Strategies for business sustainability

This report covers key areas of a business which are helpful in supporting development of a sustainable environment. It includes sustainable challenges faced by Amazon and 3 sustainable strategies or recommendations for the company. The strategies include environmental sustainability, social sustainability, and economic sustainability. The report concludes the role played by strategic and top level management in a business to promote sustainable development.

Strategies for business
sustainability(Project-
2)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Sustainable challenges faced by the Amazon.............................................................................4
Develop 3 sustainable strategies or recommendations for the company and justify your
strategy .......................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Sustainability is a major concept, which helps a business to deliver environment friendly
practices in the contemporary business environment (Al Omoush, Al-Qirem, and Al Hawatmah,
2018). It is major role of a business to promote sustainability in order to lead the marketplace
with ethical operations. All major companies in the international and national marketplace focus
on business sustainability in order to develop effective environment for future development. In
this project includes different dimensions of environmental sustainability are explained in a
precise manner. This report covers key areas of a business which are helpful in supporting
development of a sustainable environment. In this report example of Amazon company is taken
into consideration which is one of the topmost e-commerce company in all over the world. The
Amazon company was founded in the year 1994 and is based in Washington, United States.

MAIN BODY
Sustainable challenges faced by the Amazon
The Amazon company has various sustainability based challenges at the marketplace
which creates a burden on whole company. It is essential for Amazon company to overcome and
face challenges at the marketplace in order to develop a sustainable approach. This is one of the
major role of top level and strategic management of Amazon to deal with challenges and issues
in order to gain competitive advantage. Amazon can develop a major strategic and planning
framework in order to deal with key challenges. The main challenges which are faced by
Amazon are mentioned below:
 Net zero carbon future- The Amazon company is focusing on becoming earth's most
customer centric company. Net zero carbon future will help the company to create a gap
for the people which will help in supporting the entire value chain (Bellucci, Bini, and
Giunta, 2020). Net zero carbon future will be supportive to conservation of environment
and it will also help the Amazon company to set an example for other business firms. The
pledge is to minimise the carbon emissions and make it zero by the year 2040.
 Decarbonising the economy- The decarbonising of economy is considered as major
challenge which is faced by Amazon company. In the recent times, carbon emissions are
rising on frequent basis and creating a major harm on whole environment. It is very much
necessary for the economy to eliminate carbon emissions in order to develop the concept
of welfare economy. This is one of the major role of Amazon to minimise carbon
emissions with the help and supporting of planning and strategic framework.
 Changing management approach for customer attraction- There is an urgent need for
Amazon to focus on key factors which are important for development of customer
satisfaction. In order to develop effectiveness in increasing customer satisfaction,
Amazon needs to implement operational change (Schaltegger, and Wagner, 2017). In the
recent times, many e-commerce companies are complying with strategies which are
essential to promote customer relationship development. The company is also taking
assistance of professional management in order to develop a key planning and strategic
framework which is helpful in overall development of the company.

Illustration 1: Sustainability initiatives taken by Amazon, 2022

Develop 3 sustainable strategies or recommendations for the company and justify your strategy
Environmental sustainability- It is essential for Amazon company to focus on environmental
sustainability and develop a major strategy to develop precise service strategy. The company has
also planned to buy 10,0000 electric-powered vehicles to minimise carbon footprint. Amazon
company is also planning to create 20,000 affordable homes with an equity fund of 2 Billion. In
order to conserve the environment in a more precise manner, Amazon is allocating more and
more funds on timely basis and formulating environment conservation based targets. It is another
kind of strategy in which an organisation is required to conserve and protect the natural resources
as well as ecosystems of the global world in order to support wellbeing and health both at present
time and in future period. The strategy of environmental sustainability is significant because of
how much food, human-made resources and energy is used by the organisation or an individual
within a day (Bini, Bellucci, and Giunta, 2018). In order to live within true environmental
sustainability, Amazon is required to make sure that the managers of the company are consuming
the natural resources such as energy fuels, water, materials, land and many other at a sustainable
rate. Some of the resources are abundant than others and hence, the administration of the
company is recommended to consider the scarcity of the materials and damage to the
environment from the extraction of such materials.
Within Amazon, standards for environmental sustainability vary greatly and regulations
are often set at the legislative level. The administration of the respective company is
recommended to develop the effective strategies of environmental sustainability through
maintaining the process of development without compromising the future of business
environment (Rezaee, 2016). The supervisors of Amazon are also recommended to exploit the
resources, develop the technologies, improve the infrastructure in a right and effective manner in
such a way that it does not exhaust the resources of the earth. By developing the different
strategies of environmental sustainability within the respective company, the human resources of
the organisation are required to make the decisions in a right way and take the corrective actions
which are in the interests of safeguarding the natural world along with a specific concentration
on conserving the capability of the environment in order to support the workers within the
organisation.
The managers of Amazon who are environmentally aware must consider more than just
profits such as impact on environment as well as society. This will help the company in

contributing to the health of the structure within which it is operating and thereby facilitating to
construct an environment in which the business of Amazon can thrive. Most significantly
considering the case of environmental sustainability is that it will not adversely influence the
ability of the respective company in order to generate the level of profits. In fact, the long-term it
is considered for actually improving the profitability level through the process of minimising the
expenditures as well as increasing the level of competition. This will help the company in
improving its brand value within the market place and will also facilitate it in gaining the
competitive benefits over the rivalries (Borland, Lindgreen, and Vanhamme, 2018). It will also
provide assistance to the managers of the organisation in attracting a large number of investors as
well as employees which will result in enhancement in the productivity and efficiency of the
organisation.
Social sustainability- The social sustainability and its creation is most important for Amazon
which will help in development of society. Sustainable approach related to social aspects will
support Amazon company to keep the environment safe for society. Amazon can create a
customer centric company by the help of understanding social needs and demand. Amazon can
focus on conducting a market survey which is based on understanding social needs in order to
satisfy society (Cavaleri, and Shabana, 2018). The company can also take help of market
research which will support it to identify key concerns related to society. Amazon company can
satisfy wants and needs of the society as well as can minimise net carbon foot prints with the
help of sustainable strategy. Planning framework is essential for meeting requirements of society
and decarbonising the economy. With the help of social sustainability, Amazon company can
achieve precise and systematic development related to social development. Main aims of
Amazon is to achieve net zero carbon by the year 2040 and use 100% renewable energy usage by
year 2030.
Economic sustainability- It is important for Amazon to focus on economic sustainability and its
development for long term development of a country. All major companies in the international
and national marketplace focus on achievement of goals and objectives set by them in order to
facilitate economic sustainability (Popescu, 2020). According to a major report Amazon has
employment of more than 40,000 veterans and military spouses, surpassing the goal of 25,000 by
2021. Providing jobs to the unemployed people in the economy is a major approach which is
helpful in development of sustainability related to economy. The Amazon should also focus on

development of a key approach which is beneficial for whole economy of different countries in
which the company is operating. Amazon should take help of economic experts in order to
design policies and plans which are supportive in development of economy. Economy is
concerned with protecting or conserving the resources and is used to explain and define the
value of the resources in present time and their possible value within the future (Gatto, 2020).
The term economic sustainability is said to be the practices that facilitates in supporting the
economic growth of the long-term without adversely influencing the social, cultural as well as
environmental aspects of the community. It is considered as an integrated part of the process of
sustainability and it means that an organisation should use, sustain and save its resources in order
to generate sustainable values for long-term through maximising the use, recycling and recovery
if the business resources.
There are various types of economic sustainability and some of these are local recycling
centres, applications such as LetGo, websites like vintage, Ebay and pre-owned clothing shops.
In such vein, there are some of the communities that have committed to economic sustainability.
The economic sustainability is defined as an ability of an economy for supporting a specified
level of economic production in an indefinite manner. In context to Amazon, the company is
recommended to develop the economic sustainability within its business operations as it will
help the management of the organisation in affording the ability to the market share of the
company in order to active engage within the market place which will result in enhancing the
level of profitability as well as productivity within the business. The strategy of economic
sustainability within Amazon will provide assistance to the organisation through boosting its
brand value and along with it, the economic activities also get increased (Mohamad, and Chin,
2018). It will be beneficial for the respective organisation because it will lower the operating cost
of the business. Within Amazon, the managers of the company are recommended to incorporate
accounting procedures of the environment in order to reduce the cost of energy.
Through improving the environment of the business, the organisation can minimise the
employee turnover and can save a large amount of money which will facilitate the company in
maintaining an effective level of profitability and efficiency within the workplace. If there is
economic sustainability within the respective business, the organisation can create an innovative
business environment (Nassos, and Avlonas, 2020). The strategy of economic sustainability
embraces the fiscal costs as well as benefits. Overall, the effective strategy of economic

sustainability needs that there should be optimum utilisation of the organisational resources
within Amazon. With the help of this, the respective company can perform its multiple business
operations in a sustainable way in order to consistently generate an operational profit. Because
without an operational profit, the business of Amazon can not sustain its business activities
within the long-term.
Illustration 2: Fund allocation by Amazon to support sustainable development, 2022

CONCLUSION
From the above stated report it can be concluded that development of sustainable
operations related to environment is major function of a company. In the recent times,
importance of maintaining business sustainability is a major focus of a business. This report
concludes the role played by strategic and top level management in a business to promote
sustainable development. This project concludes role played by a business in order to develop
sustainable practices which are important for growth and expansion of business. This report also
concludes significance of sustainable practices which are important for overall development of a
company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al Omoush, K.S., Al-Qirem, R.M. and Al Hawatmah, Z.M., 2018. The degree of e-business
entrepreneurship and long-term sustainability: an institutional perspective. Information Systems
and e-Business Management, 16(1), pp.29-56.
Bellucci, M., Bini, L. and Giunta, F., 2020. Implementing environmental sustainability
engagement into business: sustainability management, innovation, and sustainable business
models. In Innovation strategies in environmental science (pp. 107-143). Elsevier.
Bini, L., Bellucci, M. and Giunta, F., 2018. Integrating sustainability in business model
disclosure: Evidence from the UK mining industry. Journal of cleaner production, 171, pp.1161-
1170.
Borland, H., Lindgreen, A., and Vanhamme, J., 2018. Creating theory for business strategies for
sustainability and climate change: Transitional and transformational strategies and ecocentric
dynamic capabilities. In Business strategies for sustainability (pp. 65-80). Routledge.
Cavaleri, S. and Shabana, K., 2018. Rethinking sustainability strategies. Journal of Strategy and
Management.
Gatto, A., 2020. A pluralistic approach to economic and business sustainability: A critical meta‐
synthesis of foundations, metrics, and evidence of human and local development. Corporate
Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(4), pp.1525-1539.
Mohamad, M.A. and Chin, O., 2018. The Effects of Business Networking and Entrepreneurial
Munificence on the Business Sustainability of Small Rural Business. Global Business &
Management Research, 10(3).
Nassos, G.P. and Avlonas, N., 2020. Practical sustainability strategies: How to gain a
competitive advantage. John Wiley & Sons.
Popescu, C.R.G., 2020. Analyzing the impact of green marketing strategies on the financial and
non-financial performance of organizations: the intellectual capital factor. Green Marketing as a
Positive Driver Toward Business Sustainability, pp.186-218.
Rezaee, Z., 2016. Business sustainability research: A theoretical and integrated
perspective. Journal of Accounting literature, 36, pp.48-64.
Schaltegger, S. and Wagner, M. eds., 2017. Managing the business case for sustainability: The
integration of social, environmental and economic performance. Routledge.