Why Sustainability Is Important For Organizations: A Management Essay.

Your challenge in this assignment is to prepare a Management Briefing Document to educate a sceptical Managing Director (MD).  To explain to him/her why his/her company ought to adopt a Sustainability policy/culture and why in the long term his/her company may be better off for doing so.
1.Choose an organisation you are interested in.  Identify the name of the organisation and its products or services
2.In the form of a literature review
Explore the subject of sustainability describing initiatives of good practice and who are known to be the exemplary practitionersExplain the justification for adopting a sustainability strategy.  Why is it important to the environment and to the organisation?
What are the potential benefits of adoption?  What would be the effect of not adopting?

3.Consider your chosen organisation 
Select one Sustainability initiative you would like the organisation to adopt. Describe why you would like to see the organisation adopting that initiative.
Explain what would be the benefits to them of adopting the initiative, and what would be the type of costs the organisation would have to meet in order to introduce the initiative.
4.Looking to the future
Choose one Sustainability initiative that is of interest to you. Give a forecast of how you think it might develop in the future. 

Robinsons was established on 25^th February 1858. The founder of the company of the company is Philip Robinson (Robinsons.com.sg 2017). The company started with the name Spicer and Robinson but after two years of business, the business partner of Robinson,  James Spicer pulled out of the business and the company was renamed Robinson and co.

Robinsons is mainly in retail business in Singapore and Malaysia. John little, the departmental store in Singapore is owned by Robinsons. In addition to this, they have franchisee in Marks and Spencer’s. They are mainly into clothing business along with accessories for both men and women.

The sustainability initiative that should taken by Robinsons is making use of raw materials for manufacturing the clothes that have been grown sustainably and do not harm the environment.

2.1 Initiatives of best practices of sustainability

Saving the environment along with business should be one of the priorities of any organization (Werbach 2013). Saving the planet by adhering to green practices help in reducing pollution and give a better place to the people who are living in the planet. Sustainability is not only about saving the greeneries, it also in saving the people who are living in the planet (Schaltegger, Hansen and Lüdeke-Freund 2016). Some of the human races who are gradually getting extinct or some of the races are not getting proper recognition should also be a part of sustainability.

Some of the companies have adhered to some of the best practices of sustainability.

Starbucks is one such organization that has adhered to sustainability. They are purchasing fair trade certified and certified organic coffee (Usanfranonline.com 2017). In addition to this, they are trying to get LEED certifications. They have tried to reduce operational cost and negative impacts on the environment due to the business practices. They keep a standard temperature between 72^oF to 75^oF in the air-conditioned stores. They are purchasing cabinetries that are made up of 90% materials that are made up of industrial wastes. Moreover, they have incorporated low-flow water valves.

Exelon has incorporates sustainability best practices by reward system for the employees who will be contributing for the non-financial performance goals (Confino 2014). They have termed the rewards as long-term performance share scheme. The targets of the employees include GHG emissions reduction targets, safety targets and targets that is related to engaging the stakeholders that will help in shaping the public policy of the company. The employees are not being made just for doing their job but for doing the jobs that are not defined to them while they enter the company. If they are willing to contribute for the development of sustainability in the organization, the company will give them the extra benefits.

Sustainability helps the environment and society in various ways. Some of the significances are:

Sustainability helps in eradicating poverty and hunger by helping the lead a better life (Beckmann, Hielscher and Pies 2014). The farmers learn new methods of farming and they are able to get more business with the help of sustainable practices

Better education to the people and better healthcare as it helps by giving better quality of eater and better sanitations to the people (Buxel, Esenduran and Griffin 2015).

Literature review

It helps in maintaining gender equality in the society (Gupta, Rudd and Lee 2014).

Helps in sustainable economic growth in the country by providing better jobs and a sustainable economic growth

It helps in tackling the climate change by reducing pollution (A. Barber et al. 2014). As a result, it helps in reducing health hazards among the people living in the country.

Sustainability in an organization is not only helpful for the society but also for the business owner.

The organization that is adhering to sustainable practices is not only helping the society but will also be able to make better business because they are constantly innovating and giving rise to new things (Werbach 2013). A business that is innovating in business will be able to stay ahead of the competitors.

Organization that adheres to sustainable business practices are better prepared for risk management (Schaltegger, Hansen and Lüdeke-Freund 2016). They know the worse situations and can prepare themselves for the future. Chances of loss are less as they are using things that are already helps the organization to lower the cost. In addition to this, when an organization adheres to sustainable business, they will able to incur the benefits in the end. They are able to pay their workers well as they are gaining more profit (Beckmann, Hielscher and Pies 2014). The workers are happy in the organization as they are able to get proper benefits from the company.

2.3.1 Benefits of adoption of sustainable business practices

Helps in increasing consumer demands

Once an organization will adhere to green practice, they will be attracted the customers who will support the green practices (Beckmann, Hielscher and Pies 2014). The customer will know that they are not using any harmful material, that would neither harm the health of the customers nor cause any issues in the environment. As result, they will get attracted to the products than an organization is offering and the business of the organization will be enhanced.

Reputation of brand and publicity

If an organization adheres to sustainable practices, it will be able to garner good word of mouth among the customers (Gupta, Rudd and Lee 2014). The word of mouth will be helpful for the organization, as they will good amount of recognition in the market. It will further help in building a good brand reputation and they will get the required publicity that will help them to grow further (A. Barber et al. 2014).  Once the demands for the customers will increase, it will help in enhancing the brand name.

Depletion of the environment

If an organization is not adhering to sustainable practices, it will be harming the environment and the employees working in the organization and the people living in the society (Werbach 2013). They will be using some of the valuable resources from the society and one time might come when there will be not resources left that could be used (Schaltegger, Hansen and Lüdeke-Freund 2016). Hence, it is necessary the organization should adhere to sustainable practices to save the environment from further depletion.

Importance of sustainability to environment and organization

Reduction in return in business

If an organization is not adhering to sustainable practices, in the long run they might not be able to get proper return for their business (Beckmann, Hielscher and Pies 2014). They have to pay more for the resources, which might affect their profit margin (Buxel, Esenduran and Griffin 2015).

As Robinsons is mainly into clothing business, to implement a sustainable business, it should adhere to better fabrics that have been extracted in a sustainable manner.

Use of Organic bamboo fibre

Robinsons can make use of organic bamboo fibre, which is 100% biodegradable (Slawinski and Bansal 2015).

The bamboo fibre could be grown without using any pesticide and fertilizer.

Use of EcoSpun

Plastic can be harmful for nature as well for the human beings but EcoSpun is done by recycling polyester fibre from the recycled plastic pop bottles (Smith 2014). The plastic is blended with other fibres to manufacture the clothes.

The plastics that are harmful for nature can be put to better use with the help of EcoSpun. 

Use of Lyocell fibre

Another name of Lyocell fibre is Tencel. Lyocell fibre 100% biodegradable and can be produces in an environment-friendly manner from cellulose (Vlachos and Malindretos 2015).

It is made from plant cells and hence, chances affecting the skin negatively will be less

Use of Organic cotton fibre

The organic cotton fibre can be produced without using any herbicide or pesticide (Eagle et al. 2015).

Herbicide and pesticide can have adverse effects on skin. Hence, cotton fibres are used, it will not only help in saving the plants but will also protect the human skin.

Use of Organic hemp fibre

Organic hemp fibre is one of the most durable out of all the natural fibres and can be grown without using pesticide (Dyllick and Muff 2016).

The organic hemp fibre uses minimal water while growing the fibres. The hemp plants have long roots and hence if any organization makes use of the cotton hemp fibre then the company will not only help the organization to implement sustainable practices to reduce waste but the organization will also help in preventing soil erosion.

Use of sasawashi

Robinsons can make use do Sasawashi. Sashawashi is Japanese fibre that is made from a plant called kumazasa and Japanese fabric that is made of paper (Pagell and Wu 2017).

The fabric is anti-baterial and has deodorant effects. Robinsons would not have to use any kind of chemical for adding fragrance the clothes. There will be lesser chances of skin diseases and any harmful health hazards due to the chemical in the clothes.

As the organization will be taking new initiative, they have to spend a good amount of money for implementing the new types of fibres (Hesselbarth and Schaltegger 2014). If they are using the sasawashi, they will have to tie up with a supplier in Japan. As a result, they need to do a market research in Japan. In addition this, there will be language problems while dealing with the suppliers in Japan.

Adoption of sustainable business practices

Robinsons will not be able to protect the environment but will also be able to get a chance enhance their business. They might have to think about of a financial source from where they will get a help them with the initiative (Slawinski and Bansal 2015). The initiative will give Robinsons to get the desired recognition in the external market for the steps that they have taken to promote sustainable business. The sustainable initiative can also be considered as a part of their corporate social responsibility (Smith 2014).

 It will be easier for Robinsons to deal with the operations in both in the external market as well as in the in the internal organization. If they are adhering to sustainable practices, they will be able to good amount of profit in the end (Vlachos and Malindretos 2015). They would not have to buy the chemical and would be able to increase their profit margins by giving better pay to the employees. The employees will stay in the organization for a longer period (Dyllick and Muff 2016). The organization will have a workforce who are happy in the organization and will be able to convert their hard work to get good business for the company (Eagle et al. 2015).

Out of all the sustainable practices, it will be good if Robinsons use organic cotton fibre as it will diminish the use of herbicide and pesticide while farming. Hence, there will be less use of chemicals and the customers will be saved from any skin disease. The cloth manufacturers uses cotton fibre to manufacture the clothes (Cottonedon.org 2017). Using cotton fibre not only protects the skin of the person who is wearing it, it also helps the farmers with climate change as it hold on to a lot of rain water. It will help in sustainability of Robinsons as they would be able to save money on the synthetic fibres. Cotton fibres will be cheaper than the synthetic fibre. They would have to find new supplier for the raw materials. However, if they will be able to find a proper supplier cotton fibre, cost of raw materials will reduce. 

Sustainable practices start from small things and Robinsons should adhere to those practices. They should make use of sustainable fibres while manufacturing the clothes so that it helps in protecting the environment as well protects the customers from unwanted skin diseases. If they can invest more, they can also import Sasawashi from Japan that will give self-deodorizing effect to the clothes.

If the companies adhere to such practices, it will be able to save a good amount of monetary resources in future and save the environment. Then companies need to plan their business by keeping in mind that there will be good amount of expenditure while changing the way of manufacturing the clothes. They have to plan the finances. However, if the natural fibres and cotton are being used, they will be able to save a good amount of money for the future. The amount of profit will be more and they will be able to pay the employees a handsome amount of money. They will have to spend while changing the style of manufacturing the clothes and import raw materials, but it will help them to enhance their business in future.

It will also give the organization proper recognition in the market. They will be able to gain more business in the future and in turn will be able to pay the employees well.

References

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Beckmann, M., Hielscher, S. and Pies, I., 2014. Commitment Strategies for Sustainability: How Business Firms Can Transform Trade?Offs Into Win–Win Outcomes. Business Strategy and the Environment, 23(1), pp.18-37.

Buxel, H., Esenduran, G. and Griffin, S., 2015. Strategic sustainability: Creating business value with life cycle analysis. Business Horizons, 58(1), pp.109-122.

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Robinsons.com.sg, 2017. Robinsons – Providing accessible and contemporary products, through an enjoyable shopping experience. [online] Robinsons.com.sg. Available at: https://robinsons.com.sg/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017].

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Slawinski, N. and Bansal, P., 2015. Short on time: Intertemporal tensions in business sustainability. Organization Science, 26(2), pp.531-549.

Smith, S.S., 2014. Strategy, sustainability, and innovative financial reporting. Journal of Strategic Innovation and Sustainability, 10(1), p.19.

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