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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

‘Infuse ecological sensibility on corporate sector’


By Our Reporter
Shillong: The much awaited three-day management programme on Sustainable management titled "Managing for the Future: The Business of Sustainability" of Shillong IIM was inaugurated by Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Rural Development Society (MRDS) Robert G Lyngdoh here on Monday.

Inaugurating the programme, Mr Lyngdoh stressed on the need to inculcate ecological sensitivity in the process of strategising business operations so that the future generations may still have an opportunity to relish the natural environments that is slowly facing depletion in many areas, thanks to profitable but environmentally insensitive business setups. "The State is losing its climatic and natural beauty with the coming of industries," Mr Lyngdoh said.

He pointed out that coal mining has created a havoc in Jaintia Hills with many rivers being polluted killing living organisms found in these rivers.

Destruction of environment by industries has been witnessed in certain portions of East Khasi Hills, especially the cement plant at Mawmluh, Sohra where the land, which was rich in orchard plants have become barren due to haphazard mining of limestone to feed the cement plant.
The Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) in Byrnihat has also worsened the power scenario in the State.

Though the main objective behind setting up of the EPIP was to bring about economic development and employment generation for the local youth, Mr Lyngdoh said the reality was that the EPIP has created a situation where a State, which is known for its surplus in power has now become a power deficit State.

Broom plantation in certain portion of East Khasi Hills has led to rise in temperature in those areas, he pointed out adding that the reason was many people in the villages are opting for broom plantation since it is economic viable while other plantations including trees perish in the process.

"Considering these factors, the industries need to formulate well-organised strategies for environmental protection and ensure sustainable development," he suggested while he was optimistic on industries taking up environment preservation as a viable business.
Mr Lyngdoh also emphasised on addressing micro-level issues of economic welfare without which sustainability of the environment may not be possible.

While addressing this issue, he suggested that local best practices which are eco-friendly can be incorporated in business models of corporate enterprise.

Earlier, chief resource person of the three day programme Prof Trudy Heller made an introduction to the theme and explained how, at present, an increasing number of companies no longer think of environmental performance as just about compliance, but are now looking for ways to integrate environmental stewardship into their business strategy, operations and innovation designs. Emerging from this awareness are new ways of doing business that are both profitable and environmentally sound.

According to Prof Heller, the programme was organised around three major shifts in the business world that are driving environmental initiatives beyond compliance.

The first shift is from a world of plentiful natural resources and scarce labor, at the first industrial revolution, to the current situation: plentiful labor and scarcer natural resources.
The second shift is from designing almost all products and services for the wealthiest one billion people in the world, to developing emerging markets with a smaller environmental footprint.
The third shift is from a practice of minimizing industrial waste to a principle of eliminating - not reducing - the very concept of waste.

"This programme would look extensively into studying examples on the cutting edge of these developments. We will look at corporations that are creating a "double bottom line" by strategising about the ecological impact of their decisions, as well as the economic impact. We will learn about service industries that are attracting clients and personnel and cutting costs by greening their operations," Prof Heller added.

RGIIMS Officiating Director Prof DK Agarwal, in his speech emphasised that corporate enterprises are required to re-engineer, innovate and redefine their business models to find the best possible trade off between the three bottom lines of sustainability that is economic, social, and ecological value maximization. source: theshillongtimes

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