Better Green Business brings together practical insights and start-to-finish strategies for moving any enterprise to a higher level of environmental stewardship. Drawing on his extensive experience at IBM, Dr. Eric Olson shows how to systematically drive “win-win-win” gains: growing top-line revenue, helping customers increase efficiency, and improving the environment at the same time. Olson’s business-focused guidance covers every step of your green business program, from strategy formulation through continuous improvement. He first offers a complete framework for approaching and formulating green strategy, using case studies to identify potential opportunities and business benefits. Next, using real case studies, he demonstrates how to define initiatives, construct roadmaps for transforming vision into reality, and link each investment to business strategy, so businesses can accurately measure results. Olson introduces powerful business process transformation methodologies and technologies for increasing operational efficiency and reducing waste, including IBM’s breakthrough Green Sigma approach. He also identifies new opportunities to drive value by “instrumenting the planet,” and introduces new technologies that make this possible. Finally, Olson assesses long-term trends that will make “green business” even more crucial in the coming years.

With environmental concerns a top issue for consumers everywhere, the green market is the next big boom industry for entrepreneurs looking to make money—and make a difference. Discover 75 green startup ideas in multiple industries, including eco-tourism, small wind power, green schools, water conservation landscaping, green investment consulting and more. For each business, Croston shows you the market, product to be delivered, resources needed, major hurdles ahead, competitors and strategies for success.

Everything you need to know to green your business and grow your profit. • The truth about what climate change means for your business • The truth about running lean and green • The truth about future proofing your business Simply the best thinking THE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH This book reveals 52 PROVEN GREEN STRATEGIES and bite-size, easy-to-use techniques that get results. “This little book is inspiring in its range and practicality—not just for CEOs, but for every member of the enterprise…an exceptionally useful guide for ‘going green’ at any scale of enterprise.” CHIP CONLEY, CEO, Joie de Vivre Hospitality “In a world where green business advice is rampant, this is the one resource you need: a field guide that combines insight and inspiration with a solid, actionable path forward.” JOEL MAKOWER, Executive Editor, GreenBiz.com

This book provides rich new empirical evidence on green business as it examines its variation between industries and nations, and over time. It demonstrates the deep historical origins of endeavors to create for-profit businesses that were more responsible and sustainable, but also how these strategies have faced constraints, trade-offs and challenges of legitimacy. Based on extensive interviews and archives from around the world, the book asks why green business succeeds more in some contexts than others, and draws lessons from failure as well as success.

Two experts explain the consequences for the planet when corporations use sustainability as a business tool. McDonald's promises to use only beef, coffee, fish, chicken, and cooking oil obtained from sustainable sources. Coca-Cola promises to achieve water neutrality. Unilever seeks to achieve 100 percent sustainable agricultural sourcing by 2020. Walmart has pledged to become carbon neutral. Big-brand companies seem to be making commitments that go beyond the usual “greenwashing” efforts undertaken largely for public-relations purposes. In Eco-Business, Peter Dauvergne and Jane Lister examine this new corporate embrace of sustainability, its actual accomplishments, and the consequences for the environment. For many leading-brand companies, these corporate sustainability efforts go deep, reorienting central operations and extending through global supply chains. Yet, as Dauvergne and Lister point out, these companies are doing this not for the good of the planet but for their own profits and market share in a volatile, globalized economy. They are using sustainability as a business tool. Dauvergne and Lister show that the eco-efficiencies achieved by big-brand companies limit the potential for finding deeper solutions to pressing environmental problems and reinforce runaway consumption. Eco-business promotes the sustainability of big business, not the sustainability of life on Earth.

Why Understanding Green Business? With every new day society has become more aware of the increasing threats to the globe due to the non-environmentally friendly practices that have been occurring in the previous years. Due to the newfound awareness, people have taken greater lengths to pass laws, alter company policies and change their everyday lives to do their part in helping to preserve the environment and prevent any further damage. Rather than taking the easy route and continuing their habits, society is putting forth a consciousness effort to go out of their way to improve the environment in any way they can. As a collective force the going green movement will better the environment and allow further generations to enjoy a clean and productive world. How is Understanding Green Business structured? Dr. Tehrani and Dr. Sinha dedicate each chapter to a different aspect of "going green" in this book such as products, transportation, networking, research and energy alternatives. In addition, the authors discuss green careers and provide useful information on how to go about working at a green company. The future of the green movement and its impacts are mentioned so as to provide a potential impact of current changes in the future. It also shows a possible interpretation of how the future green movement shall be exercised. Who is this book for? This book has been created as the core textbook for Business professionals, industry practitioners, academicians and students who would like to hone their business skills, and keep up with the latest trends in Green Business. As a result, Understanding Green Business will support students pursuing a master degree in MBA, Certificate in Management or a Diploma in Management and/or Business while undergraduate students in business programs.

From the Publishers Weekly review: "Two experts from Yale tackle the business wake-up-call du jour-environmental responsibility-from every angle in this thorough, earnest guidebook: pragmatically, passionately, financially and historically. Though "no company the authors know of is on a truly long-term sustainable course," Esty and Winston label the forward-thinking, green-friendly (or at least green-acquainted) companies WaveMakers and set out to assess honestly their path toward environmental responsibility, and its impact on a company's bottom line, customers, suppliers and reputation. Following the evolution of business attitudes toward environmental concerns, Esty and Winston offer a series of fascinating plays by corporations such as Wal-Mart, GE and Chiquita (Banana), the bad guys who made good, and the good guys-watchdogs and industry associations, mostly-working behind the scenes. A vast number of topics huddle beneath the umbrella of threats to the earth, and many get a thorough analysis here: from global warming to electronic waste "take-back" legislation to subsidizing sustainable seafood. For the responsible business leader, this volume provides plenty of (organic) food for thought. "