M1 Response

NEED RESPONCE FOR: Jason, excellent points about the need for our company leaders to really understand cradle-to-grave and the raw materials of their products! You shared, ' It is important to note that if a company sells its products to people and in an environment. Therefore, when investors do not protect the welfare of their customers, then they will lack somewhere to sell their products.   How about just thinking about the paper that our companies push... There is SO much paper in our organizations!  I love the idea of going paperless.

Tell me more about some of the specific 'green' actions we have seen leaders communicate? Check out some of the actions from these cities, what do you think about the message/s?

https://www.epa.gov/sustainability

and 

https://www.phoenix.gov/sustainability

and

http://mesaaz.gov/residents/sustainability

ORIGINAL POSTING

Course Reflection

Sustainability is a different aspect when discussed in from the perspective of business. Unlike other sustainability in other disciplines, in the context of business, it refers to managing an enterprise by using the triple bottom line (Norman and MacDonald, 2004). The triple bottom line refers to a situation where an organization runs its activities by ensuring that its interests, those of the society and the environment are upheld. As such, an organization’s interest refers to profitability; that of the society denotes the welfare of the community living next to the business and the environment concerns conservation initiatives. Considerably, it is an assumption that people engage in business for the purpose of generating profits. However, with changes in the market conditions, most companies noticed that there was the need for businesses to adopt the welfare of the environment and their society in their strategies. 

As a new strategic management approach, various businesses have embraced sustainability. A typical example, of sustainability, is in food processing companies. Recently, some food processing companies decided to add vitamins to their products and at the same time package these products in biodegradable materials (Gold, Hahn and Seuring, 2013). If a company embraces such a production technique, then it will have sufficiently met the demands of sustainability in business. In adding vitamins to its products, the company will be taking care of the interests of the society since fortified products improve the health of the consumers. It is important to note that such enterprises are not under obligation to add vitamins to their commodities. On the part of the environment, by using biodegradable packaging, the organization would have reduced the contribution of carbon to the environment. Lastly, with the addition of vitamins, the company would have differentiated its product making it more sellable in the market hence generating increased revenue. 

Personally, I believe that sustainability is a necessary management tool in the current business situation. It is important to note that if a company sells its products to people and in an environment. Therefore, when investors do not protect the welfare of their customers, then they will lack somewhere to sell their products. Likewise, if businesses ignore the environment that is a source of raw materials, and then they will either spend more in production or close business because of lack of raw materials.

References

Gold, S., Hahn, R., & Seuring, S. (2013). Sustainable supply chain management in “Base of the Pyramid” food projects—A path to triple bottom line approaches for multinationals?. International Business Review, 22(5), 784-799.

Norman, W., & MacDonald, C. (2004). Getting to the bottom of “triple bottom line”. Business Ethics Quarterly, 14(02), 243-262.