Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) was established in 1976 and to begin with the company’s focus was in highly leveraged transactions. But they have launched a unique proposal that centers not solely on maximized profit margins, but in addition on how ecologically friendly each of the businesses in their portfolio are. Green business processes went mainstream in 2008 when KKR’s Henry Kravis and the non-profit Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) merged. Their mission is to encourage businesses to tackle operations which may harm the environment e.g. air pollution as well as any absurd consumption of water resources.
Eco-efficiency (a phrase initially advertised by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development) constitutes the framework for their mission, by employing policies like reducing the dispersion of toxic chemicals, maximum use of renewable resources and improving fuel economy through vehicle fleet maintenance. Efficient though it was the management did not even realize the full program’s benefits until the man in charge of the Green Portfolio Project, Ken Mehlman, evaluated the program when it had been functioning for its first full year.
Ken Mehlman who received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1991, has served as field director for George W. Bush’s 2000 presidential campaign, managed the 2004 re-election campaign for President Bush and serves as a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, and the board of directors at the National Endowment for Democracy, found that utilizing eco-efficiency was not simply lessening impact on the environment, but it was also saving businesses a great deal of money, making the program virtually an immediate success. Almost all of the businesses owned by KKR and Ken Mehlman at present are participating in the Green Portfolio Project. Seeing that the entire portfolio has a net worth of almost one hundred billion dollars, you can imagine what a challenge this really was. The initial Green Portfolio project is expanding to encompass new ventures. For example, Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co got together with the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program that teaches interns studying for an MBA how to introduce cost-efficient, planet friendly practices.
KKR and Ken Mehlman have made the effort to develop analytical tools which will be able to evaluate and oversee resources. These tools can measure an organization’s progress and identify any areas that might need work. Henry Kravis, the KKR, and the Environmental Defense Fund are visionaries when it comes ecologically sound business practices. In conclusion, these systems have made environmentally friendly business techniques not only viable, but commercially desirable, and their novel ideas are setting a new standard in the high-pressure business world of today.