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Case Study

Phasing out the Jumbo's: Henkel and the problems of voluntary environmental agreements

By Ulrich Steger and Matthias Winter

8 pages

December 1997

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Reference: IMD-3-0708

The case deals with the problems the Henkel company faced when they were asked by the German environmental agency to participate in a voluntary program to phase out the so-called “Jumbo” detergent packages (ordinary washing powders sold in big cartons of three or ten kilos). An environmental analysis of various detergents showed that Jumbo detergents, compared to the concentrated products, present many environmental disadvantages. However, Henkel still had quite a profitable business with the Jumbos under its most important brand names: Persil, Weisser Riese and Spee. So the company had to figure out if and in which way they should participate in the voluntary program.

Keywords

Environmental Management, Consumer Behavior, Consumer Goods

Settings

Germany
1996-1997

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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