Read the attached cases and answer the discussion questions. Each case in a single paper.Are Companies Really Shifting
to Green Power?
EPA
GREEN
POWER
PARTNER
It seems the answer is “yes.” While some
critics in the United States see “green
power” as an alternative source of energy
that is only used by a handful of environ-
mentally conscious companies, many
organizations are increasingly tapping this
alternative source of power. In contrast to
conventional power that includes the com-
bustion of fossil fuels (coal, natural gas,
and oil) and nuclear fission of uranium,
green power refers to renewable energy
resources and technologies that produce
electricity from solar, wind, geothermal,
biogas, and so forth. A major advantage
of companies using more green (and less
conventional) power sources is that they
restore themselves over brief periods of
time and do not diminish. Ultimately, com-
panies that use green power are helping
the environment by reducing the emissions
of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
In an effort to encourage organi-
zations to purchase and develop more
green power, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency created the voluntary
Green Power Partnership (GPP) in 2001.
The GPP currently has more than 1,500
partner organizations (Fortune 500 compa-
nies, local-state-federal governments, and
colleges and universities) that use billions
of kilowatt-hours of green power annually.
According to a GPP report released
on January 27, 2014, the top 10 users of
green power include Intel, Microsoft,
Kohl’s Department Stores, Whole Foods,
Walmart Stores, Google, U.S. Department
of Energy, Staples, City of Houston, and
Starbucks. These
10 organizations
purchased approx-
imately 11 billion
kilowatt-hours of
green power over the
previous 12 months
Annise Parker,
the mayor of
Houston summed
up the benefits of
using green power: “Purchasing green
power reduces the environmental impacts
of electricity use, decreases the cost of
renewable power over item, and sup-
ports the development of new renewable
generation.”
Companies like Apple are taking the
idea of green power to the next level.
The company supplies all of its data
centers with 100 percent renewable
energy through a combination of green
power purchases and its own onsite gen-
eration. Apple’s onsite projects not only
power its data centers, but also provide
energy to local grids. The company’s
long-term goal is to use 100 percent clean,
renewable energy for all of its operations.
Discussion Questions
consider shifting part/all of its energy
consumption from conventional to green
power?
1. Knowing that the majority of companies
and organizations in the United States
rely on conventional energy sources
like coal, natural gas, and oil to power
their operations, to what extent is the
growing use of green power a passing
fad or a fundamental shift in energy
consumption? Defend your position.
2. Compare and contrast the use of con-
ventional (coal, natural gas, and oil) and
green energy sources and technologies
(wind, solar, geothermal, and biogas).
In other words, why should a company
SOURCES: The Green Power Partnership at www.epa
gowgreenpower/; “EPA Partnerships Cut Greenhouse
Gas Emissions and Save Businesses Money,”
Environmental Protection Agency Documents and
Publications, Press Release on January 31, 2014, www
.epa.gov; “EPA Announces U.S. Organizations Using
the Most Green Power,” Environmental Protection
Agency Documents and Publications, Press Release
on April 17, 2013, www.epa.gov; and “Intel No. 1
on EPA’s Green Power List,” Sacramento Business
Joumal (August 13, 2013), www.bizjoumals.com.
Indra Nooyi of PepsiCo Pushes for
Sustainable, “Healthier” Growth
the promise (pepsico
2. Environmental sustainability: PepsiCo
sells millions of products worldwide
in packages, containers, or bottles.
To reduce the impact on natural
resources, the company is reducing
water usage, increasing recycling lev-
els, and minimizing its carbon footprint.
In 2010 PepsiCo launched a recycling
partnership with Waste Management,
Greenopolis, and Keep America Beau-
tiful with the goal of increasing bever-
age container recycling to 50 percent
by 2018
This is not just
a recycling bin.
it’s a dream
machine
w
At a typical college, you wouldn’t have
to look far before seeing someone with a
bag of Doritos and a can of Pepsi. These
two products, along with Classic Lay’s,
Cheetos, Fritos, and Mountain Dew, are
some of the best sellers from PepsiCo.
While these products are still very import-
ant to the financial success of the com-
pany, Indra Nooyi, the Indian-born CEO,
is encouraging the company to follow a
dual-growth strategy: one focusing on
maintaining the success of its salty snacks
and sweet drinks, and the other focusing
on a multifaceted sustainability initiative
called “Performance with Purpose.” Nooyi
believes a major driver for the next level of
PepsiCo’s success will come from “deliv-
ering sustainable growth by investing in a
healthier future for people and our planet.”
At first this may seem like a major
change in direction for a company that has
made billions of dollars from selling sweet
drinks and snack foods, but Nooyi doesn’t
see it that way. Perhaps concerned about
the growing societal concerns about
unhealthful foods and drinks that are seen
as contributing to the childhood and adult
obesity problem in the United States and
elsewhere, she believes strongly that
“ethics and growth are not just linked, but
inseparable.”
Two major components of PepsiCo’s
sustainability strategy include
1. Human sustainability: The company is
encouraging people to live balanced
and healthy lives through nonprofit ini-
tiatives and by expanding its product
and drink lines to include more health-
ful choices. For example, Baked Lays
have zero trans fats, and Propel Zero
is water enhanced with vitamins and
antioxidants
Even for a CEO, change is not easy.
Some Wall Street analysts and critics feel
Nooyi should focus less on health and
wellness, and more on PepsiCo’s “sugary
and salty product portfolio.” However,
with total soft drink consumption in the
United States dropping by 16 percent
over the past decade, there’s certainly
room for both “fun for you” and “good
for you” products and beverages at this
forward-looking company.
PepsiCo, in partnership with Waste Management,
has placed 4,000 Dream Machine recycling kiosks
in schools, offices, stores, and malls around the
United States. Since 2010, Dream Machines have
collected 94 million plastic beverage bottles and
aluminum cans. Proceeds provide career training,
education, and job creation for returning U.S.
veterans with disabilities.
Discussion Questions
particular organizational cultures and
industries?
• Indra Nooyi, as CEO of PepsiCo, faces
some unique challenges as she advocates
a dual-focus strategy for her company.
Describe your reaction to her dual-focus
strategy and whether you think it will help
PepsiCo succeed in the future.
• To what degree do you think a
“Performance with Purpose” strategy
would be applicable to other organi-
zations (using examples)? How could
leaders of other organizations mod-
ify the strategy so it would fit their
SOURCES: See PepsiCo’s 2010 Annual Report at www
– pepsico.com; “Pepsico Reports Dream Machine
Recycling Progress,” Plastic News, April 20, 2012,
www.plasticnews.com; “Bottoms Up!” Newsweek,
October 10 and 17, 2011 (double issue). p. 29;
A. Rappeport, “Pepsi Chief Faces Challenge of Putting
Fizz Back into Brand” Financial Times, March 21,
2011, p. 19. A. Bary, “Sweet or Salty, PepsiCo Tastes
Success” Barron’s 91, no. 32 (August 8, 2011),
pp. 15–17; and V. Bauerlein, “CEO Indra Nooyi Stands
by Strategy to Promote ‘Good for You Foods,” The
Wall Street Joumal, June 28, 2011, p.B1.
Toms Shoes Makes Impact with
Its “One-for-One” Model
Wanting to help children have adequate shoes to protect their feet, founder
Blake Mycoskie created TOMS Shoes. The company matches every pair of
shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes for a child in need, creating the
model of One for One.
By now many people have heard of Blake
Mycoskie, the 34-year-old “social entre-
preneur” and founder of Toms Shoes (short
for Tomorrow’s Shoes). Before becoming
famous, Mycoskie started several entre-
preneurial ventures. As a business school
student at Southern Methodist University
in Dallas, he started a door-to-door laun-
dry service for students. Later he cre-
ated an outdoor media company that was
purchased by Clear Channel. In 2002 he
teamed up with his sister to compete in
the CBS reality show The Amazing Race,
which brought him to Argentina where he
witnessed large-scale poverty.
While traveling back to Argentina in
2006, Mycoskie met an American woman
who was coordinating a shoe drive to
deliver donated shoes to poor Argentinean
children. Barefoot children are exposed to
dangerous hookworm, tetanus, and other
soil-based ailments. Mycoskie noticed
that children who received donated shoes
often got the wrong size. He had a “light-
bulb” moment and came up with the idea of
creating a sustainable, for-profit business
that could fund donations of new shoes
for poor children. Known as the “one-for-
one” sustainability model, for every pair of
shoes that the company sells, it donates a
pair of shoes to a poor child somewhere in
the world.
Modeled after a popular Argentinean
shoe known as an alpargata, Toms Shoes
are available in many colors and styles
for men, women, and children online and
through retail outlets like Whole Foods
and Nordstrom. The company is in the
process of expanding its product offerings
and now also donates eyeglasses.
Toms Shoes was not the first company to
use the “one-for-one” sustainability model,
but its success is inspiring many other
entrepreneurs to create their own socially
conscious ventures that make profit while
helping others. In 2011 Mycoskie wrote a
book titled Start Something That Matters, in
which he offers six suggestions that others
can follow to develop a sustainable ven-
ture that is meaningful. His six suggestions
are to find your story, face your fears, be
resourceful without resources, keep it sim-
ple, build trust, and realize that giving is
good business
The Toms Shoes socially conscious and
sustainable business model is having impact.
As of June 2013, Toms Shoes had given more
than 10 million pairs of new shoes to children
in 60 countries. Blake Mycoskie is proving
that a company can do well by doing good.
Discussion Questions
Some critics believe that sustainable
and socially oriented business models
like the one at Toms Shoes are a pass-
ing fad. To what degree do you agree or
disagree with this claim? Can you think
of some other examples of organiza-
tions that are doing well by doing good?
• What are some areas in which you have
thought about making a difference? Do
you envision yourself ever starting a
venture that matters to you and others?
SOURCES: See Toms Shoes 2013 Giving Report at
www.toms.com/media/TOMS_Giving_Report_2013.
pdf; B. My coskie, Start Something That Matters
(New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2011); P. D. Broughton,
“Doing Good by Shoeing Well,” The Wall Street
Journal (online), September 10, 2011, www.wsj
.com; J. Schectman, “Good Business,” Newsweek
156, no. 15 October 11, 2010), p. 8; “In Toms’ Shoes:
Start-Ups Copy ‘One-for-One Model,” The Wall
Street Journal (online), September 29, 2010, www
.wsj.com; and J. Shambora, “Blake Mycoskie,
Founder of TOMS Shoes,” Fortune 161, no. 4 (March
22, 2010), p. 72.
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