Business Sustainability Water; Sun and Fuel

Question: Discuss about the Business Sustainability for Water, Sun and Fuel. Answer: Introduction In an ordinary thinking, one could think that businesses operate independently and have nothing to do with the society and the natural environment they operate in. Imagine a situation where there was no source of energy: water; sun and fuel. Businesses could not operate. This is because in one way or the other they depend on these important resources to run their operations. Interestingly, all these resources are from the natural environment and they are never enough. In a simple way, this contracts the idea of business independence and confirms that they depend on the natural environment for their survival. From my course, sustainable business the idea that business, society and natural environment cannot be isolated because at a certain point they all intersect is confirmed. Learned Concepts Personally, before joining this course, it did not make alot of sense to me that business activities could have some serious impact to the society and natural environment. It seemed a normal thing to scramble and acquire as more resources as possible. The more businesses depend on these resources without being responsible, the sooner they get depleted and they could not continue with their normal operations (Moyeen Courvisanos, 2012). This is because the resources will be exhausted. This is the reason as to why I have come to consider the concept of business sustainability to be very important. The following sustainability themes have helped grasp the concept of business sustainability: triple bottom line, six forms of capital used by business, six phases of business approaches to sustainability and businesses leading in engaging in sustainable business. Triple bottom line: According to Andrew (2006, pg 47) triple bottom line is an accounting concept used to measure the performance of corporate bodies including businesses, nonprofit making organizations and government corporations. Unlike the traditional way of measuring performance in terms of profits and returns to the business, this concept goes beyond that. It also takes into account, the environmental and social factors. This theme of business sustainability has helped me learn how important profits, people and natural environment are to a business. This is because I am now able to understand how the three, namely: business, people and natural environment interact. While the natural environment is a source of energy and raw materials, people provide labour and market for goods and services. This means therefore that the success of business greatly depends on how well the three are interrelated (Cameron Quinn, 2006). This understanding will help me pay particular attention to de veloping different measures to help protect environment and empowering the society in which the business operates. Six forms of capital used by business: Capitalism is not just about financial capital. This is because business does not only rely on finances. There are other kinds of capital and that include: external economic capital, natural capital, human capital, social capital and constructed capital. Because of this important theme, I am able to learn that business cannot depend on financial capital alone to survive. For instance, the business where require a physical environment where to build a factory. This may have an impact on the real estate price. In addition, human capital provides the required skill, knowledge and experience to run the business (Wells, 2011). In simple terms, at the end of the course I will be able to quantify and value the other forms of capital as I do with financial capital. This is to ensure that the business values other forms of capital as it does with financial capital. This is important in ensuring that the business is sustained and financial gains maintaine d as the society and natural environment gain (Potts, 2010). Six phases of business approaches to sustainability: From the knowledge gained in this unit, I have also come to learn that achieving business sustainability is not a reactive approach but rather a step by step approach. The specific phases to ensuring business sustainability include: rejection, non-responsiveness, compliance, efficiency, strategic proactivity and the sustaining corporation. Because of this, in practice I will be able to assess the specific factors that lead to rejection and non-responsiveness. This will help me establish measures to ensure compliance to sustainability while promoting organizational efficiency (Brown, 2011). This is because good measures ensure that an organization accepts regulations and guidelines and supports change. Businesses leading in engaging in sustainable business: It has also come to my attention that those companies that have good policies with regard to business sustainability are also successful and have been able to build strong world brands. Some of the companies leading in sustainability include: Ford, Starbucks, Alcoa, PepsiCo, General Electric and Nike among others (theGuardian, 2017). Many of these companies have strong accountability procedures with clear policies on human rights and natural environment protection. From these examples, I have been able to learn that the importance of developing strong policies directed at safety and diversity as well as stewardship. This is to ensure that the business not only strives to grow its profit margins but also supports the society and the natural environment in which it operates in through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities (Azapagic, 2003). Conclusion Business sustainability as a course is fundamental in helping the trainee in understanding various themes, concepts and challenges facing many organizations. This is because businesses operate, not in isolation but in support of other factors such as community and the natural environment. This course plays a significant role in providing background information with regard to business sustainability that a student can use in future practice to ensure that their businesses are sustainable and responsive to the environment they operate in. In general, to be sustainable, depends on the values that the business stands for and the prevailing regulations. References Andrew, S. (2006). The Triple Bottom Line. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Azapagic, A. (2003). Systems approach to corporate sustainability: A general management framework. Trans IChemE. Volume 81, Part B. Brown, L.R. (2011). World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental and Economic Collapse. New York: Earth Policy Institute. Cameron, K. S. Quinn, R. E. (2006). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework (rev. ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Moyeen, A. Courvisanos, J. (2012). Corporate social responsibility in Regional small and medium-sized enterprises in Australia. The Australian Journal of Regional Studies, 18 (3), 364-91. Potts, T. (2010). The natural advantage of regions: linking sustainability, innovation and regional development in Australia. Journal of Cleaner Production,18, 713-725. theGuardian. (2017, April 16). Best practices in sustainability: Ford, Starbucks and more, Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/blog/best-practices- sustainability-us-corporations-ceres Wells, G. (2011). Sustainability in Australian Business: Fundamental Principles and Practice. Wiley, Australia.