Environmentally Conscious Research Paper

Growing up in Switzerland and Oregon, I learned that nature is greatly valued and it is necessary to respect the environment to prevent impending environmental collapse. Living in a society whose morals and ethics include

Many people do not live ecofriendly lives or find protecting the environment to be important.

As we have seen an increase in awareness around sustainability and climate change, with the help of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth documentary in 2006, we see organizations moving towards mitigating the effects of climate change in various ways (Al Gore, n.d). As this corporate social responsibility has become more prevalent, organizations are now pushing their green agenda by publishing sustainability reports, doing mass marketing and implementing sustainable business practices to portray the image that they too are working towards protecting the earth’s natural environment all the while focusing on their underlying goal of selling their products and

The environment is important to protect considering that people live and breathe in the atmosphere it provides. Investing time in activities that protect the environment hasn’t always been a priority, but as greenhouse gas emissions, the use of energy, and other harmful impacts on the environment increased, individuals began to speak up on what should be done. As the world’s population continues to grow exponentially, the impacts society produces will in turn continue to increase unless something is done about it. Although the idea of an environmentally sustainable community has remained on the minds of the concerned public throughout the past decade, as companies and universities became more invested in the idea, new ways of taking action and implementing policies were developed and pursued.

Monsanto has faced great challenges but that has not stopped them from using their resources to improve the economy. The Monsanto Company has been socially responsible economically by creating numerous jobs and increasing the food supply for farmer’s crops significantly by effectively producing genetically altered seed. The revenue earned from the return on the crops enables farmers to thrive financially and become more independent to sustain themselves and their families (Monsanto, 2011).

Though this group still has a fairly large population. According to nature.org, a nature conservancy charity, their organization alone has a million members. On top of that, there is a multitude of environmentalist forms and organizations scattered throughout the world wide web that too have gained a large following. The large population of environmentalist is a result of how inclusive the topic of the environment is. This makes it likely environmentalist inhabit every part of the world because environmental issues are relevant to all species and can impact everything on earth. Though environmentalist have acquired a reputation of hosting a predominantly liberal demographic, this is not their only demographic. The Value-Belief-Norm Theory is a theory about social movements that suggest individuals who accept their movements basic values, believe those values are threatened and believe their actions will be a solution will feel a disposition to provide support. Though the type of support is dependent on the individual's capabilities and constraints. Using this theory we can infer that the decision to become an environmentalist is primarily subjective. However, if an organization is requesting monetary assistance or additional research support as a solution for solving an environmental issue, the demographic might veer towards higher income families or people with higher education

In the courses that I have taken here at Thomas, I have not heard much about the environment, aside from in this course. Many of my other courses are about business, trying to make money over whether or not they’re doing the right thing. In one of my courses I have read about companies wanting to be more environmentally friendly, but I think companies, especially ones that do not truly rely on nature for their profits, want to be environmentally friendly because that is what their customer wants. Overall, it is my opinion that people ignore the issue, deny it, or have

Sustainable impact investing is not necessarily something new, but rather just the next step in the evolution of socially responsible investing strategies. Some differences between traditional financial investing and impact investing are that traditional financial investing is simply concerned with profit maximization; on the contrary, impact investing has a dual goal of not only making a profit but also causing positive social and/or environmental improvements. This type of investing involves more of a positive, proactive and comprehensive review of a company to provide for a more robust picture of its operations and social, as well as economic impact. Acumen is different from regular capital in that it has a higher tolerance for risk, longer time horizons and prioritizes the needs of end customers over that of shareholders –

Social responsible programs are growing very rapidly. “Over the last two years, SRI investing has grown by more than 22% to $3.74 trillion in total managed assets, suggesting that investors are investing with their heart, as well as their head” (Chamberlain, 2013). Investors are caring about their

A well-known approach is that which takes the straightforward contribution to maximizing the shareholder value as the supreme criterion to evaluate specific corporate social activity. Any investment in social demands that would produce an increase of the shareholder value should be made, acting without deception and fraud. In contrast, if the social demands only impose a cost on the company they should be rejected. Friedman (1970) is clear, giving an example about investment in the local community: ‘‘it will be in the long run interest of a corporation that is a major employer in a small community to devote resources to providing amenities to that community or to improving its

For instance, the old style mindset suggested that being environmentally responsible was expensive; that there is a tradeoff between social agenda and a business agenda (Biswas et al., 2011; Porter & Kramer, 2011). The literature is now pointing to increasing evidence that companies can save money by saving energy and using resources better (Biswas, et al., 2014; Spitzeck & Chapman, 2012). Contrary to Carroll’s CRS model, CSV is not about philanthropy but doing business in a smart way (Porter & Kramer, 2011). The motivation to explore less obvious opportunities is to have executives begin to think about how companies can impact issues that have been traditionally described as social issues (Michelini & Fiorentino, 2012).

The founders played a big part in bringing success to the company. First, the founders positioned the company as a socially responsible entity that was really concerned with the welfare of society and the environment at large. As an example, the company was actively involved in supporting the World Wildlife Fund and planted 52 million trees. The founders believe that corporate social responsibility initiatives were not meant to boost the image of the company but to ensure environmental sustainability. Secondly, the founders also successfully adopted a decentralized business model that allowed workers to feel empowered. For instance, various teams in the company played a big part in negotiating critical business deals such as the

There is a growing realization that, along with government aid and charitable philanthropy, financial institutions can help to solve some of the world’s social problems. Over the past decade there has been significant growth in socially responsible investing. Just as the formation of the venture capital industry ushered a new approach to funding the private sector, impact investing is attempted to harness the finance industry to bring social improvements. Ideally, impact investments would deliver something good for humanity while generating a financial return with limited downside risk. As socially responsible investing continues to grow, investors have begun to gravitate to companies and assets that hold similar values to themselves. This can include investments towards climate change, alleviating poverty, increasing education or anything that progresses social strides. Traditionally, responsible investing avoided stocks which promoted vices such as tobacco and alcohol. However, as the industry has evolved, financial institutions have created funds which now actively promote and track sustainable practices.

Our primary interest is to assess the adequacy of the literature in informing corporate managers how, when, and where to make pro-environment investments that will pay off with financial returns for long-term shareholders. To do so, we create a conceptual framework that maps the influence of regulators, public health scientists, environmental advocates, consumers, employees, and other interested parties upon corporate financial returns. Our discussion has relevance to all parties interested in influencing corporate actions that affect the environment."

The environment as we know it, isn't as green and luscious as it should be. There are steel monsters that block out the sun, huffing out dangerous smoke, and leaking out poisonous chemicals into rivers and streams, vehicles pumping out harmful fumes, people disposing of waste in a way that isn't safe/right and all other kinds of sources that ruin the planet. With the current environmental issues that plague the environment and planet, people need to do what they can to help save the Earth.