Contemporary Society Is Very Sensitive to Various Environmental Concerns - Case Study Example

Greenpeace It is quite obvious that the contemporary society is very sensitive to various environmental concerns. That is why there is no wonder in the fact that there are several organizations that promote harmony between people and nature. While some organizations tend to be spreading their idea in a relatively moderate way, there are several which might appear to be quite radical. A good example of such organizations is Greenpeace. The latter is surely known as an influential non governmental organization that promotes environmental awareness; however, it has been primarily known for its radical actions, such as attempts to block nuclear test or the work of oil platforms. In other words, Greenpeace has a reputation of an organization that is not afraid to take bold actions in order for the society to change its current perspective on the relationships with nature. In the case that will be examined in this paper one is able to see the following situation: Greenpeace has been a long proponent of switching from harmful substances that are used in refrigerators to those that are environmentally friendly. Finally, it was able to success in it by finding a company that would be willing to introduce the changes. This marked the transition from a conflict based approach of promoting environmental values to an approach that relied on cooperation and reasoning. Nowadays, Greenpeace is known to have promoted its environmentally friendly coolant almost all over the world, excluding the United States. However, there is hope that one day it may change since large companies are many certain steps towards it. To begin with, it may be rather useful to evaluate the tactics that was used by Greenpeace in the Greenfreeze campaign. First of all, one might mentioned that the organization in question tried to target the brand that directly interact with the consumers and, therefore, value their reputation. Indeed, this is a rather smart move since big industrial corporations never contact with people to whom they sell their product and they can hardly be influenced. On the other hand, big bands are willing to gain a competitive advantage by trying to attract their customers with the use of new environmentally friendly technologies (Kaufmann, 2014, p. 103). What is more important is that these brands are able to have a direct impact on the manufactures; so, by targeting them Greenpeace made a right choice. Another aspect of the strategy that should be mentioned is the fact that it promoted the technology worldwide by making sure that companies that are located in different countries are able to find a common ground and would cooperate. Indeed, there is no need to design a certain technology that can be used in one particular country. Since environmental problems are of global nature, the approach towards coping with them should be global as well. This means that Greenpeace was able to see the right perspective and moved in this direction, ensuring that such populated countries as China and India support environmental initiatives (McKinnon, 2010, p. 393). It has already been mentioned that the case in question reflects the fact that Greenpeace was able to change from a conflict-based approach towards a more collaborative mode of engagement. Indeed, in the early pages of its history, the organization in question thought that the best way to get the attention of the people it to commit dramatic actions that would show that there are groups that are willing to change something in the existing state of affairs. In other words, all the dramatic actions which were carried out simply wanted to produce a scandal so that the world would learn about the environmental issues. There is no doubt that this approach was effective to a certain extent since as Greenpeace activists would make first pages of the newspapers, the environmental awareness in the society would rise. Nevertheless, one should note that the collaborative approach would be much more effective. Indeed, if in the course of a conflict the organization in question would simple state its opinion about something, collaboration with other organizations will provide a chance of proving them right. The example of Greenfreeze shows this perfectly: for many decades Greenpeace was trying to make sure that industries all over the world switch to substances that are less harmful to the environment; however, only the actual success of the coolant in question shows that there is a viable as well as commercially successful path towards a more sustainable industry. That is why Greenfreeze turned out to be among the best argument for the position of this organization. It is difficult to identify Greenpeace stakeholders in this case. On the one hand, one might mention that they are people who are directly connected to the issue in question. For example, the staff of Foron. Indeed, this people were very interested in the success of the change that they were about to experienced since on this success the destiny of their company rested. That is why Greenpeace wanted to make sure that the project that it supported worked out. Otherwise, the end of Foron would be extremely dramatic. This means that Greenpeace had to show its full commitment to the company and support it no matter what which is exactly what it did and why it succeeded. On the other hand, one also may note that the stakeholders of Greenpeace are the people of the planet. In spite of the fact that some people tend to reject this idea, but every company should understand that it operates in a closed system of our planet; that is why sustainable development is not the best option, it is the only option when it comes to long distance perspective. In other words, when Greenpeace for fighting for the success of Greenfreeze, it was doing it not for a small East German company, but it was doing it for the entire mankind. That is why it had a tremendous responsibility to find a suitable way to organize industries all over the world so that they would not harm the environment. It is quite understandable that Greenpeace possessed several advantages when it came to promoting the Greenfreeze technology. First of all, it as has been noted before, Greenpeace is an organization that is highly praised in the world. In spite of the fact that the representatives of it commit some crimes, they are thought to be radicals that fought for the right cause. That is why when Greenpeace endorsed Greenfreeze people might have thought that the latter is really a good technology since such famous organization is supporting it. In other words, the former was able to appeal to its own authority to create a competitive advantage to the new technology that was being developed to make a dramatic change in the industry. The second advantage that should be mentioned is the fast network that Greenpeace is able to enjoy. Indeed, this organization does not being to a particular government that is why on every country it is recognized as foreign. This means that one can not say that it works for a particular government. This means that the judgment of this organization is objective and it is able to spread it across the world with the help of numerous local cells that are committed to the primary goal. This means that when Greenfreeze was successful in one country, it immediately could be promoted in other countries and this promotion would be carried out in a rather easy manner because Greenpeace has representatives everywhere in the world (Biermann, 2009, p. 256). One would make no mistake suggesting that Greenpeace should be called a “civil regulator” in this case. This can be explained on different examples. First of all, the organization in question was a representative of the opinion of the people and pursued civil interests as opposed to corporate ones. Indeed, this means that Greenpeace was able to make changes that would be favorable for the people and not big corporations. This means that industries that are able to have a tremendous environmental impact should be assessed by organizations like Greenpeace in order to make sure that there are no actions that are able to have a destructive impact in the long run. This means that the major responsibility of Greenpeace is to ensure sustainable development. In addition to that, one should also note that the function of a “civil regulator” manifested itself in the way Greenpeace acted while negotiating terms with other countries. For example, in order to persuade China it acted not as a famous organization, but as a representative of people, showing that adoption of the technology in question would make sure that China will not only not cause harm to its industry, but be able to gain a competitive advantage and become a role model for other countries. In other words, it served as a third party that was not connected to other governments; that is why the objectivity of it may not be doubted. Keeping in mind that one might suggest that Greenpeace becomes a great organization that is able to promote environmentally friendly projects. References Biermann, F. (2009). International organizations in global environmental governance. Abingdon: Routledge. Kaufmann, H. (2014). Handbook of research on consumerism in business and marketing: Concepts and practices. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. McKinnon, A. (2010). Green logistics improving the environmental sustainability of logistics. London: Kogan Page. Read More