Ecovative Management - Case Study Example

NАGЕМЕNТ BRIЕFING RЕРОRТ Student’s Name: Course Code: Tutor’s Name: Date of Submission Introduction Ecovative is a company in New York that deals with bio materials in manufacturing of packaging materials as well as construction productions (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). According to Scarce (2014) the company has tried to achieve sustainability through its management on the environment aspects. The company has to a considerable extent achieved sustainability through the use of decomposable agricultural by products. A sustainable business has the characteristics of impacting the environment positively just like the Ecovative Company (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). Business sustainability is the management of financial, environmental / ecological and social aspects of a business (Edgeman and Eskildsen 2013). It is very important for the company to adopt a sustainability strategy for it to achieve its sustainability goals. An initiative such as research and innovation will help the company in maintaining its sustainability. The future of the company will also be based by the company’s research and innovation as an initiative. This paper will analyze the Ecovative Company, sustainability as well as sustainability strategy. Additionally the paper will look at research and innovation initiative and why the company should adopt it. The paper also looks at the future of the company as it adopts research and innovation in its production, marketing as well as selling its products. Ecovative Company Ecovative design LLC is a company in Green Island, New york. It deals with biomaterials for the provision of alternatives in packaging as well as building (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). Their products supplements polystyrene and plastics products with decomposable products which are good for the environment. The company has a mission of producing products which are not toxic to the environment therefore helping companies to achieve sustainability goals. The company offers a variety of products including protective packaging, structural bio composites as well as thermal insulations. They use materials which are decomposable such as agricultural wastes like cotton hulls (Scarce 2014). The company also offers grow it yourself kit that give individuals a chance to create their own mushroom materials therefore coming up with sustainable businesses. Sustainability Business sustainability is the management of financial, environmental / ecological and social aspects of a business. It is basically a framework that a business can use for the evaluation of its performance and value creation (Edgeman and Eskildsen 2013). It is also involved with the management of a business’s obligations as well as opportunities. A sustainable business is also referred to as a green business. It is characterized by its ability to have positive impacts on local and global environment, the economy as well as the society in general. Anderson (2006) says that these are the businesses that supply business friendly services or products and they incorporate sustainability principles as they make their decisions. The major initiative of a sustainable business is to do away with or reduce environmental degradation which is usually caused by production activities of a business. Consequences of human activities when it comes to the carbon dioxide gas emitted in the atmosphere describe the sustainability of the business in the environmental initiative (Pojasek 2007). There are some practices of a business that usually make it environmentally sustainable. These include refurbishing or recycling of used products as well as selection of nontoxic raw materials in the process of manufacturing (Anderson 2006). A good example is the Ecovative Company that uses mushrooms in the production of packaging materials, building and insulation equipment. A sustainable business must also consider the life cycle cost for the item they produce. This will include the input costs, in relation to the energy use together with storage as well as disposal of the manufactured products. There is also the element of designing for the environment. This will enable the users of a product to consider the possible environmental consequences of a service or a product. It will also enable consideration on the process followed to make the product (Rennie 2008). Some good practices have been identified to foster the sustainability of a business enterprise. These practices usually enable businesses to be leaders rather than laggards. They include engaging the stakeholders. A business should also adopt sound environmental management systems. It is also supposed to report and disclose the required information to the stake holders. The business is also supposed to analyze its life cycle and this helps in making sure that the business has good impacts to all the stakeholders (Rennie 2008). Sustainability strategy A business sustainability strategy is a business strategy used by a business enterprise to achieve its goals and objectives. It is very important for a business enterprise to adopt a sustainability strategy for it to be sustainable (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen 2012). It has become a government regulation for companies to adopt sustainability strategies for them to be sustainable. These regulations usually apply to all the business enterprises operating in the jurisdiction of the concerned country. Establishment of these sustainability strategies help in making the companies or the businesses to face and meet any changes in regulations without wasting time (Sneirson 2009). Most governments in the world today are continually enacting regulations for environmental regulation and therefore the need for business sustainability. In the public relations point of view, most consumers are paying attention to the sustainability strategies of the businesses they buy from. Information is nowadays being passed through social media on business’s responsibility on the environment (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen 2012). This makes it necessary for companies to adopt sustainability policies for them to increase their competitive advantage. Businesses with sustainability strategies nowadays are attracting competent and more qualified employees. Some employees are not always ready to work in companies that are a disaster to their ecological system or the environment (Sneirson 2009). This has made many business enterprises to adopt sustainability policies for them to conserve the environment and by so doing they attract highly qualified employees. Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen (2012) argues that business sustainability policies have been associated with cost saving. Refurbishment of waste products help in one way or the other to conserve the environment and at the same time they save on the involved costs during production. Most of these policies aim at conservation of the energy as well as usage of energy that does not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere hence ending up saving the production costs Anderson (2006). Adoption of sustainability strategies is also important for making the work place healthier for the employees. This will bring about more healthy workers due to the clean environment that is brought about by the adoption of the policies. There is more productivity among the workers and the employees will end up spending less in terms of maintaining their health. Good Sustainability strategies help in attracting investors to a company. Just like consumers, investors will be comfortable in investing within an environmentally responsible business (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen 2012). This is basically because such a company or business will not be prone to government fines therefore increasing its profitability hence attracting investors. There is always a feeling that sustainable businesses are competitive and innovative therefore attracting more investors. Business sustainability strategies improve the productivity of a company. As the businesses strive to conserve the environment, there will be reduction of labor costs as well as maintenance costs in the long run (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen 2012). This will increase the productivity of the business and also improve it. The adoption also reduces the concerned risks such as lawsuits. Reduced fines together with the few risks will also make the company to pay fewer premiums with their insurance companies. This adoption will also strengthen brand loyalty in that consumers will tend to go for products from a company they are confident with (Rennie 2008). This is will be due to the increase in demand of goods and services from a company with environmental consciousness or a green company. Pojasek (2007) argues that a good sustainability strategy and policy adoption will increase the creativity of workers to come up with a variety of products which are friendly to the environment and they will lead to increased sustainability. On the other hand, companies that are not adopting sustainability policies or those that are not sustainable will suffer some consequences. These will include poor image among the consumers hence reducing the company’s profitability and competitive advantage in general (Pojasek 2007). Businesses which are unsustainable or the ones that don’t take sustainability strategies are also risking huge fines from the government and also risk being completely closed. Additionally, if a company does not adopt sustainability strategy, it is likely to incur more production cost and this reduces the profit margin altogether. An unhealthy working condition as a result of poor and unhealthy working conditions is another disadvantage of failure to adopt sustainability policies (Scarce 2014). This will be associated more absenteeism among employees therefore reducing their productivity and the company’s output in the long run. Ecovative sustainability initiative Ecovative Company can have a number of sustainability initiatives that can make its competitive advantage to increase as well as increase its productivity. Through the initiatives the company can even be more sustainable. Such an initiative is research and innovation. The company can increase its research on its product for it to continue conserving the environment (Scarce 2014). The packaging and construction products manufactured by the company can increase their viability through adoption of the sustainability initiative. The continuous use of wastes from agricultural products such as hulls from rice and buckwheat, cotton seed hulls increases the sustainability of the company (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). These byproducts are bonded together with the use of mycelium or basically mushroom roots. At the end of this process and with more research and innovation there is formation of insulation and construction products such as wood. More research can be done on the process and the products to come up with more products which are environmental friendly for more sustainability. Increased research and innovation will make the company to reduce the costs of production and this will translate to increased profitability (Scarce 2014). More innovation will make the company to increase the use of agricultural waste products which are cheaper and more sustainable. This will reduce the cost of buying raw materials translating to a reduced cost of production hence increased productivity. These waste products do not increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and this is the reason why they are friendly to the environment and therefore more sustainable. Increased research and innovation will attract more consumers of the company’s products (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). Most consumers in the today’s world are conscious of the products they consume and some take another step of trying to know how the product was manufactured. When the consumers know that the product they are consuming is sustaining the environment, most of them will increase their consumption and this makes the company more profitable (Sneirson 2009). In the long run adoption of research and innovation will attract more competent and qualified employees. Innovation is usually associated with closer relationships between the workers and more team work is enhanced (Pojasek 2007). These workers especially the young and more energetic will identify with an innovative company and this will translate to innovative ideas in matters concerning production and hence more quality products will be produced. Increased research will lead to the manufacture of a variety of products from the agricultural wastes (Sneirson 2009). The products ranging from packaging materials to insulation products will come in different varieties hence attract more uses. Increased research will be accompanied by increased sustainability from the environmental, social and economic points of view. This will come in different ways like increased revenue to the government. This help to support the citizens of the concerned countries with different development programs and hence raise their economic life. The company will contribute significantly to environment conservation and hence its sustainability will be raised in the long run due the research and innovation initiative. As consumers tend to increase their consumption on products from Ecovative, their identification with the products will also increase. In the long run, this will lead to more brand loyalty as they will have confidence with the company and its products (Sneirson 2009). Innovation will also increase the company branding due to the company’s responsibility to the environment. Adoption of this initiative will also reduce some of the risks associated with lack of sustainability by the businesses. This will also make the company to contribute less in terms of premiums to insurance companies and therefore profitability increases. Adoption of these initiatives will make the company comply with the required government regulations in matters concerning environment conservation (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen 2012). This will reduce the costs that would rather be incurred by the company in terms of fines. Due to adoption of research and innovation, the company will increase its responsibility as a social pillar. Innovation has already brought about programs such as GIY which give the general public a chance to develop their own projects using the company’s raw materials (Scarce 2014). The general public will be therefore playing a significant role in environment conservation because of having the alternative products from the raw materials which are organic in nature meaning they are environmental friendly. Ecovative future Research and innovation as an initiative can be of significant importance to the company in the future. More research and incorporation of the general public will bring development not only to the company but to the general public at large (Scarce 2014). In the meantime, there are a variety of products that are manufactured in the company such as packaging materials as well as insulation devices. With increased research and innovation the company can develop a variety of products which can increase its sustainability altogether. The manufactured products can attract more consumers and the profitability of the company will subsequently increase. The agricultural waste products can also increase their utility in making wood and therefore reduce the increasing cutting down of trees (Scarce 2014). Manufactured wood will be of great use in making a variety of furniture to be used by organizations as well as households. Research will also entail other avenues that can benefit the company and increase its sustainability. Market research for example will enable the company to identify new markets in and out of the country. As the number of consumers increase due to market research, the company’s profitability will also increase and therefore become more sustainable. Increased research will also benefit other companies and businesses (Lacy and Rutqvist 2016). This is because of the fact that there are other companies that need packaging products to handle their products. Through innovation, the company will come up with the packaging products in different shapes and sizes which can be used by other companies. According to Lacy, P. and Rutqvist (2016) companies such as Steelcase, Dell and Puma have been using packaging materials from Ecovative. This shows that through more research and innovation the company will be supplying to more companies in the future. This initiative will also attract more researchers who will contribute significantly to the growth as well as development of the company. Conclusion In conclusion, Ecovative company uses agricultural by products to manufacture a variety of products ranging from construction materials to insulation devices. The company has been sustainable in that sustainable businesses are the ones that look at the economic and social aspects of life. The company plays a significant role in environmental conservation since it uses disposable agricultural by products. The company has adopted an environmental conservation strategy by basically using raw materials that usually conserve the environment. This strategy can be justified in that the raw materials of the company can decompose due to their organic nature therefore it is friendly to the environment. The company can adopt research and innovation initiative to increase the variety of its products hence increasing its profitability as well as its sustainability. Adoption of this initiative makes the future of this company better and more sustainable because it will encompass various aspects of research such as marketing and production research. The company will also attract more consumers as well as workers due to the adoption of research and innovation initiative. References Anderson, D. R. 2006, The critical importance of sustainability risk management. Risk Management. Vol. 53, no. 4. Edgeman, R. and Eskildsen, J. 2013, Modeling and Assessing Sustainable Enterprise Excellence, Business Strategy and the Environment. Vol.23, No. 173. Lacy, P. and Rutqvist, J. 2016, Waste to Wealth: The circular Economy Advantage, Springer, Berlin. Pojasek, R. B. 2007, A Framework for Business Sustainability, Environmental Quality Management, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 81 -88. Rennie, E. 2008, "Growing Green, Boosting the bottom line with sustainable business practices." APICS Magazine, Vol. 18, no. 2. Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Hansen, E. 2012, Business cases for sustainability. the role of business model innovation for corporate sustainability, International Journal of Sustainable Development, Vol.6, No. 2, 95-119 Scarce, R. 2014, Creating Sustainable Communities: Lessons from the Hudson River Region, Sunny press, New York. Sneirson, J. 2009, Green Is Good: Sustainability, Profitability, and a New Paradigm for Corporate Governance, Iowa Law Review. Vol. 94, No. 3, pp. 987. Read More