Nov
19
Do Sustainable Improvements Raise a Firm’s Worth
Posted by: kylechan | November 19, 2012 | Leave a Comment
Do consumers make choices based on how environmental a company is?
This seems to be a question that is always under debate. On one hand, there are companies such as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company that have heavily invested in sustainable companies. While on the other hand, there are companies such as Fiji Water who disregard the excessive packaging of their products. Personally, I tend to make purchases based on the first criteria. I feel that the utility I get from knowing that I am doing my part to help the environment outweighs the small price cut.
Another issue in the topic of sustainability is whether consumers look past what they see on the shelf and doing a life cycle assessment. This means that consumers need to look at the whole lifecycle of a product in order to fully understand how environmentally sustainable one product is over another.
Although there is no definite conclusion as to whether or not having an eco-friendly processes will increase the value of a company, there is a definitely a consumer niche who try to look for the most sustainable product from of the market.
P.S. If you’re interested, there is a book out there called “Why Shrink-wrap a Cucumber” that publishes their finding in their life cycle assessment of large companies such as Coca-Cola and Walmart. Despite the awkwardly named tittle, there is an explanation for the tittle and it is a very nice read.
Young, Martha. “The Business Value of Sustainability Initiatives â First Data Corporation.” Triple Pundit RSS. First Data TM, 14 Nov. 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.triplepundit.com/2012/11/business-value-sustainability-initiatives-first-data-corporation/>.