Topic- Examples of businesses successfully engaging in sustainable business
In the recent times, I have often come across the term business sustainability. The process of business sustainability can be defined as the management of the social, environmental and financial risks as well as opportunities (Carroll & Buchholtz, 2014). I have concluded that the impacts of these three components are directly connected with the people, profits and our mother earth. I wonder what would happen if the businesses do not follow the sustainable path. This course has helped me to believe that the sustainability commitments of the corporate entities would help in minimizing the devastating impacts of the global warming and widespread deforestation.
In my academic tenure, I have researched about sustainability and found out that such practices do benefit the company as well. I learnt that that the companies have improved operation and there is a subsequent increase in the employee productivity. The sustainable business measures also reduce cost of the company. A company having sustainable business practices would help in the improvement of the brand images as well as competitive advantage (Slawinski & Bansal, 2015). This is because a company having sustainable business practices would be favored more by the customers and they would be more likely to avail the products or services of the company.
I have learnt through my course that achieving sustainability can be compared to a systematic process that is undertaken by the organizations. This systematic process of the sustainable business operations comprises of several steps such as rejection, non-responsiveness, compliance, efficiency, strategic proactivity and sustaining corporation (Crane & Matten, 2016). I was not aware of the sustainability functions of the business but now I regularly study the practices of the big multinational companies.
I have found out that there are several companies that engage in sustainable business practices. PepsiCo is one company which has its annual shareholder meeting on sustainable business practices (Benn, Dunphy & Griffiths, 2014). I have found that the company concentrates on several environment friendly practices such as water scarcity, climate change, public health issues and others. I am very impressed by the company’s level of dedication towards the society. I feel that the world has so much of disease burden especially in the public health domain. I feel content by the way Pepsi has approached the issue of public health and significantly contributed to it. I have also been enlightened by the sustainability measures of Ford Motor Company, which has always put sustainability as its most important practice. There is subsequent reduction of GHG emissions of the company (Kaplan & Montiel, 2016). I am amazed by the different initiatives taken by the company to reduce GHG emission. I feel good when the company has set new targets for the energy efficiency, which is actually good for us. The company thinks that this would make the world a better place to live in and I completely love this noble idea.
On a personal note, I am very much moved by the sustainability measures of Starbucks. It is committed to strengthen the local communities by giving them civic amenities as well as promotion of the voter registration (Boone, 2017). I am impressed by the way the company has reduced the environmental footprint as well as inspired lot of others. It has made sufficient initiatives to connect with the local communities and I really like the effort it has put forward. I have not seen any other multinational organization engaging with the masses at the grassroot levels.
One of the most interesting sustainability initiatives have been adopted by Adobe. I feel delighted by the way Adobe has participated in the process of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The company has successfully reduced the gas emissions to nearly 75% (Graebert & Fischer, 2014). I have come to know that the company is using updated technologies such as solar arrays and hydrogen fuel cells. It is also successful in the reduction of the energy needs. I discovered that this reduction is being done with the help of numerous cooling efficiency parameters concerning data centers. My analysis showed that this company has virtualized several platforms, systems and devices with the aim of decreasing greenhouse gas reductions. I feel that the company is so concerned about the air and vehemently opposes the idea of polluting it.
I want to conclude that business prosperity is not only measured by the profits alone. It is also measured by the number of sustainability initiatives and the way the company is able to connect with the audience. If all the companies engage in sustainability measures, then the world would be a better place to live in.
References
Benn, S., Dunphy, D., & Griffiths, A. (2014). Organizational change for corporate sustainability. Routledge.
Boone, C. (2017). In the News: An Exploration of Starbucks and the Media.
Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management. Nelson Education.
Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Graebert, R., & Fischer, M. (2014). Energy conservation and sustainability at Adobe Systems Incorporated. Facilities, 32(3/4), 139-152.
Kaplan, J., & Montiel, I. (2016). East vs. West Approaches to Reporting Corporate Sustainability Strategies to the World: Corporate Sustainability. Comparative Perspectives on Global Corporate Social Responsibility, 49.
Slawinski, N., & Bansal, P. (2015). Short on time: Intertemporal tensions in business sustainability. Organization Science, 26(2), 531-549.
