Sustainability In The Rhetoric Surrounding Business Ethics

When talking about sustainability numerous people associate it with just protecting the environment. Sustainability is far more than going green, but it is a principle that many companies have adopted and have worked persistently to improve over the last several years. Sustainability is defined as the ability to continue a behavior indeterminately, but it also includes improving human life overall. Sustainable development is broken down into three pillars: economic, social, and environmental (Harich & Bangerter, 2014). Economics is the study of how people use resources, which correlates to the goal of sustainable development by using resources to their full potential (Laszlo, C., & Zhexembayeva, N., 2011, p. 60). Economic sustainable development allows companies to give their customers what they want without overusing mutual resources. Social development combines the social world with the physical realm to provide a good quality of life (Benoit, 2010, p. 7). Social sustainability focuses on the well-being of people and their communities. Environmental development, the most recognizable, includes protecting the environment by reducing pollution, recycling, switching of electronic devices when not in use, etc. All three of these pillars make up what is known as sustainable development. In this paper, I researched a company and their involvement in sustainability and how it applies to the

Although there is no formal definition for the term, individuals have tried to define sustainability according to their function or area of study. The term “sustainability,” once an obscure ecological concept, has now been adopted by many in the business world to connote the principles of social and environmental responsibility (Joseph Fiksel, Jonathan Low and Jim Thomas). Further, sustainability can be seen through the eyes of business as a way to create value. More likely than not, the term sustainability can be linked to the ability of decreasing costs, wastes and inefficiencies. According to the vice president of General Electric,

Sustainability from a strategic business perspective is the potential for the long-term well-being of the natural environment, including all biological entities, as mutually beneficial interactions among nature and individuals, organizations, and business strategies. (O.C Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2015). Business sustainably is often defined as managing the triple bottom line – a process by which companies manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities. These three impacts are sometimes referred to as profits, people and planet. (Business sustainability definition from financial times lexicon, no date). This essay will discuss the idea of sustainability being an important element within a businesses and its core strategies and the importance of it within different businesses. Secondly, this study will look at how different stakeholders are affected and influenced by sustainability as this could be seen as a catalyst to improving the environment as a whole and. Then this study will look at how businesses not focusing

Business sustainability is achieved when the business successfully manages the triple bottom line. This is the process of managing the financial, social and environmental risk that a certain business will face. The consequences of business sustainability are not only the long-term success of the company but also that it becomes an appealing opportunity for potential investors as sustainability is rapidly becoming an increasingly vital component of any business.

The Cheesecake Factory has been one of the more successful chain restaurants in recent years because they have provided great food and outstanding customer service in a fun atmosphere. The cheesecake factory employs a high standard of general conduct and moral aptitude. As a chief executive officer in today’s society, it is my responsibility to ensure The Cheesecake Factory abides by the laws and ethical duties that are mandated by today’s society. There is a copious amount of benefits to being a chief executive officer, however there is an equal amount of risk as chief executive officers are held liable for almost any action or infraction that their company has induced.

Business sustainability, which originally was viewed as a question of corporate governance, has now emerged as a central, multifaceted theme of the twenty- first century. It is now the responsibility of corporate boards and managers to focus on business sustainability by creating enduring value for shareholders and managing the interests of other stakeholders, including creditors, employers, suppliers, government, and society at large.

Sustainability is defined as the ability to endure.(1) Though the idea of sustainability can be applied to most anything from a sustainable ecosystem that has survived thousands of years to a sustainable workplace that uses green technologies. Paul Hawken captured today’s connotation of sustainability in saying “Sustainability is about stabilizing the currently disruptive relationship between earth’s two most complex systems—human culture and the living world.” (2) There are countless ways to live, work, and produce sustainably. Sustainability not only needs to be practiced by citizens, but businesses need to join the green movement as well. Without creating, following, and enforcing green policies, negative effects will be evident and innumerable

Sustainability has achieved a more ecological tone in the past few decades in terms of a business model, but it originally derives from the concept that a business is successful due to the interconnected areas of economics, culture and ecology. Sustainability is now becoming a somewhat fad and thus it is understandable that it could be misconstrued by some as a form of “greenwashing”. Greenwashing is the idea that a company markets their “green” or environmentally friendly changes in policy and values, despite no actual concrete changes in these areas, for example some argue that Fiji Water greenwasher in terms of their marketing as an environmentally friendly water company despite their little effort to actually go carbon-neutral. Many companies are seeing the

Governments, environmental agencies, and corporations alike have utilized the term “sustainability” in order to convey their respective agendas for general sustainability in environmental, social, and economic realms. In spite of their initiatives, there has yet to be a generally agreed upon, uniform definition for “sustainability.” This lack of semantic clarity has promoted skepticism among some parties, skepticism primarily focused in the legitimacy of sustainability agendas, as well as the idea of sustainability in itself (Context & Development, 1992). This essay seeks to inspect the concepts of sustainability generated by two

In today’s business world, sustainability can make all the difference in the world. According to Tomson (2015), “sustainability has become an economic and strategic imperative with the potential to create opportunities and risks for businesses by creating new customer relationships, and inspiring new products and business models that drive growth. Consequently, companies that are, or aspire to be, leaders in sustainability are often challenged by rising public expectations, increasing technological innovation, continuous quality improvement, effective governance measures, high standards of ethics and integrity, and heightened social and environmental challenges” (p.1).

Sustainability implies that the organization is managing in economic, ecological and socially competent ways. All organizations range on a continuum of their sustainability level with some being more sustainable than others. Generally, as Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn (Module One, Topic 1.5) point out, the more sustainable an organization is, the more they help the surrounding environment, be this local (the particular country) or macro (the world itself). The environment also reflects the sustainability ethos and situation of the organization itself.

There are three pillars that make up overall sustainability: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on all human needs being met and a society functioning properly indefinitely. Economic sustainability is achieving a certain level of economic success indefinitely. It also involves having an extremely low percent of people living below the poverty line, which relates to social sustainability. Environmental sustainability is described as, “the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely.” ("Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem", 2014) Achieving environmental sustainability will positively affect the social and economic aspects. These three categories are directly related to each other, and to truly reach complete sustainability each of the group’s needs must be met. There are many ways for individuals, groups, companies, and societies to help make a difference in reaching this goal. Environmental issues are currently very prominent in the US and other countries. There are countless activists and researchers doing everything they can to make a difference. Most businesses, like

ITC Ltd has worked exremly hard to start several procedures that have led to compliance of the standards of social responsibility. ITC’s dealings within the tobacco industry have contributed to the increase in company revenues and the company has worked towards following the triple bottom line and giving back to society. Most, businesses pay little attention to their social responsibilities and make it part of their overall strategy, instead they concentrate more on financial benefits from the sales of products. Consequently, managing business in a socially responsive manner contributes to the best combination of business success and societal acceptance, trust and loyalty. Giving back to the community in ways that benefits only society such as planting trees to curb pollution and help the environment or using biodegradable materials in packaging can reap financial benefits to a company by building loyalty among the community. The notion of business ethics and corporate social responsibility is becoming a defining concept in all industries worldwide. ITC believes in the Triple Bottom Line philosophy where the performance and perception of a corporation should not be judged only on the basis of its financial statements or revenues, but its environmental and social performance as well. ITC is one of the only companies in the world to be carbon positive, water positive, and conduct solid waste recycling. ITC provides water to areas where water is very

Sustainability is regarded as a goal of any business. The accounting framework, to support sustainability goal is called as the triple bottom line (TBL).It focus on performance of an organization with the interrelated dimensions of profits, people and the planet.

In today’s world, different types of business have emerged and business operations have become the cornerstone of making a success, however the way in which they are operated is what is important. Most businesses hunt the main objective of making a profit without considering how that might affect other factors of society and that is what in most cases diminishes the longevity of the organisation.