Advantages And Disadvantages Of Environmental Sustainability

Sustainability from a strategic business perspective is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). Business sustainably is often defined as managing the triple bottom line – a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities. These three impacts are sometimes referred to as profits, people and planet. (Business sustainability definition from financial times lexicon, no date). This essay will discuss the idea of sustainability being an important element within a businesses and its core strategies and the importance of it within different businesses. Secondly, this study will look at how different stakeholders are affected and influenced by sustainability as this could be seen as a catalyst to improving the environment as a whole and. Then this study will look at how businesses not focusing

Sustainability is defined as the ability to endure.(1) Though the idea of sustainability can be applied to most anything from a sustainable ecosystem that has survived thousands of years to a sustainable workplace that uses green technologies. Paul Hawken captured today’s connotation of sustainability in saying “Sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth’s two most complex systems—human culture and the living world.” (2) There are countless ways to live, work, and produce sustainably. Sustainability not only needs to be practiced by citizens, but businesses need to join the green movement as well. Without creating, following, and enforcing green policies, negative effects will be evident and innumerable

To a regular person, the global concern about ‘going green’ might appear as a result of speculation from nervous politicians and alarmed citizens. But the reality is totally different. In recent years, businesses have gained much knowledge about the impact of their activities on environment and in turns their customers. Businesses are successively venturing to earn greater revenues. In this process, they are trying out every best possibility to entice their contributors- from customers to investors. Regardless to say, stakeholders these days are more socially responsible than ever. So to keep up to their expectations, businesses are also trying to expand or limit their activities to save the environment- from doing relentless research on lowering waste to lean management and even trying out various eco-friendly activities. Despite of all these, the ultimate question remains unanswered if it is financially beneficial to adapt those initiatives that is going to serve the

Make the company “go green” by encouraging a greener environment inside the company as well as making any future banks sustainable

As we can see , environmental challenges in recent years have increased the trend of “going green” in businesses like never before. There are two main factors that are currently pushing toward environmental-friendly business practices, harsher international and local regulations, and the high fluctuations of fossil-fuel prices.

Therefore, it is unethical for businesses to refuse this opportunity. An article titled “Large And Dirty' Companies Adopting Greener Strategies To Earn More Green”, published by ScienceDaily, offers a look at a development in corporate policies. In the article, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School in Baltimore named Phillip H. Phan presents a new trend in business strategies. When referring to formerly wasteful companies, Phan states, “Now they view concern for the environment as an opportunity to embed innovations that save production costs in the long term and that also improve their standing as good corporate citizens in the public mind” (qtd. in “Large And Dirty'” 1). Phan is insisting that many companies are now adopting environmentally friendly policies. Most see these strategies as an advantage in the end. In turn, the economy continues to grow while corporations maintain conservation. The question remains, why implement environmental regulations? As the evidence has shown, more businesses have begun to use environmentally friendly policies. While this is a positive change, other companies have yet to embrace these strategies. For this reason, the point is not to drive a stake between conservation and business but to find mutual benefits. Above all, governments must set better standards based on the

The competitive environment in today’s business world poses many dangers to the sustainability of the biosphere, which is so vital to life. Business organizations have a responsibility to help sustain and preserve the environment for future generations. Corporations must take initiative in developing business plans that incorporate sustainable business practices into the strategic direction of the organization. Successful achievement of a sustainable business plan also requires identification of barriers to implementation and development of strategies to overcome such barriers. In addition, to

In order to save the environment from pollution, businesses should consider having an environmentally-friendly operation. Protecting the environment is a key factor in going green that is beneficial to businesses and the environment. This topic is discussed in Ava Mohsenin’s article, “Can Businesses Be Environmentally Sustainable And Still Make Money?” Businesses stepping forward to lead a change in sustainability signifies there is profit and other benefits to being environmentally friendly. Additionally, Dupont is committed to “65% reduction and was saving $2.2B a year” through energy efficiency (Mohsenin). Kate L. Harrison, a communications marketing expert, explains in the article “10 Ways to Green Your Business and Save Money” that although some methods will not show profit immediately, business owners that use public transportation or have a fleet of hybrid vehicles can see an increase in profits over time. Furthermore, Mohsenin suggests that companies give their employees Prius’ in order to save money on gas and not pollute the air as much, similar to a brewing company that follows these

While this in itself is a positive outcome which could lead to sustainability, many companies have jumped upon the “green” bandwagon but have not been fully committed to the initiatives (Grant, 2007). By doing so these companies have wrongly been taking the benefits of having: increased brand loyalty, increases in stock share prices, a unique selling point, a higher selling price, the appearance of being an innovated company (Vaccaro, 2009). These benefits give that company a competitive advantage which is undeserved. This is strongly unethical act to carry out and despite their being higher media coverage of this issue (such as articles in newspapers) many consumers remain unaware of the misconduct being carried out by these companies. It is also becoming increasingly more dangerous as it gives a lot of power to corporations and creates feelings of mistrust between consumers, organisations and the government.

Despite the fact that the firms have been more inclined towards ensuring sustainability using renewable energy and the governments have instilled regulations to ensure that firms comply with the multitude of environmental rules and standards, the carbon footprint of the world has increased. Per a report published by the World Bank, the C02 emissions in 2000 was 4.034 metric tons per capita and in 2015 it increased to 4.996 metric tons per capita (C02 emissions, The World Bank). Even though the C02 emissions are increasing with a decreasing pace, the per year value has still gone up over the last 10 years. This indicates that while green businesses and a sustainable mindset has been the norm in organizations and their cultures, it still has not led to a fall in carbon emissions per year. The right mindset will aid the step in the right direction but the right execution is what will yield sustainable results.

For much of the past, most businesses have acted with little regard or concern for the negative impact they have on the environment. Many large and small organisations are guilty of significantly polluting the environment and engaging in practices that are simply not sustainable. However, there are now an increasing number of businesses that are committed to reducing their damaging impact and even working towards having a positive influence on environmental sustainability.

In this era of sustainable development, companies have realized the importance of adopting a corporate social responsibility and contributing their part in the development of environmental sustainability in the community that they are a part of. However, what is interesting to note is that many companies have found the

Sustainability is a major driving force in most businesses today, and the rise of sustainability in the market has brought major economic and financial impact on businesses today. Sustainability as defined by the United Nations is the process of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. (McKee 2012, page 561). Companies which are considered environmentally unfriendly face a lot of threats when it comes to finance. Therefore oil and gas companies that produce environmental unfriendly bi products face critical supervision from both policy makers and consumers.

Organization will also present different ideas and discuss strategies focusing on green businesses for the future of “Going Green” by recycling, conserving energy and water, and using smart technology to implement the sustainable business practice solution for their own company. And as one united group, all members can achieve the same goal no matter what country they are from and contribute themselves to help the planet together throughout the event activities, presentations and special guest speakers that encourages feasible techniques among attendees.

It is argued that powerhouse businesses are largely responsible for causing detrimental impacts on the environment through their practices (Hormann 1990). As a result it is suggested that businesses are to take action to remedy such situations. It is possible in many ways, however the most relevant involves development of sustainable practices through new framework of business operations (Smith and Rayment 2010). Business leaders can implement practices that encourage sustainability; this will remedy the current situation and avoid it in the future.