Sustainability and Sustainable Management: A Reflection

This study reflects on the concept of sustainability and sustainable management, including themes such as sustainable consumption, corporate social responsibility, and positive and negative effects of globalization. The sustainability concept is built upon the three main pillars of social, environmental and economic sustainability which are also known as people, planet and profit. The issues of sustainability can be addressed by sustainable consumption and requires a multinational, multidisciplinary approach.

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Executive Summary
The sustainability concept is built upon the three main pillars of social, environmental and
economic sustainability which are also known as people, planet and profit. The sustainability can
be managed through the sustainable management procedures and it impacts the three major
bottom lines: profit, planet and people. Sustainability of all the three main pillars leads to the
viability of the long term business because the process is preventive rather than a reactive
process. This means investment into the humane working conditions at the supplier factories,
reducing the packaging materials and having fair trade products. A wide range of industries,
sectors and organizations pursue the sustainable management goals and also it is highlighting to
mention that majority of the top companies are known for their sustainable efforts. The issues of
sustainability can be addressed by sustainable consumption and requires a multinational,
multidisciplinary approach. However, one of the major important aspect is that the developed
nations are the ones that exploit the developing nations instead of helping the same. The major
barriers towards the sustainable consumption is the lack of the alternative sustainable services
and products, ingrained behavioural patterns, ingrained unsustainable thinking, reluctance to
include the true social and the environmental costs of services and goods, lack of support from
the industry, community and government, lack of training and awareness.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Concept of sustainability.................................................................................................................4
Positive and negative effects of the process of Globalization.....................................................6
Triple bottom line........................................................................................................................8
Sustainable consumption.............................................................................................................8
Corporate Social Responsibility................................................................................................10
Citizenship, consumers, civil society and activism...................................................................10
Employees and business ethics..................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
Reference.......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Sustainability can be described as the focus on meeting the present requirements without
the jeopardizing the needs of the future generations. The sustainability concept is built upon the
three main pillars of social, environmental and economic sustainability which are also known as
people, planet and profit. The concept of sustainability emerged from the corporate ethics and it
became renowned due to the discontent among the general public caused due to the damage to
the environment as a result of short term profit. The environmental sustainability can be
described as the ability to maintain the rates of renewable energy resources through the non-
renewable resource depletion, pollution creation so that it can be continued indefinitely (Doppelt,
2017). Economic sustainability is defined as the ability of a firm to define a level of economic
production for an indefinite time period. Social sustainability can be described as the ability of
social system to function properly within a social wellbeing indefinitely.Whereas, business ethics
can be described as the study of the business practices and the business policies that are regarded
potentially accompanied with the controversial issues like the judiciary responsibilities,
corporate social responsibility, bribery discrimination, insider trading, and corporate governance.
Law provides the guidance for the business ethics through the application of business ethics
framework so that a public acceptance can be gained (Jänicke, 2012). This study will present a
reflection on the concept of sustainability and it will include a wide range of themes: Employees
and business ethics, Citizenship, consumers, civil society and activism, Corporate Social
Responsibility, Sustainable consumption, Positive and negative effects of the process of
Globalization.

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Concept of sustainability
Why the term sustainability is so important?. The importance of sustainability lies in the
fact that the world has limited amount of resources and the growing world constantly requires a
natural and economic resources. The major issue is that resources must be used in a way so that
it gets the ample amount of time to get regenerated. The major issue is that the humans have
exceeded the carrying capacity of the globalized ecosystem. The term sustainability has now
innumerable amount of use in other fields as well. Sustainability has now become an active part
of the global process and multiple sectors and disciplines. The adjoining terms are the
sustainable destruction, sustainable profit growth, sustainable conflict management, sustainable
assessment, sustainable supply, sustainable politics, sustainable relations, sustainable public
relations, sustainable human resources, sustainable business growth, sustainable communication,
and sustainable marketing (Blackburn, 2012).
The concepts of sustainability can be considered in an organization only when it is
managed by the professionals like the sustainable managers. It is the duty of the sustainable
managers to put their business efforts into the organizations. The professional sustainable
managers are the ambassadors, agents of change, and long term thinkers with vision. While at the
same time the sustainable managers are responsible for the ensuring compliance with the various
environmental regulations; researching for the sustainable initiatives and policies; setting the
sustainable goals that are both ambitious and strategies; proposes the steps and decisions that are
suits the business case for sustainable practices to the leaders; building the sustainable programs
that will promote awareness within the company; building the project initiatives so that a team
can be led that is willing to implement; analysing and reporting the report of the sustainable
initiatives (Silvius, 2013).

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Research have shown that the corporate sustainability can be both profitable and strategic
for the business (Samy, Samy & Ammasaiappan, 2015). Personally, being a corporate I have
seen that the employing sustainable concept within the corporate business is not an easy and
quick process. It is important to mention that the organization require professionals that can
thoughtfully develop strategies and take up the sustainable initiatives so that desired results can
be achieved. The major challenge is to find and look for the professionals that have the right
experiences and skills. The concept of sustainability falls between the sustainability and business
(Samy, Samy & Ammasaiappan, 2015). The sustainability can be managed through the
sustainable management procedures and it impacts the three major bottom lines: profit, planet
and people. Sustainability of all the three main pillars leads to the viability of the long term
business because the process is preventive rather than a reactive process. This means investment
into the humane working conditions at the supplier factories, reducing the packaging materials
and having fair trade products. A wide range of industries, sectors and organizations pursue the
sustainable management goals and also it is highlighting to mention that majority of the top
companies are known for their sustainable efforts (Salvioni&Astori, 2013). From my personal
experience I have found that the sustainable manager belongs from diverse background, because
they need a lot of knowledge and skill from different subjects. This includes environmental
science, economics, business strategy and the sustainable managers also work in diverse and
industries. The job title of the professionals that work for the sustainable management are:
environment program manager, vice president of the corporate responsibility, head of the
sustainability, global director of the environmental and social affairs, and chief sustainable
officer (Martens &Carvalho, 2017).

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Positive and negative effects of the process of Globalization
Globalization can be described as a process which integrates the interaction between the
people across the globe, countries and companies. The process of globalization occurs due to the
investment, international trade and outsourced manufacturing. Furthermore, the process is
supported by informational technology and the main aim is to bringing economies together.
While it is important to note that the goods, services and people are able to move from one
country to another in a smooth way. Globalization has promoted international trade and this has
enabled different countries to have competitive advantage pertaining to production.
Globalization has its impact on organization which I work because globalization has led to
integrate the international markets and businesses. The various integrating factors include trade,
multinational production and international finance. These three factors have led to the variation
in the basic construct of the globalization (Intriligator, 2017).
The globalizationhas economic benefits and it leads to the growth of the developed and
the developing countries both positively and negatively. The positive effect of globalization is
experienced in the societal demographic section. Global market- the privatization of the state
controlled industries has enabled the emerging market to be a successful market. Majority of the
companies have experienced an increase in the expansion and extension of the value chain to an
international level. This has facilitated the increasing amount of transaction in various countries.
This has also led to the formation of the multinational corporations and into specific geographic
locations with the inflow of investments. The market competition also increased due to the
increase in the market volume and companies enjoyed and experienced he large scale economies.
Culture- globalization has led to infused the culture with positive effects. It is important to
mention that no single country has all the practices that are good. However, when all the culture

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came together, then it led to the build-up of a better world. People from diverse background
came together and a new culture was made which resulted into a societal growth. legal growth-
globalization led to improvements in human rights since the media coverage increased all around
the world. This helped the leaders to address the inequalities and it has led to openness of
information. In majority of the cases it has resulted into democracy and prosperity. Stable
security- the effect of stable security cannot be seen directly and it is important to note that the
globalization has led to enhance the world security. It is now extremely a rare occasion where
one country has attacked another because trade and commerce depends largely on the economy
of the country (Marsella, 2012).
The negatives effects of globalization stem from the environmental damage- increase
amount of production requires increased utilization of the natural resources. Increased trade and
commerce has resulted into an increase in the excessive usage of the fossil fuel. Pollution has
increased and it has led to climate change and it is a serious threat for the future of the world and
humanity as well. Fluctuation in prices-market competition has increased due to globalization
and it has also led to the fluctuation in prices. Job insecurity- due to globalization, majority of the
global economy jobs are insecure and temporary. The impact is mostly seen in the developed
countries because white collar manufacturing jobs can easily be outsourced (Marsella, 2012).
Sustainable globalization can be described as a breakthrough and a fundamental concept
where the people transform to take into the account of the process that impacts the environment
to a lesser extent. The shift will be seen from barring the win-lose, selfish and zero-sum approach
to an approach which aptly takes into account of the present environmentalcondition. It is a
major approach that will consider the ecosystem as a natural resource and it must support the
local communities by building the financial, social and human capital (Amin, 2014). From my

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personal experience I can say that majority of the businesses around the world are constantly
addressing the environmental issues like carbon emission, alternative fuel and water pollution.
Triple bottom line
All the businesses make money, however the companies that consider the triple bottom
line realize that they have the capability to do more. It has been seen previously that the business
leaders around the world consider and prioritise the monetary benefits accrued from the business.
However, the leaders now have started to think sustainably. The three bottom lines include
profit, planet and people (3P). People are the employees and or the labourers that are involved
with the work and another way of looking towards them is how these employees benefit the
employees (Savitz, 2013). A company that considers the triple bottom line will take step to
provide a humane environment for their employees and will pay fair wage. The planet part of the
Triple bottom line indicates that organizations works hard and devices strategies that will reduce
the ecological footprint to a higher extent. The efforts include the management of the natural
resources in an efficient way, improving the logistics, investment in the renewable energy,
reducing waste. Profit is always the priority of the business entities and several companies have
considered it as a business plan. The sustainable organizations have recognized that the profit is
not diametrically related with the planet and people (Elkington, 2013). I have experienced the
same when working in the companies that specially emphasize on the environment, people and
profit.
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable consumption is the process of consumption of the services and goods that
have minimal impact on the environment. Furthermore, sustainable consumption will be
economically viable and socially equitable and meeting the basic needs of the humans from the

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worldwide perspective.It is important to mention that the sustainable consumption emphasises on
the multinational conglomerates, governments, individuals, all nations and sectors. This concept
is gaining popularity because the present consumption patterns are destroying the environment
and at the same time the stock of natural resources is getting depleted, hampering the sustainable
process of development, contributing towards the societal problems like poverty, inequitable
distribution of resources. The sustainable consumption requires a multinational and a
multidisciplinary approach (Tukker et al., 2017). However, one of the major important aspect is
that the developed nations are the ones that exploit the developing nations instead of helping the
same.The major barriers towards the sustainable consumption is the lack of the alternative
sustainable services and products, ingrained behavioural patterns, ingrained unsustainable
thinking, reluctance to include the true social and the environmental costs of services and goods,
lack of support from the industry, community and government, lack of training and awareness.
While it is important to mention that the sustainable consumption requires everyone’s effort like
industry, business, economists, decision makers, research institutes, educators, industry
associations, non-governmental organizations, governments, and individuals. Even the
implementation of the sustainable consumption is possible on a national or a regional level.
Furthermore, sustainable consumption can be applied worldwide (Lorek&Spangenberg, 2014).
Ecological footprint generally includes product life cycle analysis and it can be described
as the impact of the product on the environment due to its usage. The analysis takes into account
of what comes into manufacturing and what goes out of after the product is no longer usable and
it includes the material, energy and product manufacture and assembly, distribution of the
product, disposal and the final impact of the product on the environment. From my point of view,
I emphasize on the fact that the businesses are essential for the partners and it includes the

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environmental and the social dimension of the purpose of the sustainable dimension. The
organization work together to meet the demand of the services and goods that are essential for
the maintenance of the quality of life. The ecological footprint indicator can provide a wide
range of advantages: ease of understanding and communication, services and activities can be
easily accessed, link established between the global and local consumption (Bastianoni et al,
2012).
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be described as the responsibility of a
company for the society towards the maintenance of the sustainable business practices.
Corporate social responsibility describes the responsibility of a company and its impact on
society. CSR includes the economic, environmental and the social aspects and it is always
mentioned clearly in the recognised documents. If the practice of a company is discussed, CSR is
often used interchangeably. For example, some companies are seen to publish the sustainability
reports and sustainability strategies. The core or the vital aspects of CSR vary from one company
to another. Thus, it is important to mention that the activities of the manufacturers will be
entirely different from that of a retailer (Tai & Chuang, 2014).
Citizenship, consumers, civil society and activism
The citizens of a country are actually the consumers of the products that are made for
consumption. All these entities as well as the manufacturers of the products are correlated with
the within the civil society. Starting from the production to the usage and the final step of
disposal must incorporate the concepts of sustainability. It is important to mention that the
natural resources are to be used in a way that can lead to maximum benefit for the people of the
present generation as well as the future generation. However, activism is form of a protest

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against the practice of the companies that try to neglect the environmental aspect and the aspects
of environmental damage (Crane & Matten, 2016).
Employees and business ethics
The discussions on the employee sustainability and business sustainability are one of the
important concepts in management and it understands the business ethics. Sustainability at the
organizational level is introduced for more than a single reason. The prime reason is that the
organizational leaders have the responsibility of sustainable business practice and it later on
transforms into business or organizationalmission. Employees on the other hand also need a
specific set of ethical laws and policies so that their activities can be monitored and judged. This
on the long run will impact the business ethics and the environment in the long run (Michaelson
et al., 2014).
Conclusion
From the above discussion it can be concluded that, the concept of sustainability emerged
from the corporate ethics and it became renowned due to the discontent among the general public
caused due to the damage to the environment as a result of short term profit. The term
sustainability has now innumerable amount of use in other fields as well. Sustainability has now
become an active part of the global process and multiple sectors and disciplines. The adjoining
terms are the sustainable destruction, sustainable profit growth, sustainable conflict management,
sustainable assessment, sustainable supply, sustainable politics, sustainable relations, sustainable
public relations, sustainable human resources, sustainable business growth, sustainable
communication, and sustainable marketing. Organizations look for professionals that can
thoughtfully develop strategies and take up the sustainable initiatives so that desired results can
be achieved. The major challenge is to find and look for the professionals that have the right

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experiences and skills. The concept of sustainability falls between the sustainability and
business. Sustainable globalization can be described as a breakthrough and a fundamental
concept where the people transform to take into the account of the process that impacts the
environment to a lesser extent. The shift will be seen from barring the win-lose, selfish and zero-
sum approach to an approach which aptly takes into account of the present environmental
condition. It is a major approach that will consider the ecosystem as a natural resource and it
must support the local communities by building the financial, social and human capital.

13MANAGEMENT
Reference
Amin, S. (2014). Capitalism in the age of globalization: The management of contemporary
society. Zed Books Ltd..
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indicandum:“Sustainable way” vs “prevailing conditions” in the Ecological Footprint.
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