Reflecting On Sustainability: Personal Reflections And Critical Thinking On Globalization, TBL Business Goals, Sustainable Consumption, CSR, Citizenship, Consumers, Civil Society, And Business Ethics Essay.

Your task is to write about your ‘reflections’ on the concept of sustainability.

You have to reflect on all the themes listed below that really made an impact on you, or with which you could identify:

Positive and negative effects of the process of Globalization

Triple Bottom Line (TBL) business goals

Sustainable consumption

Corporate Social Responsibility

Citizenship, consumers, civil society and activism

Employees and business ethics.

Demonstrate your understanding of the chosen themes.

Consider how the theme/s apply to you, as an individual and as a potential future manager.

Consider the implications of these at a personal level e.g. what may have changed your thinking; what action may you take as a result of new thinking?

Demonstrate critical thinking in these reflections.

Positive and negative effects of the process of Globalization

Sustainability refers to process that can help in maintaining change in a manner that is balanced. It suggests how the exploitation of the resources and technological development can be in harmony and how it can enhance the future potential of meeting the human needs. Business ethics refers to professional ethics that helps in examining the ethical principles which can arise within a business environment. It can be applied to all the aspect of the business conduct and is crucial pertaining to conduct of individuals along with entire organization. The business ethics originate from the individuals and the organizational statements. This essay discusses about the positive and the negative effect pertaining to globalization. It discusses about the business goals of a company in relation to triple bottom line. It elaborates on my feelings regarding sustainable consumption and my reaction to the aspect of ecological footprint. It elaborates on the importance of corporate social responsibility and its implications for an individual along with the manager. It throws light on my opinion about civil society and the activism. It discusses about the actions that I will take owing to my new thinking.

Globalization is indicative of an economic process that deals with integration and can be associated with the cultural aspects. According to me, on account of globalization economic growth in both the developing along with the developed countries is impacted in the positive and in the negative manner. Globalization leads to the privatization of the industries that can help emerging markets in being successful. I think that globalization can increase consumer demand by expanding value chain at that of the international level. Globalization can help in increasing the transaction across that of the borders. According to Giddens (2018), globalization has helped in forming multi-national corporations. The concentration of a corporation within a specific geographic economy has paved the path for investment within the new geographical areas. I think that globalization can help the economies in competing fairly at all the levels that can attract the investors.

According to me, globalization can help in producing products that are of great quality and it has helped me in buying goods that have longevity owing to the superior quality of the products. It has helped me in getting enhanced quality of the service on account of the production approach in relation to consumer demand. According to me, it necessitates the fact that for survival in the market they have to raise the level of customer satisfaction. I think that it is important for the companies to produce goods that can help it in getting into a new country. Globalization, on the other hand, has a negative impact as it has increased the utilization of the natural resources. I think that globalization has paved the path for increasing the market competition that has led to fluctuation in terms of prices. It has been stated by Beck (2018) that globalization will cause the companies to reduce the prices of the products as there are countries like China that offers same product at a cheaper price. According to Hirst, Thompson and Bromley (2015), globalization will affect me adversely as it has made jobs insecure that have been made temporary by the prevailing market conditions. I think that this kind of impact can be felt to a greater extent in the developed countries as they can outsource cheaper white collar labour. According to me, the managers will have to outsource so that they can get labour at a cheaper price. The fast food chains will grow fast on account of globalization and it would replace the food cooked at home. The traditional diet is giving way to sodas and the burgers which contains a great amount of fat and sugar. I think that it will cause diabetes among a large part of the population. According to me, it will increase my tendency of getting a chronic disease and the fast foods will also be adverse for my overall mental health. I think that globalization will spread the western culture at the cost of local culture in the developing countries. I think that it has caused people to neglect their native culture along with practice. Globalization will cause the management of global companies to face hindrances as the people inhabiting different parts of the world tend to have different dressing styles, eating habits along with language. In the event of being a future manager I would have to be cautious as it can cause misunderstanding within the organization owing to the language barrier.

Triple Bottom Line (TBL) business goals

Triple bottom line (TBL) refers to an accounting framework that has got three parts: social, environmental and the financial. The organizations make use of the TBL framework that can help in the evaluation of their performance within broader perspective that can help in the creation of business value. According to me, triple bottom line can prove to be helpful in reaching the untapped market potential. According to Brandon?Jones (2015), the companies that abide by TBL can find the financially profitable niche that was missed in the previous times when money used to be the only driving factor. I think that it can help the business in the developing of profitable method that can help the existing NGO’s in relation to their mission like fundraising and the creation of networking opportunities. It has been stated by Sarkis and Dhavale (2015) that it can help the companies in providing the products that can benefit the underserved population and that of the environment. I think that the number of the social enterprises is increasing at a steady pace and the demand of the consumers can make it necessary for the management of a company to take into account the social along with the environmental impact. I am of the opinion that it can help in making a company financially profitable that can ensure its sustainability within the competitive environment. I think that focusing on the aspect of TBL can increase the profit in relation to the shareholders in that of the long run.

According to me, TBL addresses concerns relating to people, planet and the profit however it does not address the dimension of time. The dimension of time wants to preserve the current value in the other three dimensions. In the event of emerging as a manager, I would find it difficult to implement the TBL as the three components of people, planet and profit cannot be easily added up. It has led to legislative changes in the world by introducing new legal form. Within United States, B Corp movement has led to legislative changes that encourage the focusing on the environmental impact. B Corp has emerged to become a legal form in terms of a company that focuses on the stakeholders and not the shareholders (Devika,  Jafarian  and Nourbakhsh 2014). According to me, TBL framework can help me in the position of future manager in evaluating the success of my company. I think that as a manager of a company I would shape the preferences of the consumer pertaining to the sustainable products. I think that as a manager I would provide training on the sustainability issues that can act to the benefit of an organization. I think that as the future manager I shall partner with the government that can help in shaping the policy and help in creating level playing field.  I think that as a future manager I would take the action of developing a strategy that can help in the creation of environmental top line value by taking into cognizance the strengths of an organization (Glavas and Mish 2015). The actions that I would take are that I would consider the existing process of the company and I would make use of case studies for the purpose of inspiration.

Sustainable consumption

Sustainable consumption refers to study in relation to resource and that of the energy use. It depends on effectiveness of the resources that can help in minimizing the aspect of waste along with pollution. I think that for achieving sustainable consumption it needs increase in relation to efficiency of the consumption and it also needs change in relation to consumption pattern. I think that there exist value action gap that acts as a obstacle in relation to the changing of individual customer behavior. There are a large number of the consumers who are aware regarding the consumption choice but they do not translate the concern into the consumption pattern because the process of purchasing can prove to be highly complicated. I think that dearth of time for doing the research along with cognitive effort needed can act as barriers in relation to green consumption choice. As the future manager, I would provide good working condition across the supply chain that can greatly help a company. I would encourage the aspect of product-sharing and the renting of the products. I can take the action of promoting education in relation to farming and the livestock production that can help in the cause of sustainable consumption. I would take into consideration as a manager that success of the policies are not measured pertaining to GDP and incorporate the social along with environmental aspects. According to me, the NGO’s can inform the consumers regarding their crucial role. According to Tukker et al. (2017), they should raise the awareness of the consumers pertaining to environmental impact and show them the path that can help them in the developing of a sustainable lifestyle.

I think that promoting isolated pilot study can show the feasibility in relation to lifestyle change. I think that I would encourage changes in the habits of the people that can inspire people to follow the cause of sustainable consumption. I would encourage communication in relation to the topics of wasteful heating along with air conditioning that can help people in getting more aware about their bad lifestyles. I would take the action of questioning the material want of the people that can make them follow the aspect of sustainable consumption. I think that it is important for all the person on earth to know about ecological footprint that can help them in understanding how the natural resources are being decreased at a rate that is disturbing. It has been argued by Hüttel et al. (2018) that the ecological footprint can be reduced by making use of cleaner transport. I can take the action of walking and taking the help of public transport that can reduce the ecological footprint. In the event of buying a car, I shall buy a small car that can prove to be more energy efficient as compared to the ones that are larger. I can install energy-saving lamps at the home that can reduce the impact on the environment.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to a business model that is self-regulating that helps a company in being socially accountable to stakeholders along with public. The practicing of CSR can make the companies conscious regarding the impact that they would have on various aspect of society that includes economic, social along with the environmental (Geels et al. 2015). I think that with the help of CSR programmes the companies would be able to benefit society and at the same time they would be able to boost their brand. According to me, CSR activities can help in creating a strong bond between the employee and the corporation. I think that it can be of help for both the employee along with the employer in feeling more connected with that of the outside world. I think that as a manager of a company I would set standard pertaining to ethical behavior for the peers and the industry. According to me, CSR can prove to be useful for a company in achieving brand differentiation that can set it apart from the competitors.

Corporate Social Responsibility

According to Lorek and Spangenberg (2014), CSR can help a company in looking at the long-term interest of a company that can help in ensuring that the future of the company is sustainable. I think that in the event of being a manager I would run ad campaigns that can raise awareness of the people about environment and the product choices that can be made by consumers. I will create a global Sustainability working Team that can help in creation of a strategy pertaining to sustainability. The employees can be activated to take part in community activities that can be of great help for the society ( Pijourlet 2015). I think that I will try to improve life of the employees of my company that will be an important step towards CSR. I think that it is important to save water while manufacturing the products that can prove to be advantageous pertaining to the preservation of water on the planet. I think that by reducing the use of the resources one can help environment along with saving the money. CSR can help a business in recruiting new employees and retain the ones that are already existing (Piecyk  and Björklund 2015). I think that it can motivate the employees of a company to stay with a company for a longer period of time and it can thus help in reducing the costs in relation to recruitment.

According to Schwartz (2017), the ethical obligations arise owing to the fact that the human beings are social animals who want to live in a relationship with each another. The individuals in the society should behave in a manner that can enable them in living in constructive harmony. A person who is of character acknowledges the civic responsibilities that can help in demonstrating social consciousness. Vital social contract that helps in making a democracy is agreement that people in the society should be governed by the laws. It has been stated by Tai and Chuang (2014) that citizenship is indicative of the ethical obligations that can establish the minimal requirement in relation to ethical citizenship. The ethical consumers are those consumers who take into consideration the aspect of effect on the environment before involving themselves in any kind of action. There are consumers who are sympathetic towards the ethical issues and they would hence choose the ethical products. According to McWilliams (2015), the ethical consumer looks into the aspect of moral aspects related to production along with delivery of the products. I think that the idea of the ethical consumer has evolved in the present age that can also be termed as consumer culture. According to me, ethical consumerism has risen in the present age with the help of media coverage along with that of increased level of the information (Suliman, Al-Khatib and Thomas 2016). Activism refers to the efforts that can help in the promotion of social and the environmental reform that can help in making changes within the society. It is indicative of the practice of carrying out things with a lot of decision along with energy. I think that the responsible citizens should combine the ethical judgement with that of social activism that can help in preserving moral foundation within the democratic society. I think that the loyalty of an individual should be at first to the democratic process and the violation pertaining to the democratic process should meet condemnation.

Citizenship, consumers, civil society and activism

Employees often have to make moral decisions within the workplace. There are many people who harbor the notion that employees should have moral obligations even when they have to stay loyal to the organization. According to Crane and Matten (2016), employees should do the tasks that are offered to them but at the same time they should be governed by ethics. Employees can have conflict of the interest with that of the company. The conflicts can be minor but they can also be serious in an organization. Companies can have “trade secrets” that they do not want to share with other companies and it is the duties of the employees of a company to keep the secret otherwise it can jeopardise the future of the company. Gift can be made use of for rewarding certain kinds of behavior in the employees (Trevino and Nelson 2016). This can give rise to conflict of the interest. I think that it is the obligation of an employee of a company to to let the other people know about the deceptive business practice. I think that is important that employees should be capable of judging importance of the job duties with that of the interest of other people. I think that employees should think in a rational manner regarding the aspect of morality. Business ethics can ensure that trust exists between the consumers and the market participants with the business (DesJardins 2014). I think that it is important that a company is not making any kind of dubious health claims that can harm the health of the people. Quality control department of an organization should be able to discover the defects in their manufactured products so that the product can be modified before being served to the consumer. In the event of the parts turning out to be detective, the company has to face consumer backlash that can make them look for a reliable supplier (Pearson 2017).

Globalization can pave the path for privatization of industries within the emerging markets. Globalization can help in expanding the value chain at the global level. Globalization can increase utilizing of the natural resources. Globalization can increase the competition in the market and it can pave the path for fluctuation in terms of pricing. Organizations can use the TBL framework that can help them to evaluate performance and it can help in creating business value. TBL can be useful that can help it in reaching untapped market potential. There are consumers who are conscious about consumption choice but they are often not translated into the consumption pattern as the buying process can be complicated. The activities pertaining to CSR can create strong bond between that of employee and corporation. It can help employee and employer in coming together and they would feel more connected to that of outside world. Human beings within the society should live in a manner that can help them in living in harmony. Ethical consumerism has grown in the current age by taking recourse to media that has increased the availability of information. Business ethics can help in ensuring the fact that trust exist between that of consumers and market participants in the business.

References:

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Brandon?Jones, E., 2015. Triple?Bottom Line. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, pp.1-1.

Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.

DesJardins, J.R., 2014. An introduction to business ethics. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

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