DSpace at Khazar University

In a recent article, Shimell emphasizes the need for organizations to conduct
environmental audits of their operations and to develop a Corporate Environmental
Policy (CEP). Shimell contends that an environmental audit should be as rigorous as a
financial audit and should include training workshops in which staff can help design and
implement the policy. The CEP should be budgeted and requisite funds allocated to
ensure that it is not a public relations façade. A Statement of Environment Policy should
be published periodically to inform shareholders and the public of environmental
actions taken by the firm.
Instituting an environmental audit can include moving environmental affairs
from the staff side of the organization to the line side. Some firms are also introducing
environmental criteria and objectives in their performance appraisal instruments and
systems. Conoco, for example, ties compensation of all its top managers to
environmental action plans. Occidental Chemical includes environmental
responsibilities in all its job descriptions for positions.
2-6-4. Using computer to evaluate strategies
The usefulness of computers in facilitating strategy evaluation cannot be
overestimated. When properly designed, installed, and operated, a computer network
can efficiently acquire information promptly and accurately. Computers can allow
diverse strategy-evaluation reports to be generated for different levels and types of
managers. For example, strategists will want reports concerned with whether the
mission, objectives, and strategies of the enterprise are being achieved. Middle
managers could require strategy-implementation information, such as whether
construction of a new facility is on schedule or a product's development is proceeding as
expected. Lower-level managers could need evaluation reports that focus on operational
concerns such as absenteeism and turnover rates, productivity rates, and the number and
nature of grievances. Computers are being used more and more to integrate reports and
enhance strategy evaluation at all levels in organizations.
For over a decade, we have been reading about the senior executive "war room"
and what more recently has been termed "the office of the future" a room containing a
number of computer terminals with graphic displays. There the chief executive officer
of an organization spends most of the day monitoring the firm's internal and external
101