STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL POSITION - Identifying the right moment to go green

Abstract

If investments on the environment should generate profits or become source of competitive advantage, then the business managers need to identify the circumstances that favour such aspects. For some companies, the proper use of the resources could compensate the investments related to the environment. For others, receive the ISO 14001 certificate or develop products based on environmental aspects could possibly be the best way to obtain competitive advantage. However, it is unlikely that a general strategy will bring satisfaction to all. This is the main reason to guide us in categorizing all generic types of environment strategies in companies: There are immediate implications for the theory and practice of business management in this aspect. For the Professors who work in the field of strategic environmental strategy, the model could facilitate the identification of the theoretical construct or empiric variables to define strategic proposition of questions or hypotheses. By using the corporative environmental strategy as classification scheme, it helps the managers in defining and establishing priority areas of organizational actions, optimising the general economic return on the environment return and the potential of transforming these investments in sources of competitive advantage.