The negative press from the trucking situation in Indonesia has been successfully mitigated. Upper management now recognizes that E227 Global Solutions has long talked about being green, but has not made any major efforts toward reducing the company's carbon footprint on a global scale. With operations in the U.S. and abroad, E227 Global Solutions has seen generally successful localized initiatives to reduce energy consumption, reduce or eliminate chemical by-products, and minimize office waste.
Management at E227 Global Solutions is now challenging the entire company to adopt "green" strategies and reduce the company's carbon footprint by 25% in the next year. Recognizing that great ideas come from all levels of the company, E227GS is challenging you, its employees, to generate ideas for going green and achieving, and possibly exceeding, the goal of reducing our carbon footprint.
Starting in Week 6, you will be asked to submit a formal proposal recommending ways the company can go green. The proposals may offer specific strategies (e.g., reducing printer waste such as paper and ink; phasing in an energy efficient fleet of vehicles; installing solar panels or wind turbines to power the office building, and so forth), or they may suggest general areas (e.g., IT, operations, production, researching and designing energy efficient electronic/robotic devices) in which sustainable initiatives have been successful for other companies (e.g., Google has been a leader in exploring numerous ways to reduce its carbon footprint such as installing Bloom Boxes at its data center in 2010; other major companies have since followed Google's lead in this area). The goal of the proposal is to generate sustainable green strategies the company can adopt in the short- or long term.
A good place to familiarize yourself with this topic is with Green Business Practices for Dummies (2009) by Lisa Swallow, which is available as a full e-book through DeVry's online library. See also the Webliography for additional online resources.
Your proposal should include the following parts:
Front Matter
Title page
Transmittal Correspondence
Table of Contents: (All primary and secondary level headings should be in the TOC. The TOC should be designed so that it is clear the headings are not all at the same level.)
Introduction
Background of the Problem: (Provide an overview of problem/situation or its importance. This is a critical section. It should cover three aspects of the problem/situation:
The past - how did this problem develop
The present - what is the current situation that demands action
The future - what will happen if the problem is not addressed.
Statement of Purpose: (Remind readers why you are submitting the proposal. The statement of purpose is essentially the same as a thesis statement for an essay or paper. It only needs to be a sentence or two long.)
Sources and Methods: (Discuss the research material selected to support the proposed solution and how the material will be used in the proposal.)
Report Organization: (Provide an overview of the various sections of the report so the reader is aware of the direction and organization of the report to follow.)
The Body
Solution(s): (Identify your solution(s) and discuss their benefits.)
Cost: (This section should include individual costs to the organization, but may also include any cost savings that may be realized. This section should include a table or two to visualize what is presented in the body of this section.)
Implementation: (This section discusses the steps it will take to complete the proposed solution and the time each step will take. This is usually discussed in days, weeks, or months.
Include a Gantt Chart - a Gantt chart is a time line of the major steps of implementation and the time each step will take. This is not a project management chart, but a simple x and y axis graph that spells out the specific tasks that need to be completed, and how long each task will take.)
Conclusion and Recommendation (In this section you will review the issues that led to the proposed solutions, then state the recommendation you want the reader to act upon.)
End Pieces
Sources (in APA format)
Appendices (if applicable)