Ecover is a Belgian consumer products company and also the world’s largest supplier of ecological cleaning products. Concept Manager Peter Malaise is partially responsible for integrating environmental consciousness and sustainability into each and every business decision made across his fifteen year tenure. Ecover and Peter Malaise have even used supply-chain management to impose on its suppliers the same strenuous demands on which they grade themselves.
As Concept Manager for Ecover, Malaise has achieved such feats as screening out every harmful toxin present in the process of manufacturing cleaning products and establishing an on-site water treatment facility. The article linked below even mentions that Malaise boasts that Ecover’s products result in an astonishingly low two grams of waste for every kilogram manufactured.
These feats and Ecover’s continued success in the ecological cleaning products industry and the realm of sustainability are a direct result of the presence of two of the Big Five Personality Factors outlined by Peter Northouse in the Fifth Edition of Leadership: Theory and Practice. The first factor, openness, led Malaise and Ecover to exploring unprecedented alternatives and solutions to reducing the firm’s negative impact on the biosphere. Creativity, insightfulness, and curiosity are all characteristics of an open personality. Malaise displayed curiosity in searching out new methods to reduce environmental harm caused by the manufacturing of cleaning products. He was very creative in devising the solutions, and he showed a great deal of insightfulness while integrating sustainability into each and every decision faced by the firm. The next personality factor that propelled Malaise and Ecover to industry success is conscientiousness. The best example of his conscientiousness in action is the ISO14001 auditing to which the firm’s manufacturing is subjected. These very meticulous standards could only be met by someone who is as thorough, organized, and dependable as Mr. Malaise.
The quote at the beginning of the article demonstrates Peter Malaise’s and Ecover’s dedication to sustainable manufacturing, “It’s amusing to me that you are studying Sustainability now in the U.S. because here in Belgium we’ve been working on it for thirty years.”
Article Link: http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/06/ecover-cleaning-products-so-over-waste-in-the-manufacturing-process/
-Kyle Hines
I absolutely agree with you Kyle, and the article is very interesting as well as impressive. What a shocker it is to here that we are so far behind in our efforts toward sustainability considering the amount of pollution we produce per capita here in the U.S. Maybe we haven't been lead very effectively over the past few decades, or maybe our leaders are lacking the ambition needed to address these ever so serious problems we are facing.
ReplyDelete-Jeff Parrish
I would have to agree with Kyle on his analysis of Malaise's leadership style. You did a great job of applying the approach to this very interesting CEO of a very innovative and unique organization. Peter definitely demonstrated a very creative personality trait in his great success with the company.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you Jeff on how far the U.S. is behind in the world in terms of being more environmentally friendly and sustainable. We need more organizations like Ecover in the U.S.
Posted by: Sean Gremillion
Kyle, I think you did a great job at analyzing and applying the personality factors for Malaise.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jeff's comment, I am not so much shocked that we as a country are so far behind in sustainability as I am with the lack of circulation in America of such an innovative operation that Ecover has discovered. It did not state in the article whether or not Ecover has made the technology and details of their process available to other firms but, I believe that if not they should. Now I realize that this is business and this innovation is a competitive advantage, but I also believe that when it is possible to make chemical products safer it is that companies duty to share this information with every company.
-Sean Morton
Thank you for your post regarding Ecover and its continued efforts to reduce waste and to make cleaning products that are both ecological and effective. We do hope that more and more companies—in all arenas—will continue to find ways to reduce their carbon footprint and to make more ecological, sustainable products.
ReplyDelete-Deb for Ecover