The Inspired Economist

In my “Greening Print Marketing” posts, I’ve looked at a wide variety of reasons (and ways) for marketers to see their print marketing projects as green. But what about the flip side? Why do printers market their green initiatives?

The number one reason seems to be a reflection of their own personal commitment. In a recent survey by What They Think (Source: “Economic Outlook Webinar with Dr. Joe Webb” 3/26/08), 43% of printers said that their green initiatives were “more important to our company than to our customers at this time.” Only 8% felt that it was more important to their customers than it was to them.

Thirty-five percent felt that promoting their environmental sustainability initiatives was good for their business image. Nearly one-quarter (24%) saw it as a necessary cost of doing business in today’s climate.

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All companies like to say they are “green,” but Xerox is putting numbers behind it. Its “2008 Report on Global Citizenship” provides a year-over-year look at its progress toward its goals toward corporate social responsibility.

Among the highlights:

• Two additional facilities named members of U.S. EPA National Environmental Performance Track (validating environmental performance beyond regulatory compliance). This brings the total to five.
• Named a National Performance Track Corporate Leader in 2008.
• Recycling rate of 92%—up 1% from 2006.
• Energy consumption down 2% from 2006—total cut of 19% between 2002 and 2007
• Cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5% from 2006—cut emissions worldwide by 21% between 2002 and 2007
• 80% of new products introduced in 2007 met the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s tougher ENERGY STAR requirements

Also, included in the report are sections and key metrics devoted to governance and ethics, customer privacy and satisfaction, employee diversity and development, environmental initiatives, corporate donations and volunteerism, and more.

An interactive version of the report can be found at the following link: Xerox Global Citizenship Report.

Presstek, the inventor of chemistry-free platemaking, is offering a free white paper entitled, “Growing Your Business by Going Green.” The paper speaks to both the environmental and economic benefits that can be realized by in-house print shops or third-party print providers who adopt the practice of “green” printing. This is also relevant to marketers who are looking for information to help them select a print provider that will help them meet their green marketing goals.

Despite the broad range of topics covered, the white paper is largely designed to discuss the economic and environmental benefits of Presstek DI digital offset presses. Most of my posts involve the business and marketing models relate to toner-based (digital) printing, but I’ve discussed the green benefits of the DI process in my posts before. This white paper goes into far more detail than I can cover here.

Like toner-based printing, DI printing eliminates many of the chemicals used in the print production process, although it is an offset process—it looks like traditional offset printing. But compared to a traditional offset press (comparisons are made to both 500-run and long-run quantities), it eliminates waste from

• press developer,
• press replenisher,
• press finisher/gum,
• fountain solution
• fountain substitute
• waste water

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If you do not want to waste precious moments searching the internet for the top stories in business and finance, or if you have found an ideal economics news story that you would highly recommend to other readers, then Tip’d might quickly become your business social destination everyday.

Much like Digg, Tip’d is a site that has the advantage of showing up at the right time. The stock market has recently been on a roller coaster ride and the world’s economy has been on the brink of depression for over a month. As you know most speculative behavior is driven by human emotion which tends to spread news like wildfire. In this scenario, Tip’d has found the perfect fit by offering an ideal platform for readers to share their favorite business stories. Read the rest of this entry »

The World Resources Institute’s new(ish) report: The Next Four Billion, draws on household income and consumption surveys of the Base of the Pyramid (see a series of posts on this topic) from over a hundred countries.

Rather than provide case study success story descriptions and results, this report provides an assessment (including easy to read graphs and charts) of various Base of the Pyramid markets. Analysis includes:

• A fairly detailed portrait of the BoP including characteristics besides poverty:
  • Significant unmet needs; and
  • Dependence on informal/subsistence livelihoods
• Country and regional overviews of the size and income of the BoP market;
• Total market size, including ability to pay; and
• A review of the “penalty” faced by BOP consumers in the form of higher prices, poorer quality goods and services, or lack of access to services.

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Traditional thinking often has the worlds of Corporate Capitalism and Social Advocacy on a permanent collision course—at times a violent one—as the fundamental interests of both seem irreconcilably opposed. But today, even now, a movement has emerged in the corporate world that gives members of both sides credible ground to have an optimistic view of their common future.

As power moves into the hands of business, the world increasingly looks to corporations instead of governments or religions to solve its major social problems. Consider:

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"We all know that money can’t buy you love…or happiness, but we have been living our lives as though the accumulation of wealth is the key to our dreams.

The Economics of Happiness shows:

Via: (New Society Publishing)

Foreign investment has been widely perceived as a panacea for developing countries–as a way to reduce poverty and jump-start sustainable modern industries. In The Enclave Economy, Kevin Gallagher and Lyuba Zarsky call this prescription into question, showing that Mexico’s post-NAFTA experience of foreign direct investment in its information technology sector, particularly in the Guadalajara region, did not result in the expected benefits. Charting the rise and fall of Mexico’s "Silicon Valley," they explore issues that resonate through much of Latin America and the developing world: the social, economic, and environmental effects of market-driven globalization.

In the 1990s, Mexico was a poster child for globalization, throwing open its borders to trade and foreign investment, embracing NAFTA, and ending the government’s role in strengthening domestic industry. But The Enclave Economy shows that although Mexico was initially successful in attracting multinational corporations, foreign investments waned in the absence of active government support and because China became increasingly competitive. Moreover, foreign investment created an "enclave economy" the benefits of which were confined to an international sector not connected to the wider Mexican economy. In fact, foreign investment put many local IT firms out of business and transferred only limited amounts of environmentally sound technology. Gallagher and Zarsky suggest policies and strategies that will enable Mexico and other developing countries to foster foreign investment for sustainable development in the future.

Via:(MIT Press)

Sustainability has become a buzzword in the last decade, but its full meaning is complex, emerging from a range of different sectors. In practice, it has become the springboard for millions of individuals throughout the world who are forging the fastest and most profound social transformation of our time — the Sustainability Revolution.

The Sustainability Revolution paints a picture of this largely unrecognized phenomenon from the point of view of five major sectors of society:

Via: (New Society Publishers)

There are an overwhelming number of books published on the challenges of running large companies. And while approximately 50% of the U.S. workforce work for large companies (500 workers or more), the other 50% work for or own smaller scale businesses. Ben Cohen (of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream fame) and Mal Warwick redress this imbalance in their new book Values-Driven Business: How to Change the World, Make Money, and Have Fun

, which lays out the roadmap for starting and running a business while staying true to one’s own ethics and values.

Cohen and Warwick address changes both in the culture of modern-day business as well as in the larger culture of America itself. These changes are reflected in the marketplace by the evergrowing demand of consumers for products that are NOT produced in an environmentally damaging manner, as well as for companies that treat their employees with dignity, respect, and decent pay. And, the authors lay out a roadmap for entrepreneurs who want to bring these values of environmentally sound products and respect for their employees to the businesses that they own.

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