Going Green: with Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co. Showing How It’s Done
Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was launched by Henry Kravis and George Roberts in the mid-seventies with some help from the First Chicago Corporation. However, hoping to make the businesses in their portfolio greener and more profitable in the same stride, they have set up a novel project that has completely transformed the method by which business concerns and environmental groups carry on their everyday business.
Environmentally friendly business practice became more widely adopted in 2008 when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit environmental advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces. Their goals include encouraging companies to avoid operations which may endanger the environment e.g. hazardous waste not to forget lavish water consumption. In order to implement these goals, they apply eco-efficiency; this makes use of concepts such as recycling programs, reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals, and using clean energy. Although the program was a tremendous success, managment simply did not recognize how far reaching the effects truly were until Ken Mehlman, the executive in charge of the project, analyzed the first year’s figures.
Topping everyone’s expectations, Ken discovered that using eco-efficiency not only increased environmental awareness, but also increased the profits from all their businesses besides. Well-nigh all of the companies affiliated to KKR and Ken Mehlman now are engaged in eco-efficiency principles. When you think about the fact that this portfolio of business organizations is valued at virtually one hundred billion dollars, you may see what an enormous feat this really is.
The original program has evolved beyond its basic remit and these days includes new enterprises. The Climate Corps Program set up by the Environmental Defense Fund is a good example of this, it campaigns for cost-efficient, environmentally friendly principles to interns taking a Master’s degree in Business Administration.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have been formulating metrics and analytical tools which manage resources. With this information available, any type of business can study their daily processes and ascertain how any problems may be solved while at the same time tracking their progress. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to go green. In summary, these systems have made green business practice not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their revolutionary ideas are setting a new standard in the competitive business world of today.
