EXPLOITING GREEN STRATEGIES FOR COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

A shift from a reactive approach towards an anticipatory, proactive at titude is needed to take advantage of environmental-based business opp ortunities. This article analyses the implications of this change in t he strategic attitude towards environmental issues, in terms of both t he opportunities and the risks. The article is in three parts. Part on e clarifies the opportunities and risks in adopting a proactive Green Strategy, stressing in particular the multidimensional nature of envir onment problems, and the uncertain evolution of environmental expectat ions. Part two discusses a contingent approach to the strategic analys is of environmental problems. According to where a company competes (i n terms of public opinion, industry norms, and technology), this offer s some implications for its most effective strategy on and approach to environmental problems. Specific courses of action are suggested for companies operating in an anticipatory, proactive, or creative mode, i n order to reduce the risk involved in the management of environmental problems. Part three discusses the application of the recommended app roach to the automotive industry in the EU market.