ITS NOT EASY BEING GREEN

Responding to environmental problems has always been a no-win proposit ion for managers. Help the environment and hurt your business, or irre parably harm your business while damaging the earth. Recently, however , a new common wisdom has emerged that promises the ultimate reconcili ation of environmental and economic concerns. In this new world, both business and the environment can win. Being green is no longer a cost of doing business; it is a catalyst for constant innovation, new marke t opportunity, and wealth creation. The proponents of this new popular wisdom cite a mounting body of ''win-win'' projects that benefit the environment and create financial value. As an example, they point to 3 M's ''Pollution Prevention Pays'' program, a group of over 3,000 mainl y employee-generated projects, which, since 1975, have reduced 3M's em issions by over 1 billion pounds while saving the company approximatel y $500 million. The idea that a renewed interest in environmental mana gement will result in increased Profitability for business has widespr ead appeal. In this new green world, managers might redesign a product so that it uses fewer environmentally harmful or resource-depleting r aw materials - an effort that if successful could result in considerab le cuts in direct manufacturing costs and inventory savings. This new vision sounds great, yet it is highly unrealistic. Environmental costs are skyrocketing at most companies, with little chance of economic pa yback in sight. Given this reality, McKinsey consultants Noah Walley a nd Bradley Whitehead ask whether or not win-win solutions should be th e foundation of a company's environmental strategy.