Man has always been compelled to live in a hostile environment and to adapt to it, while taking care of his needs. However, Man’s evolution has caused so much change to the environment that it has become more hostile and threatening than ever. Today, our forests of sky-scrapers and our clouds of pollution are starting to have effects on the environment which are leading to a change in behaviour. The ecological problem has become a major preoccupation for our society. For a company, being regarded as ecologically responsible has become an added asset in maintaining its position in the market.

Usually, we say that pollution is due to heavy industrial activity and and the profit motive at any price which shows no concern for the eventual social or ecological consequences.

It has only been very recently that we have started asking environmental questions within the company, concerning its image and also its internal functioning. Managers play a very important role in this new approach and in its implementation by internal team management or by the very strategy of the company, its positioning, its market and its product. Let’s take the example of the digitisation of data and the paperless approach to documentation, which, as well as diminishing the dependence of a company on paper, has significant financial repercussions. Thus, thanks to the paperless approach, we can say that by buying product X, you are protecting a pine forest in Norway or likewise, that by reducing CO² emissions, you are protecting a penguin in the Antarctic.

A manager’s attitude to the environment must now manifest itself in a global approach to issues of quality which will encompass, from now on, a concern for the effects of business activity on the environment. For this purpose, BPM tools can be a mainstay for the introduction of ecological practices in the company, because, by optimising and standardising its processes, it can reduce its impact on the environment..