Green Business - Sony Corp - Research Paper Example

?SONY Introduction to the group The Sony was created by combining “Sonus” , the original Latin for “Sonic” meaning sound with “Sonny” denoting small size or a youthful boy. It was chosen for its simple pronunciation that is the same in any language. Founded on 7th May, 1946 as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation) in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, its name was rechristened to Sony Corporation in January, 1958. Its headquarters are in Tokyo, Japan. Headed by the present Chairman, CEO and President Howard Stringer, it is a 7,214,000 million yen company with a headcount running to 1,67,900 employees. It has a global market in all its six major categories of products audio, video, televisions, information and communications, semiconductors and electronic components. The Sony Group is primarily focused on the Electronics (such as AV/IT products & components), Game (such as PlayStation), Entertainment (such as motion pictures and music), and Financial Services (such as insurance and banking) sectors. Not only does it represent a wide range of businesses, but it remains globally unique. Its aim is to fully leverage this uniqueness in aggressively carrying out their convergence strategy so as to continue to emotionally touch and excite customers. Sony Corporation designs, develops, manufactures, and sells electronic equipment, instruments, and devices for consumer, professional, and industrial markets worldwide. The company offers consumer products and devices, including televisions, video cameras, compact digital cameras and digital single-lens reflex cameras, Blu-ray Disc players/recorders, DVD-video players/recorders, home theaters and audio systems, and portable audio and car audio products. It also provides charged coupled devices, complementary metal-oxide semiconductor image sensors, system LSIs, small- and medium-sized TFT LCD panels, and other semiconductors; and components, such as batteries, optical disk drives, chemical products, audio/video/data recording media, storage media, and optical pickups. In addition, the company develops, produces, markets, and distributes games, such as PlayStation3, PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation 2 hardware and related software; and PCs and flash memory digital audio players, as well as manufactures broadcast- and professional-use products, Blu-ray Discs, DVDs, and CD discs. Further, it produces and distributes motion pictures and television programs, and home entertainment; creates and distributes digital content; operates a channel network and studio facilities; and develops entertainment products, services, and technologies. Additionally, the company engages in the music publishing business, as well as provision of various financial services, including insurance, savings products, loans, leasing, and credit financing services; and a network service business and an advertising agency business. It also involves in research, development, design, production, marketing, sales, distribution, and servicing mobile phones, accessories, services, and applications. Vision The Sony Group Environmental Vision presents a philosophy and principles for environmental management activities throughout the global Sony Group with the aim of contributing to the realization of a sustainable society. Since enacting the Sony Global Environmental Policy which is a predecessor of the Sony Group Environmental Vision and the Environmental Action Program, in 1993, Sony has pursued a broad range of environmental initiatives. Philosophy Sony recognizes the importance of preserving the natural environment that sustains all life on the earth for future generations and thereby ensuring that all humanity can attain a healthy and enriched life. In order to realize such sustainable society, Sony strives to achieve a zero environmental footprint throughout the lifecycle of its products and business activities. Principles The driving principles of Sony are to “reduce the environmental footprint and prevent environmental pollution throughout the lifecycle of products and business activities by complying with all applicable environmental regulations and also by continually improving global environmental management systems”. Sony has identified four key environmental areas – climate change, resources conservation, chemical substances and bio-diversity conservation. In each of these areas, goals have been clearly identified : Climate change Reduce energy consumption and strive to achieve zero emissions of green house gases such as carbondioxide, hydroflurocarbons, perflurocarbons etc. generated throughout the lifecycle of products, service and business activities. Resources conservation Minimize resource inputs for business activities through identification of key resources and strive to achieve zero usage of virgin materials. Chemical substances Minimize the risk of chemical substances which cause serious harm to human health and the environment and whenever possible to reduce, substitute and eliminate the use of such substances. Biodiversity Conservation Protect and utilize ecosystem services in a sustainable manner, while actively promoting maintenance and recovery of biodiversity through business and local contribution activities. In order to realize the Environmental Vision, Sony formulates targets and concrete plans and initiates actions to implement, while contributing to a better society through partnerships and communications with internal and external stakeholders. Employee related activities Sony prides itself in having initiated a whole range of employee-related activities which encompasses the following : 1. Diverse employee base 2. CSR forum 3. Reduction of green house emissions 4. Reduction of carbondioxide 5. Carpools 6. Cycling to work 7. Video conferencing 8. Energy conservation 9. Environmental education 10. ISO 14001 certification 11. Environmental communication 12. Environmental audits and awards. Sony nurtures diverse characteristics and ideas of its employees, irrespective of nationality, culture, race, gender and the presence or absence of physical limitations. Held after hours and completely voluntary, the CSR Forum provides Sony employees in Japan with the opportunity to increase their knowledge of CSR. Organized five or six times a year, this event features lectures by invited experts, film showings and other activities, and addresses a variety of themes, including the environment, human rights, poverty, international understanding, employment opportunities for the disabled, work–life balance and diversity. Sony proactively reduces greenhouse gas emissions from employee business trips. Sony has initiated measures to reduce carbondioxide emissions on a wide-ranging scale, including expanding the use of teleconferencing, thereby reducing the need for business trips. In North America, Sony Electronics Inc. (SEL) of the United States issued guidelines aimed at reducing international business travel by 80% and domestic business travel by 50% in each of its departments. Additionally, certain offices are mitigating carbondioxide emissions from employee business travel by using carbon offsets. For example, Sony Australia Ltd. participated in NPO Landcare Australia Limited's CarbonSMART program from November 2007 through December 2009. Through this program, Sony Australia purchased CarbonSMART carbon credits to offset carbondioxide emissions attributable to employee business trips involving travel by company vehicle and/or by air. During the period of the program, Sony Australia offset approximately 5,000 tons of carbondioxide emissions. At some sites in Japan and the United States, Sony is also promoting reductions in carbondioxide generated as a result of employee commutes by providing support for employees who carpool or cycle to work. For example, in the United States -- where commuting by car is popular -- Sony promotes carpooling and provides assistance for the purchase of commuter passes for public transportation. Video Conferencing Systems Meetings involving individuals from different locations generate significant carbondioxide emissions-the principal component of which is emissions from travel. The use of video conferencing systems can greatly reduce carbondioxide emissions associated with employee business trips and other travel. For example, for a meeting held 24 times a year, the total annual reduction would approximately amount to 26 tons. Sony is taking steps to reduce the amount of energy used by Sony-owned business vehicles, including reducing the number of vehicles in its fleet and replacing existing vehicles with hybrids. SEL USA is three years into a four-year plan to convert its corporate fleet from existing four- and six-cylinder conventional vehicles to hybrid vehicles. Sony Europe's Belgium Office has formulated a Green Car policy, under which purchase budgets can be increased for low-emission models and emissions restrictions have been introduced for newly purchased vehicles. Environmental communication - Employees of each group company receive environmental training and other self development programs to help raise employee awareness on the environment. One of the major highlights of Green Management 2010 plan is Communication, Partnerships and Education. Sony has targeted to ensure employees achieve a level of competence that enables them to perform their assigned duties while taking environmental concerns into consideration through environmental education. Towards this end, it has promoted sharing of latest information using environment-related publications and the intranet; encouraged enlightenment of employees by conducting training programs employing e-learning and in-house events The Green Management 2015, envisages integrated ISO 14001 certification is all manufacturing sites and non-manufacturing sites with 100 or more employees. Sony's corporate headquarters conducts annual assessments of the environmental impact of the entire Sony Group and, after identifying risks and opportunities, incorporates its findings into mid-range environmental targets and annual plans. In line with these plans, individual business units and sites establish and implement their own annual plans, incorporating essential elements of guiding principles established by the headquarters. Progress on the implementation of these business plans is reviewed regularly by a committee that is headed by the officer in charge of environmental affairs, contributing to ongoing improvement efforts. Awards are given annually at the regional and global levels to recognize outstanding activities in core businesses. These activities are counted as part of overall annual performance evaluations for main business units and sites and the results of these assessments are reflected in the bonuses awarded to management-level employees. Sony Group facilitates environmental action to provide a broad environmental education for employees that is tailored to specific objectives or the type of work they perform. Sony also organizes environmental lectures by outside keynote speakers with the aim of raising the environmental awareness of its employees. Business operations Strategy on climate change Road to Zero Green Management 2010 Environmental Management structure. Strategy on climate change - Sony very well appreciates the fact that while climate change poses a significant threat to its corporate activities, it also provides and enormous opportunity to become a part of the solution. It proactively tackles this issue through a comprehensive policy and collaboration with NGOs such as Climate Savers Program in partnership with WWF In 2008, Sony organized Climate Savers Summit in Tokyo. It also identifies areas for improvement for suppliers and actively participates in related improvement programs. The Carbon Disclosure Project and the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition advocates improvement in data credibility and further extend the scope of capturing its greenhouse gas emissions. Common environmentally and socially responsible procurement practices, have each initiated pilot projects to capture greenhouse gases emitted throughout the supply chain. Road to Zero - As part of its drive to achieve a zero environmental footprint, Sony is actively engaged in implementing its Road to Zero global environmental plan. This plan consists of the Sony Group Environmental Vision and several sets of mid-term environmental targets which form key stepping-stones on the road to achieving the Vision. Green Management 2010 - Sony established its Green Management 2010 mid-range group environmental targets, which will run through fiscal year 2010. These targets guide the Sony Group in its efforts to help prevent global warming, recycle resources, ensure appropriate management of chemical substances and address a broad range of other complex environmental issues. Environmental Management Structure An elaborate management structure has been designed and put in place at Sony in its organization-wide green drive. Sony has taken a series of measures to reduce greenhouse emissions at its facilities and sites throughout the globe. These initiatives include promoting energy efficient use, energy saving assessments, use of renewable energy and emissions trading. Energy efficient use - Sony has set a target to achieve an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas emissions (calculated in terms of CO2) of 7% or more from the fiscal year 2000 level by fiscal year 2010. To this end, Sony is striving to lower energy consumption and emissions of perfluorocarbons (PFCs) and other greenhouse gases. Use of high-efficiency turbo chillers and heat pump module chillers are in use to recover waste heat. With the aim of improving productivity the site's multiple testing devices were consolidated into a single unit, thereby reducing the volume of energy used. Additionally, with regular patrols having revealed that air-conditioning and lighting systems were a cause of wasted energy, team members are also striving, through a process of trial and error that includes adjusting temperatures separately in each section of the production floor, to optimize eco-conscious production operations. Other efforts include introduction of solar water heaters and solar panel streetlamps, technological improvements to facilities and lighting equipment and LED lighting. Energy saving assessments - Sony began conducting energy-saving assessments by Sony Group experts in fiscal year 2007. In fiscal year 2009, such assessments were conducted at eight Sony sites in Japan and two in China. Renewable energy - In fiscal year 2009, the use of the Green Power Certification System and the introduction of solar power generation systems helped reduce Sony's carbondioxide emissions by approximately 128,000 tons. It also taps energy from resources that are essentially inexhaustible, including solar power, wind power and energy produced from biomass products. All the sites that are certified under ISO 14001 operate on 100% green power. Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE)'s headquarters in California generates 310,000 kWh of power using its own solar power generation facility. Also, 100% of total energy used by SPE's data center in Arizona is renewable. The quantity of renewable energy is as under : : Emissions trading – Sony’s global warming counter measures include participating in emissions trading programs. In the United States, Sony Electronics Inc. (SEL) has joined the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), a voluntary greenhouse gas emissions allowance trading system. Under CCX guidelines, SEL is committed to achieving a 6% reduction in direct carbondioxide emissions from energy used at its sites in the United States from the 2000 level by 2010. Sony is also an investor in the Japan Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (JGRF), a carbon fund established in December 2004 to acquire certified emissions reductions from greenhouse gas reduction projects in developing countries in the form of credits for distribution to investor companies. In May 2009, Sony submitted an application regarding its emissions reduction plans under Japan's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a framework for purchasing credits generated as a result of greenhouse gas reduction efforts by small and medium-sized companies in Japan. Credits thus generated will be acquired after 2010. Products & Services Sony strives to reduce carbondioxide emissions from product use by adding energy-saving features to products, reducing product operating power consumption, reducing power consumption of Bravia LCD televisions and Vaio PCs and use of digital cinema systems Sony also seeks to obtain the "Eco-flower", an EU eco label, under a program sponsored by the European Commission, for the televisions it sells in Europe. Green Management 2015 Since the 1990s, the Sony Group has focused on a variety of environmental activities. These include developing environmentally conscious products, reducing the environmental impact of its sites and promoting product recycling. Since 1998, Sony has formulated uniform environmental mid-term targets that encompass its operations around the world, and has revised these targets every few years. At the end of fiscal 2009, Sony formulated Green Management 2015, a set of new mid-term targets that will serve as a yardstick for the environmental activities of Sony Group companies and divisions worldwide until fiscal 2015. Green Management 2015 will go into effect in fiscal 2011 and Sony will disclose its progress periodically. The three basic policies guiding Green Management 2015 are : 1. Achieve targets through unrelenting efforts to increase efficiency. 2. Place a high priority on creativity and innovation and implement environmentally conscious actions that are approved and supported by our customers. 3. Communicate and establish partnerships with stakeholders within and outside the Company. Against this backdrop, targets of Green Management 2015 have been set for four environmental aspects-climate change, resources, chemical substances and biodiversity-over the six stages of the product life cycle namely research and development, product planning and design, procurement, operations, logistics and taking back and recycling, Conclusion Sony must definitely be lauded for its lofty environmental vision. Having created a holistic environmental management structure, it has conveyed its seriousness in working continuously towards achieving this noble plan. From the Green Management 2010 performance, one can see evidence that it has gone a long way in fulfilling its ambitious targets. Further, it is confident of more than achieving its future plans. Its “Road to Zero” is surely worth emulation by all. Sony is continuously looking at tie-ups with other green agencies and organizations in its quest for environmental excellence. It also looks at organizationwide systems and solutions and constantly encourages individual and group efforts. Elaborate measurement systems are in place and individual and team awards are a wonderful positive reinforcement. What is noteworthy is that Sony always closely with all the various stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, vendors, customers, its corporate peers, partners, competitors and the society, at large. Going by the performance of Sony Corporation vis-a-vis its targets, it scores high on the emission of greenhouse gases, reducing annual energy consumption of products and total waste reduction. While its waste reuse/ recycle targets have been exceeded within its facilities in Japan, outside of Japan, it falls short. It also needs to go some distance in the increase of reused/ recycled material. It has got a fantastic record of note having suffered a single environmental accident. Its 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) technology is quite ambitious and would require some doing from the environmental management structure put in place. Product planning and design is also up against stiff competition from the likes of innovation giants like Apple, Google, Research in Motion and its Chinese and Korean counterparts. Sony’s contribution to a common industrywide reporting format on the climate change front is bound to have limited success considering the lack of common ground prevalent in this vexatious issue globally. Achieving an absolute reduction in total volume of water usage of 30% is also difficult. Sony could perhaps draw on the “Water Stewardship” concept of Coca Cola. References http://www.sony.net/ Green Management 2010, Retrieved April 29, 2011 from http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/management/gm2015/index.html Green Management 2015, Retrieved April 29, 2011 from http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/management/gm2015/index.html http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/lpage.do?page=/GreenOverview/index.html&name=Green%20Overview Sony Global – Sony’s Environmental performance, Retrieved April 28, 2011 from http://www.search.sony.net/result/net/search.x?q=environmental+performance http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr/environment/data/history/index.html http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/lpage.do?page=/scores/articles/article_green.html&name=Going%20Green%20is%20Good%20for%20Your%20Business Water stewardship - Sustainability : The Coca Cola company, http://search.coke.com/search?go_button.x=0&go_button.y=0&go_button=Submit&q=water+stewardship&site=9446_coll_USCokeCorporate|11302_coll_USCokeCorporatePC&client=9446_frnt_USCokeCorporate&output=xml Read More