Sustainability Challenges for 21st Century Knowledge Organizations

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Sustainability Challenges for 21st Century Knowledge Organizations
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Introduction
Several growing businesses have integrated the issue of sustainability in their strategies
for conducting business. In a recent survey about 70 out of 100 respondents from different
organizations had realized how sustainability is important to the environment and society.
Therefore, organizations agreed that they have governance put in place formally for
sustainability. Sustainability in business is a wide topic that deals with the effect of the business
on the environment and the society. The aim of having a sustainable business is to provide a
positive impact on both or either of the two areas. Sustainability in business helps to eliminate
issues of degraded environment, social inequality, and injustice. Different companies have
different views of sustainability. The discussion below involves Coca-Cola and Samsung
companies.
Contrasting Views on Sustainability
Coca-Cola has a system that views sustainability as a prerequisite for growth of its
business and the scope of its initiatives is broad. The common element in Coca-Cola’s system is
the communities they serve. They look at growing together with the people in a sustainable
manner. The challenges they note in sustainability are global warming and manifestations of
climate change. The company has supported the Sustainable Development Goals that were put
by the United Nations (Chiu, et al., 2019, pp 100). They have achieved this by addressing issues
that affects the community varying from climate protection to water stewardship
Contrary, Samsung’s view on sustainability is to maximize its profits and social value.
Their area involves production of technology, electronics and home appliances. As a result, their
sustainability goals mainly focus on waste reduction, efficient use of energy and conservation of

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the environment. Samsung recognizes that manufacturing innovative products comes with the
responsibility of creating them in a manner that is environmentally friendly.
Coca-Cola’s approach on sustainability has a direct effect to the environment. The
company targets reduction of water, energy and produced waste. Coca-Cola also ensures
minimal Green House Gases are emitted during manufacturing of the beverage. Packaging has
been improved and recycling of the waste products are also key factors Coca-Cola ensures they
are followed. Samsung, on the other hand, has a more unique approach in sustainability where
they produce products that will reduce the adverse effects in the environment. For instance,
Samsung introduces a new Heat Pump Dryer in 2019 that has a smart control (Gharakhani,
Rahmati, Farrokhi and Farahmandian, 2013, pp.47). This dryer is 25% more efficient than the
conformist dryers and fulfills the company’s approach to energy saving and protection of the
consumer. Samsung also has wide collection networks that collects more than 100 million
pounds of related waste and recycles them. Coca-Cola has its main sustainability approaches
aimed at promoting health and wellness, minimize environmental impact and giving back to the
community (Lind, et al., 2016, n.d.). However, Samsung aims at creating products that have
minimum effects to the people and the environment where they are used.
Knowledge Management, Continuous Improvement, and Sustainability
Continuous Improvement
Organizations that are dedicated to continuous improvement understand the benefits of
enhancing their business activities such as, bettering the quality of their product, customer
satisfaction, environmental appreciation, and efficiency enhancement. Organizations need to
promote a philosophy of continuous, logical and sustainability to allow constant grading that