 |
 |
September 20, 2001
The College of Business at San Francisco State University was recently awarded its third Business and International Education (BIE) Grant through the Department of Education. Each of these grants provides funding for a two year period. The grant has academic and curriculum projects as well as community outreach projects. The most recent grant officially commenced in September, 2001, and like the previous grant, will focus on assisting the wine industry in improving its performance in the global marketplace. This grant earmarks $172,000 for research, program and curriculum development, relating to a number of wine industry projects.
The project described below: AN EXPLORATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT, PROGRESS AND PROMISE IN U.S. WINERIES, is one of those projects. For additional information on the project described herein, contact Professor Murray Silverman at the SFSU College of Business (415-338-7489) or msilver@sfsu.edu.
PROJECT PURPOSE: Develop an applied research project to assist U.S. wineries in improving their environmental performance. One premise is that, ultimately, the U.S. wine industry’s environmental performance will provide the basis for a competitive advantage in domestic and international markets.
The purpose of this project is to assist U.S. wineries in improving their environmental performance. There is an industry wide initiative, WineVision, whose strategic plan includes sustainability as one of its three major planks (visit winevision.org for details). This industry group believes that social and environmental sustainability can favorably create competitive advantage and set the U.S. apart from other wine producing countries.
This environmental project has as its objectives to:
This project focuses on the environmental dimension of sustainability. We are concerned that broadening the scope of the study may dilute our ability to adequately explore winery environmental performance. However, we recognize that social issues such as community relationships and farm worker safety and welfare also are part of the sustainability equation
Throughout this project, we will collaborate with public sector organizations (federal and state agencies, research universities) along with private sector organizations and industry associations such as the Wine Institute, Northwest Wine Coalition, American Vintner’s Association, The New York Wine and Grape Foundation and other regional winery associations. Our research will center on a survey of U.S. wineries, however, we will also engage in secondary and primary research relating to the environmental initiatives in other wine producing countries to add breadth and depth to our analysis. The results of the survey will allow us to work closely with WineVision, industry associations, and our public sector constituents in helping the industry move forward to enhanced environmental sustainability and performance.
The study would focus on environmental aspects throughout the winery value chain, from vineyard, through winery operations to packaging and distribution. Winery impacts at the vineyard level include habitat destruction, erosion, use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. In terms of winery operations, the primary environmental issues include energy use, water use and pollution, and environmental aspects of winery construction and maintenance. Packaging and distribution involve glass recycling and reuse, issues involving cork and energy use. This study would include an exploration of environmental initiatives and programs along the value chain just described. A significant amount of research being conducted by others is currently being directed to environmental sustainability at the vineyard level. More research is needed on the downstream aspects of the value chain, and this study will make a contribution in that regard. Incidentally, continuing down the value chain to the consumer, there is very little research addressing the question as to "how a wine’s environmental aspects affect the wine purchase decision". This area is in need of more research, but will not be in the scope of this study.
By way of background I have a Ph.D. in Business from Stanford University and have been on the faculty of San Francisco State University researching and teaching strategic management for over 20 years. Moreover, for the last five years, I have been teaching an MBA course in the College of Business at SFSU titled: "Business Management and Environmental Leadership". I was on the university wide committee that developed SFSU's Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies degree program. I developed a "Greening of Business" course that is part of the General Studies program offered to SFSU undergraduates of all disciplines. I am well versed in the academic environmental sustainability literature, and also am familiar with current environmental issues in the wine industry. Finally, I have been actively working with WineVision for the past two years, assisting the Global Task Force in its efforts to improve the export performance of U.S. wineries.
There are three distinct sub-projects:
The primary project is a mail survey of U.S. wineries. This survey will provide data regarding the environmental progress and commitment of U.S. wineries. The questions asked in the survey will also allow for an analysis leading to a determination as to why some wineries are more environmentally responsive than others.
The survey is currently in the development stage. We are conducting interviews with winery personnel and industry experts. The project team is working to resolve various methodological questions relating to survey development and sampling procedures.
A series of focus groups are being planned for early November in Santa Rosa. The wineries participating in these focus groups have demonstrated their concern for the environment through involvement in the Sonoma County Green Business Program. Additional focus groups are planned for the Portland, Oregon area. The objective of the focus groups is to better understand the underlying motivations and sustaining forces driving wineries to be environmentally responsible. The focus groups will also contribute to the survey development process.
A team of graduate business students is engaged in a bench marking study to compare environmental progress of U.S. wineries with other major wine producing countries. The team includes a French student, focusing on France, a student from Argentina focusing on Chile and Argentina and an American student who is focusing on New Zealand and Australia. We are attempting to add to this team to include Italy and Spain.
We would like to ascertain on a country by country basis the level of environmental performance and the pervasiveness of environmental initiatives among that country’s wineries. Also, we would like to compare the regulatory landscape pertaining to vineyards and wineries in those countries compared to the U.S. We will create a database that includes (for each country):
Industry demographics (# of wineries, # of growers, # acres in wine grapes, volume of wine produced, % of wine exported, acres certified under an environmental certification etc.)
Regulatory limits in relation to pesticide use, water pollution, habitat impacts, hazardous wastes, etc. (Degree of enforcement of regulations?)
Priority environmental issues faced in each country/region.
Grower and industry associations of a national nature, major regional associations - phone #’s and email and web sites.
Formal environmental initiatives of a regional or national nature, including environmentally oriented certification programs.
Names and contact info of wineries that are considered leaders in environmental sustainability.
 |