Case 1 – Herman Miller: Eddie, Get Off That Chair (30 points) Read “Herman Mille

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Case 1 – Herman Miller: Eddie, Get Off That Chair (30 points) Read “Herman Miller: Eddie, Get Off That Chair,” pages 300-303 in Understanding Business Ethics. Also read the Case Summary located on pg. 607-26-1 and 607-26-2 in the Study Reference Guide and answer the following questions. Case 1 Questions: 1. Why should companies focus their efforts on sustainability issues? 2. What stakeholders should companies such as Herman Miller focus on when adopting sustainability initiatives? 3. Comment on Herman Miller’s proactive stance concerning rosewood in its Eames chairs.

CAS E 10 Herman Miller: Eddie Get Off That Chair "We contribute to a better world by pursuing sustainability and environmental wisdom. Environmental advocacy is part of our heritage and a responsibility we gladly bear for future generations." From Herman Millers Corporate Values Statement he values that are instilled in Herman Miller start with its founder, D. J. De Pree who examined the company's responsibility of environmental stewardship more than fifty years ago. Herman Miller is a manufacturer of office furniture and other ac- cessory items. The company is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, and has manu facturing and distribution facilities in the United States, Italy, and the Unitec ingdom Herman Miller has established aggressive sustainability goals, which it wan:s 2020 under its Perfect Vision environmental initiative Those goals include zero landfill, zero hazardous waste generation, zero air and wate emissions from its manufacturing process, 100 percent green energy usage, and th accomplished by the year development of Herman Miller buildings that are constructed to be certified at a imum LEED Silver Certification. A time line of eran Miller's movement to envi ronmental sustainability is shown in Tablc 1. Hernan Miller's environ!nental corrimínent includes the establishment of ths Environmental Quality Action Team (EQAT), whose responsibility is to ensure that Herman Miller is able to satisfy its triple bottom line commitments of financial, envi ronmenta, and social goals. In additon, Herman Miller has developed the Design for Environment (DfE) protocol, which supports new products and programs that are er. vironmentally proactive. Herman Miller has rargeted the year 2020 as the date i which the company would be able to yield zcro landfill and zero hazardous waste generation under its Perfect Vision initiative. In addition, other goals of Perfect Vision 300

Explanation / Answer

Eames chair example is the best example to show a companies commitment towards enviornment sustainability. If the wood is unavailable or become rare then exchange it with another wood but safe enviornment. Herman Miller, In 1989 formed a Environmental Quality Action Team (EQAT) to coordinate environmental programs company-wide and involve as many employees as possible. Increase in world climate indicates that on curent pace of enviornment destruction soon we will enter in an era of less water more thirst, less land more people, less forest and less reources. Sooner or later every business will have to pay attention to sustainability in order to stay in business. Carbon footprint today shows how a company works as being green not only saves money, it also creates new revenue by attracting customers who care about a company's environmental footprint. Now there are many ta benefits also which is another initative taken by the governments of many countries. Natural resources like fossil fuels and water are finite and soon vanishes. As scarcity increases, cost also increases. This situation is not good for brand image also.

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