10.1 Introduction

Success in today's business world is about more than just making
maximum profits.

The general public expects organisations big and small to have an increased responsibility to put
policies and procedures in place, to ensure that they are working in both an environmentally and
socially responsible manner and should work hard to create such a culture both in their workplaces
and within the communities that they serve.

In this final module of our operations management course, we will look at two areas in particular - corporate social responsibility and environmentally friendly interventions.

10.2 What is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)?

Corporate social responsibility is a term referring to an
organisation's desire to not only comply with its legal and regulatory responsibilities, but
also create a strategy of ethical practices and standards for the benefit of the communities
in which they work.

Here are some examples of common corporate social responsibility initiatives that a
business may put in place

* Environmentally friendly policies (we will cover this area in specific detail later in this module)

* Ethical work practices, including treating employees fairly and equally and implementing
policies to support their wellbeing and work life balance.

* Philanthropy, such as donating proportions of profits to charities, or endorsing and promoting
good causes

*Volunteering, such putting practices in place to support and encourage employees and
management to support worthy causes for no financial gain, usually funded by the    company
itself

Why does corporate social responsibility matter?

CSR has become a key strand of business strategy for many forward thinking businesses and has
become much more mainstream, with large and small companies alike, from all sorts of different
industries.

The moral case for such thinking is quite obvious. Many people increasingly believe that businesses
owe a big responsibility to the society in which they operate and should be in a position to give back
as much, if not more, as they take out, in an attempt to have a positive impact on the environment, economy and community as a whole.

The moral and ethical case is compelling, but there is also a demonstrable business case for
embedding CSR into your organisation.

Below we look at some reasons why.

Customers increasingly seek out and buy from organisations who “give back” and it is an ever
growing factor in their decision making process when purchasing goods or services, together with
other traditional factors such as price, quality, brand, etc.

If your business fails to engage with the move from customers towards this area, you may find
yourself being left behind in a key area where your competitors can offer an alternative.

A strong focus on CSR can also help to recruit and subsequently retain employees. The so called
“war for talent” is very real in some professions and sectors in particular and businesses not only
need to make themselves stand out and be competitive for customers, but for their current and
potential staff too.

The next generation of employees is increasingly looking for employers who can offer a well-rounded
working environment, rather than just being attracted by the traditional factors of salary and
pension and a strong track record in CSR initiatives can sometimes be the defining feature of a
company's recruitment strategy, to target more socially conscious potential employees. It is in this
way that CSR can support a business in a competitive marketplace for talent, in order to be an
Employer of Choice.

Employing a CSR strategy can reduce business costs, by saving money on energy and operating
costs through its focus on reusing, recycling and minimising unnecessary use and waste of
resources. It can improve the reputation of your business and its standing in the area in which it operates.

Quite often, a solid CSR track record can be the differentiator between two competitors in a
marketplace who offer similar prices, quality, etc. Also, well executed CSR initiatives or campaigns
For example
Charity work, can create positive headlines and can be a great source of PR for a business.

10.3 A case study of an effective CSR campaign - Marks and
Spencer's Plan A

Marks and Spencer, a major multinational retailer based in the UK
with a turnover of £10.4 billion, runs a CSR programme called Plan A, which is their own
journey to make their business more sustainable, with the core belief that a successful
business must also be environmentally and socially sustainable.

They recognise that their operations have an impact on the environment and on society.

They focus on the following issues, across every area of their business:

* Climate change

* Waste and circular economy

* Natural resources

* Responsible sourcing

*Product sustainability

*Human rights

*Community engagement

Marks and Spencer applies Plan A sustainable principles to all of its own brand goods, approximately 99% of the goods that they sell and works closely and in collaboration with their
partners and suppliers, in order to share best practice.

They work with and support many other organisations to address specific issues, such as Oxfam, WWF, Macmillan and the Marine Conservation Society.

All of the areas mentioned above are worthy causes and vital parts of M&S's Plan A philosophy, but
we would like to draw particular attention to the responsible sourcing issue, as this could be an area
that impacts operations management more directly.

M&S aims to source all of its products in the most sustainable way possible, including supporting
Fairtrade initiatives (helping farmers and workers in developing countries to invest in their
communities), using recycled fibres to make better use of resources, exploring new natural and
manmade fibres that have less of an environmental impact and investing in cruelty free beauty
testing.

Activity 1

Estimated time: 15 minutes

Choose two of the main areas of focus from Marks & Spencer's Plan A programme, as detailed. Research them further on their website (http://corporate.marksandspencer.com/plan-a) and write
down any benefits and any suggestions that you potentially could carry across to your own business.

10.4 Creating a CSR policy

The creation of a clear and business appropriate CSR policy can
sometimes even be the driver for corporate change.

With clearly thought out objectives and quantifiable, SMART targets, an effective CSR policy will
provide the foundation for steps towards the creation of a more sustainable and ethical organisation.

A CSR policy should begin with an analysis of every aspect of your business and its operations, including its impact on employees, clients, suppliers and communities.

Here are some handy hints that you can use, when creating an effective CSR policy for your
business:

Focus on the right issues

You should choose areas of activity where a) you feel that you can make a difference or have the
ability to influence and b) are close to your target customers' hearts. It is often the case that
initiatives which capture the imagination and are carefully thought out with clear objectives
generally resonate more with customers.

For example

Philanthropy is not just about giving a portion of the company's profits away to charity, although this
can be a great start. There are many interesting ways in which to get your workforce and customers involved, such as
sponsoring a charity and arranging fun activities to raise money.

Choose causes that are integrated with the key shared values or purpose of your business.

Carefully linking your CSR activities to your company's strategy or business objectives will
potentially make it easier to get buy-in from the rest of the business and could result in your
interventions having a bigger impact with what you do. What's more, your customers will likely find
it easier to identify with the initiatives, as they are aligned to your brand.

Don't forget to measure return on investment

It can be difficult to weigh up the monetary effectiveness of CSR policies, as the benefits that they
can offer a business are often intangible and qualitative, such as an increase in brand awareness, etc
and separating out of CSR as the defining factor in a success can be difficult.

Your business may
decide to set aside a budget for the social and environmental causes that it wishes to focus on, but
you should still consider mechanisms to enable you to measure return on investment, so that the
outlay can be justified.

Create noise and interest about your CSR schemes

You need to publicise your objectives and make sure that the public know about the work that you
do.

In addition, increasing awareness about your initiatives can also have the positive effect of pushing
and encouraging further change and evolution in the CSR area and may even convince other
organisations of the merits of such activities. Interventions such as regular press releases, publishing your CSR strategy, annual reporting on your progress and updates for regular customers
to raise awareness are great ways in which to increase publicity.

Involve and engage the important stakeholders in your business.

The senior leadership team of the business needs to be supportive of the strategy and, crucially, committed to investing from both a financial, strategic and resource perspective, across the longterm. Dipping in and out of initiatives can send a message to your consumers and to the market that you
are not serious and even that you are simply seeking short term rewards or publicity.

Furthermore, as many CSR activities can take months and years to be implemented and demonstrate
any positive effects, a focus on the short term would not do justice to the potential success of your
efforts.

Fact

Nine in 10 consumers expect companies to not only make a profit, but also operate responsibly, in
order to address social and environmental issues.

Source: Study by Cone Communications.

10.5 Sustainable management in business

An awareness of and consideration for the environment has been a
focus for some businesses over the last few decades, but more and more is now an area
which is considered as an essential part of a successful business and not just a “nice to
have”.

Lots of companies see the importance of creating and implementing practices which do not damage
the environment or use up scarce natural resources and recognise that many of their customers and
employees alike value a clear and positive commitment from them regarding the environment.

Sustainable business management, also commonly referred to as green management, is the practice
of applying practices throughout the organisation, with the objective of positively impacting current
and future generations.

The overall aim is for the business to work to minimise or even negate its impact on the environment
and society, instead contributing in a positive fashion.Sustainability is a wide-reaching area and can
touch on many different parts of a business.

However, in this module we will mainly look at the
factors that you have an opportunity to influence more directly as an Operations Manager.

So, what defines a green business?

An organisation can be described as green if it can demonstrate the following four criteria
(Source: Wikipedia - Sustainable business):

*It incorporates principles of sustainability into each of its business decisions

*It supplies environmentally friendly products or services, which replace demand for non-green
products and/or services

*It is greener than traditional competition

*It has made an enduring commitment to environmental principles in its business operations

In addition, it is no longer sufficient for organisations to simply state that they have a focus on the
environment, without being able to demonstrate their actions in this regard to back it up.

Sustainability is now an area that stakeholders and customers wish to measure and make
comparisons and judgements about the companies that they purchase from.

In the last module, we looked at the ISO 9000 regulations for quality. Similarly, the ISO 14000 series
provide guidance to support an organisation to achieve the ISO 14001 Environmental Management
standard, which is an international, verifiable standard of environmental management.

These standards support organisations, to ensure that they are keeping with the applicable local, national and international regulations regarding the environment, which can be difficult to navigate
and change often. But more than this, the standards offer organisations other, voluntary solutions, to
support their operations to be more environmentally friendly.

Collaboration is key

Due to the competitive nature of the business environment, organisations can be wary of sharing
ideas and initiatives they fear they may give away their competitive advantage. Generally speaking, however, green and environmentally friendly issues differ to other areas of business focus, in that
they are usually not considered so much of a competitive advantage, as to inhibit the sharing of
ideas and successes with other businesses.

Responsible businesses work together to this end and you can research what support is available to
help your business on its journey to becoming more sustainable and environmentally aware. There
are a number of charities and non-governmental organisations providing support and advice and
even helpful resources such as sample policies, recycling guidelines, staff communications, etc.

Of course, hand in hand with this is the environmental law in the UK, which works closely with
European and international regulations, due to cross border problems such as air and water
pollution.

The Environment Agency is a non-departmental public body, with strong links to the government, who have the responsibility of protecting and enhancing the environment. Its official purpose is as
follows:

"the objective of achieving sustainable development" (taken from the Environment Act 1995, section
4). Protection of the environment relates to threats such as flood and pollution. The vision of the
Agency is of "a rich, healthy and diverse environment for present and future generations".

Also consider how engaging with your local community could benefit you. Working closely with other
businesses, residents and the local council could be a great way to make sure that your green
initiatives have sticking power and create a bigger and more demonstrable impact. Some areas hold
regular meetings, where representatives from all sorts of businesses come together to share their
successes in environmentally friendly activities and they can be a great source of ideas and advice.

Fact

88% of consumers said they were more likely to buy from a company that supports and engages in
activities to improve society.

Source: Better BusinessJourney, UK Small Business Consortium.

10.6 Ways to improve the sustainability of your business

There are so many ways in which to make your organisation more
environmentally friendly, that it is impossible to do justice to such a wide reaching area in
this short section.

However, below are some points for you to consider:

Minimise your business waste

Use recycled materials where you can. There are lots of creative ways of making this happen and
many will be industry or business-specific to your organisation. These days, recycled office
stationery, second hand office furniture and refillable computer ink cartridges are often more
commonly used by businesses, than new ones.

Go paperless or make the change to post-consumer waste (PCW).These days, lots of businesses can
easily manage by using minimal amounts of paper, using computer systems, email, digital readers, etc in its place. However, in instances where you can't avoid printing, you should try to use PCW
paper, which is manufactured completely from recycled paper.

PCW paper has the great benefit of using around 45% less energy in its production.

You should also make sure that you offer sufficient paper recycling units for staff to use on your
premises, in order to minimise the amount of paper that goes to landfill.

Consider greener ways to hold meetings. If your business holds regular business meetings with
employees working in various locations, think about alternatives, such as conducting virtual
meetings to save the cost of making business trips, or even making telephone calls instead of holding
unnecessary meetings and thereby reducing your carbon footprint.

Support your staff to make environmentally friendly choices

Initiatives such as Cycle to Work or Car Share schemes aim to reduce the number of individual
employees driving to work and can have a really positive impact on the environment, helping to
reduce pollution and traffic problems. What's more, encouraging staff to walk, cycle, or take public
transport to work can also help them to live more physically active, healthy lives. Some companies
even offer financial incentives to employees who participate in such initiatives.

Collaborative staff councils can be a great way of introducing green measures into the workplace
and garner engagement across the workforce, so that employees feel involved and consulted with, rather than simply being told to be more environmentally conscious. Staff who work in the office
everyday are usually a reliable source of ideas for practical changes that can make all the difference.

What's more, if the group is also responsible for communications and the monitoring of success of
the implemented environmental policies, such as checking the recycling bins, they are also more
likely to have a vested interest in the success of the work. Think about your office or work environment and the small things that could be changed in order to
have a positive environmental impact.

For example

Suggest that employees bring their own cups and refillable water bottles to work, instead of using
throwaway paper and plastic cups and bottles, or provide reusable food preparation items and
appliances in the staffroom, to reduce waste from disposable fast food containers.

Minimise the amount of water that your business uses

There are lots of modern ways in which to reduce your water usage, with water saving features that
can be integrated into the design of your premises.

A good way of minimising the volume of water used is to reduce the water pressure through taps, toilets, etc. Water conserving fixtures and fittings, such as reduced-flow shower heads, and reducedflushing toilets, can be really effective to achieve this.

Rainwater harvesting is the effective capturing and storage of rainwater to use for the everyday
functions of a building. This process is quite simple and cost effective and can have a big impact on
water use on your premises. Naturally, much will depend on your location, as there needs to be
sufficient regular precipitation to ensure that the costs of implementing such a system will provide
increased cost savings in the use of water across the life span of your building.

Any appliances on the premises which use water, such as on-site laundry facilities, dishwashers, boilers, etc should be energy efficient and serviced regularly. Reduce the energy footprint of your premises
Using the sun as a source of energy is an area that has been previously under-utilised, but is now
becoming very popular.

For example

Solar tiles aim to capture the warmth of the sun during the day, to produce an energy source that
can be captured and used for all manner of energy uses across a building. Extracting non-renewable materials such as coal can have big consequences for the environment, as
can the extraction of renewable materials. Impacts to consider are air and water pollution and the
disruption and irreversible damage to natural habitats and eco systems.

Embodied energy.

The term embodied energy refers to the total energy used in the extraction, production, transportation and construction of a building material. The embodied energy of a
building material that you are considering working with should be considered, so as to understand
the true cost to the environment of using it. As an Operations Manager, if you are involved in decisions regarding the most suitable materials to
use for a particular product or process, the so called “carbon footprint” of materials should also be
considered. Sourcing materials from a long distance, which must be transported to where you need
them, costs money, can take time and also has a knock on effect on the environment.

Recycling initiatives

The first thing to think about when considering opportunities for increased recycling in your
business is the volume and type of rubbish that is generated. Much will depend on the type of
business that you operate. Conducting a waste review in order to identify the proportion and volume
of materials that make up most of your waste is a good place to start.

As general business rates do not cover waste and recycling services, you should get some quotes
from waste contractors (you may need to seek out specialist services, if your waste is hazardous or
difficult to dispose of).

Supporting your employees to get behind recycling efforts is critical to the overall success of your
business's recycling scheme.

Here are some ideas:

* You should try to use methods to communicate your message to your staff in the manner in
which is clearest and most interesting to them. Ideas to consider could be holding training
sessions or interactive workshops, staff meetings, putting up posters, etc. The best way to
keep the message fresh and consistent is to try to keep a continuous stream of communication
going, rather than a one-off initiative which will quickly lose momentum

* Encourage senior management involvement, in order to better engage your staff with the
efforts - if it supported by everyone in the business, it is more likely to stick

*Consider removing the individual rubbish containers that staff members may keep under their
desks and swapping them with more general waste and recycling points at designated places
around the premises. This increases how much material is potentially recycled, as it removes
the temptation for staff to throw things away carelessly

Activity 2

Estimated time: 15 minutes

Take a closer look at the recycling initiatives currently in place in your organisation. Summarise the
key parts of your current recycling strategy, where there is one and make some suggestions for
improvements.

Assignment

Socially and Environmentally Responsible Operations Management

Time: 30+ minutes

Hopefully, you took in as much of the information in this module as possible.

Module Summary

This final module of your course on Operations Management explored the concept of corporate
social responsibility and environmentally friendly initiatives and how such programmes can benefit
both your organisation and the wider society.

We began by defining the idea of corporate social responsibility, some of the reasons why it is so
important and why you should consider implementing a CSR strategy in your business. We covered some of the main aspects to think about when drawing up a CSR programme and some
great tips to set you up for success in this area. More specifically, we looked at a case study of a successful

CSR scheme in practice - that of Marks
& Spencer's Plan A - and some of the main strands of the initiative, such as responsible sourcing and
community involvement. Following this, we covered the definition of a green business, as well as the ISO standards and
bodies, such as the Environment Agency, who have an important role in this area.

The biggest part of this section was devoted to a detailed look at ways in which to improve the
sustainability of the company that you work for, considering key areas such as waste, staff
engagement, reducing the energy footprint and water use and recycling, giving you lots of
suggestions to consider in each area.