Innovative Business Technology Solutions : 21st Century Global Business Models

When talking about sustainability numerous people associate it with just protecting the environment. Sustainability is far more than going green, but it is a principle that many companies have adopted and have worked persistently to improve over the last several years. Sustainability is defined as the ability to continue a behavior indeterminately, but it also includes improving human life overall. Sustainable development is broken down into three pillars: economic, social, and environmental (Harich & Bangerter, 2014). Economics is the study of how people use resources, which correlates to the goal of sustainable development by using resources to their full potential (Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N., 2011, p. 60). Economic sustainable development allows companies to give their customers what they want without overusing mutual resources. Social development combines the social world with the physical realm to provide a good quality of life (Benoit, 2010, p. 7). Social sustainability focuses on the well-being of people and their communities. Environmental development, the most recognizable, includes protecting the environment by reducing pollution, recycling, switching of electronic devices when not in use, etc. All three of these pillars make up what is known as sustainable development. In this paper, I researched a company and their involvement in sustainability and how it applies to the

I. INTRODUCTION “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi The above quote rightly points out the role of environment for the mankind and the responsibility we need to shoulder for its sustenance. We've come a long way in recognizing that and now almost every business has a statute of doing something good for the environment as part of their CSR initiative. But companies who think of the environment as a social responsibility and not as an imperative are not going in the right direction. The global climate changes and the gradual scarcity of resources have come to light as major disruptions in the business environment. These challenges

Many firms are learning that being environmentally friendly and sustainable has numerous benefits. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). This could enable them to increase goodwill from various stakeholders and also save money in the long term. This will mean that they are being more efficient and less wasteful of resources, which will enable them to be more competitive by satisfying stakeholders. The CEO of

When an organization partakes in “proactive behavior…for the benefit of society,” it is deemed as socially responsible (P. 155). However, prior to labeling a organization as socially responsible, it is important that we first identify what specific elements of proactive behavior constitute a socially responsible business. To begin, for an organization to be considered socially responsible on the highest level, it must take a proactive approach to doing business. This is defined as “[taking a] approach to social responsibility in which an organization goes beyond industry norms to solve and prevent problems” (P.155). In addition, it is standard for a socially responsible organization to incorporate a larger scope of stakeholders, to include external stakeholders, in their business decisions to create positive externalities, and mitigate negative ones, to benefit society as a whole.

The expectation that businesses behave responsibly and positively contribute to society all while pursuing their economic goals is one that holds firm through all generations. Stakeholders, both market and nonmarket, expect businesses to be socially responsible. Many companies have responded to this by including this growing expectation as part of their overall business operations. There are companies in existence today whose sole purpose is to socially benefit society alongside businesses who simply combine social benefits with their economic goals as their company mission. These changes in societal expectations and thus company purpose we’ve seen in the business community over time often blurs the line of what it means to be socially

Although not all companies are successful at truly embodying what it means to be green, even companies that have been synonymous for contributing pollutants and greenhouse gasses spend millions trying to convince stakeholders that they do. It’s often these last two dimensions of CSR—social and environmental, that either embroil a corporation in controversy or allow it to serve as an exemplar in good ethical business practices.

As we have seen an increase in awareness around sustainability and climate change, with the help of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth documentary in 2006, we see organizations moving towards mitigating the effects of climate change in various ways (Al Gore, n.d). As this corporate social responsibility has become more prevalent, organizations are now pushing their green agenda by publishing sustainability reports, doing mass marketing and implementing sustainable business practices to portray the image that they too are working towards protecting the earth’s natural environment all the while focusing on their underlying goal of selling their products and

“Businesses are an integral part of the communities in which they operate. Good executives know that their long-term success is based on continued good relations with a wide range of individuals, groups and institutions. Smart firms know that business can’t succeed in societies that are failing—whether this is due to social or environmental challenges, or governance problems. Moreover, the general public has high expectations of the private sector in terms of responsible behavior. Consumers expect goods and services to reflect socially and environmentally responsible business behavior at competitive prices. Shareholders also are searching for enhanced financial performance that integrates social and environmental

The term “sustainability” is often used to represent environmental sustainability. In this paper I will discuss how the term is used when referring to a not-for-profit’s ability to sustain its existence. To do so I will explain the key challenges, as well as some of the overlooked and unexpected challenges within the not-for-profit sector. In order for a not-for-profit organization to succeed, according to the NewLevel Group, LLC’s journal called “Building Sustainability for Nonprofit Organizations,” the organization must “learn the critical elements of sustainability, determine where your organization is on the road to sustainability by completing an organizational effectiveness assessment, identify strategic planning priorities by exploring

I must commend them on their efforts to improve social conditions at all levels of the organization and broadly in the community. Although, the reporting and communication elements are stable, the information at times is to superficial to meaningful assess the companies impact on earth systems. There is no way to validate the impacts, successes or identify if Patagonia is achieving their mission statement. I heisted to be so critical of a company the is continuing to be a leader of sustainable development, within a competitive industry driven by consumerism but based on their available reports and data, they are not accounting for the environment effectively. A key challenge for Patagonia to focus on would be developing goals based on their six commitments that are linked to specific ecosystem goods and service, then develop a data collection protocol that can be used to validate if they are achieving the goals and ensure they are realizing the opportunities they have creating by spending to support the

The conduct or the operation of any business anywhere in the world brings with it a number of environmental concerns. These range from the emission of harmful gases, such as carbon (VI) oxide, into the environment and contributions to the depletion of the ozone layer, thus furthering global warming. It is however impossible to exist in this modern world without industries and business, as many would be unemployed and further lack various necessities due to a lack of industries and businesses (Forbes, 2011). Therefore, sustainability should be considered with regard for the environment in that actions should not adversely affect the environment to the extent that future generations will find it unlivable . Many of the leading organizations

During the past 25 years, awareness of the environment has increased tremendously. Non-profit organizations look beyond institutional goals, and instead, try to find a shared vision that works for everyone in the society. Our society needs to stop consuming as if we have an infinite planet; we have to have integrity for the world we live in because the natural resources that have been sustaining us will not last forever. Companies need to evolve with the modern age and changing consumer market. For example, Netflix never thought they would produce their own shows, however, with the changing consumer market, they have done just that. Also, NGO’s sometimes have to partner with bigger for-profit companies in order to target a larger consumer base, thus, solidifying the fact that the for-profit and non-profit sector have to team together in order to sustain the environment in which we inhabit.

Corporate social responsibility has been one the key business buzz words of the 21st century. Consumers' discontent with the corporation has forced it to try and rectify its negative image by associating its name with good deeds. Social responsibility has become one of the corporation's most pressing issues, each company striving to outdo the next with its philanthropic image. People feel that the corporation has done great harm to both the environment and to society and that with all of its wealth and power, it should be leading the fight to save the Earth, to combat poverty and illness and etc. "Corporations are now expected to deliver the good, not just the goods; to pursue

Clearly shown within this paper there are many factors that determine the sustainability of an organization through public relations however, this point will seek to outline how credibility within PR can reflect an organization. Public relations emphasizes its importance through credibility which can be displayed through the management of relationships and reputation. Credibility can be established through a variety of methods within an organization, one method is through Corporate Social Responsibility. This can be identified as “business practices involving initiatives that benefit society” (Carney & Lymer, 2015). Corporate Social Responsibility can may have to do with an organization being aware of the environment, therefore going

Everyone is aware of the problems we face in the world today. Many people view business as the being the problem opposed to the solution or at least a part of the problem in many of the social challenges in today’s society. When thinking about solutions we tend to think about them in terms of NGOs, government, and philanthropy. Non-profits have also been a common way to help a societal problem. However, this has been happening for years and the world is not making fast enough progress. There is a problem of scale and ultimately do not have enough resources to deal with all the social problems the world faces today. The idea was that businesses are the ones with all the resources and the ones that generate profit. However, businesses make profit by causing social problems, for example pollution. In today’s society businesses do not profit from creating social problems, they profit from solving them. For example, reducing pollution saves money, makes the business more productive and doesn’t waste resources. Businesses need to adapt to the issue of shared value and become socially responsible in order to survive in society.