BUGEN 5930: Reflective Journal - Sustainable Business Practices

This reflective journal explores the concept of sustainability in business, focusing on the triple bottom line framework and its application across environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The author discusses the challenges and limitations of the framework, particularly in measuring environmental sustainability, while also highlighting its positive impacts on business growth and community development. The journal reflects on how businesses can address unemployment, employee contributions, and the utilization of resources for maximum societal benefit. The author critiques existing methods of measuring economic and environmental sustainability and proposes alternative approaches, such as considering personal income and the cost of employment. The journal draws upon class presentations, discussions, and readings to analyze the implications of sustainability for the business sector, emphasizing the need for a balanced approach that considers the impact of business activities on employees, the community, and the environment.

Running head: SUSTAINABILITY 1
Sustainability
Name
Institution

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Sustainability, the Triple Bottom Line and Business
Introduction
Sustainability has been the objective of many businesses both profit and non-profit
making organization. However, many businesses have decided to handle sustainability by using
the triple bottom line. It is a framework in accounting that links the three dimension of
performance; environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The TBL framework is also
referred to as the 3ps because it covers the planet, profits, and people. Businesses have embraced
this framework in order to measure the effect the business has on society and the environment.
According to what I learned in class, the concept of the social bottom line is to evaluate
the profits in human capital. As a business person, my social line will increase when I practice
fair and beneficial labor practices that also consider the community (Alhaddi, 2015). The first
issue that arises in this triple bottom is whether the business is helping in solving the
unemployment issues in the city or not. The class presentations stated that a sustainable business
should create jobs in the region it is operating in. creating jobs for the people in the city or town
in which the business operates will reduce the rate of unemployment and reduce the rate of
criminal cases that may arise due to lack of jobs. In my opinion, the employees of the business
should, in turn, give back to society (Ozanne, 2016). This can be done by participating in
community projects through monetary aids. According to the class presentations, the mission f
the triple bottom line is to focus on profits. However, I think this will make businesses to ignore
the rights of people who are directly related to the success of the business (Sarkis & Dhavale,
2015). This becomes a challenge to the business and the society because the actions of the
business activities may impact on the employees and the community. According to the class

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presentations, the approach that businesses can use to apply effectively the social bottom line is
by creating an effective sustainable index (Glavas & Mish, 2015). I think this approach can be
used in measuring the percentage of female participation, and unemployment so that the business
can know where to improve.
During the lecture, we talked about the environmental triple bottom line as another
sustainable aspect in business (Tilman, & Clark, 2014). This concept represents how natural
resources can be measured and their potential influences on the practicability of those measured
(Liu, et al., 2015). In my perspective, I think the environmental concept should also focus on
utilizing the few available resources to produce maximum benefit to society without affecting the
environment. The approaches we learned in class on how a business can measure the
environmental triple bottom line include measuring the amount of material that is recycled (Onat,
Kucukvar & Tatari, 2014). I think this is not an effective approach to measure the environmental
sustainability of a business. This is because measuring the number of materials recycled is not an
effective environmental sustainability measure. The approach should also consider the
environmental impact of the recycling process should also be measured like emissions and other
pollution so that a sustainable business environment can be achieved. However, the issue with
this triple bottom line is that it only focusses on the ecological problems leaving other impacts
like the effect of pollution on people (Eccles, Ioannou & Serafeim, 2014). I think the great
challenge of this triple model is its inability to incorporate sustainable measures on environment-
related issues.
During the presentation, we learned about the concept of economic sustainability. The
lecturer said that economic sustainability if the impact of a business on the economic
environment (Høgevold, et al., 2015). The approach that is being used measuring economic

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suitability as learned in class is through evaluating the employment distribution, the revenue
contribution of each sector, and job growth. However, I find this evaluation method inadequate
in assessing the economic sustainability of a business. Therefore, using personal income and the
cost of employment would enable the business to effectively assess its economic sustainability
(McWilliams, 2016). The challenge of this approach is that it is difficult to measure the exact
economic sustainability achieved by a business. In my opinion, this method relies on estimation
and basic assumptions.
Conclusion
Many businesses have incorporated sustainability programs in businesses in order to
achieve maximum profits. According to the triple line framework, businesses are able to
measure, economic, social, and environmental sustainability of their businesses. I think using
these methods will positively impact the growth of the businesses and the community in general.
Despite the positive impacts of this framework to business sustainability, it has some limitations.
This framework is unrealistic in measuring environmental sustainability. However, even if
environmental sustainability is evaluated, it is difficult to establish a common measurement of
the three types of triple bottom line.

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References
Alhaddi, H. (2015). Triple bottom line and sustainability: A literature review. Business and
Management Studies, 1(2), 6-10.
Eccles, R. G., Ioannou, I., & Serafeim, G. (2014). The impact of corporate sustainability on
organizational processes and performance. Management Science, 60(11), 2835-2857.
Glavas, A., & Mish, J. (2015). Resources and capabilities of triple bottom line firms: going over
old or breaking new ground?. Journal of Business Ethics, 127(3), 623-642.
Høgevold, N. M., Svensson, G., Klopper, H. B., Wagner, B., Valera, J. C. S., Padin, C., &
Petzer, D. (2015). A triple bottom line construct and reasons for implementing
sustainable business practices in companies and their business networks. Corporate
Governance, 15(4), 427-443.
Liu, J., Mooney, H., Hull, V., Davis, S. J., Gaskell, J., Hertel, T., & Li, S. (2015). Systems
integration for global sustainability. Science, 347(6225), 1258832.
McWilliams, A., Parhankangas, A., Coupet, J., Welch, E., & Barnum, D. T. (2016). Strategic
decision making for the triple bottom line. Business Strategy and the Environment, 25(3),
193-204.
Onat, N. C., Kucukvar, M., & Tatari, O. (2014). Integrating triple bottom line input–output
analysis into life cycle sustainability assessment framework: the case for US
buildings. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 19(8), 1488-1505.

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Ozanne, L. K., Phipps, M., Weaver, T., Carrington, M., Luchs, M., Catlin, J., & Williams, J.
(2016). Managing the tensions at the intersection of the triple bottom line: A paradox
theory approach to sustainability management. Journal of Public Policy &
Marketing, 35(2), 249-261.
Sarkis, J., & Dhavale, D. G. (2015). Supplier selection for sustainable operations: A triple-
bottom-line approach using a Bayesian framework. International Journal of Production
Economics, 166, 177-191.
Tilman, D., & Clark, M. (2014). Global diets link environmental sustainability and human
health. Nature, 515(7528), 518.