June, 2009
Jean Lasee, MAOM
Some of you may not know that I live in Scottsdale, Arizona and have for a number of years.
The last two weeks we entered our summer monsoon season, which can be difficult for desert
dwellers. Moisture comes up from the Gulf of California; the intense summer heat takes
this moisture and creates enormous clouds that build throughout the day. If conditions are
right, we receive brief and often violent rain showers. These showers sometimes cool our
temperatures and provide much-needed precipitation.
Precipitation is not an abundant resource in the desert, but sunshine certainly is. At a recent
networking function on solar development, I was reminded that sunshine, when converted to
solar energy, is a vast and important resource here in the Southwest. Interestingly, the person
who reminded all of us of our resource was from cloudy Germany, where many solar programs
are being implemented. Solar technology is now being developed more abundantly in Arizona
than in the past. It's estimated that the state could generate over 10,000 jobs in the coming
years.
Since that discussion this past Spring, I have been doing considerable research on the topic
of sustainability, which is a large and growing field. The focus of my research is to learn how
green business practices generate value for organizations. For example, most companies
would certainly benefit from being more efficient with energy use, but what about building
a more positive brand image or improving a reputation because the public sees them as
"green."
In the article of the journal OD Practitioner (Vol. 40 No. 2, 2008) entitled Green Organization
Development, the authors Bauback Yeganeh and Ante Glavas mention a study done by
McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting company, in 2006. The study
interviewed 4238 business executives in 116 countries. The findings showed that "84% of
those executives felt that business should contribute to the public good; however, only 3%
believe that their companies are currently doing a good job (pg. 7)."
How can an Organizational Change Consultant such as myself help organizations on their
journey towards becoming greener-- by getting conversations going and helping leaders and
teams to specifically discuss ways to implement green strategies in the areas of energy use,
product design, as well as the organization's value-added activities.
Many large organizations are jumping on the sustainability bandwagon with interesting results.
Stay tuned to this blog for more information about the field of sustainability as I continue my
journey to discover and talk about green organizations.
Talk with you later.
Jean
© 2009
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