Write a business report on sustainable consumption using Procter and Gamble as a case study.
- Explain the topic – what it is (introduction)
- Considers who says what about it (theoretical positions)
- Discuss the framework for evaluation/analysis (theoretical frameworks)
- Explore the role of Government – barrier /enabler
- Offer a comparison with others in sector (benchmarks, league tables, comparison of your own applied theory, secondary views on company performance (vs. competitors( use unilever as a comparison)
- Draws conclusions (summary of key findings.
Stakeholders' Perspectives on Procter and Gamble's Sustainable Consumption
Topic: Sustainable Consumption of Procter and Gamble
Procter and Gamble is positioned as a company that develops diverse products and its motive is to attain consumer demand. The company has branches in more than 70 nations and its environmental science department has an exceptional function in making sure that the products are safe for the consumers to use (Boboc, Ariciu and Ion2015). Environmental safety is an internal part of quality that the company builds within all its products. The objective of this report is to analyze the sustainable consumption of Procter and Gamble along with comparing the company with its major competitor that is Unilever. The paper will also analyses the role of government whether it is an enabler or barrier in motivating the sustainability strategies of the company. The report will also focus on analyzing the health care product segment of the company along with carrying out Kuznets’s curve approach in evaluating company’s sustainable position.
Stakeholders Approach in P & G’s Sustainability
Stakeholders of Procter and Gamble have provided numerous opinions about evaluating the health care product segment of the company (Cervanteset al.2015). It was gathered, the employees declared that the company made several important decisions regarding the ways in which it deals with purchasing and procurement of various raw materials and components. They also stated that one of the major decisions that changed the sustainability consumption of P & G Company is its implementation of “Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard”. Such sustainability scorecard was the precursor to greater sustainable consumption initiative that had an objective of encouraging suppliers to improve its sustainable position. The investors of P & G reported that it develops and sells “sustainable innovation products” that significantly facilitates in decreasing environmental population (Chang and Slaubaugh 2016). In the year 2007, the company replaced the packaging of its health care products with double concentrated formula. This has facilitated the company in saving the use of its packaging materials along with decreasing wastes. As perf the sustainability report of P & G, the management of the company reported about its sustainable operations to all its investors. It was mentioned in the report that the company established “sustainable development team” within the offices (Chang and Slaubaugh2016). By means of “green recycling box”, the company recycled more than 4800 kgs. of waste paper that is exchanged for set of new paper pieces. It is also gathered that power consumption of the company decreased by 10% that saves 17 million kwh. Moreover, in certain distribution centers and factories, the company also installed solar power along with rainwater processing device for decreasing energy consumption. The consumers of the company reported that P & G offers programs that promotes healthy behavior of people that can prevent illness along wit enhancing confidence of people those are in need (Epstein, Buhovac and Yuthas 2015). All the health and beauty care brands of this company have developed programs that offers benefits to the brand in promoting consumer health and hygiene. The health care product segments of P & G have initiated programs to enhance consumers wellbeing. UNICEF and Pampers are working collaboratively to provide vaccinations to children and women all through the world from “Maternal and neonatal status tetanus (MNT)”. Consumer survey about the company’s health care product ranges revealed that P &G offers everyday essentials that can facilitate in developing experience of the families those are not capable to afford them or are displaced (Fitzpatrick, Hickey, Schischke and Maher 2014). Health care brands pf P & G includes Vicks, Ariel, Tide, Whisper, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Oral B and Head and Shoulders come together in assembling personal hygiene kits. All the health care product of the company is kept ready for delivery in immediate repose to the areas those are impacted by disaster. The global environment protection communities reported that P & G responds to the disaster situations through product donationsMoreover, the mobile relief units are developed to offer health care products in highly impacted regions. From the sop to the personal hygiene goods the brand offers laundry, diaper along with cleaning products for helping people in need (Goldsmith 2016).
Procter and Gamble's Initiatives towards Sustainability
Three Pillars of Sustainability
Following the three pillars of sustainability model Procter and Gamble attempts to deal with the environmental, social responsibility along with economic development concerns related with the health care products (Hu, Boardman and Wright 2016). For instance, all the health care products have implications for the:
- Social responsibility:Health, hygiene along with education
- Environment:Use of resources such as materials and energy, water quality along with availability, emissions and waste
- Economic development:Employment, shareholder value along with taxes, fees and contributions
Resources employed in developing health care goods and services generating emissions and waste. A simple sustainable development program explains the fact. For instance, developing a health care product needs raw materials, packaging along with energy as inputs. Rather than tangible packed product, certain other significant outputs will include materials for recycling, reusing along with on-site treatment, non-hazardous solid waste, air and water emissions along with hazardous solid waste (Trivedi 2014). All of them including chemicals used in its beauty products and dossal of its sanitary napkins are deemed to have environmental impact.
P & G has considered to innovate and develop a health care product range that helps its consumers to attain an effective and better-quality life along with obtaining better opportunities for itself. It indicates that it is possible for P & G to attain environmental protection, social responsibility along with economic development for surviving internationally. There is a synergy between social equity, economic development along with the environment (Us.pg.com. 2018). Economicdevelopment of the company can be attained through leveraging its power of innovation. Sustainable production of all its beauty care ranges indicates a huge step towards making its business sustainability an integrated topic within the organization. This approach facilitates the health care ranges of P & G to associate its concerns with the values it attempts to generate by associating economic, social issues to the triple bottomline values associated with economic sustainability (Woolmanet al.2017).
The company also attempts to address the social causes associated with its sustainability. P & G health care ranges are capable too positively contribute towards enhancing its sustainable position. For instance, its Fairy Liquid Extra Hygiene is an antibacterial dishwashing liquid that is playing a vital function that can facilitate in controlling bacteria when employed in addition to better household hygiene practice (Ziegler and Gerhartz 2016). Developing the beauty care ranges of the P & G Company maintains a sustainability culture in which all he members of the company believes in the relevance of balancing economic efficiency along with maintaining environmental accountability. Social causes are addressed by the company through developing products that is focused on continual learning along with previous success within implementing incremental change. P & G attains a track record of the sustainable outside-in products like safeguard that social and global concern that increases the company’s business opportunity.
Comparing Procter and Gamble with Unilever
Kuznets sustainability curve explains the relationship between economic development along with environmental quality. This indicates several indicators of the environmental degradation that tends to be worse as modern economic growth takes place till the average income of P & G reaches a particular point over the deployment of the course (Sneha, Pritesh and Yogesh 2016). Considering the curve, it is observed that P & G is committed in order to provide consumer brands that addresses the consumer expectations without compromise. The company has reached the turning point of attaining environmental improvement in which it attains increased per capita income through giving back to the communities in which it operates. The two focus areas for P & G that results in environmental improvement for community effect work, health, hygiene along with attaining comforts of home. Through offering its health care products, P & G attempts to promote healthy behavior which can prevent illness along with enhancing confidence of all its consumes (Yunet al. 2017). Along with hand washing, personal hygiene along with tooth brushinginstruction associated with better access to sanitation facilities. A number of beauty care brands of the company have programs that have attained the turning point towards environmental improvement. This includes aa number of beauty care products of P & G that offers brand benefits in order to promote the confidence and health(Sneha, Pritesh and Yogesh 2016). The company has earned high revenues from its sustainability programs through offering product donations from its health care brands like Whisper and Vicks along with offering monetary donations. This offers a long standing emergency relief partner companies AmeriCares andInternational Medical Corps that can save children along with world vision resulting in increase of the company’s per capita income (Sneha, Pritesh and Yogesh 2016). Main focus of P & G Company must focus on the biggest brands that offers significant environmental improvements because of their size along with the international research. Improvement in environmental sustainability as well as its revenue is offered by the company’s health care brands such as Pampers and Olay. In addition, the focus of the sustainable innovation products is to attain the same devoid of trade-offs for its consumers. Major focus in attaining the turning point situation was on enhancing its technological environment that considers improving renewable or recycled materials in all its health care product ranges along with their packaging(Sneha, Pritesh and Yogesh 2016). For instance, P & G uses plant-based plastic for all its shampoo bottles, designs products that facilitates in conserving resources suchas cold water washing along with less energy use. Employing the technology of packaging reduction considers shifting from plastic thermoform clamshells to a paperboard carton.
Evaluating Procter and Gamble's Sustainable Position Using Kuznets's Curve
Government acts as enabler in encouraging sustainable development of P & G’s strategy of attaining long term environmental sustainability vision. Considering such goals, the government has supported the company in attaining its sustainability regarding renewable materials, waste reduction, using renewable energy along with packaging reduction (Morgan, Foxon and Tallontire 2018). In addressing the issues related to such concern P & G needed collaboration along with collective responsibility. The company are committed to partnering with the government that makes sure it shares expertise along with focusing on developing solutions. In commitment to the sustainability, the company made successful partnership with government for clean nation initiative in order to protect the environment as well as decreasing waste to landfills(Sneha, Pritesh and Yogesh 2016). Health care initiatives of the Company with its products such as shampoo, sanitary napkins and razors is attaining increased government support through setting manufacturing plants that can decrease dependence on price imports (Payaud 2014). Through attaining fund support from the government for research and development initiatives of the company, P & G have set its global sustainability goals. This has facilitated the company in keeping the nation clean through developing initiative of developing technology in decreasing waste to landfill that supported in up-cycle of sustainability waste.
P & G is observed to follow responsible marketing strategy in the approach of sustainable promotion of its health care products. Following such strategy, the company attained marketing Golden Halo award (Goldsmith 2016) in their approach of suitable marketing. For instance, its heath care product such as Oral B is marketed among its consumers through providing promotional messages on its innovative toothbrush ranges that can bring dental health benefits. In responsible marketing the company made partnership with many NGO organizations and offers free samples of its health care products to deprived children. This has enhanced brand image of the company among its consumers and has resulted in increased acceptability of its products by its target consumers.
In maintaining sustainability, Procter and Gamble faced tough competition from Unilever that is one of its major business rivals. Both of these companies have attained its utmost sustainability ambitions for attaining its global growth plans. Unilever is observed to own its own heath care brands like Dove, Walls and Hellman’s those were observed to be manufactured sustainably by the company (Goldsmith 2016). The products decrease the water, waste along with carbon imprints of its health care products which make sure that all the raw materials are sourced sustainably. For attaining a better sustainable position that Unilever, P & G has focused its sustainability vision on its brands such as Gillette, Ariel and Pringles (Sneha, Pritesh and Yogesh 2016). The company are committed to partnering with the government that makes sure it shares expertise along with focusing on developing solutions. It makes sure that in manufacturing such products employ renewable or recycled materials in packaging and products along with stopping all manufacturing. Moreover, the brans also make sure that all the consumer waste to go into land will. Procter and Gamble has attained sustainabilityadvantages in comparison to the unilever. Procter and Gamble has set industry benchmarks for enabling the company in using sustainability strategies (Hu, Boardman and Wright 2016). The company’s SCALA results that encompass head of sustainability responses in consideration to three benchmarks:
- An aggregate of 10 people representing the companies in North America
- An aggregate of 49 people representing consumers within consumer products industry
Role of the Government in Promoting Sustainability
The results gathered from such benchmarks indicated that P & G is performing in a better manner in comparison to its benchmarks on one concern necessary for the sustainability culture. The sustainability advantages included rewarding innovations as this resulted insustainable development realms of the environment and economy that impacts of social aspects of sustainable development (Iannuzzi 2017).
The benchmark evaluation indicated that there is insufficient visibility of P& G sustainability strategy and its competitors are performing well in outperforming the sustainability benchmark. While Unilever is observed to be the major competitor of P & G. The company is making great attempts in ensuring sustainability through claiming to bring clean water to most of the people in rural areas through offering health care products such as Lifebuoy (Liedtkeet al.2015). Considering the same, P & G is facing tough competition based on sustainability as it is based on dealing with health-related issues. However, the company also finds it challenging to engage its consumers in making easy changes that canreducesconsumers as well as the company’s environmentalimpacts. In an attempt of performing based on benchmark P & G has maintained its environmental impact of its offerings alongwith offering farmers along ith distributors in the developing nations to the supply chain (Mylan 2015).
Conclusion
The objective of this report is to analyze the sustainable consumption of Procter and Gamble along with comparing the company with its major competitor that is Unilever. It was gathered from analysis that the company is observed to attain increased external recognition for its sustainable development initiatives. It was also concluded that based on the company’s sustainability approaches it has been able to attain the first place within the sustainability index. The report reflected that P & G have developed a range of innovative heath care products and ensured that all of these products are developed in consideration to environmental protection, social responsibility and economic development of the company. Sustainable development of its products have enhanced brand image of the company among its consumers and has resulted in increased acceptability of its products by its target consumers. Hence, it can be recommended that the company must continuously develop its sustainability initiatives in keeping the nation clean through developing initiative of developing technology in decreasing waste to landfill that supported in up-cycle of sustainability waste.
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