Question

Midwest Family Mutual Insurance Company based in Plymouth, MN is very pleased to self-declare our Company environmentally “Green”. In the past 5 years, the Company has reduced its annual electricity consumption by 155,000 KWH or 63% and natural gas consumption by 5,700 therms or 76%. Paper usage is down by 65% with the implementation of extensive electronic notification processes. Beginning in 2003, a number of electronic processes have been implemented at Midwest Family. The most effective energy dependency change is our “Work from Home” office environment. After installing imaging and electronic workflow developed by CGI (a leading provider of Information Technology and business process services), Citrix technology, and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) from 3COM, the Company began testing processes with employees working from home. By September 2006, all employees except two worked from their homes. Due to this reduced commuting, employees burn 25,000 fewer gallons of fuel per year. In April 2007, a 24,000 sq. ft. office building in Minnetonka was sold in favor of much more modest and energy efficient rental headquarters in Plymouth, MN. This occupancy change resulted in the electricity and natural gas savings. Midwest Family’s Landlord is the Atria Corporate Center in Plymouth, MN. In 2007, the Atria Corporate Center, managed by Cushman & Wakefield of MN, joined approximately 3200 buildings nationwide that have earned the ENERGY STAR, with a performance rating of 94 (out of 100). The award is the EPA’s national symbol for protecting the environment through superior energy performance. Earning this award means that the building is using at least 35% less energy than average buildings while still providing quality service and comfort to occupants. As a result of this change, employee satisfaction is high and family life is improved. Many of our employees report less personal stress working from the “at home” environment. As one employee stated “I now have a window seat, control the heating and cooling, and my bathroom is always clean.” Other employees have related the comfort of seeing their kids on and off the school bus daily. Commuting time is traded for family time. Fuel and auto “wear and tear” expense has been reduced or eliminated. Employees also feel good about being part of an environmentally responsible organization. The final leg of the Company’s journey towards becoming a “Green” Company was the outsourcing of policy printing and production to our business partner, CGI. CGI has helped the Company execute numerous electronic methods of policy notification to customers, agents, mortgage companies and other interested parties that have dramatically cut paper and postage consumption. Coupled with growth in the last 5 years, paper usage has been reduced by 65%. Less paper consumed means more trees left standing. As a result, Midwest Family is self-declaring the Company “Green”. To the best of the Company’s knowledge, Midwest Family is the first Insurance Company in the nation to declare operational “Green” status. The Company is very proud of this accomplishment and the positive impact upon the environment in which employees live and work. The Company can also report that being “Green” has a positive impact on another form of “Green” for the Company…financial “Green”. In the past 5 years, the Company has decreased its expense ratio from 33.5% to 25.9% of every premium dollar. This expense ratio competes favorably with other insurance companies in the nation. Lowering expenses equates to more benefits out of each premium dollar going to Policyholders. Being “Green” environmentally and operationally CAN equate to being “Green” financially. Midwest Family Mutual is a multi-line Property and Casualty Insurance Company headquartered in Plymouth, MN. The Company provides various Commercial and Personal Lines insurance products through approximately 500 Independent Insurance Agents in the States of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. In the past 5 years, revenue for the Company has grown by 62% and policy surplus reserves have grown by 100%. The Company has been in business since 1891.

Answers to the following questions:

1. what has happened since the case study was published?

2. What has changed?

3. What has remained the same?

Answer 1

1. When the case study was published, Midwest Family was the first insurance company to be given the operational green status. This company can be considered as one of the few propagators of environment sustainability and going green. Since the time the case had been published, the overall society has become the follower of going green initiative. Environmental sustainability is the need of the hour. Various companies have inculcated sustainable practices in their business model. The companies are investing heavily in its CSR so as to contribute its part for the betterment of overall society. The principles of 6S and Kaizen have been incorporated so as to minimize the business waste. Also various steps are taken for waste treatment before releasing it in the environment. All these initiatives have been developed with the view of propagating the ideologies of Go Green and Environmental Sustainability.

2. Technology advancement and increased level of people awareness has facilitated the process of going green and environmental sustainability. Before undergoing any process, the business considers its implications using cause and effect analysis. If the implication of the process is detrimental for the overall society, steps are taken to cure the same or it is discarded completely. Technology has made the lives of everyone quite easy. Any kind of sustainable initiatives can be easily facilitated and executed with the help of technology.

3. The ideology of going green, conserving natural resources and propagating sustainable measures for environmental conservation have remained the same since the time, the case was published.