Engaging Organizations in Environmental Change: A Greenprint for Action

Abstract

In the past decade, awareness of environmental issues has increased tremendously and organizations are increasingly looking at ways of becoming more environmentally responsible and responsive. However, to date, progress on environmental issues has predominantly taken place in the scientific and engineering fields, with less emphasis on green issues in the management disciplines. This article issues a call for greater attention to environmental issues in all areas of management and as a starting point sets down eight ideas for engaging organizations in environmental change. These ideas include the development of green management modules, establishment of a green contract, environmental scenario planning, environmental auditing, green product redesign, environmental labeling, corporate consciousness, and environmental outreach. Following the discussion of each idea, some examples are provided looking at the concept in practice. The article concludes by encouraging the field of HRD to take a greater role in promoting environmental change in organizations. It argues that HRD practitioners can play an important role in reminding organizations of their social and moral responsibilities and fostering environmentally responsive innovation and change.