Herman Miller Case Study Essay

According to a “go green” blog named 2B Green World Website-LEED Consultants, “buildings represent over 50% of US wealth; $800 billion is the amount of renovation and new construction in the United States, buildings account for 1/6 of the worlds freshwater withdrawals, ¼ of its wood harvest and 2/5 of its material and energy flow” (Go Green Facts 1).These figures represent the disadvantages of a world without green building. Throughout this report the focus is on LEED certification and accreditation, and the impact LEED has on several different service firms. The report begins with background information about the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED, and LEED

Many firms are learning that being environmentally friendly and sustainable has numerous benefits. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). This could enable them to increase goodwill from various stakeholders and also save money in the long term. This will mean that they are being more efficient and less wasteful of resources, which will enable them to be more competitive by satisfying stakeholders. The CEO of

I decided to do my research at Lowe’s Home and Improvement. Lowe’s Home and Improvement is a hardware store that sales everything from your basic household appliances to minor cleaning supplies. Lowe’s believes that in order to maintain great customer service they feel that they must follow these simple rules: Provide customers with environmentally-responsible products, packaging and services at everyday low prices, educate and engage employees, customers and others on the importance of conserving resources, reducing waste and recycling, review and communicate progress made toward achieving established goals and objectives, and to engage on public policy issues related to sustainability. In this report I will discuss how I observed two

The industry can be very susceptible to environmental issues together with other manufacturers. With the advent of campaigns toward saving the environment and “going green”, the society is now more concerned with how the industry’s wastes and other by-products are being managed. Using recycled materials and recycling one’s wastes can affect the industry’s over-all image as an environmental advocate.

“Our goal is to offer products that help customers make smarter, safer, cleaner choices. That starts with education and awareness, and it’s our responsibility as the world’s top home improvement retailer to deliver both.... For a product to earn the Eco Options seal of approval, its supplier must submit a detailed report explaining why it is a greener option than comparable items. We’ve also undergone a steady shift toward more sustainable wood species in the products we sell.” Home Depot’s Environmental

Green buildings could become one of the main factors to preserve our rapidly decaying environment. There is no easy way to define a green building, but a green building is essentially a structure that amplifies the positives and mitigates the negatives throughout the entire life cycle of the building (Kriss, 2014). There are many definitions for a green building, but all of them include the planning, designing, constructing, and operating of the building while taking into huge considerations of the energy use, water use, indoor air environment, materials used and the effect it has on the site the green building is being built on. The first green buildings dates back to as far as the 1970’s, when solar panels went from experiments to reality. Green buildings were not as popular as they are today due to their extremely high pricing. With technology rapidly growing, solar panels are becoming cheaper and cheaper, making the transition to creating green buildings more affordable. This is the primary reason for the increased growth of green buildings today. A modern company that is paving the way to the growth of green buildings named LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, focuses primarily on new and effective ideas for environmentally friendly buildings projects. With more than 60,000 commercial projects worldwide and 1.7 million square feet being certified every day, LEED is one of the leading groups for promoting green buildings. LEED has popularized the entire

Herman Miller Inc. (HMI) is a long established firm designing and manufacturing high end innovative office furniture. The firm has a history of innovation, including the award winning Ergon and Aeron chairs and more recently has benefited from the related diversification of the accessories division. This strategy is supported by a high commitment to employees; HMI was the first to introduce the Scanlon plan, with committees to share ideas and a profit sharing scheme. These strategies combined to create a competitive advantage of differentiation. The firm has expanded internationally, but 90% of the sales remained in North America. However, the twenty-first century has provided challenges, the 2001 dot.com bubble and slow down and the recession of 2008 have impacted negativity on the firms' performance. Cost cutting has been undertaken, including forfeiting for the lifetime employment commitment for a new social contract, which was well accepted, and more recently the withholding of payments to the retirement plans. However, the firm still faces some challenges; the net earrings have fallen to 2.1% in 2010 compared to 7.6% in 2008, with selling and general admin costs increasing proportionately. Cuts have failed to keep pace with the decreased demand. The sales are also covering less of the interest payments, falling from 11.2 in 2006 to only 2.5 in 2010.

Lippke, B., Wilson, J., Perez-Garcia, J., Bowyer, J., & Meil, J. (2004). CORRIM: Life-cycle environmental performance of renewable building materials. Forest Products Journal, 54(6), 8-19. Retrieved from http://proxy.library.brocku.ca/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/214627686?accountid=9744

In “Timber Rising”, Robert Reid outlines the benefits of constructing tall building using timber structural members, as well as the growing interest and research to do so. The largest motivation to use timber structural members presented in the article is the desire to design and build structures that are more sustainable. The author highlights an interview in which a professional in the field says constructing buildings using timber, compared to the conventional materials of steel and concrete, can greatly reduce the carbon footprint due to construction. In addition, the author mentions that the trees, before being harvested for timber, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and convert it to oxygen. Lastly, the author presents research

I attended the January 29th event Environmental Advocacy; We are all in this together. Guest speaker Gabe Wing director of environmental health at Herman Miller Inc. held a presentation about corporate social responsibility (CSP) with examples from companies like his. He focused on sustainability by explaining why it is good for business. He also mentioned global warming and described how, unaddressed, its consequences will keep Herman Miller’s furniture and other products far from consumer priorities. Then, Mr. Wing harkened back to the presentation’s subtitle We are all in this together by recognizing achievements like Dell’s Ocean Plastics Initiative. He was very clear about the importance of spreading a message of shared duties.

Besides, DFS aims to minimize its impact on natural resources by purchasing paper from suppliers which practice sustainable forestry and are close to DFS’s facilities so as to reduce carbon emission in delivery. Plus, it encourages clients to switch to paperless statements and replaced about 1,400 printers and fax machines with multifunctional devices. The above projects have led DFS to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver status. LEED is a rating system to assess the environmental performance of a company.

The office furniture manufacturing industry market in the United States is very competitive since many companies offering similar products. Companies compete primarily on price, product and service

In evaluating Gore & Associates’ corporate culture differentiation, it is clear as to their commitment to diversity and mutual respect, trust and fairness, employee empowerment, and collaboration. Likewise, their commitment to mutual respect goes beyond just human capital; it includes a respect for the environment too. As part of Gore & Associates Environmental Responsibility Statement, they have gone on record with the following; “Gore’s respect for the environment is a natural outgrowth of our legacy of responsible innovation.” “Throughout our history, we’ve applied the principles of sound science to create products that improve the quality of life, including products that solve difficult environmental problems.” (www.gore.com/aboutus/environmental_responsibility_statement, 2011, para. 1).

IKEA has strong global brand name recognition by its various types of modern designs of furniture and appliances. It is the largest furniture retailer in the world which operate 351 outlets in 46 countries(Reuters 2008). IKEA put a lots efforts to offer high quality and innovative products at low prices, so that the price of products are affordable for as many people as possible (IKEA Group Sustainability Report FY13 2014). IKEA is one of the major buyers of wood in the retail sector which consumed approximate 1% of the total commercial-product wood in the world (IKEA Group Sustainability Report FY13 2014). The performance of IKEA with regards to balancing society’s expectations will be examined and critiqued in this paper. This paper will

Founder Anderson was the driving force behind this radical “mid-course correction”, to use the name of his book. In the 1990’s, Anderson recognized “that the Earth is damaged and hurting – badly” (Anderson, 1998) and changed the direction of the company significantly. This sustainable mindset touches every aspect of the company’s operations from its supply chain to its production line and even after the customer has purchased and installed it. It’s an inspiring story and it shows that working towards a sustainable operation is possible and can be profitable.