Proposition P8 – Managers believe that upstream (suppliers and association

association membership) is part of their organisation’s greening process

The answers given to the topics T19, T20 and T21 addressing proposition P8

concerning upstream activity to the interviewee’s organisation and the effect it had on the organisation’s environmental profile, are presented in the table below.

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Topic Topic

ref Results of managers’ beliefs

What do managers believe regarding suppliers and their part in their organisation’s greening process?

T19

25% of managers strongly believed that suppliers were part of their organisations greening process 55% of managers held a modest belief on this issue 20% of managers had a weak belief

What do managers believe regarding association membership and its part in their organisation’s greening process?

T20

35% of managers strongly believed that association membership was part of their organisations greening process

40% of managers held a modest belief on this issue 25% of managers had a weak belief

What do managers believe regarding any other external upstream issues and their part in their organisation’s greening process?

T21

15% of managers strongly believed that other external upstream issues were part of their organisations greening process

45% of managers held a modest belief on this issue 40% of managers had a weak belief

Table 15. Proposition 8 based on Topics T19, T20 and T21

5.9.1 Topic T19 - What do managers believe regarding suppliers and their part in their organisation’s greening process?

Responses to topic T19, relating to suppliers and their part in the managers’

organisation’s greening process, were split between a high level of modest responses (60%) and significantly lower levels of responses classified as weak (20%) or strong (20%).

The following are examples of responses given to illustrate the relative strength of feeling of managers.

“We are keeping track that of all of the products have the proper certification and also all of our suppliers just trying to meet all of the regulations in the UK.”

Respondent C4

“Sometimes they come to us with ideas but they are not necessarily new or beneficial from an environmental standpoint.”

Respondent C2

“I suppose that some of the companies that supply us will always be trying to improve their product’s performance, improve their packaging, make it more

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economical to transport, easier to use, less energy for people to use, just better for the environment because the technology is less toxic whatever it might be, that’s constant.”

Respondent B7

“There hasn’t been any drive from the company to improve on that. (Manager’s own organisation) There is no driver for local sourcing unless it’s legislative and it’s not relevant to their locality, so there was no impetus for them to work on that.”

Respondent C3

“But we already know from an environmental point of view they are not the best but we don’t have substitutes for these products.”

Respondent C4

“We require them to be environmentally responsible and that includes minimising the waste of the materials that we receive, also the efficiency of the shipments that we receive and then finally providing the most direct communications for them with our staff.”

Respondent C5

“It’s very integrated, it’s not like we’re just sitting there waiting for granules, we’re influencing it.”

Respondent C2

“There are two cases where suppliers have actually come up with materials that won’t be drawn from oil based materials.”

Respondent A1

5.9.2 Topic T20 - What do managers believe regarding association membership and its part in their organisation’s greening process?

Topic T20 looked at the interviewee’s organisation’s association membership and the effect on its environmental profile. Responses were split with 35% suggesting a strong belief that association membership played a part in their organisation’s greening process, while 40% held a modest belief and 25% believing that they play little, or no part.

The following are examples of responses given to illustrate the relative strength of feeling of managers.

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“I feel our level of involvement is a token level and our stance isn’t strong enough to attend these meetings to say we’re here and we’re committed. Just now we’re saying we just want to use your logo.”

Respondent C3

“To be honest with you we rarely participate, probably because we just don’t have enough time.”

Respondent B7

“...also NFRC, they are also advising on some issues, like CO2 emissions.

They were advising that the regulations are going to change and we should be more eco-friendly.”

Respondent C4

“...It’s pretty major. There’s a lot of linkages and networking...they’re focused on these kind of issues, like recycling. They have a positive role, the main benefit is just receiving some information – what can be done in these areas (environment)...”

Respondent C1

“There is an overlap there with the environment and we’re also a member of BISRA, the built environment people and we get our products tested there, and we receive up to date market and industry information from them, so that keeps us informed.”

Respondent B5

“Regarding the Manufacturers Association in the UK and if it wasn’t for the combined effort of that organisation and everyone feeding into it, the industry could have died and the same thing could have happened as with the asbestos”.

Respondent A1

5.9.3 Topic T21 - What do managers believe regarding any other external upstream issues and their part in their organisation’s greening process?

Topic T21 was the last in relation to proposition H8 and was designed to capture any other information that the interviewees might believe was relevant but did not feel the topics T19 and T20 covered. Responses given suggest that 15% strongly believed that other upstream issues played a role in their organisation’s greening process, while 45% had a modest belief in this respect and 40% had little or no belief that other issue were involved.

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Two key responses were deemed as important evidence relating to this question. The first concerned the way marketing was a key driver, enhancing the prospects for green acceptance in society at large, evident in the comment of one respondent, but also highlighting the risk of greenwashing.

The following are examples of responses given to illustrate the relative strength of feeling of managers.

“…that’s why he found our company website and this is changing his mind, all of these advertisements are changing the way people feel about the environment and that is good, provided there is no over-environmental claiming on behalf of the companies concerned.”

Respondent C4

“Obviously in this economic climate, people are going back to, or they think they are saving money going back to the cheapest and inevitably with the cheapest, you might lose out on the environmental aspect.”

Respondent B8