Management
Sustainability and CSR Questions
Question 1; Green Rubber
Failures of firms adopting green marketing approaches are numerous. Perceptions that the target market are more interested in other factors, such as cost or quality, rather than the green credentials will mean firms are likely to prioritize the factors they feel are most likely to attract that market, and making a will lead to a competitive advantage. For example, in the GRG case it is apparent that there could be a cost benefit to using the DeLink technology to recycle rubber. The ability to develop green messages for a product that is associated with environment damage can also be a challenge, as it may be difficult to make the message credible, especially if it is to be a source of differentiation (Kotler and Keller, 2011). In addition, issues may include the target market assumption that recycled goods may be an inferior quality as well as the businesses themselves may underestimate the power of environmental messages to support their product.
For GRG to become a major player in the industry they need to create a strong image for their product, which is seen as credible and preferable by the target market. This will mean overcoming the barriers, such becoming a preferable choice above is the potential substitutes, and the barriers such as the assumption that the process will lead to poor quality, as well as overcome ideas that there may be better ways of recycling rubber.
Part 2
Sustainable development has many definitions. One of the most common approaches reflects is found in the Brundtland Report "Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the needs of the future" (WCED, 1987). This reflects the way in which businesses should not contaminate the environment that is detrimental to future generations, or use resources that will be exhausted. The implications the business or a need to consider the way in which imports are used, including a source of those imports, along with the outputs result from processing and the products themselves (Werbach, 2009). Implementing a sustainable development strategy can be complicated, and would require firms such as GRG to undertake environmental auditing, and pursue strategies that would reduce and mitigate negative effects on the environment, or compensate for them, such as seeking a carbon neutral policy.
Part 3
The company is part of a large organization. The value of the parent company will depend on the green credentials of that company. As there are high levels of CSR initiatives, an association with another socially responsible organization is likely to benefit the company, and increase its credibility, as the association will transfer from one organization to the other is the linkages made within the marketing material.
Part 4
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