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Five Robust Steps to Prepare and Ensure Energy SuccessWhatever the driving force, energy efficiency will be an integral part of staying successful in this competitive business environment. The phrase, "going 'green' to make 'green'" holds true. Global Business Network (GBN) in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and with the help of twenty major U.S. company senior executives have identified a set of strategies that will help businesses act now to prepare for future energy-related risks. Whatever the driving force, energy efficiency will be an integral part of staying successful in this competitive business environment. The phrase, "going 'green' to make 'green'" holds true. Global Business Network (GBN) in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and with the help of twenty major U.S. company senior executives have identified a set of strategies that will help businesses act now to prepare for future energy-related risks.
Plan for the Future Scenario planning is a strategic planning tool that has been in existence for a while. Industry leaders have implemented this strategy to identify and develop plans for coping with some of the major risks the future might hold. The aim is to highlight the risks and uncertainties of the future that one should be starting to deal with now.
For example, Shell used scenario development as a basis for formulating strategies to cope with the possibility of OPEC reducing oil supply and raising prices, an eventuality no other oil company foresaw. When this happened in 1973, within two years Shell went from the world's eight largest oil company to the second largest.
The executive group participating in GBN's workshops created the following four plausible "roads" ahead, each posing a specific challenge:
Take Action Now All twenty-business leaders were asked to explore the impacts of these four "road" scenarios in regards to energy strategy and management in their companies. "Our group of business executives looked to the scenarios and considered the strategies that would enable a company to successfully travel along whichever future actually emerges," write Erik Smith and Peter Schwartz, authors of GBN's 'Energy Strategy for the Road Ahead' article.
The group concluded all businesses should take the following five robust steps to prepare and ensure energy success regardless of the future:
1. Master the fundamentals of energy efficiency. Build the culture through leadership and with the help of experts. Set goals, measure and track energy performance, establish accountability and other systems across the business.
2. Take both a longer and broader view of investments and strategic decisions about energy. Make major strategic decisions (e.g. technology choices, facility location for new builds) with energy cost, use and supply in mind. See the entire Energy Value Chain, including upstream inputs from suppliers (into internal operations) and downstream outputs to customers (from internal operations).
3. Search out business transformation opportunities in the way the business manages, procures and uses energy. Frame energy as a lever for positive growth and change within the business, not simply a cost. Be innovative and aggressive in pursuing and publicizing new product and service offerings based on new energy technologies and supplies.
4. Prepare contingent strategies for emergent future scenarios. Rehearse specific aspects of the "road ahead", including substantial and sustained swings in energy price and supply, severe weather events and penalties or incentives around energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Actively manage exposure to risks and ready plans. Monitor for signs of which "road ahead" is emerging.
5. Take personal action. Both corporate leaders and employees can take numerous green actions today whether at work our outside.
Content and information retrieved from the following source (credited to): Smith, Erik & Schwartz, Peter. (2007). Energy Strategy for the Road Ahead (Global Business Network, a member of the Monitor Group). Retrieved from http://gbn.com/articles/pdfs/GBN_EPA_Energy%20Strategy%20Scenarios.pdf. About EcoGreenHotel EcoGreenHotel LLC is a
privately held company dedicated to helping lodging facilities addresses abroad
spectrum of sustainability issues. The company provides information, tools,
checklists, current news and trends to the hospitality industry through its website,
www.EcoGreenHotel.com. In 2009, the company launched an online
marketplace for green products and services at www.EcoGreenHotelStore.com. In addition to the online offerings,
EcoGreenHotel provides customized consulting services tailored to the needs of
the hospitality industry in the areas of energy efficiency and certifications,
including LEED, Green Seal and Energy Star. For those properties that have reached
certified levels of sustainability, EcoGreenHotel assists with marketing
services to position the properties within the growing “green” space and
enhance revenue. For further information Article Tags: Five Robust Steps, Five Robust, Robust Steps, Energy Success, Energy Efficiency Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com
ABOUT THE AUTHORCHO, VP OF TECHNOLOGIES & COMMUNICATIONS - has six years of financial analysis experience ranging from real estate investments to derivatives. She graduated from Rutgers University majoring in Economics. Prior to Patel’s real estate experience at Promark Global Advisors (formerly known as General Motors Asset Management).
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