Resource Management
95.806
Term I 2016
Lecturer: Dr. Maurice Judd
Assignment 1
(Critique 1)
The business logic of sustainability
Due: 3rd May 2016
Student Name: Vandana Trivedi
Student ID : S2153219 Contents-
Introduction
Summary
Methodology
Critical Assessment
Conclusion
References
Introduction-
This is a critique about the business logic of sustainability introduced by Ray Anderson who is a businessman of a carpet producing company. He completed his graduation in the year 1956 and having 52 years business experience he presented his ideas about how to get profit by industrial production without harming nature and climate. He has also described about how to decrease pollution rather than multiplying as he already applied his ideas about sustainability in his business and have been honoured as ‘American greenest CEO’ for last 5 years in 1999. As per Anderson human being produces major causes of nature pollution and imbalanced climate. But being a human being it’s our duty to make nature balanced and give tomorrow’s child a better future.
Summary-
Here we are looking at business sustainability from all aspects that is socially, economically, environmentally and institutionally as well, to apply sustainability in every field of life. So here we can see a prism of sustainability which has four dimensions- social, economic, environmental and institutional.
Let’s know about sustainability first-
Sustainability means ‘the ability to
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
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
Bertrand Piccard quotes, “In the 21st century, the heroes will be the people who will improve the quality of life, fight poverty and introduce more sustainability. This is a powerful message, it sums up the concepts discussed throughout the course. Additionally, the case studies such as the New Belgium Brewery, SC Johnson and The Kimberly Clarke organization have been proven to practice this philosophy. As society progresses in its efforts to provide a more sustainable future, there is a fundamental foundation of principles that must be followed to ensure success. Sustainable business development takes into account the application of business operations as it relates to the three pillars of sustainability, which is a dynamic yet integrative place to begin this journey. DesJardins, (2006) calls for a re-imagination of the future to create a vibrant sustainable model; which forms similar beliefs to Piccard. In addition, organizations are more inclined to create sustainable practices based on consumer demand and the willingness of leadership to participate in sustainability programs.
Business sustainability, which originally was viewed as a question of corporate governance, has now emerged as a central, multifaceted theme of the twenty- first century. It is now the responsibility of corporate boards and managers to focus on business sustainability by creating enduring value for shareholders and managing the interests of other stakeholders, including creditors, employers, suppliers, government, and society at large.
The idea of sustainability has become an increasingly common term in the rhetoric surrounding business ethics, as corporates are gaining broader acknowledgement of this pro-active method which guarantees business long-term viability and integrity by focusing on the triple bottom line. In business, the three aspects of sustainability include social, economic and environment.
Nowadays, many international companies take sustainable development seriously. They understand that sustainable development can enhance their quality of life and their reputation in public. Sustainable development is "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." (Brundtland, 1987) Sustainability requires monitoring and managing all the person to ensure that our economy and society can continue to exist without destroying the social and natural environment during development. The sustainability includes three pillars, which are economic, social and environment, forming a triple bottom line. The triple bottom line demands that a company 's responsibility lies
The main purposes of this talk are to share a powerful vision for sustainable commerce and business logics of sustainability.
Yvon Chouinard and Vincent stated, “Sustainability is a term that calls us not to take more from nature than we can give back.” Many Companies have failed to grasp this concept. It is startling to realize how much has been taken from nature and how little has been given back. A responsible company makes magnificent products, treats their workers well, improves the community, and protects nature. Humans need to realize that they are part of nature. They r in the process of destroying themselves when they act irresponsibly.
To solve these problems and the detriment to the environment that stems from them, the authors call for a complete paradigm shift in our current way of living. To start off that shift they interpret the definition of sustainability as being too limiting. They instead introduce the term of sustainability-as-flourishing. This is basically a state in which an individual feels a sense of
Chapter one of Esty and Winston’s research novel, “Green to Gold”, introduced the text’s central theme of the analysis of several businesses and their levels of sustainability, which is defined as the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources. In the past, companies were viewed as simple money-making enterprises; their only purpose was to provide goods and services to the masses. They were held to virtually no responsibilities to the public outside of that goal. In recent year, however, the viewpoint on a company’s duty to both local and global community has immensely shifted. Enterprises, big and small, are now held to higher standards: they can no longer just produce. Government and consumers alike are demanding more from
Cowspiracy: the Sustainability Secret is a 90-minute film asking why the leading environmental organizations are acting uninterested and ignoring a leading cause of environmental damage. It 's co-producers Kip Andersen and Keegan Kuhn are the leading the argument that our ways of trying to save the world individually by ways like taking shorter showers, not letting the faucet run, changing the lightbulb to fluorescent, riding a bike instead of your car, and many other little way people believe will save the environment but the harsh truth is making homes more water efficient and taking short showers will not make more water available, driving bike instead of cars will not solve the carbon emissions problem, installing LED lights will not stop global warning. Environmental issues will not make a collective difference unless we also confront the real problem, which is animal agriculture. Animal agriculture’s environmental effects are so major and which have altered our world that progress elsewhere by individuals cannot counter its destructive and growing impact.
Sustainability can be defined as ‘Adopting business strategies and activities that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while protecting, sustaining and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future.’ (Labuschagne, et al., 2005) This essay will look at sustainability with the view of the triple bottom line, which is in some ways expressed in this definition with ‘human and natural resources’. By looking at the triple bottom line as concept developed by John Elkington, and cited by many scholars, the essay will look at the importance of each of the three elements (economic, social and environmental impact) to business.
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.
Living on the Earth, it is important for each of the organizations as well as individuals to help with making it a better place to live. However for the current time, environmental degradation is still one of the most threatening problems confronted with human beings. The carbon dioxide emission has made the global warmth, which may cause the diminishing of lands where human beings could live on; air pollution has caused more diseases, climate change has led to more serious problems in biodiversity which is important to form a balanced natural environment, water toxic pollution has reduced the available access to clean water. In the everyday life of human beings, the unfavorable influences on the environment could be worse on condition that environmental degradation is not paid with enough attention (Bare, 2014). For instance, the applying of cars, which would cause inevitable air pollution and energy consumption, would add pressure for environmental protection (David and Michael, 2014). For the environmental sustainability, the individual activities are essential, but the responsibility of individuals could not be described as primary as the roles of organizations are rather important. This essay is going to talk about the responsibility of individual customers for environmental sustainability, as well as the responsibility of organizations. To form the environmental
The whole meaning of the book Embedded Sustainability: The Next Big Competitive Advantage is to learn about the incorporation of well-being, social importance, and ecological in the essential of business activities with no compromise in price or quality. The book shows readers that embedded sustainability allows companies to have a better turn out for a smarter way of producing products. It also allows companies to maintain a higher return for investors by reacting with new market strategies of lowering resources and raising customer expectations. In part one the authors begin with sustainability at the frontline of business.