Role of the Environmental Manager
in US and Canadian SMEs
Professor Scott B. Wolcott, PE
Rochester Institute of Technology
Bocconi University
June 8 and 9, 2009
Bocconi
Bocconi
Workshop Overview
•
US and Canadian definitions of Small and
Medium
-
sized Enterprises (SME)
•
Who is the Environmental Manager around
here?
•
Options for the SME Environmental Manager
in North America
•
Strategic options for Italian SMEs
SME = SB (US) = SME (Canada)
•
United States
-
Small Business (SB):
–
< 500 employees for manufacturing facilities
–
< $7M annual receipts for non
-
manufacturing facilities
–
99.7% of all employer jobs
–
Many exceptions: e.g. Florida SB < 100 employees
•
98% of businesses in Florida are SB
–
Private, non
-
farm SB contribute to 50% of US Gross
Domestic Product (GDP)
Bocconi
US continued: 16 Small Business Sectors
% contribution of Small Business towards Sector GDP
(2002)
•
20% Information
•
23% Utilities
•
33% Mining and manufacturing
•
40% Finance and insurance
•
41% Transportation and
warehousing
•
44% Holding companies
•
49% Trade
•
49% Waste management
services
•
50% Education services
•
56% Health services
•
58% Accommodation and
food services
•
70% Professional and
technical services
•
75% Arts and entertainment
•
79% real estate and Leasing
•
85% Construction
•
85% Other Services
Bocconi
SME = SB (US) = SME (Canada)
•
Canada
-
SME
–
SME is an organization with < 500 employees
•
Small business < 100 employees
•
Medium business is between 100 and 499 employees
–
99.8% of Canadian companies are SMEs
–
SMEs account for 45% of Canadian GDP
•
Small businesses with < 50 employees account for 26%
of Canadian GDP
Bocconi
SME = SB (US) = SME (Canada)
•
Individual economic and environmental impact is tiny
•
Collectively, SMEs are contribute ~50% of US and
Canadian GDP
•
Collectively, SMEs are estimated to be responsible for:
–
60% of all carbon dioxide emissions and
–
70% of all pollution
•
73% of Canadian SMEs have not heard of ISO 14001
Bocconi
Who is the Environmental Manager?
•
No one!
•
Everyone?
–
The activities performed by an environmental
manager in a large organization are performed by
one or more people at an SME.
–
Owner, general manager, facility manager,
production manager, line employees, etc…
Bocconi
Roles for the
“Environmental Manager
s
”
•
Purchasing
–
Develop controls for materials
purchases
•
Human Resources
–
Employee training, rewards
•
Maintenance
–
Preventive maintenance
programs, ID environmental
aspects
•
Accounting
–
Track environmental costs,
budgets, economic feasibility
•
Engineering
–
ID pollution prevention
opportunities, consider
environmental impacts of
products & processes
•
Top Management
–
Communicate importance of
activities, provide resources,
review progress
•
Line workers
–
Provide 1
st
hand knowledge
of environmental aspects,
mentor new employees
Bocconi
Role of the “Environmental Manager”
•
Strategic choices in the environmental context
•
External pressures
–
Governmental agencies
•
Federal, state, and municipal
–
Competitors
–
Community Associations
Bocconi
Strategic choices
for the SME “Environmental Manager”
Proactive
•
Actions
–
Cooptation
•
NBAA (Northwest Baltimore
Automotive Association)
–
Resource Sharing
•
Laundry service
–
Environmental Enacting
Reactive or resistant
•
Actions
–
Maintain status quo
–
Solo protective measures
–
Reactive Risk Management
Bocconi
Strategic choices
for the SME “Environmental Manager”
Proactive
•
Outcomes
–
Greater eco
-
literacy
–
Enhanced environmental
performance
–
Better financial performance
Reactive or resistant
•
Outcomes
–
Sustained external threats
–
Forced closings
Bocconi
Options for the Proactive
“Environmental Manager”
•
Environmental Initiatives (i.e. Low hanging fruit)
•
Environmental Management Plan
–
Actions of an organization with regard to environment, regulatory
compliance, establishing and meeting goals and targets
•
Environmental Management System
–
Incorporates quality improvement principles
–
“Plan
-
Do
-
Check
-
Act”
–
Does not have to include ISO 14001 certification
Bocconi
Incentives and Barriers facing the
“Environmental Manager”
Incentives/Advantages
Barriers/Disadvantages
•
Lack of resources (e.g. time)
–
Delays development
–
Maintain plan
•
Lack of resources (e.g. staff)
–
Implementation
review
•
Promotion of environmental
activities to employees
•
Starting fresh (w/o previous
exp. ISO 9001)
•
Enhanced compliance
•
Improved documentation
•
Competitive advantage
•
Cost savings
•
SME employees multi
-
task
•
SME Less complex hierarchy
•
Starting fresh (no EM plan
to replace)
Bocconi
Summary of the Italian SMEs
“Environmental Manager”
•
Current Business Structure of SMEs
–
Very small, < 50 employees
–
Family owned and generational succession
•
Not always a straightforward succession
•
Unlikely to learn about innovative ideas w/o economic
driver
–
Often connected to each other
•
Part of the same supply chain
•
Districts
Bocconi
Summary of the Italian SMEs
“Environmental Manager”
•
Current Regulatory Environment of SMEs
–
Lots of regulation
–
Inconsistent enforcement of regulations
–
Culture of interpreting laws and regulations at all
levels
–
Little neighborhood influence on SMEs
–
Slow judicial system
–
Large bureaucracy system
Bocconi
Bocconi
•
What to do?
•
Reactive: Address external threats as SME
group
–
Initially for economic reasons
–
Later, environmental compliance
•
Strategic, proactive initiatives
–
Lobbying financial sector
–
Environmental competitive advantage
Strategic Options of the Italian SME
“Environmental Manager”
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