Refer to the 3M Company - Good Corporate Citizen case study in chapter 1 of the textbook. Respond to the folowing in a total of 350 to 525 words: Research the current P/E ratio of the company mentioned in the case, 3M. - Compare 3M to another firm in the same industry. Some critics of socially responsible companies claim that socially responsible companies lack significant profit margins. - Compare the net profit margins of the two companies you researched above. Imagine you are a senior financial manager at a large publicly traded company. - Apply your capital budgeting decision-making skills to select projects that are lower in NPV, but higher in sustainable value regarding ESG. - Justify your decisions to the board of directors for your firm and to shareholders at the annual shareholder meeting. There are additional risks that can come from implementing ESG strategies in capital budgeting decision-making. - List some additional risks that may not be apparent when considering implementing ESG into capital budgeting decision-making process. - If you were a senior financial manager at a public firm, how would you mitigate these additional or potential risk involved with implementing ESG into your capital budgeting process? Stock market investors emphasize financial results and the maximization of shareholder value. - Evaluate whether it makes sense for a company to be socilly responsible. - Analyze whether companies can be socially responsible and orientated toward shareholder value at the same time. Apply the financial management strategies you have feamed in the course to accomplish the goal of being socially responsible and oriented toward shareholder value. 3M Company-Good Corporate Cltizen Given that stock market investors emphasize financial results and the maximization of shareholder value, does it makes sense for a company to be socially responsible? Can companies be socially responsible and oriented toward shareholder wealth at the same time? We think so, and while the results of social responsibility are hard te measure, the results of creating goodwill and high employee morale can often create cost savings and a motivated and highly productive workforce. 3M is a manufacturing company and therefore uses large quantities of raw material and has tons of waste from its production processes. How it deals with these issues says a lot about the company's social responsibility. The company has the following programs in place to deal with sustainability issues: EcoEfficiency Management, Climate Change \& Energy Management, Pollution Prevention, Water Management, and Reducing Waste. For 17 years 3M has been a leading company in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and in May 2007 was awarded the first annual Clean Air Excellence Gregg Cooke Visionary Program Award by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The company has focused on the environment and social responsibility since 1960. 3M has pursued a series of five-year plans, and between 2000 and 2010 , it either met or exceeded its goals. For example, one goal was to reduce volatile air emissions indexed to net sales by 25 percent, and it achieved a reduction of 58 percent. A goal to reduce waste to net sales by 25 percent was also exceeded. 3M has further reduced worldwide greenhouse gas emissions between 1990 and 2011 by 95 percent. 3M continues to win awards for its social behavior. In 2017 it was on the list of the "World's Most Ethical Companies" for the fourth year in a row. Forbes included 3M on its 2017 list of the "World's Most Reputable Companies" and it was listed in first place among companies that millennials want to work for, edging out Apple, Google, and Amazon. We can only speculate that the reason it is on top is its social reputation for work life excellence and diversity. While sustainability and environmental issues are important issues for social responsibility, other activities are also important. 3M promotes community involvement and has traditionally given more than 2 percent of its pretax profits to well-defined programs related to the environment, education, arts and culture, and health and human services. The management of 3M has many sustainability goals and programs in place to measure the progress in meeting those goals. Its goals for 2025 are all indexed to sales. Here is a list of goals: 1. Improve energy efficiency by 30 percent. 2. Reduce global water use by 10 percent. 3. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percont below 2002 benchmark. 4. Help customers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 250 million tons by use of 3M products. 5. Reduce global manufacturing waste by 10 percent