Report: Sustainable Business Practices and Sainsbury's Performance

This report delves into the sustainable business practices of Sainsbury's, a leading UK supermarket, with a particular focus on its efforts to reduce plastic waste. The report begins with an introduction outlining the importance of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability in modern business operations. It then provides background information on sustainable business operations, emphasizing the impact of business activities on the environment and society. The core of the report analyzes Sainsbury's current practices, highlighting areas of concern related to plastic usage, supply chain management, and the need for ethical and sustainable practices. The report identifies challenges such as competition, customer preferences, and the impact of plastic on the environment and human health. Furthermore, the report explores alternative business practices Sainsbury's could adopt to address these concerns, including recycling, waste reduction, and sustainable packaging solutions. Finally, the report concludes with a series of recommendations aimed at improving Sainsbury's sustainability performance, ensuring long-term business success and positive environmental impact.

Managing
Sustainability

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Part B...............................................................................................................................................3
background of sustainable business operations......................................................................3
Part C...............................................................................................................................................5
Outline the particular areas of concern related to Sainsbury’s...............................................5
Part D...............................................................................................................................................6
alternative business practice...................................................................................................6
Part E................................................................................................................................................7
Recommendations..................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
The report aims to analyse the sustainable business practices in an organisation within the area of
reducing plastic. A business is required to work on maintain a brand name into market. It
includes corporate social responsibility, welfare of environment and managing society (Hong and
et.al., 2019). It is all about being responsible and ethical towards the society and look for
protecting the environment, The business should not only focus on their profits but also concern
about future stability (Axon, and Darton, 2021). This report is going top work on the functions
of Sainsbury's regarding their sustainable performance. There will be discussion about how
reducing waste can be an issue and how it could impact on the company profitability. Also, there
will be some alternative practices an recommendation provided to cope up with the challenge.
MAIN BODY
Part B
background of sustainable business operations
The sustainable business operations is termed as vital element for business success into
market. Sustainability refers to making those business practices which are suitable and beneficial
for the environment and society. Due to having large business practices, business indulge in
using heavy machineries, plastic consumption, water usage, transportation and pollution.
Therefore, a business could only sustain for long time in the market by reducing carbon
footprints and give rise to sustainable development. Sustainable business operations leads to
impact on the key behaviour and responsibility of the organisation (Alikhani, Torabi, and Altay,
2019). It is also regarded as how a business is able to maintain business practices which will not
creates any future risk. This shows that, the organisation must use the resources effectively so
that it might not scare in the future. They are responsible for the future development of society in
both positive and negative ways. Sainsbury's is leading supermarket of UK which sells varieties
of goods in foods, clothings and accessorial. The company comes under the largest store of
England that has its operations across all over UK. Sainsburuy's has its mission to provide tasty
and healthy food products for every class of customer to experience the best taste. The company
is responsible towards their planet by serving quality goods which drive last long and each
individual gets healthy living.

Every organisation require a business model which assure sustainability in the overall
operations of the company. It shows a clear path and guidance that needs to be followed by
organisation to not let indulge in negative practices that will have bad impact on the
environment. It shows that the Sainsbury's has made progress in the recent years to lower down
greenhouse impact by using modern technology, eliminate chimney gases from their factories
and reducing waste while producing goods. In the recent time, the company has promised to
provide 100% fresh Scottish salmon as per the ASC act (Villena, and Gioia, 2018). This has
done through reducing the wastage from the production and lower down the oxygen levels which
keeps the food healthy without getting injected by chemicals and infections. Therefore, the
company is using sustainability business model to secure the planet by giving cruelty and
chemical free products. There is requirement of the key business performance and functions that
will helps in building more sustainable performance across the market. The Sainsbury's has took
over the pledge to reduce the waste which has guided in their business model. Their main aim is
to provide the food at reasonable prices by cutting down unnecessary cost during the
productions. So the company maintains their nominal inventory level in order to reduce the
waste. Apart from all these practices, Sainsbury's still provide their food in plastic packages
which is not effective for the environment safety. The company still could not follow recycling
and reusing which impact on their sustainability standards. Reducing plastic is the main concept
for the company to get the best position in the market. There are many different ways utilised by
the organisation to protect the environment (Iskandar, Nelson, and Tehrani, 2022). For
example, sainsbury's itself minimise the waste for saving the resources and on the other side,
facing problem of carbon emission and packaging. Their business model also emphasize on
being transparent while setting policies, standards and gender equality. It ensure that the
company has potential to solve their sustainability issue by investing in good quality packaging
and serving food safely. It can be said that, there is requirement of new strategies and policies for
upcoming business model which will include less plastic consumption will create more extended
living.

Part C
Outline the particular areas of concern related to Sainsbury’s
The nature of business environment is dynamic and keeps on changing. Regular changes
in the market give rise to the challenges faced by the company. It is seen that a lot of competition
is enhancing and this is a major problem for the company. Sainsbury's work to serve the needs
and wants of customers in effective manner. A major concerned face is related to sustainable
practices of the company. There is requirement of following ethical and sustainable practices so
that they are able to create effective brand image (Goworek and et.al., 2020). There is need of
reducing wastage at each and every level so that there is green environment. In today's time the
plastic is a major concern. There is need to assure that the complete does not use plastic as it has
direct impact on the environment. The company faces issue in working with plastic free
environment and making all the operation free from plastic.
Due to this practice the customers do not prefer buying the products and this causes
major drawbacks for the company. The changes in the pattern of operations by the company is
necessary. There is key role of reducing the plastics so that the environmental harm can be
reduced. It is seen that plastic causes pollution and that is a major concerned for the people as
well as the planet. This makes the company in sustainable and reduces their image in the market.
This is negative for the company this will make them ineffective.
There are certain negative impacts of all these practices on the company. It is seen that if
the food products are kept in plastic for longer duration of time leaching of toxic chemical
constituents into food, drinks and water (Nath, Eweje and Bathurst, 2021). Therefore, there is
need of imposing changes so that the business is able to grow. The health of customers is in
concern if there is use of plastic in packaging. This causes certain problems for the customers.
The use of all plastic is so harmful for the people. There is need of reducing the usage of plastic
so that there is requirement of using less plastic and removing the same. It is necessary to
manage the work in effective manner so that real success is attained. There are plastic pollutants
that are dangerous for the human beings. Along with that it takes around 100 of years for the
plastic to break down and disposes in long lasting period. It is seen that Sainsbury’s is also face
the problem of supply chain management and it is difficult for them to reduce the use of plastic
from there process.

There is key role of changing the packaging pattern of the company so that the plastic
bags are not at all used. At the same time, supply chain management is necessary to reach the
customers with quality products (Sancha and Gimenez, 2019). There is requirement of managing
the work so that they are able to serve the customer’s needs and wants. The other competitors at
this time have switch to sustainability. It becomes essential to work according to the principals of
sustainable management and ethics so that corporate social responsibility is achieved. Each and
every business organisation needs to take care of their responsibility in order to achieve good
position in market. Due to the changing nature of business there is requirement of adopting
regular changes so that competitive advantage forces that impact business and one of them is
serving the needs of customers effectively. By excluding the use of plastic Sainsbury’s will be
able to attain a good position in market. The use of right strategy is important and reduces all the
negative impact (Arora and Fatima, 2022). The use of money can be enhanced but it will benefit
the company in long run to achieve a high position in the market. The various other alternatives
are present in the market that can be used by company. Now a day’s people are aware and
conscious about the environment and prefer the organisation that provide them quality products
using right channels (Diana, 2021). It is important to manage the work in such a manner that real
success is attained.
Part D
alternative business practice
The area of concern identified for the Sainbury's is about reducing the use of plastic. The
company has found to be poor in packaging their products sustainably. This shows that, there are
some requirements that needs to be fulfil to attain this target in the organisation (Centobelli,
Cerchione,and Mittal, 2021). Every plan has its alternatives which gives a next best opportunity
to utilise it effectively. For that instance, in order to save the planet, animal and environment, the
company might do some other activities that will minimise the cause created by plastic
consumption in the society. These alternatives are discussed below:
 For the time when the company could not able to reduce the use of plastic without any
other packaging strategy, they need to collect all the plastic waste from the oceans by
using off-shore technology which finds the molecules of the plastic and make them
decompose in the sand.

 The sainsbury's could cut down the emissions by recycling the plastic waste. This is also
an alternative practice to save the environment from getting harm. As it will takes some
time to provide food in paper packages or find another solutions. Till then, the company
might perform their responsibility to aware society about the consumption of plastic. So
they need to encourage them for recycling and reusing.
 Also, the siansbury's could collected all the plastic packages they sell, they should collect
it and recycle the mixed plastic by making a new raw material from the environment.
Through this activity, there will be no further development of plastics in the environment
so it would not rise the percentage of rise in pollution. It will helps in reducing landfills,
energy consumption and contribute in circular economy (Taylor, 2019). This chain will
continue to flow which will not give birth to new plastic waste and there will be minimal
level of carbon footprints.
 The sainsbury's could use a life cycle approach for recycling the plastic waste by turning
them into bottles and other containers. These plastic will not create greater harm and will
mix up with the soil. The company needs to work on the practice of biodegradable
plastics through fishing nets. When the organisation takes this gesture, they will be able
to minimise the reduction of natural oceans and water system. The society will be flooded
with hygienic water in rivers and ponds. It will minimise the negative impact from the
organisation about using plastic.
 All these alternative practices are suitable and vital for the company to undertake in the
recent time. It will reduce the plastic pollution and save resources which might harm
natural creatures like oceans, wildlife. This shows that, in the recent years the Comoran
could achieve great success with the help of following these strategies.
Part E
Recommendations
There is need of taking care of some of the points that will help the company to grow and
compete in this market. This is necessary to work as per the changing trends in market so that the
company is able to set effective brand image. The right strategies and tools must be used by
company and Sainsbury’s is able to manage the working. There is need of using all the activities

in right manner and being sustainable so that best products are offered to the customers. The
recommendation are as follows:
 There is need of avoiding plastic and using other products. It is necessary to avoid the use
of pollutants so that real success is attained. There is need of avoiding plastic in
packaging so that there is no negative harm is caused to the people.
 The aim of company must be to earn profit and at the same time they must take proper
care of the sustainability so that success is achieved. The company must assure that all
the customers are provided quality products to the customers and no plastic must be
consumed. There is negative harm caused to the customers due to use plastic.
 There is requirement of reusing and reducing and recycling so that the company is
successful in managing the supply chain. This will make the work easy for Sainsbury’s so
that they are able to reach the customers in effective manner. The use of this policy will
help the company to carry on the work in better manner.
 The corporate social responsibility must be followed by company as the same will help
the company to enhance the brand image. This will make the company effective in
market and attain good position in market. It is necessary to work according to the update
practices.

CONCLUSION
From the above report, it is analysed that there is key role of sustainability in today's time.
Sustainable management can be defined as use of all the resources in such a manner that there is
no harm caused to the environment. there is need of following corporate social responsibility and
taking care of the environment. The business has to walk in the society and must assured that
there is no problem caused by them to their customers. In order to attain long term advantage
there is requirement of following sustainable principles. In this report there is discussion related
to importance of sustainable operations as well as the functions of the chosen organisation. The
major concerns faced by the company are elaborated in this report as well as their impact are also
understood. There is key role of identifying the alternative practices that are available with the
business organisation to utilise their opportunities and serve the customers in effective manner
for their growth. In the end of this report recommendations are mention to overcome all the
problems faced by the company and attain effective image in the market.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alikhani, R., Torabi, S.A. and Altay, N., 2019. Strategic supplier selection under sustainability
and risk criteria. International Journal of Production Economics, 208, pp.69-82.
Arora, N.K. and Fatima, T., 2022. Role of plant growth promoting microbes in managing
sustainability of stressed agroecosystems. Environmental Sustainability, pp.1-3.
Axon, C.J. and Darton, R.C., 2021. Sustainability and risk–a review of energy
security. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 27, pp.1195-1204.
Centobelli, P., Cerchione, R. and Mittal, A., 2021. Managing sustainability in luxury industry to
pursue circular economy strategies. Business Strategy and the Environment, 30(1),
pp.432-462.
Diana, P.N., 2021. EXPLORING THE GENERIC UNDERSTANDING OF MANAGING
SUSTAINABILITY. Studies in Business & Economics, 16(3).
Goworek and et.al., 2020. Managing sustainability in the fashion business: Challenges in product
development for clothing longevity in the UK. Journal of Business Research, 117,
pp.629-641.
Hong, P., Jagani, S., Kim, J. and Youn, S.H., 2019. Managing sustainability orientation: An
empirical investigation of manufacturing firms. International Journal of Production
Economics, 211, pp.71-81.
Iskandar, M., Nelson, D. and Tehrani, F.M., 2022. Managing Sustainability and Resilience of the
Built Environment in Developing Communities. CivilEng, 3(2), pp.427-441.
Nath, S.D., Eweje, G. and Bathurst, R., 2021. The invisible side of managing sustainability in
global supply chains: evidence from multitier apparel suppliers. Journal of Business
Logistics, 42(2), pp.207-232.
Sancha, C., SJ, J.F.M. and Gimenez, C., 2019. Managing sustainability in lower-tier suppliers:
how to deal with the invisible zone. African Journal of Economic and Management
Studies.
Taylor, A., 2019. Aligning Sustainability and Risk Management. Risk Management, 66(10),
pp.10-11.
Villena, V.H. and Gioia, D.A., 2018. On the riskiness of lower-tier suppliers: Managing
sustainability in supply networks. Journal of Operations Management, 64, pp.65-87.