Striving for People, Planet and Profit (Contd)

Naturally, corporations must also continue to be profitable or else they will cease operations. However, the company’s social, environmental, or financial obligations should not be sacrificed in order to make these profits. Each component—people, the environment, and profit—is equally significant and essential, similar to a stool with three legs.

The case of Green Forests Incorporation strived to accommodate the 3 P’s by answering some salient questions about the case.

1. What did Dilinna set out to do and why?

Dilinna Carter’s interest in CDM projects was inspired by an innate desire to protect her environment. Growing up in a Third  World country, she had witnessed firsthand deforestation and some of its effects. However, Dilinna did not set out to run a charity. She intended/set out to make money and was concerned about its economic sustainability. It was her entrepreneurial zeal and the need to supplement her family’s income that drove her to register Green Forests Incorporated.

2. How did she plan to take care of the 3 P’s of sustainability?

People: She intended to develop a quality lifestyle for her environment. In addition, KooKBAG served as a means of employing individuals through manufacturing and shielding individuals from desert encroachment.

Planet: She was concerned about KooKBAG and Detlev’s environmental sustainability; Dilinna could save energy and reduce smoke exposure.

Profit: Maximizing shareholder value through the sale of her Wonder Box and Save8 stove 17,000

3. Describe the challenges she faced and how she could overcome them

• Getting the goods into a warehouse.
• Her having to pay full import duties on the stoves because she did not initially engage Cotecna Products were out of the financial reach of the intended users. Import challenges from the Nigerian Customs Service imposing restrictions on the goods and delaying the clearance of goods at the port. Getting a workforce of young people to assemble the stoves. She overcame this obstacle by citing in Ibadan and utilizing her existing distributor network.
• Her target audience was divided into different groups.It targeted women who lived in suburban or rural communities and relied on firewood for their cooking needs.However, certain urban women who purchased and shipped to rural areas alleviated the issue.
• In order to avoid import concerns, she investigated the local production and manufacturing of WonderBox. KooBAGS, which has been in operation since the 1970s and is both local and more effective, provided the answer. She also saw the creation of employment opportunities.
• The regulatory bureaucracy appeared to be preventing Detlev, producers of BioDigester, from submitting a LOA application. – The accounts from the Ibadan Warehouse showed that the sales volume varied.The rates and procedures were reducing the margins, but the Save80 units were still selling in low volumes. The Save80 cost 17,000 dollars, and the majority of the target audience—rural women—were reluctant to commit.She overcame this obstacle by investigating credit purchase options through partnerships with banks.

4. What do you advise her to do going forward?

Her agreement with the German NGO and the UNFCCC Regulations prevented her from selling the KooKBAG on her own, despite the fact that they would have been perfect.She ought to keep up her efforts and move forward with Save80 sales in metropolitan areas because metropolitan areas are a more effective distribution and promotion route.