Introduction
Due to the rapid development of advanced technologies and modern production in enterprises, new issues, regarding environment and society appeared. In most cases, high-technology production is accompanied by massive air and water pollutions, which appears to be extremely detrimental to the environment and the population’s health. As employees present the main “engine” of enterprises’ progress, the question of their health remains topical, regardless of statuses of enterprises. Considering these aspects, it is essential to elaborate on particular policies which could decrease hazards for the environment and society and preserve the usage of high-technology for economic progress.
What Is Sustainable Business?
Since the ecological and social problems are widely discussed nowadays, there is a strong need for implementing sustainability in the majority of business strategies. The fundamental categories, included in sustainability, are the influence of business on the environment and on society, and their combination, which could produce a positive impact on at least one of these areas. Furthermore, the crucial aspect of the sustainable business is following a triple bottom line approach, which exactly recommends to focus not only on the profitable side of the business but also consider environmental and social concerns. The opposite policies are likely to lead to dreadful consequences such as social injustice or serious ecological issues, destructive for nature. According to Dyllick and Muff, the most significant feature of the truly sustainable business is the minimization of its negative effects and being able to overcome and reduce critical challenges. By combining the basic elements of the sustainable business and concentration on positive outcomes, it would be possible not only to improve the business in general but also preserve the environment.
Environmental Sphere
The environmental side of the sustainable business remains one of the most essential spheres, where proper measures should be taken before providing the business strategy. For example, the enterprise, which is interested in environmental protection, should conserve water and electricity because both these resources are valuable in production and daily life. Moreover, the conservation of these resources can be a great asset into the companies’ policies directed at saving budget. Secondly, there is a strong need for developing a unique program which could help to recycle peculiar products like electronics, paper, or supplies. Since the majority of the companies use a lot of chemicals in their business, they require the specialists which could train the employees of the company to dispose of hazardous chemicals properly. Joyce and Paquin created a tool which could “appraise how the organization generates more environmental benefits than environmental impacts.” Using this tool, it would become possible to distinguish the beneficial strategies, implemented by organizations and indicate further innovations.
Personal Motivation
The most appealing aspect of the topic of sustainable business is its importance for modern organizations and societies. Hence the world appears to be a fast-developing dynamic structure, where high technologies are often used, the policies introduced by enterprises should be progressive and modernized either. However, nowadays, most of the companies tend to concentrate on personal profit and income, ignoring all other sides of the business which contradicts the contemporary ways of thinking. By drawing more attention to the topic of sustainable business, I believe that this concept would find a lot of supporters who would care about other sides of business except for financial one.
My current research includes a thorough literature review, related to the topic which covers the basic concepts of sustainable business, its advantages, and influence on business strategies in general. I firmly believe that sustainable business is one of the most revolutionary approaches which would improve the future of our environment and social structures. One of the further ways to continue my research is to elaborately analyze each of the concepts for better understanding and further implementation in profitable business strategies. A few examples of sustainable business policies in major companies were also discovered (BMW, Adidas), which proves the success of these policies and concepts. Furthermore, it could be a good idea to not only learn theoretical knowledge of the subject but also gain some practical skills in the field. For example, I would like to participate in a project related to developing an own business model with a detailed description of its benefits and effects to test the gained knowledge and skills in real life.
Conclusion
To sum up, the question of the importance of sustainable business remains topical not only for significant world enterprises but also for smaller organizations. The benefits for different fields of life occur to be sufficient for further development of world business and improvement of the quality of life in many countries. However, if enterprises choose a strategy of ignorance or neglect of the existing problems, the consequences for the environment and society will be disastrous. Therefore, it is necessary to do elaborate research in the field, analyze its advantages and disadvantages with further explanations, and choose appropriate business strategies for successful performance.
References
Dyllick, T., & Muff, K. (2016). Clarifying the meaning of sustainable business: Introducing a typology from business-as-usual to true business sustainability. Organization & Environment, 29(2), 156-174.
Joyce, A., & Paquin, R. L. (2016). The triple layered business model canvas: A tool to design more sustainable business models. Journal of Cleaner Production, 135, 1474-1486.