Business Strategy and Firm Reorganization: Role of Changing Environmental Standards, Sustainable Business Initiatives, and Global Market Conditions

31 Pages Posted: 9 Jun 2009 Last revised: 7 Sep 2015

See all articles by Vivek Ghosal

Vivek Ghosal

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research (CESifo)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 7, 2009

Abstract

My study is framed against the backdrop of increasingly stringent environmental demands on the pulp and paper industry to reduce water and air pollution, and the changing global market conditions. I first present an observation-based analysis conducted by visiting selected paper mills in Finland, the U.S., Germany and Sweden. Interesting differences and similarities emerge. Some of the observed differences lie in their focus on achieving incremental efficiency gains from better management of production processes, inventories, supply-chain, product distribution, and timing of modernization investments such as Information Technology. In the second part of the paper I present evidence on firms’ productivity paths, the heterogeneity in productivity among relatively similar firms, and selected evidence of firms’ investments in specific areas and how these affected productivity. My findings have implications for organizational behavior and business strategies employed by firms to improve their performance and productivity under changing environmental standards and market conditions.

Keywords: environmental standards, cleaner production, organizational strategy, incremental innovation, productivity, competitive advantage

JEL Classification: M1, M2, L2

Suggested Citation

Ghosal, Vivek, Business Strategy and Firm Reorganization: Role of Changing Environmental Standards, Sustainable Business Initiatives, and Global Market Conditions (June 7, 2009). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1415848 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1415848

Vivek Ghosal (Contact Author)

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ( email )

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518-276-3868 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://https://faculty.rpi.edu/vivek-ghosal

Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute for Economic Research (CESifo)

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Munich
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.cesifo.de

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