Sustainability has become a major issue during the past years. Adams (2008) commented that population become increasingly concerned about the values of the organizations they choose to work for - and buy goods and services from. This forces manager to implement goals associated with sustainability to ensure employees are motivated also to keep customer satisfaction of their product/service. An example of these goals is the one made by Canon. Canon created what they call Canon Group Environmental Charter that is based on a corporate philosophy of “achieving corporate growth and development while contributing to the prosperity of the world and the happiness of humankind” (Canon 2007). In it’s report the World Commission on Environment and Development defined sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987). Inevitably, corporations around the world began to include the sustainability factor into their decision-making. It certainly then will affect the managers in that certain corporation. This essay will try to explain how managers react to sustainability and how it affects the four functions of managers. As well as giving an example of a corporation that have taken sustainability into consideration in a form of corporate responsibility. As managers coordinate the work of his/her subordinates to achieve better efficiency and effectiveness, they perform certain functions in the corporation. Although they differ in a way in every corporation, the four functions of a manager are as follow; planning, organizing, leading, and controlling (Huszczo, 2004, p. 26). Managers that are performing the planning function set goals, they also identify the procedures in accomplishing the goal or the strategy to achieve the goals, and determine the timeframe in which those procedures have to be finished by (Huszczo, 2004, p. 26). After the planning function, a manager then will organize his/her subordinates. A manager that are performing the organizing function will then expand on the procedures that the team have to take in order to complete the goal. He/she will also assign who, when, what, and how the task will be done (Robbins et al. 2006, p. 11). Managers will be affected by the issue of sustainability in a sense that they have to incorporate the sustainability issue into their planning stage. They will have to put out clear goals such as reducing paper usage, or/and decreasing the carbon emission of the workplace. Another case that could happen is if a manager wants to increase brand awareness, what they could do is start doing environmental awareness program that can increase their brand awareness.
Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2010). In Concepts in Strategic Management and Business Policy Achieving Sustainability, Twelfth Edition. Pearson Education.
Murray and Dicroce (2003) suggest that management is a process that uses resources to achieve specific goals effectively; basic management functions including planning, organising, coordinating, directing and controlling. The term of manager can be appointed to the person to plan, organise, coordinate, supervise, negotiate, evaluate and use resources available in the best way possible to achieve the best service. Alternativ...
The case studies indicate a high ability to work with individuals and have inductive reasoning and a need for strong attention to detail. The available literature is extremely controversial on sustainability programs and how it has an effect on the bottom line of an organization. The qualitative research approaches make sense for the economic dilemma organizations face with the implementation of sustainability programs. However, there is a general limitati...
This paper critically analyzes Nike company sustainability strategy. Every investor or a group of investors wishes to see the business profitable at the current time as well as having good prospects for future (Werbach, 2009). For this reason, business sustainability strategy is very important. A strategy is a plan that guides the company or a business firm towards a certain direction or set goals. Thus, sustainability strategy is an action plan that a company set in order to maintain the plan toward the achievement of company’s goals in future. Sustainability strategy puts into consideration aspects such as the source of raw materials, competition, human resource development, and sustainability, and the general business environment. Thus, in evaluating a business’ sustainability, it is important to consider the business planning in this direction (Heslin and Ochoa 2008)
Stuart Hart, in a business article, discusses the tough task for companies to make a sustainable global ec...
Managers direct and review tasks that are set for subordinates to complete in an efficient and effective manner, so set objectives can be quickly and accurately achieved (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, & Coulter, 2012). As stated before, all managers have a certain degree of responsibility at a specific level of work. Therefore, one must know what level of management they are responsible for in order to implement the right set of roles, skills and functions. There are three organisational levels a manager can be responsible for: Front-line management, middle management and top management, all which are set up within a hierarchical structure to divide certain roles and decision-making powers accordingly (Robbins et al., 2012).
7). Their definition was as follows: “ It is in the hands of humanity to make development sustainable… to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. (SHRM, 2011, p. 7).” Sustainability is the organization’s commitment to balance financial performance with contributors to the quality of life of employees, society at large, and environmentally sensitive initiatives (SHRM, 2011, p. 2). Workplace sustainability requires observation of the following: work force diversity, environmental impact, bribery and corruption, community involvement, ethical sourcing of goods, human rights, product safety, and product usefulness (Epstein & Roy, 2001, p. 588). Creation of a stable, sustainability culture can support the company’s efforts to reach its long term goals; however, sustainable practices are more often found in medium and large staff-sized organizations, publicly and for-profit companies and multinational companies (SHRM, 2011, p.
Sustainability could be defined in many ways. It could be defined as the process to sustain a process or develop new technologies to reduce environment pollution. It also means a measurement how badly the environment is being polluted by other factors. I have to admit that sustainability is a great idea related to many fields such as healthy, economy, food, social, and etc. However, I still remember the first day of “Sustainable Business” class, Professor Laverty showed to my class an example of sustainable product with the idea of “produce more with less waste”. This example narrows me down to one idea of “Sustainable Business”, which is producing the product and services in an efficient and sustainable way without causing harms to environment. In this essay, I want to emphasize into impacts of businesses on environments, profitability of sustainable business, and responsibility of business.
"In everyday language usage, management refers to the people in organizations who manage, and to the activities they perform." (Fulop, Frith, Hayward 1992 p. 187) To be more specific, management is the process of organizing work activities with and through people to ensure the activities are completed efficiently and effectively (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter 2006, p. 9). Through management, the goals of the organization or business are to be achieved. Henri Fayol, one of the most influential contributors to modern concepts of management, proposed that there are five primary functions for management, which consist of planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating and controlling. Nonetheless, the functions of commanding and coordinating have metamorphosed into leading (Crainer 2003).
Managers at all levels of the organizational hierarchy must engage in planning. Planning involves setting goals and defining the actions necessary to achieve those goals. In planning the top-level manager establishes the overall goals and strategies for the organization. While on the other hand the other managers in the hierarchy develop operational plans for their work groups, which has a responsibility to help the organization. All the managers must develop goals that are supportive in the over all strategy of the organization.
An organisation is a deliberate arrangement of team consisting different personal identities to accomplish some specific goals and managers are the ones who hold the responsibility of mastering and placing them together to strive for that purpose (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, and Coulter, 2008). Robbins et al. (2008) have stated that managers are people who coordinate and oversee the work activities of others so that the goal is accomplished effectively and efficiently. Managers usually possess qualities such as having strong communication skills, flexibility, imagination, enthusiasm, problem solving skills, and of course the desire to be a great leader (Phdinmanagement.org, 2014). The structure of management conducted by a manager is often influenced by the four functions introduced by Henri Fayol (planning, organising, leading, controlling); how Henry Mintzberg’s management roles play in the organisation and also the three essentials management skills proposed by Robert L. Katz (Robbins et al., 2008).
Environmental sustainability is making decisions and taking actions in the interest of protecting the natural world, preserving the capability of the environment to support human life and ensuring that humans use the environment in a way that does not harm the environment. It also questions how economic development affects our environment vice versa.
The sustainability of the ecosystems on which the global economy depends must be guaranteed. And the economic partners must be satisfied that the basis of exchange is equitable” (World). This quote demonstrates the complexities of sustainability. Another thing corporations should focus on when trying to be sustainable is their environmental impact.
Sustainability simply defined to me as balancing act between the development of sustainability is necessary for both planet Earth and humans to survive. This is reinforced in the World Commission on Environment and Development report (1987) that sustainable development must meet the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations”. The Earth Charter Organization widened the idea of sustainability to respect for a culture of peace, universal human rights, nature, and economic justice (What is sustainability?, n.d.).
To achieve this, managers must undertake the following functions: * Organisation * Planning * Staffing * Directing * Controlling Leadership is just one important component of the directing function.