1996 Electronics Industry Environmental Roadmap - Civil and ...

Strategic Business Opportunities
product-oriented (e.g., recyclability) and process-oriented (e.g., chemical
reduction) issues.
In addition to educating Motorola employees, Motorola has begun to share these
training programs with their suppliers and customers. It is obviously critical to
have suppliers working from a similar perspective if a corporation is going to implement
a “Design for Environment” program. Customers have been enthusiastic
about Motorola’s initiative in these areas as well. The manager of Motorola’s
Environment and Safety Education group says that, for Motorola, “Compliance
with regulations is obviously relevant in offering these program, but the
fundamental course message is that DFE is good business.”
Most recently, Motorola has partnered with a non-profit training organization, the
Management Institute for Environment and Business, to develop a program for senior-level
decision makers. Motorola’s business leaders and environmental managers
attend this two-day class on integrating environmental issues into business
decisions. The class teaches environmental managers the skills and vocabulary
they need to interact successfully with corporate decision makers. The seniorlevel
business managers learn that the environmental managers can provide
important information if the EHS people are sought out early in the strategic
decision-making process.
Technology Transfer: Companies, acting individually or in consortia, can develop
models of best practices to be shared with other companies facing similar problems but
without resources to develop solutions on their own. This approach is especially valuable
for large corporations working with their second and third tier suppliers. Once
developed, such guidelines can serve as a basis for industry consensus on operating
philosophies and principles. The chemical industry, for example, has established a
“Stewardship Initiative” which members of the Chemical Manufacturers Association
must adopt in order to maintain their Association membership.
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