In the business landscape, many organizations have started taking a new approach to operations in an effort to improve their environmental footprint. This can happen in a number of different ways, but the end result is a more effective business that is better for the environment. Organizations across the world have started following a more green approach and the best of the best are being recognized for it.

Last week, Newsweek released its Green Rankings, which recognized assessments of corporate environmental performance. The rankings are handled the same for all companies and follow six core principles, which include: transparency, objectivity, public data, comparability, engagement and stakeholders. After that they are judged on eight clearly defined performance indicators.

• Combined energy productivity score
• Combined  Greenhouse Gas productivity score
• Combines water productivity score
• Combines waste productivity score
• Reputation
• Sustainability pay link
• Sustainability board committee
• Audited environmental metrics

The data is pulled from several sources. A majority of it comes from Bloomberg's Professional Service which houses sustainability information on over 5,000 public securities and Carbon Disclosure Project's (CDP). Information is also pulled from Corporate Knights Capital.

In the report, Indiana businesses are well represented. The highest ranking organization from the Hoosier State on the list is Cummin Inc, which ranks at number 53 among the 500 largest public companies in the U.S. and 86 among the largest public companies in the world. Both of these put it well ahead of its industry peers. Other companies on the list include Merrillville-based NiSource Inc., Simon Property Group Inc.  in Indianapolis, Zimmer Holdings Inc.  in Warsaw and Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc.

Cummin issued a press release from to address their placement on the list.

"This recognition from Newsweek underscores the commitment of our Company and our employees to an important part of our corporate mission – demanding that everything we do leads to a cleaner, healthier, safer environment," said Tom Linebarger, Cummins Chairman and CEO. "We believe our focus on the environment allows us to deliver economic value to our stakeholders while making a positive impact on communities around the world. Providing efficient and clean power is a win for our Company, a win for our customers, and a win for the environment."

The release also covers a comprehensive plan to reduce its global environmental footprint, something that the business has been working on for sometime. The organization has used its technical expertise as a way to take competitive advantage and meet emission standards that are growing more stringent. Following a two year study, of its operations, Cummin better prioritized its strategy to ensure it was hitting its worst performing areas first and build up from there.

Every company has a responsibility to make its operations as friendly to the environment as possible. One smart way to go about this is to improve the business management software solutions. Not only will this help with tasks like inventory reporting, but can also streamline many different operations. This helps companies cut down on wasted time and resources, allowing them make sure they are getting the most out of every operation, taking unneeded stress off of the environment.