Business, Society and Plant: Sustainability Approach

This essay discusses the concept of sustainability in a business context and examines the application of sustainability theories in a practical real-world scenario. It provides an overview of the Triple Bottom Line and its relevance with corporate social responsibility. The essay also examines six different types of capitals used by a business and presents real-world examples of businesses that have been running successfully considering both financial as well as societal aspects of the business. The essay concludes that a well-designed corporate strategy towards the society and plant may significantly contribute towards the attainment of the corporate goal of sustainability in the long-run.

BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND PLANT: SUSTAINABILITY APPROACH
Sustainability may be considered to be one of the most important and success-critical elements of
a business as the same may include consideration of several factors that are both internal and
external to the business. Attainment of sustainability is construed to be a holistic approach that
consists of financial as well as non-financial elements which the management should note while
framing and designing long-term vision and strategies for the business (Kline, 2018). The instant
essay delves into a brief discussion on the concept of sustainability in a business context n the
backdrop of the established theoretical framework. I, as the researcher, have undertaken the
studies and examinations of application of sustainability theories in a practical real-world
scenario and attempted to analyze the same through this essay.
At the very beginning of the essay, I have provided an overview of the concept of Triple Bottom
Line (hereinafter may be referred to as “TBL”) and its relevance with corporate social
responsibility (CSR). In the subsequent sections of the essay, I have examined six different types
of capitals used by a business, which not only includes the financial capital, but also the human
capital and other non-financial assets that generate value for the business in the long-run. In
addition, I have tried to present some of the real-world examples where the businesses have been
running successfully considering both financial as well as societal aspects of the business and
generating values in the market as well. The essay s wrapped up by way of concluding note at
the end.
The concept of TBL is the recent concept with respect CSR. I have seen businesses doing their
operations only for profit and therefore they are basically ignoring the social aspects of the
business. I have observed restaurant businesses making pollution to its external environment.

There are manufacturing businesses which are releasing excessive carbon dioxide to the air
which is creating their ill-reputation in the minds of the people. A business should consider not
only the profit making but also the society and plant. TBL thus emphasizes 3Ps that is Profit,
People and Planet (Kline, 2018). I must say that these 3Ps are most critical for a successful
business. If a business does not prioritize plant and people around it, it may lose its due respect in
the society.
In continuation of the previous discussion, it may be noted that there are various types of capital
which a business house may use. Apart from financial capital, there is human capital which
may be considered to be an important resource for the business. There is external economic
capital which amounts to the facilities and infrastructure support. Thirdly, there is natural
capital like ecosystem services including sunlight, air etc. social and relationship capital helps
the business to establish the association with stakeholders. Lastly, the constructed capital refers
to the created objects like investment and plants etc (Kline, 2018). In my learning of business
studies, I have realized that these six types of capital are significant contributor for the
sustainability of a business. The reason is all these capitals together help the management of a
business to satisfy all the stakeholders associated with the business by way of creating value.
It may be noted that all these capital helps the management to let the business grow in a cohesive
manner. A business should never focus on only one (primarily the first one) and ignore others. I
have noted that there are businesses which do not take into considerations of relationship,
customer satisfaction and brand building (Bohmholdt, 2014). They rather only look for
increasing the profit. In this context, it may be noted that the earlier concept of profit
maximization has now been changed to wealth and value maximization. A business, in other
words, can not create any value unless the society gets to benefit from the operations of the
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business. Mere profit earning may not alone be sufficient to establish the fact that the business is
adding value to the society.
In order to achieve the sustainability, a business may go through different phases like rejection
(initially exploitative view towards the society), non-responsiveness (ignorance towards the
society), compliance (meeting the social and environmental standard), efficiency (compliance
with planned approaches), strategic pro-activity (gaining competitive advantage in social and
environmental compliance) and sustaining corporation (persistent compliance end progress
towards sustainability) (Stein Smith, 2018).
There is a number of companies who are considered to be socially responsible. Coca-Cola, for
example, is continuously making a conscious effort to reduce the environmental issues on carbon
footprint. Besides, I have read about Ford Motor Company which is also doing significant work
in the same field. Even, the computer manufacturer Dell is also conscious about the use of the
non-degradable resource in their product (Edgeman, Eskildsen & Neely, 2015). Coming to the
social side, Netflix has a policy of 52 weeks paid paternity and maternity leaves. Tata
Corporation has a brand value for its relationship-based approaches towards its employees
(Sickler, 2018). Hence, it may be noted that there are number of business organizations that are
considering the corporate social responsibility (CSR) with grave importance. It may be
conceived that CSR is the one of the primary success-critical elements nowadays as far as
business sustainability approach is concerned. I must prioritize value optimization through CSR
over wealth maximization.
Based on the discussion and analysis performed in the preceding sections of the essay, it may be
construed that a business should consider the planet and society as well. A well-designed
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corporate strategy towards the society and plant may significantly contribute towards the
attainment of the corporate goal of sustainability in most time and cost efficient manner in the
long-run (Edgeman et all, 2015).
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References
Bohmholdt, A. (2014). Evaluating the Triple Bottom Line Using Sustainable Return on
Investment. Remediation Journal, 24(4), 53-64. doi: 10.1002/rem.21404
Edgeman, R., Eskildsen, J., & Neely, A. (2015). Translating triple top line strategy into triple
bottom line performance. Measuring Business Excellence, 19(1). doi: 10.1108/mbe-12-
2014-0054
Kline, M. (2018). The 6 Kinds of Capital Your Business Can't Survive Without. Retrieved from
https://www.inc.com/maureen-kline/the-6-kinds-of-capital-your-business-can-t-survive-
without.html
Sickler, J. (2018). Powerful Corporate Social Responsibility Examples for Brands. Retrieved
from https://www.reputationmanagement.com/blog/corporate-social-responsibility-
examples/
Stein Smith, S. (2018). 6 types of capital. Retrieved from
https://www.aicpastore.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/
Articles_2014/CorpFin/6-types-of-capital.jsp
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Appendices
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