sustainability and Responsible Business: theory and practice Assignment Sample

Introduction Of Sustainability and Responsible Business: theory and practice

Sustainability is defined as the ability of a business to maintain something at a fixed level of working. Tea sustainability with regards to business is referred to as using the resources in such a manner that it is currently used optimally and is saved for the future as well. All ready business competition is very high and the resources available are very cares. Thus, businesses must operate the resources optimally so that it can be saved for future generations as well. In the current study the discussion relating to sustainability and responsible business practices will be undertaken. Different sustainable development goals will be discussed and particularly the impact of CSR, globalisation, and stakeholder theory will be applied within the business. In addition to this the different cases will be analysed relating to the good or bad practices of sustainability being performed by different companies. At last the discussion of issues faced by the company and the sustainable business practices used in order to improve those issues will be highlighted along with the recommendations for improvement.

Overview

In the current competitive environment it is very necessary for companies that the effectively undertake practices which protect the society and environment. This is very necessary for the company to gain a competitive advantage or others. This is particularly necessary because when the environment and Society will not be included within the business practice is that it will be affecting the efficiency of the business (Di Vaio and et.al., 2020). Thus, it is very necessary for the businesses to undertake the strategies which protect the environment and try to safeguard the society. For this it is very necessary for companies that effectively under take the use of CSR practices that is corporate social responsibility.

The concept of Corporate Social Responsibility states that the company must protect the environment and they have a responsibility towards it. This is very necessary for companies to maintain because the business operates in the external environment and uses the resources provided by the external environment. Thus it is very necessary for the company that they effectively used the limited resources and try to provide benefits to the society. The benefits to the society need to be provided as companies using the resources which are being provided by the environment hence for this company to pay back. This paying back involves protecting the environment from the harmful activities being performed by the companies and trying to reduce it and protect the environment.

Sustainable development goals

The companies must comply with the sustainability development and goals. The sustainable development goals are being prepared by the United Nation in order to provide a guide to all the companies for working sustainably (Brewer, 2019). There are different goals under the sustainable development goals which need to be comply with all the companies operating in the world. The major sustainable development goal being focus within the current report is increase industry Innovation and infrastructure. For the effective development of the world as a whole it is very necessary for the companies to continuously work on increasing the innovation so that a working can be improved. When companies will be working innovatively then they will come up with different ideas for the development of different businesses. Hence, this will assist the company in implementing the work in better and effective way so that the company grows and the profits of the companies being provided to the environment.

With regards to the current working environment globalisation is increasing. Globalisation is referred to as a system where in any company within any country can trade with other companies present in another country. With the help of globalization, there are no geographical boundaries within which the business has to operate. Within globalization, any company is free to do trade with any company being situated in any country. With regards to the promotion of innovation and industry, globalisation is very essential in order to increase business. With help of globalisation, business can increase their reach and with help of this innovation will improve. Along with this, it is also very necessary for the company to have a good stakeholder management within the foam. This is particularly necessary because stakeholders are the people who are interested in the development of the business activities and increase in profit. Hence when the innovation increases then ultimately profits will be increased which will be like to buy the stakeholders. Hence, stakeholder plays a crucial role within the increase in business activities and globalization as well.

In addition to increasing industry Innovation and infrastructure, many different sustainable development goals are being provided by United Nation. These goals include eliminating poverty erasing hunger from the society (Camilleri, 2022). Along with this it also include providing quality education and forging gender equality. Moreover, it also includes mobilising sustainable cities and communities along with organising climate action. In addition to this it also focuses on advancing life on land and life below water as well. In addition to this, SDG also focuses on guarantying peace, justice and strong institution along with building partnership for the goals. There are many different other goals as well which are listed and sustainable development goals and need to be followed by the company (Thao, Tien and Anh, 2019). For improving the working efficiency of the business it is very necessary that they complain with the SDG in majority. This is particularly because of the reason that SDG covers each and every aspect of this society and its development goals then it provides a base to the complete to grow and developed them individually. The topic of the companies also increased and as a result of this market share is also increase.

For working in the global level it is very necessary that all the ethical aspects are being followed by the company. With regards to global working it is very necessary that company operates in full ethical. There are many different practices which are unethical in nature and are being performed by the companies. It is the responsibility of the company that for working effectively they must complain with all the ethical aspects and do not use any unethical practice. At the global level the competition is very high and in order to face the competition many times companies choose wrong methods which are against the law or unethical. Hence, it is the moral responsibility of the company that they must ensure that the working at the global level is being done in clear and ethical way. For the companies to get successful it is the core responsibility that they perform all the CSR activities and also ensure that work is being done in ethical and morally correct way.

Stakeholder theory

For the companies to be successful it is very necessary that they keep the stakeholders happy and satisfied. With regards to the current modern business practices the compliance with triple bottom line is very necessary for creating the link between sustainability and stakeholder management. With the regards to the current business practices the company need to focus on the maintaining sustainable tea along with keeping the stakeholders happy (Artin, 2022). Hence, for this the initiation of triple bottom line was made. This triple bottom line is a concept which states that for maintaining the sustainability company needs to focus on three different parameters. These three different parameter includes economic aspect social aspects and environment aspects. In case the companies are focusing on all these three aspect then automatically sustainability will be maintained by the business. The reason underlying the fact is that sustainability involves majorly these three aspects only. The business run to earn profit and it is being included within the economic aspect. Along with this, the modern business practices states that company must protect the environment and it is the one of element of triple bottom line. Moreover, the ultimate objective of the business is to protect the environment and society as well which is being included in the social aspects. Thus, it is very necessary for the companies to comply with the triple bottom lines so that these stakeholders are also happy and sustainability is also being maintained.

Practice

With the above evaluation it is clear that maintaining sustainability within the business is very essential. The reason behind this fact is that in the current competitive environment sustainability is the major factor which needs to be used by the companies (Barauskaite and Streimikiene, 2021). When the business will be working sustainable then it will improve the working efficiency and more people will like it. Thus, it is very necessary for the company to comply with all the sustainable development goals so that the working efficiency of the business is improved. Furthermore, the above discussion also highlighted that complying with the stakeholder theory and triple bottom line is also very essential. The different practices of the business being undertaken must been accordance to the ethical practices. This is very necessary for the company as when the working will not be ethical then it will be affecting the efficiency of the business. This it is very necessary for all the companies all over the world to comply with the ethical practices so that the working can be improved and competition can be faced effectively.

Company 1

Schneider Electric

This is a French multinational company which specializes within the automation and Energy Management. The company is headquartered in France and is founded in the year 1836. This company combines energy and Technology in order to address the different aspects like infrastructure homes building and other services (Bartolacci, Caputo and Soverchia, 2020). The major objective of the company is to enable every person to have access to using sustainable energy and infrastructure solution for improving the working efficiency. For maintaining the mission and to attain IT company is working efficiently on the sustainable practices. For the company to work effectively they comply with the SDG goals and also the stakeholder management. In addition to this company is also trying to improve partnership with the ecosystem in order to improve the efficiency of the environment. It is very necessary for the company to get successful by providing help to the environment as well. With regards to ethical working neither electric is name that 11th position in the list of world's most ethical companies. This company is the leader in the digital transformation relating to Energy Management and automation (Dzhengiz and Niesten, 2020). The company work ethically in order to improve its working efficiency and to provide a good environment to the Employees. The employee likes to work in an environment which is free from any corruption and other illegal activities. Thus, for working ethically se undertake the use of different policies like anti corruption, anti harassment policies, human right protection policy, diversity and inclusion, health and safety and many other different policies for welfare of employees.

The company is working continuously on improving the sustainability practices within the company. Company is trying to maintain confidence of all its employees within the working so that they work effectively and try to attain the objectives easily. Schneider Electric has undertaken to use of principles of responsibility ethics charter which includes the different ethics and compliance program which needs to be effectively followed by all employees (Nobanee and et.al., 2021). This is very necessary as it provides guidance to the employees that how they have to work efficiently and try to improve the performance so that the objectives of CSR and sustainable working can be improved. In addition to the companies recently announce the stability impact program which outlines the objective of maintaining socially responsible behaviour of all the employees. This behaviour acts as guidance to all the employees and they have to comply with it in order to work efficiently.

In addition to this se is also focusing on complaints with theory of triple bottom line. This theory is being applicable within the business in order to work sustainably. For the effective working of the company it is very necessary that sustainable working and protecting the environment takes place. Thus, for this Schneider Electric is taking the use of triple bottom line as a theory of improvement (Mostepaniuk and et.al., 2022). Triple bottom line covers three major aspects that is economic, social and environmental factors. The business comprises of all these three elements majorly and it is very necessary for company to protect all these three elements. When the company works then they majorly focuses on these three elements then it improve the working efficiency and the profitability of the company also increases. Hence, company undertakes the use of triple bottom line in order to improve the working efficiency of the business and to improve the market share as well (Ashrafi and et.al., 2020). With regards to the economic factor the company is earning good amount of profit which is being invested within the development of the business further and the society as well. In addition to this, with regards to the society the company is complying with the different SDG goals relating to society. This involves promoting equality, development social factors. At the end with regards to sustainability, company is complying with good corporate social responsibility practice is which in turn helps the company in improving the efficiency of the business.

Company 2

Tesla

Tesla which is an American multinational Automotive company being founded in the year 2003 and is headquartered in Austin Texas. The company design and manufactures different electric vehicles and battery energy storage devices. The company works effectively within the automotive sector and it is very necessary for them to effectively and takes the use of sustainable business practices. This is particularly necessary because when we business is not undertaking sustainable working then it will be affecting the efficiency of the business and competitors will take advantage of it. Thus, as a result of this the sales of the business will decline and the customers will also reduce. It is very necessary for the business to effectively operator within the external environment (Tesla, Inc, 2023). Hence, for this there is requirement of ethical working so that every work is being undertaken in better and effective way. There are many different ethical aspects being faced by the company while operating. With the driverless car of Tesla there are many different physical dilemmas being attached.

The first and major ethical dilemma being involved is the accountability in case of any car crashed there is no accountable person for the accident. This is particularly ethical issue which needs to be solved by the business as a accountability is not present. In addition to this, another ethical dilemma are being attached with use of driverless car by Tesla is that there is no displaying of the human values (Nair and McLeod, 2020). This is particularly because of the reason that when the vehicle finds any injured person or any other person who is in need of help then the car cannot stop as there is no person within it. Moreover another ethical dilemma attached with the driverless carbide Tesla is that it will impact the environment as well. This is particularly because of the reason that when there is the promotion of vehicle usage that is driverless vehicles. But at the same time the companies are promoting fewer vehicles so that Greenhouse gas emission can be reduced. Thus in that case more Greenhouse gas will be emitted them this will affect the environment to a great extent.

Hence, for Tesla to work effectively is very necessary started try to solve these ethical issues efficiently and effectively. this is particularly necessary because it will help the complete to improve its performance and try to reduce the negative impacts over the business (Streimikiene and et.al., 2021). In addition to this for solving the problem Tesla is undertaken the use of triple bottom line which includes 3 major aspects. The first aspect is environmental for which Tesla is undertaken many different steps. Currently Tesla is received the best rating for Ethical consumers carbon management and reporting. This simply means that the companies focusing on producing climate friendly products which is good for the environment. In addition to this, the companies also working efficiently for reducing the use of toxic Chemicals and try to work efficiently and to protect the environment. With regards to people the company has code the best trading for conflict Mineral Policy and practices. At last the companies also taking steps for working sustainably. For this the company is focusing on effective protection of the environment so that the work can be done efficiently and effectively.

Company 3

Facebook

Another company being focused for evaluate think the ethical issues and aspects is Facebook. Facebook is a company being founded in the year 2004 and this at what are the United States deals with technology conglomerate which assist in connecting with others. The company is a social media platform which provides a based to the company to communicate with others and tried to work efficiently with others. In the year 2018 FaceBook saw the biggest scandal relating to ethical working. The New York Times reported that the company has harvested millions of data of the Facebook user in the year 2013 without their consent. This was particularly possible because the previous version of the Facebook had the privacy policy which allowed the app to have access to the data of users French. This result in gathering information relating to allowed 87 million Facebook users and 30000 people around (Top 10 biggest corporate scandals and how they affected share prices, 2023). This was the biggest ethical scandal taken place in Facebook and it provided a way to the company to grow and develop and try to remove the unethical practices. In addition to this, it also provided a better knowledge to the company that famous behave ethically and try to safeguard all the data. The data belongs to the other people and in case it will be used by some other persons and it will not be good for the company. Hence it is very necessary for Facebook to work ethically and it right to protect the environment and the uses as well.

Hence, it is very necessary for Facebook to try to reduce the impact of these unethical practices. This is particularly necessary for the company as it is the moral responsibility of the business to keep all the data safe and secure. The application is such which includes the personal data of the user and it is the major responsibility of the company that they try to keep data of people safe and secured. In case data will not be kept the secured then it will be affecting the efficiency of the business and people will not trust Facebook as a social media platform (Meseguer-Sánchez and et.al., 2021). Hence, for this the company had to comply with the entire data management and protection act. This is particularly necessary because when Facebook will be complying with effective data protection then all the personal data will be kept safe of the user. And it will assist the company in providing a basic to the users that all that data will be kept safe and secured so that they can trust the company and can share their personal data and information.

Concluion

In the end it is computer that maintaining sustainability is very necessary for the business. In case the business undertakes the use of Sustainable and responsible practices then it provides a base to company to grow and developed effectively. The above report highlighted that the compliance with the sustainable development goal is very essential for the business as it provides a base to the company to grow efficiently and protect the environment as well along with the business practices. The above report also highlighted that the compliance with stakeholder's theory and triple bottom line is very necessary to protect the environment and work sustainable. Further it was also evaluated that having the ethical practices within the working is very necessary for any kind of company. Different examples were seen where a unethical practices were taking place and this affected the working efficiency of the company to a great extent. The different examples of companies like Facebook Tesla and other were seen where in the medical practices were taking place and this affect the working of the company negatively. Further it was evaluated that company must work efficiently and comply with all the sustainable practices so that the performance of the company can be improved and the professor sales of the business will also expand.

References

Books and Journals

• Artin, P., 2022. Critical sustainability factors of regional SMEs; A case study of regional Australia.Current Research in Environmental Sustainability.4. p.100138.
• Ashrafi, M. and et.al., 2020. Understanding the conceptual evolutionary path and theoretical underpinnings of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability.Sustainability.12(3). p.760.
• Barauskaite, G. and Streimikiene, D., 2021. Corporate social responsibility and financial performance of companies: The puzzle of concepts, definitions and assessment methods.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.28(1). pp.278-287.
• Bartolacci, F., Caputo, A. and Soverchia, M., 2020. Sustainability and financial performance of small and medium sized enterprises: A bibliometric and systematic literature review.Business Strategy and the Environment.29(3). pp.1297-1309.
• Brewer, M.K., 2019. Slow fashion in a fast fashion world: Promoting sustainability and responsibility.Laws.8(4). p.24.
• Camilleri, M.A., 2022. Strategic attributions of corporate social responsibility and environmental management: The business case for doing well by doing good!.Sustainable Development.30(3). pp.409-422.
• Di Vaio, A. and et.al., 2020. Artificial intelligence in the agri-food system: Rethinking sustainable business models in the COVID-19 scenario.Sustainability.12(12). p.4851.
• Dzhengiz, T. and Niesten, E., 2020. Competences for environmental sustainability: A systematic review on the impact of absorptive capacity and capabilities.Journal of business ethics.162(4). pp.881-906.
• Meseguer-Sánchez, V. and et.al., 2021. Corporate social responsibility and sustainability. A bibliometric analysis of their interrelations.Sustainability.13(4). p.1636.
• Mostepaniuk, A. and et.al., 2022. Managing a Relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability: A Systematic Review.Sustainability.14(18). p.11203.
• Nair, V. and McLeod, M., 2020. Lessons learnt from the experience of countries in the Caribbean in aligning tourism investment, business and operations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes.12(3). pp.353-358.
• Nobanee, H. and et.al., 2021. A bibliometric analysis of sustainability and risk management.Sustainability.13(6). p.3277.
• Streimikiene, D. and et.al., 2021. Sustainable tourism development and competitiveness: The systematic literature review.Sustainable development.29(1). pp.259-271.
• Thao, V.T.T., Tien, N.H. and Anh, D.B.H., 2019. Sustainability Issues in Social Model of Coporate Social Responsibility Theoretical Analysis and Practical Implication.Journal of Advanced Research in Management.10(1 (19)). pp.17-29.

Online

• Tesla, Inc. 2023. [Online]. Available through: < https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/company-profile/tesla-inc>
• Top 10 biggest corporate scandals and how they affected share prices. 2023. [Online]. Available through: < https://www.ig.com/uk/news-and-trade-ideas/top-10-biggest-corporate-scandals-and-how-they-affected-share-pr-181101#uber >