*ANSWER THE 5 BOLDED QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE* What Would You Do? Cas
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Question
*ANSWER THE 5 BOLDED QUESTIONS AT THE END OF THE ARTICLE*
What Would You Do? Case Assignment
WASTE MANAGEMENT
Americans generate a quarter billion tons of trash a year, or 4.5 pounds of trash per person per day. Thanks to nearly 9,000 curbside recycling programs, a third of that is recycled. But, that still leaves 3 pounds of trash per person per day to be disposed. In the past, trash was incinerated, often in local neighborhoods. John Waffenschmidt, vice president for Covanta Energy Corp., remembers that when he delivered newspapers in the 1960s, “I'd go out in the morning and there would be little flakes coming down because there were 4,000 or 5,000 apartment-building incinerators.” The rest was incinerated in large power plants, like the one on the east side of the Hudson River that burns 1,900 tons of New York City garbage each day.
With 20 million customers; 273 municipal landfills; 91 recycling facilities; and yes, 17 waste-to-energy facilities—that’s what large power-generating incinerator plants are called today— Waste Management, Inc., is the largest waste-handling company in the world. It generates 75 percent of its profits from 273 landfills, which can hold 4.8 billion tons of trash. And because it only collects 110 million tons a year, it has plenty of landfill capacity for years to come.
You joined the company a decade ago, and, after 3.5 short years as deputy general counsel and then chief financial officer, became CEO. That quick promotion prompted you to joke, “I needed to go to a bookstore to see whether I could find a book called CEO-ing for Dummies.” Instead, Waste Management sent you to Harvard for an executive program for CEOs, where the most important lesson you learned was to listen, because, as you tell your executive team, “This company and this industry aren’t very good at that.”
And with all of the changes taking place in your industry, Waste Management won’t succeed unless it listens. However, corporations, cities, and households are greatly reducing the amount of waste they generate, and thus the amount of trash that they pay Waste Management to haul away to its landfills. Subaru of America, for instance, has a zero-landfill plant in West Lafayette, Indiana, that hasn’t sent any waste to a landfill since 2004. None! And Subaru isn’t exceptional in seeking to be a zero-landfill company. Walmart, the largest retailer in the world, has also embraced this goal, stating, “Our vision is to reach a day where there are no dumpsters behind our stores and clubs, and no landfills containing our throwaways.” Like those at Subaru and Walmart, corporate leaders worldwide are committed to reducing the waste produced by their companies. Because that represents a direct threat to Waste Management’s landfill business, what steps could it take to take advantage of the trend toward zero waste that might allow it to continue growing company revenues?
Another significant change for Waste Management is that not only are its customers reducing the waste they send to its landfills, they’re also wanting what is sent to landfills to be sorted for recycling and reuse. For instance, food waste, yard clippings, and wood—all organic materials—account for roughly one-third of the material sent to landfills. Likewise, there’s growing demand for waste companies to manage and recycle discarded TVs, computer monitors, and other electronic waste that leaks lead, mercury, and hazardous materials when improperly disposed. However, the high cost of collecting and sorting recyclable materials means that Waste Management loses money when it recycles them. What can the company do to meet increased customer expectations, on one hand, while still finding a way to earn a profit on high-cost recycled materials?
Finally, advocacy groups, such as the Sierra Club, regularly protest Waste Management’s landfill practices, deeming them irresponsible and harmful to the environment. Should Waste Management take on its critics and fight back, or should it focus on its business and let the results speak for themselves? Should it view environmental advocates as a threat or an opportunity for the company?
If you were in charge of Waste Management, what would you do?
Explanation / Answer
Question1: Because that represents a direct threat to Waste Management’s landfill business, what steps could it take to take advantage of the trend toward zero wastes that might allow it to continue growing company revenues?
Answer: Since the trend is towards zero wastes, the “Waste Management Inc” can explore this opportunity by providing the consultancy support and optimizing the in-house waste reduction at individual company level. This will help the “Waste Management Inc” to generate or increase its revenue. The “Waste Management Inc” can become a worldwide consultant expert and can help other organizations in waste reduction and in-house waste management.
Waste management Inc can explore to support the recycling for other nearby countries, so that they can continue to generate their revenue for some more time period by the time other countries move towards zero waste generation.
Question2: What can the company do to meet increased customer expectations, on one hand, while still finding a way to earn a profit on high-cost recycled materials?
Answer: The Company can identify the actions required to meet the customer expectations and charging them accordingly so that they can support the customer with generating the revenue for the company.
Question3: Should Waste Management take on its critics and fight back, or should it focus on its business and let the results speak for themselves?
Answer: The “Waste Management Inc” should focus on its business and generate the business results in such a way that the business results will speak for them and justify their business practices as an example of superior result.
Question4: Should it view environmental advocates as a threat or an opportunity for the company?
Answer: It should view environmental advocates as an opportunity for the company as the Company can analyze the views of environmental advocates and identify the suitable revenue generating actions for the Company so that the Company can generate the revenue as well as meeting the environmental objectives. There is lot of scope for the Company in the management of waste products and their consulting practices. This new strategy and approach will take the Company in future where the company will survive and run for long term duration.
Question5: If you were in charge of Waste Management, what would you do?
Answer: If I were be the in charge of Waste Management Inc, I will do following actions as below
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