Sustainability As A Driver For Innovation And Competitive Advantage In Asia, Essay.

In a Harvard Business Review article entitled ‘Why Sustainability is the New Driver of Innovation’, the authors stated that:

the quest for sustainability is already starting to transform the competitive landscape, which will force companies to change the way they think about products, technologies, processes, and business models. The key to progress, particularly in times of economic crisis, is innovation....”. (Nidumolo, Prahalad and Rangaswami 2009, p. 58)
Critically discuss the relevance of the above perspective in the Asia region. Support your discussion with ideas
from relevant theories and concepts, as well as the use of real-life organisational examples.

In another words, the statement presents an idea that sustainability is the driver for innovation (ie. leading to
new ideas, new methods, new products/services, new processes etc); and that firms that embrace sustainability
towards innovation will gain competitive advantage (superior performance over other players in the industry).
Is this relevant in Asia? Please support with theories, concepts and organisational examples.

Introduction:

To include purpose of essay, changing nature of today’s business environment and the importance of
sustainability in today’s organisational context. The concept of sustainability needs to be clearly defined using
appropriate sources.

Importance of Sustainability

With the advent of technology, innovation has become the key to success. This is because the business environment has become highly competitive and due to this reason, any smart move by one organization shall make the firm a competitive leader in the business domain (Adams et al., 2016). Hence, as a solution to this problem various companies look up to the environmental friendly aspect and try to adapt it in their daily operations in order to ensure that they can gain a competitive edge. Hence, the aim of this essay is to analyze the manner in which sustainability is the new driver to innovation and the related scenario as present in the Asian countries. The importance of sustainability will be analyzed which will then be followed by the company examples and the issues as faced in Asia by the different companies.

Sustainability can be defined as the study of natural systems, the manner in which they are diverse and the manner in which they produce as well so as to ensure the ecology remains balanced. In the quest of achievement of the modern way of life, the resources are getting depleted and hence, sustainability takes into consideration how one can live in harmony with the various resources and moreover, protect it from damage so that the future generation can use it as well (Brem & Ivens, 2013). 

Sustainability is considered to be an important concept because the maintenance of the quality of life is crucial and hence, maintaining the diversity on planet plays a crucial role (Waite, 2014). Moreover, in case sustainability is not considered, the future generation may suffer hence, these days various organizations have been adopting sustainability measures in order to return to the society and moreover, using sustainability as a strategy for achieving competitive advantage.

In Asia, the sustainability aspect is yet to pick up momentum and it is only in the highly advanced countries that sustainability is considered as an effective tool for strategizing and achieving a competitive advantage (Sezen & Çankaya, 2013). There are countries like India and Singapore whereby the new startups and related enterprises tend to use sustainability as a major component in order to compete with their competition and ensure that they can gain an edge over others and achieve global appreciation (Klewitz & Hansen, 2014). Moreover, companies who have been in the industry for a considerable long time have also been taking up sustainable initiatives. For instance, the Wipro Company has emerged for the application of the best sustainable development program and gained excellence in environmental, social as well as governance components. Tech Mahindra limited in India and United Microelectronics Corporation in Taiwan have also come up with considerable plans and activities for the development of their strategies thereby using Sustainable aspects. Wipro was praised for its corporate governance program whereas the United Micro electrics company was praise for its water risk management program (Schaltegger, Lüdeke-Freund & Hansen, 2016).

These companies have created a good name for themselves by ensuring that they consider their society benefits along with the benefit of the organization. Other companies like City Developments Limited, Keppel Land Ltd, Trina Solar Limited and Tata consultancy have also been praised for their sustainability initiatives.

Company examples

The Triple bottom line can be described as a sustainability concept which states that in the quest for achieving sustainability one of the three given values tend to face trouble. These three values are the social aspects (people), ecological aspects (planet) and the economic aspect which is the profit. Hence, in lieu of achieving one, the other gets exploited in the move to achieve sustainability (Rasul, 2016). In any business pursuit it is important that all of these aspects are achieved and that the people, planet as well as profits are sustained.  While applying the triple bottom lines, the organizations aim to achieve a competitive edge and see to it that in the competitive business environment they are easily able to ensure that they are able to achieve a good positioning.

The first component of the triple bottom line sees to it that the people are treated fairly and that no specific groups are burdened by the pursuits of the business (Girotra & Netessine, 2013). The next aspect is the planet aspect whereby it is aimed that all the natural resources like the plants, wildlife as well as species are not impacted adversely. Lastly, economic successes are important.

For this reason, various businesses in Asia like My Green World, Eco Cell industries, Myna Mahila Foundation, are undertaking social innovation and ecological innovation as an underlying motive in order to ensure that by the integration of all the Ps the organizations are able to achieve sustainable success and thereby give rise to innovation as well (Nidumolu, Prahalad  & Rangaswami, 2009). Moreover, other businesses like that owned by Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami aim to center around social as well as environmental roles in order to ensure that innovation and sustainability go together. They are involved in using old sneakers and converting them to slippers that can be distributed among the poor. The name of the company is Greensole and it has been able to tie up with various companies around the globe so as to gain a competitive advantage as well. Hence, social innovation and ecological benefit along with profits is the new key to success by using sustainability as a trigger for innovation.

However, despite great movements and initiations, Asia still remains home to more than half of the world poverty and hence the key challenge lies in sustaining the growth which is required for job creation. Although various efforts are being taken, corruption can be described as another important aspect which can be taken into consideration in order to understanding the issues lying in Asia that restrict innovation and sustainability (Gaziulusoy, Boyle & McDowall, 2013). Despite great strides in reducing the number of people in abject poverty, Asia and the Pacific remains home to more than half of the world’s extreme poor. With the global and regional economic outlook uncertain, the key challenge facing Asia is to sustain the growth needed to create jobs and reduce poverty. Along with this problems like environmental issues and population growth also exist.

Conclusion:

Therefore, from the given analysis it can be stated that by viewing the different compliances as opportunity, making value chains sustainable, creating social innovation opportunities and ensuring design of sustainable goods, various firms in Asia have been viewing sustainability as an opportunity and trigger for innovation. The essay discussed the ways in which the companies in Asia have a take on sustainability and related innovation and also presented the challenges faced by the companies.

References:

Adams, R., Jeanrenaud, S., Bessant, J., Denyer, D., & Overy, P. (2016). Sustainability?oriented innovation: a systematic review. International Journal of Management Reviews, 18(2), 180-205.

Brem, A., & Ivens, B. (2013). Do frugal and reverse innovation foster sustainability? Introduction of a conceptual framework. Journal of Technology Management for Growing Economies, 4(2), 31-50.

Gaziulusoy, A. ?., Boyle, C., & McDowall, R. (2013). System innovation for sustainability: a systemic double-flow scenario method for companies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 45, 104-116.

Girotra, K., & Netessine, S. (2013). OM forum—business model innovation for sustainability. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 15(4), 537-544.

Klewitz, J., & Hansen, E. G. (2014). Sustainability-oriented innovation of SMEs: a systematic review. Journal of Cleaner Production, 65, 57-75.

Nidumolu, R., Prahalad, C. K., & Rangaswami, M. R. (2009). Why sustainability is now the key driver of innovation. Harvard business review, 87(9), 56-64.

Rasul, G. (2016). Managing the food, water, and energy nexus for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in South Asia. Environmental Development, 18, 14-25.

Schaltegger, S., Lüdeke-Freund, F., & Hansen, E. G. (2016). Business models for sustainability: A co-evolutionary analysis of sustainable entrepreneurship, innovation, and transformation. Organization & Environment, 29(3), 264-289.

Sezen, B., & Çankaya, S. Y. (2013). Effects of green manufacturing and eco-innovation on sustainability performance. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 99, 154-163.

Waite, A. M. (2014). Leadership's influence on innovation and sustainability: A review of the literature and implications for HRD. European Journal of Training and Development, 38(1/2), 15-39.