens Corporation can be able to benefit from such investment opportunities by attracting these investors in any of its product or service segments in old and emerging markets. The company can also benefit from incentives and subsidies aimed at encouragement of environmental technology. A responsible corporate image is also beneficial socially and environmentally, this is because it can enable the company attract and recruit the best talent in the future as most competitive employees also begin to consider environmental issues before accepting jobs in companies. A good CSR strategy also helps the Nokia Siemens to build a good business image globally as a company that cares for the environment and is dedicated towards providing quality products and services to customers while maintaining the best environmental standards (Nokia Siemens Corporation, 2013). This is can help the company attract more customers from a very competitive market because consumers are increasingly becoming conscious of environmental concerns. Some of the environmental SCR strategies being implemented by the corporation such as material reuse, recycling, and reduction of energy consumption are useful towards production cost reduction. This is beneficial for the company as it will help increase profit margins. Environmental Impacts of Electronic Waste One of the greatest challenges that face Nokia Corporation and all other electronic companies in the world is the concern about electronic waste. In most countries there now are strict regulations on handling electronic waste, most companies have elaborate programs for dealing with the issue but it remains a challenge especially when companies have little control on products after they reach consumers (Wargo, 2009). Nokia Siemens Corporation has tried to deal with the problem in various ways including extending product life-cycle through repair and production of durable products but this is quite difficult as electronic devices have short life cycles. E-waste has raised concerns in many parts of the world particularly because of its toxic effects resulting from the array of chemical compositions used in electronic gadgets. It is also widely acknowledged that while not all e-waste can be recycled, most of the recyclable e-waste is quite expensive to recycle and many countries particularly in the developing world have no capacity to recycle them. Concerns have also been raised about the lack of appropriate legislation to deal with e-waste handling and dumping in many parts of world with many electronic companies or waste-handling companies contracted to handle such waste dumping it in unsuspecting countries where it has caused health problems in some cases (Nokia Siemens Networks, 2013). Large electronic companies like Nokia Siemens Corporation find themselves with a great CSR to ensure that the electronic waste resulting from their products is handled in a manner that impacts less on the environment. This is largely because mobile telecom devices now produce the largest amount of e-waste as their popularity and application has increased globally (Nokia Siemens Networks, 2013). For example, Nokia Siemens Corporation estimates that more than one billion consumers utilize its products globally; this would mean that the corporation accounts for approximately 20% of all e-waste emanating from mobile telecoms devices globally. The corporation therefore finds itself with a responsibility to society to ensure that this kind of waste is managed in the right manner. One reason for this is that a significant proportion of the increased incidents of cancer and other ailments are attributable to electronics and their waste. Similarly poor dumping of electronic waste is known to pollute water resources in many countries. Electronic Waste Management Strategies for Nokia Siemens Corporation Nokia Siemens Corporation has instituted good strategies towards management of e-waste. First, since 2007 the corporation has been participating in many projects aimed at improving performance in all steps of the recycling chain. For example the corporation is a member of the Basel Convention Mobile Phone Partnerships Initiative (MPPI), the initiative has drafted global guidelines for environmentally sound handling of obsolete mobile phones that cover aspects such as design, collection, trans-boundary movement and recycling (Nokia Siemens Networks, 2013). Nokia Siemens Corporation is also a member of the Solving the e-waste problem (StEP) initiative, this is a cooperation between industry and academia which is spearheaded by the United Nations University. E-waste management is supported by various initiatives and strong legal and regulation frameworks in Europe and other developed parts of the world, however, in some regions this is not the case. Managing electronic waste in Africa is a challenge in many countries because of lack of capacity and legal frameworks. There is also a growing concern over waste from electronic mobile devices as well as trans-boundary movement of e-waste from developed countries to the developing countries. Since 2008, Nokia has commissioned studies to explore the management of electronic waste in various African countries. The corporation now provides advice and recommendations that are important in handling e-waste. First the research confirms that Kenya (The first country to be involved in the research), and a number of other countries where usage of Nokia products is very high needs to develop e-waste management policies and regulations guided by Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principles (Nokia Corporation, 2008). One of the tools that helps Nokia Siemens Corporation meet its CSR obligations with regard to e-waste management is the Environmental Management System (EMS). The system is defined on the basis of ISO 14001 standards which is an overall management system that promotes environmental optimization across organizations. This system provides guidance on product quality and waste management standards. The company also utilizes end-of-life practices that include re-use and recycling. Overall, Nokia Siemens has stepped up its e-waste collection and recycling initiatives globally through re-training of staff at service points on recycling with the aim of increasing the visibility of the product take-back service by placing out posters, collection boxes and stickers. The company has further strengthened its recycling infrastructure in various countries where there is heavy usage of Nokia products, particularly India and China. In India, the corporation now has over 1500 recycling locations while in China, over 200 new take-back points have been introduced over the past two years (Nokia Siemens Networks, 2013). Conclusion Corporate Social Responsibility has developed from being a concept that is basically imposed on companies though legal and regulatory aspects of their environment into an important part of company strategy. Nokia Siemens Corporation like many other telecom electronic production companies utilizes CSR both as a business strategy and a method of fulfilling its obligations to society. The company has been on the forefront of CSR with regard to environmental management for almost a decade and has made great advances in environmental considerations in its product life cycles. The company now has energy saving incorporations in its design, product recycling programs and product repair and reuse strategies that aim to increase product lifespan and reduce e-waste. E-waste challenges still face the company particularly in developing countries but it has developed several working strategies aimed at dealing with this challenge by assisting those countries develop good e-waste management policies. It can be concluded that Nokia Siemens has a successful CSR strategy that keeps improving in line with its ISO 14001 obligation and that the strategy is has substantial economic and social benefits for both the corporation and society. References Business for Social Responsibility (2009, February). BSR/ GlobeScan state of sustainable business poll 2009. BSR GlobeScan. Retrieved from http://www.bsr.org/reports/BSR_GlobeScan_ Poll_2009_FactSheet Haigh, H., and Jones, M. (2006). The Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility: A Critical Review, The Business Review 5(2), 245-52. Margolis, J.D., and Walsh, J.P. (2003). Misery Loves Companies: Rethinking Social Initiatives by Business, Administrative Science Quarterly 48(2), 268-305. Nokia Corporation (2008). Corporate Responsibility Review. Karaportti: Author. Nokia Siemens Corporation (2012). Annual Report. Karaportti: Author. Nokia Siemens Corporation (2013). Annual Report. Karaportti: Author. Nokia Siemens Networks (2013). Good green business sense: Environmentally sustainable business is an opportunity for communication service providers. Karaportti: Author. Porter, M.E., and Kramer, M.R. (2006). Strategy & Society: The Link between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility, Harvard Business Review 84(12), 78-92. Smith, R. (2010). Environmental sustainability: The future of paper. University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Wargo, J. (2009). Green Intelligence: Creating Environments that Protect Human Health. New Haven: Yale University Press. Read More