ORGSTUDY 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Continual Improvement Process, Greenwashing
15 Jun 2018
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Options that SC Johnson could have done:
● Should Greenlist have been an internal program?:
○ Pro:
■ Kept out of eye of public scrutiny
■ No cost of pursuing with a third party
■ Set higher standards that other 3rd parties can’t
■ Continuous improvement
○ Con:
■ Viewed of not doing sustainability - activist pressure
■ Missing environmental consumers
■ No outside feedback - limits continuous improvement
■ Doing leg work but not getting benefit of sustainability efforts
■ Risk of being viewed as not sustainable → lose customers to competitors
● With Greenwashing, it is important to not that perception is key (perception = reality)
● Why would SC Johnson continue with Greenlist?
○ Pros:
■ Market that they are in, competitors are moving towards innovative image
● To remain a key player, gives them an edge
■ Disaggregating why it’s looked at as negative
● Find a better way to communicate
■ Pursuing a stronger 3rd party certification and showing that they did not try to
put out false information
● Address negatives and using 3rd party to gain trust/legitimacy
■ Abandoning other greenlist label proves consumer right
● Middle ground space
● Perceived as SC Johnson admitting to shame etc.
○ Cons:
■ Regardless of intent, customers took it as misleading
■ Pushing forward with trust
● Opportunities for SC Johnson:
○ Challenges:
■ Socially conscious consumers tend to be less trusting of business or advertising
■ But, consumers who support CSR are more likely to be positively affected by
firm specific CSR activities
■ Customers have perception that need to compromise on product attributes for
sustainability attributes
■ Customers remember the negative - unethical behavior - more than positive
○ Opportunities:
■ Competitive partnerships → industry self regulation
● Legitimacy for SC Johnson greenlist
■ Third party certification partnership
■ Take actions and connect sustainability beyond certifications
● What metrics would you track:
○ Greenlist initiative:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Kept out of eye of public scrutiny. No cost of pursuing with a third party. Set higher standards that other 3rd parties can"t. Viewed of not doing sustainability - activist pressure. No outside feedback - limits continuous improvement. Doing leg work but not getting benefit of sustainability efforts. Risk of being viewed as not sustainable lose customers to competitors. With greenwashing, it is important to not that perception is key (perception = reality) Market that they are in, competitors are moving towards innovative image. To remain a key player, gives them an edge. Disaggregating why it"s looked at as negative. Pursuing a stronger 3rd party certification and showing that they did not try to put out false information. Address negatives and using 3rd party to gain trust/legitimacy. Abandoning other greenlist label proves consumer right. Perceived as sc johnson admitting to shame etc. Regardless of intent, customers took it as misleading.
