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Jacob Burdette

College Student, Student Government Association

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What are some sustainable business practices one could implement which would be fiscally responsible or provide positive monetary value?

I am doing a project for my SIFE chapter and have been afforded $1,500 for this reason form Sam's Club. Please provide any ideas you may have!

Topics: Economic sustainability alternative sustainability profitable sustainability
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    Ronald Seiler

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    Nov 12 2011: As we all know, Activity is not progress and gathering knowledge is not enough. Any business must start out with a goal, plan and manageable budget. When business reduces waste and risk, they increase customer satisfaction which grows the business and returns greater monetary profits. Therefore, implement robust processes, apply all lessons learned processes and uses customer feedback as guiding principles. The larger your business becomes the more critical this becomes. Learning businesses minimizes mistakes have the competitive advantage. I would also suggest a dynamic help system. When employees have questions about a business the administrator answers by sending a copy to the employee and a carbon copy is linked to the operating procedures manual. This could be viewed as dynamic learning organization.
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    Jacob Burdette

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    Nov 11 2011: Sorry guys, I should've clarified. Sam's Club has sponsored my SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) project for implementing sustainable business practices with a local small business. I am planning on switching from incandescent to LED lighting as well as building compost bins for the business so that they may use the soil from this to grow their own herbs, spices, etc. as well as cut down on the waste they produce. Employee training to reduce their impact on the environment, and that is as far as I've gotten. I was hoping the "Ted community" could help me with more ingenuitive ideas :) Thanks again guys!
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    Debra Smith 200+

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    Nov 11 2011: Congratulatons Jacob! That is a pretty prestigious award.

    My suggestion is - a project for knowledge capture.

    I think that many members of many companies quietly do their jobs in a really practical, efficient or brilliant way that could be harnessed across many outlets (especially in a place like Sam's Club.) There are, in most places, no mechanisms to capture these behaviours and techniques so that they can be transmitted and their beneficial outcomes spread. With your money, you might set up a page on the internal company website for nominations of people who are doing something quite special or unique. Those people could then be contacted and given the time to tell their stories and their successful methods. You or management could then evaluate which might have the potential to make a difference in a variety of places within the company.
    One additional piece of advice is that you need some sort of authority figure to back and champion this idea for it to fly.

    Good luck. I hope this helps - and if it does I hope you will report your successes back to the TED community!
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    Ronald Seiler

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    Nov 11 2011: As we all know, Activity is not progress....and Gathering Knowledge is not enough.
    It's the Application of Lessons Learned and monitoring there effectiveness is the key to all success.
    Having the ability to learn is our greatest gift! Gathering and Applying Knowledge is power.. Make since?
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    Linda Hesthag Ellwein 50+

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    HostTED AttendeeTED TranslatorAssociate
    Nov 11 2011: Hi Jacob! Congratulations. I'm understanding you've received a $1,500 grant from Sam's Club to implement sustainable businesses that will provide monetary value? Is that correct? Can you give us a better picture of your goal, or what Sam's Club wants you to achieve? Thanks!
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