Corporate Environment Management: Starkist Company - Assignment Example

Corporate environment management Introduction The concept of sustainable development is a concept of universal application. This is a fact anyone conversant with this concept will appreciate. Sustainable development has emerged from a series of conferences and summits where influential people have tried to come to an arrangement on how to tackle the burning issues of the 21st century which include poverty increasing inequality, environmental and human health degradation. The most important words are sustainable development, environment and economic growth A keen study will sure reveal that what people tend to neglect and forget is the evolution of the concept of sustainability. Although the history and evolution of a concept might seem unimportant, it could help us predict the future trend and flaws that will appear. If it can be remembered the 1972 conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, attended by 113 states and representatives from 19 international organizations, was the 1st truly international conference devoted exclusively to environmental issues. There a group of 27 experts articulated the link between environment and development stating although in individual instances there were conflicts between environment and economic priorities, they were two sides of the same coin (Reinhardt & Vietor, 1969). Another result of the Stockholm conference was the creation of the United Nations Environmental Programme {UNEP} which has the mission to provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and people to improve their future generations? It should be noted that the term corporate environment management is a means by which companies and government departments act to realize their impacts on the environment and therefore work to improve their performance in this area through encouraging their suppliers, customers and partners to act the same way. You will discover that in the world the Hong Kong Government has undertaken initiatives since 1994 to improve its green management. The private sector has also been urged to follow suit (Darabaris, 2007) . PART A My opinion is that the Starkist managers made a right decision because it was a move aimed at ensuring sustainability as advocated for by the Brundtland commission. Sustainable utilization of the environment is one of the issues that are currently making headlines on environment issues. In the day to use of environment to meet the daily needs there is need to take into account future generation, what is described as intergenerational equity? Water creatures are among the many resources of the environment that need to be guarded against exploitation, destruction and extinction that may be caused by human activities. Fishing is one of the activities that threaten the lives of marine creatures in the world. Most of the world marine creatures face greatest wildlife tragedy including extinction. It is noted that Heinz is one of the leading companiesin the world in the food processing business. In its processing activities tuna is one of its main fish that it contributes to its market. The company reached a decision that would ensure that tuna was completely dolphin free. The Starkist would become the first company in seafood that would cease to sell tuna that is caught in association with dolphin. In this move the community at large and the Earth Island Institute would have to work together to eliminate fishing methods that targeted Dolphin. My sole reason for supporting this is that if it is fully implemented this Resolution will surely save the many lives of Dolphins. You can see the move also being congratulated by the senhator Bidens terming it as an incredibly wise decision that has been taken by one of the leading companies in America(Reinhardt & Vietor, 1969). It should be noted that my decision is basing on the sustainability concept as stated in the Stockholm conference in 1972. It is within knowledge that Tuna was one of the most important living resources of the sea. Only four major tuna fisheries existed in the world which are the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, Eastern pacific and the Atlantic. The total worldwide catch for tuna species was three million tonnes. With this rate of catch then am worried that the tuna species will get extinct at a high rate and that is why the move by Starkist is a welcome relief. There is a need and an urgent one to lower and limit the annual catches to level of sustainable yield over time. If overfishing continues it will deplete the stock hence damaging future harvest. This shows there was a threat of extinction of the tuna species due to overexploitation. Again the method of fishing used affected other marine creatures by catching a variety of animals which include immature fish. Given the fact the species are migratory there is need for a clear policy to protect them against the danger of extinction. It should be remembered that tuna fishing took place in the exclusive economic zone that is the 200nautical miles from the base line. Due to this the Inter-American tropical Tuna commission was mandated to manage the Eastern Pacific fishery and it represented Nations with economic interest in Eastern Pacific Tuna ( Darabaris, 2007) . Remember tuna accounted for about 10% of Heinz’s world wide sales bearing in mind that Starkist was the US largest tuna processor. Also it can be to contribute to this Heinz funded the so called skipper programmes and encouraged its suppliers to adhere to dolphin saving fishing practice. The company also contributed fund for scientific research. But despite this the president of Heinz Connolly was worried that such a move was likely to tarnish Starkist image and hence affect the sales of other products of the company. He advocated for a more sober and positive approach to the issue (Reinhardt & Vietor, 1969). The company also expressed fears that the elimination would cause a major shortage of tuna that would substantially impact on the raw fish prices and canned prices. There was possibility that this move would eliminate the Eastern Pacific Luna supply forever. This move would be disadvantageous to the Starkist because the tuna would mainly come from the Western Pacific which is far from the company’s location. This move is important because the US which is the largest world trading economy supports it fully and it’s stated that starting from 1990 the US was likely to impose a trade embargo on most foreign tuna. This move would surely reduce Starkist’s share in the raw tuna procurement. This procurement of enough raw materials was a concern for this company. It is also a setback for Starkist because it is left with only three tuna fisheries which are non attractive geographically to it because the Indian ocean is far from Puerto Rico Cannery, Atlantic and it should be noted that the Atlantic stock were too small. This would amount to a disruption of the supply of raw tuna to the canneries. But all is not lost because under the long term objectives, there might be enough of this species among the three fisheries to meet the growing universal demand at the present prices. Although this move is beneficial universally, it has detrimental effects which include the quality problem whereby you find that the yellow fin was superior to the skipjack. This means that the ETP most would be dominated by the skipjack. Again there was a problem with price because it is uncertain whether starkest would be able to pass on the additional cost of Dolphin safe tuna to its customers. It was difficult to predict how and the time when its competitors would react. This policy would ensure that the safety and wellbeing of tuna species is taken into account. The move would prohibit fishing of the species and this ensures their survival. The policy would prevent this species from being extinct. The approach adopted by the starkest is a ‘’no encirclement’’. It resorted to never to buy tuna from boats set on dolphin. The starkist saw risks in pursuing the ‘’no mortality’’ approach which included the environmental groups wanted all dolphin fishing stopped and that its decision was likely to be criticised. PART B The company should undertake the following activities: restock the species in the sea, use fishing methods that do not catch the tuna species, employ a method that does not trap younger fish and other sea creatures, avoid use of vessels that pollute water, advocate for universal adoption of this policy and provide for legal and institutional framework for enforcement. The bottom line is conservation of environment under the concept of sustainable utilization of resources. In his opinion Robert Hetzer the vice president of stated his fears about switching to a dolphin-safe product by saying that it will eliminate the Eastern Pacific Luna supply. This is likely to increase the population of the species. There is need to provide conducive breeding ground for this species so that its population increases. By this I mean the Starkist should adopt fishing methods that do not pollute the water so that the species can keep on breeding (Reinhardt & Vietor, 1969). There is a need to restock the waters with more species of the fish and ensure they are not caught. This move will provide adequate fish and ensure increase in the population of the endangered species. Also the Starkist should use the US most successful fleet that reduces the dolphin mortality. This method would assist in saving the lives of dolphins. By this method the company would continue buying tuna that was caught by encircling dolphin. The Starkist should implement the report of the TQM task force in accordance with the recommendations of the committee. The policy should not only aim at pleasing customers but should satisfy the customers and bring about protection of the tuna species. I am saying this because it can be remembered that the Starkist did not fancy pursuing of no mortality option because of two reasons which are: 1. That environmental group wanted all dolphin fishing stopped. Therefore Starkist thought that by pursuing this method it would attract criticisms from these groups and the public. 2. Another reason was that its competitors were able to abandon the ETP and would accept the ‘’no encirclement’’ and thus Starkist would no longer purchase or sell any tuna caught in the ETP by the purse seining vessels. The driving force should be sustainable use of resources to ensure intergenerational equity. As the Starkist Company carry out its food processing it should take into consideration the future generation. The needs of the future generation should be factored into the sustainable utilization of resources. It should be take into account the principle embodied in the report by the Brundtland commission titled our ‘’common future.’’ The company should employ the most economical method for fishing tuna. I do not agree with Hetzer when he says that if dolphin went free it would loosen its cost advantage on the procurement because this is not being genuine. There should be good faith and good will in its aim of implementing the policy. The policy should be implemented with sober mind and clear conscience and ensure that there is enforcement through legal and institutional framework. It is my opinion that the Starkist should come up with both legal and institutional framework for the enforcement of this policy. The legal frame work should provide both substantive and procedural legislation that will aid the enforcement. It should provide for offences and respective penalties and fines to be imposed on those found fishing the tuna species. It should provide for how and when fishing of this species should be done (Darabaris, 2007) . Reference Reinhardt, F and Vietor, R 1969 Environmental Management A Framework For Business Framework South-Western College Publishing, Cincinnati, Ohio, pp. 1.53–1.69. Darabaris, J 2007 Corporate Environment Management CRC Press, Chicago. Read More