Environmental issues are becoming a key concern across the supply chain, especially for those enterprises in primary industries, manufacturing, chemicals, refineries, and utilities. Rising energy costs, regulatory pressures, and public scrutiny of corporate practices are causing managers to seek out operational efficiencies that reduce waste, decrease resource/energy consumption, and lower the enterprise's environmental footprint. IT-led initiatives can be the key to making green strategies pay off.

Conversely, enterprises that ignore environmental issues risk facing government fines, consumer-led boycotts, or rising operating costs as a result of inefficiencies. Consider the following examples:

• Sony had to spend more than $130 million in 2001 when the Dutch government banned its PlayStations based on toxic levels of cadmium in its cabling.
• In 2004, Dupont was fined $16.5 million by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and suffered considerable public outrage as information...