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Vermillion Paper Company

THE CASE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPASSE*

This case is not exactly one of a leopard attempting to change its spots. Rather, it more of a case of promotional prestidigitation wherein the Vermillion Paper Company is attempting to create an illusion that it is turning over a new leaf with respect to social responsibility generally and environmental protection specifically.

The Vermillion Paper Company is likely one of the few firms around that could successfully challenge Union Carbide for the title of being the most disdainful toward protection of the physical environment. The company's past history is one of "pumping rivers full of noxious waste and clearcutting woodlands in countrysized chunks" (Case, p. 14). Like Union Carbide, Vermillion's actions and arrogant insensitivity has caused the company to be sued by "almost every jurisdiction in which it owned forests or mills," in connection with environmental degradation (Case, p. 14).

In the mid1980s, Vermillion management launched a promotional campaign to develop a new "green" image for the company. This promotional campaign was intellectually dishonest, in that the promotional messages never acknowledged any socially irresponsible actions in the past, and in that it took credit in the messages for actions which were either initiated by others, or which had been implemented by Vermillion by default some 40 years earlier. The company did, however, purchase new production equipment which reduced the pollution levels in its effluent, and initiated research into new production methods to further reduce pollution. To remain competitive, however, all companies must acquire the latest innovations in production equipment, and the latest production equipment is designed to create less pollution than its predecessors. Thus, Vermillion acquired equipment which was more environmentally sound, not because of a socially responsible corporate policy, but, rather, because it had to ...

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Vermillion Paper Company. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 16:02, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1684765.html