As companies around the world continue to grow and innovate, there have been many corporations that have implemented sustainable practice as part of their marketing campaigns and executive decisions. One example of a sustainable company is Patagonia. They are an outdoor apparel company whose owner is known n for all the sustainable and green strategies that he has implemented in the company. Implementations like creating a sustainable supply chain or using recyclable materials to manufacture clothing are two examples of what they have done. This implementation has accomplished to purposes; first, create awareness and attract consumers who care about the environment and sustainable practices; and second, follow what their mission statement says: “build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis” (Patagonia). In this research paper, I will focus on the impact of sustainable practices within an organization.
The way that many corporations around the world have been doing business has changed in past three decades. In 1969, the United States was the first country to implement environmental sustainability policies according to the Environmental Protection Agency. After this event, other countries started to create policies as well. What did this mean for business? As more policies were created, people slowly started to become more aware about environmental issues. Especially in the late 70’s to early 90’s, when governments started to create more policies and people started to create environmental movements. As people started to care more about environmental problems, they started to demand more sustainable practices by business. According to Nick Feinstein ...
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With forward movement in society, it is important to consider not just what will propel most toward success, but also what will help to sustain the environment along the way. What may have been considered appropriate decades ago, may no longer be socially acceptable due to the changes observed in both the business world and the environment (Fiske, 2010). Therefore, it is important for organizations thriving in today?s economy to consider how they may capitalize most effectively from their product or service of choice while minimizing or eliminating any damages along the way (Knoke, 2012).
With sustainable business the retailer is forced to look at the full production chain of the product and analyze how best they can address socio-economic and environmental issues associated with their
In relation to sustainability, more and more this aspect is becoming very important for a company’s bottom line and for them to differentiate themselves from their competition that fails to establish a sustainability program. In a macro sense, it ethically responsible to establish a sustainability program to identify ways that the firm can make a difference globally and reduce their overall expense and
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)
In recent years, there has been a push for companies to look further than the traditional bottom line. While profit metrics such as net income seem to have some of the strongest reaction in the market, firms have now begun to see that their value should extend past that. As a KPMG report on corporate sustainability defined, “…corporate sustainability is defined as: ‘adopting business strategies that meet the needs of the enterprise and its stakeholders today while sustaining the resources, both human and natural, that will be needed in the future.” (pg.12) It shouldn’t be taken to mean that corporate sustainability is simply a “green”, or environmentally friendly, strategy. It encompasses more than the natural environment. Rather it creates long-term consumer and employee value by taking into consideration the social, economic, and cultural environment in which the firm operates. As more companies begin to adopt these sustainable business practices, studies are being released showing how positively significant the effects are on the firms earnings due to increased profitability and cost reductions. This paper will attempt to explain the overarching concept of sustainability, the widespread adoption of sustainable business practices, the effects on profitability for these firms, and finally the controllership function in directing this new revolution.
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 today’s market, there is I a drive for people to be a more conscientious consumer, this means that they think about their personal health and the effect of global health before they buy. (Solomon.2017) Due to the fact, that people are thinking more about the environment and effects products have on the world, marketers have found themselves taking a different approach to reach their target audience. A new way of marketing is called Green Marketing, this type of marketing involves the development and implementation of environmentally friendly products. (Solomon.2017) This method is especially stressed to the customer that is buying the product. For example, in the KIA Niro, Melisa McCarthy is showing traveling around the world to do her best to save
Increasing public interest for the natural world is driving business organizations to give careful consideration to their ecological footprint, not only in the commodities and services they offer, but also in the supply chain that conveys them. What initially began as a corporate image improvement strategy has developed into a business imperative and, in the most advanced organizations, a competitive advantage. In today’s global market, the expectations for business companies about greening supply chain are very great particularly the consumer electronics industries, thus, international business outfits are putting in lots of effort to ensure their supply chains are operating in a socially and ecologically responsible manner in order to remain competitive. A Company’s obligations toward environmental sustainability define its corporate image and relationships with clients, stakeholders, community groups, also influencing its profits in the long run. It is therefore of a great importance for ABC Inc. which has just stepped out of a major growth phase to green its operations and be more proactive in implementing extended producer responsibility (EPR) initiatives into order reduce its ecological footprint and at same time saving money.
According to Christensen et al. (14+), sustainability on a global front leads to a reduction in cost. For instance, many companies invest heavily in commercials and other forms of advertisements. However, when a product is manufactured under favorable conditions, a strategic advertisement capturing environmental concern becomes far reaching and woes more customers to make purchase of the product. This reduces advertisement cost, which leads to an overall reduction in associated costs. A huge amount of research has shown that cost reduction by application of sustainable strategy is achievable.
Belz, F., & Peattie, K 2012, Sustainability marketing: a global perspective (2nd ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Many companies are able to accept a win-win strategy towards adopting environmentally friendly practices, because of the positive correlation between environmental actions and financial returns (Frankel, 1998). A company can save costs by looking for eco-efficiencies; where companies decrease their environmentally harmful inputs and outputs. In 2009, Canadian Tire introduced the right-fit packaging program, which would reduce the amount of unnecessary packaging. While Canadian Tire was curtailing their environmental impact, 320 packaging changes between 2010-2011 saved the company $6.3 million in costs (Elm & Tyler, 2012). Eco-efficiencies clearly yields profit, while reducing the company's environmental impact. Furthermore, creating a product or service that offers unique environmental benefits for consumers is another way that environmental actions lead to financial gain. By creating an environmentally beneficial product, a company separates themselves from competition and will be able to capitalize on these environmental opportunities. Consumers are willing to pay a premium for greener goods: goods being made in an environmentally friendly way or by a company who is greener (Reinhardt, 1999). Besides capitalizing on environmentally differentiated products, companies can also achiev...
Epstein, M. J. (2008). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental, and economic impacts. Sheffield, UK: Greenleaf Publishing.
Hence, corporation must bear in mind for long-term sustainability, it need to focus on its relationship with
The sustainability of 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. Annie Leonard in her book The Story of Stuff says that companies can significantly reduce their toll on the environment by changing their design. The design determines “the amount of energy used in making and using the product,” “the length of the product’s life span” and “its ability to be recycled” (Leonard). All these things determine the amount of resources a company must use, so simply changing a product’s design is one way a company can have a large impact on the sustainability of the environment in which it operates. One example of this is that “Wal-Mart attributed more that $100 million of its 2009 revenue to a decision to switch to a recyclable variety of cardboard in shipments” which it sells to a recycler instead of paying to send it to a landfill
Without doubt the XXI century has changed our priorities, especially when it comes to the way we do business. Popular sustainable business models, as advertised in the media, have evolved into much more than a moral obligation or an external requirement to generate money. Essentially, are forcing companies to reinvent the systems and approaches with which they generate value and profitability to the company.