Global Business Environment Assignment

Lecturer:

Student: Himmanshu Sahore

Introduction

A sustainable world is that which has intergeneration equity in all matters of society,
economy and environment (Robert W. Kates, 2005). To achieve this state of equity there is a lot
that needs to be done by all and especially by the major players in the society. The world has
been blessed with an abundant ecosystem which has helped sustain human life and activities for
a long time (Robert W. Kates, 2005). The problem is that our actions lately especially the
consumerism appetite of our society has had adverse effects on the ecosystem. Sustainability is
important as it helps to achieve a better place for all and it also ensures that the future
generations’ lives are not compromised by our activities. Sustainable development is a collective
ideology that calls for people to implement development ideas that meets needs for the present
and the future.
The business world should not be left out in the debate about sustainable development as
their activities and their existing model of business have contributed greatly to the current
situation. The major driving framework of business is the profit-making objective which has
introduced a competition for the existing resources leading to overexploitation. In the cause of
maximising their shareholders returns most business engage in cutthroat competition for raw
materials, labour and land and these competitions have an adverse effect on our ecosystem. The
current business is majorly concerned with economic growth at the expense of the welfare of the
society thus leading to issues such as political and economic crises in the society, pollution of the
environment and social disruption. The consumerism and neoclassical economies model adopted
for doing business in the world is coming under pressure from modern environmentalism as it
does not address social and environmental issues sufficiently.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate sustainability. Therefore, the research basic question
will be What’s the vision of a sustainable world?

The following sub-questions will be addressed:

 What is sustainability about? & Why is it relevant?

 What is the perspective of a sustainable world?
 What’s the role of businesses in this; And how can businesses contribute to
realizing a sustainable world?
Literature review
Understanding Sustainability and its challenges
The concept of sustainability is used in several disciplines and it is important to fully
understand what it entails. Sustainability is a marriage between the economy and the ecology and
there is a need to strike a balance in this marriage (Vergragt, 2006). A sustainable world
therefore is one that has a reached a compromise of the two to achieve the maximum benefit of
the present generation while being conscious of the needs of the future generations (Waters,
2005). The challenges facing the sustainable development is the relation between the
consumption mode of our generation and business with the ecosystem regeneration (McKinsey ,
2010). To achieve sustainability in all spheres, there is need for all the stakeholders to be
involved and strategic thinking should be adopted especially in the business world (Visser, 2011)
Perspectives of Sustainability
Sustainability is a concept that is subjective and multi-directional and requires different
approaches for one to fully appreciate the issue (World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED)., 1987). The issue can be tackled from three main pillars social,
economic and environment but they all lead to the same conclusion that there is the need for a
sustainable way of living in the society (Kate Kearins, 2005). The environment has been
transformed extensively for economic and social advancement for the mankind and there is need
to create a balance between these three issues (Habib M. Alshuwaikhat, 2017).
The Way Forward
Businesses cannot escape from the burden of contribution to a sustainable world. They
must come up with solutions to help in achieving the set sustainable development goals (Holden,
2017). There is need to adopt new business models and to stop relying on the existing production
and consumerism models (Assadourian, 2010). The sustainable business models should be able
to incorporate the social, economic and environmental aspects of sustainability (Kate Kearins,
2005). Thus, the business should utilize models that will offer products and services that are
environmentally friendly, adopt greener production processes and improve their community
outreach (UN General, 2012). These aspects should be well captured in the vision statements of
the company and engrained in their corporate culture for the present and future business
undertakings (Waters, 2005).
The adoption of the sustainable business model innovation should be done in all sectors
of the economy to help achieve maximum benefits. The adoption of eco-efficiency in all sectors
will reduce the adverse environmental impacts which have caused great harm to our ecosystem
(Robert W. Kates, 2005). The creation of economically valuable goods will lead to a healthy
society which improves the welfare of the society (UNDP Viet, 2015). In embracing ethical
measures of production, the business will reduce issues such as dumping, child labour and poor
wages which will increase the quality of life of their workers leading to an improved society
(Meadows, 2012). The adoption of these new methods leads to efficiency in production and
innovation of new products that will go a long way in reducing issues such as hunger in our
society.
Methodology
Data Collection and Analysis
The research utilised a qualitative review of existing materials on envisioning a
sustainable world and the way forward for the business. The analysis involved sourcing of
materials dealing with sustainability, and how business can be transformed by new innovation
models. The analysis focused on materials which have an approach that aims at contributing
towards sustainability in the world. These sources offered the theoretical foundations of how
sustainability can be achieved by the help from the business world.
Results
Sustainable business & its Relevancy to a Sustainable World

The sustainability of companies in the world is becoming the pro-active pathway to assure the
strategic integrity and viability of business by advancing the overall resources utilized by the
companies, decreasing the impact of the environment while maintaining the overall quality of
products, profitability, and competitiveness. With the instant advancement of venture economy,
various concerns related to the environment have become one of the major necessities for all
companies, who are accountable for complications related to sustainability (Levine and
Yanarella, 2012).

On the other hand, there are various companies which are operating in the world that are
implementing various policies in order to ensure the social responsibility and ethics are being
considered, thus demolishing the corporate environment and their strategic advantages.
Therefore, one of the greatest challenges which are faced by the government is to represent the
sustainable forms of ventures and motivates all the companies to accept social responsibility and
sustainability intentionally (Levine and Yanarella, 2012).

In the present, the concept of sustainability has acquired a greater acceptance by most
organizations. However, in context of sustainability, most of the companies are being operated
under the sustainability policies regulated by the government. On the other hand, it can be clearly
stated that the terminology of sustainability poses a new complication for business operations.
Any organization which is expecting the strategic gains must be accountable for eco-system and
environment which requires them to conduct the business operations in a more ethical way. In
the new era of sustainability, various companies in the world have understood the significance of
practices and policies related to environment towards sustainability, anticipated to decrease their
business activities footmark on the environment.

Sustainability Development Through Models

Interactive Framework for Innovation

The Interactive Framework of Innovation integrates two unique kinds of cooperation. The first
identifies with the procedures happening inside a given firm (or a mechanism of firms acting
together). The second communicates (a portion of the) connections between the individual firm
and the more extensive science and technology mechanism within which it works. Note that it is
a general limit meaning of „ mechanism ‟ and not at all like later speculations takes no of the
more extensive financial, political, social and social scene (Gallopn, 2016).

Furthermore, the Framework represents a progress in multifaceted nature of comprehension. It

perceives there are inputs amongst each Innovation stage and, vitally, criticisms between the
item clients and the outline and generation stages. A key component, as indicated by the
Framework, in deciding the achievement (or disappointment) of an Innovation project is the
degree to which firms figure out how to keep up compelling connections between periods of the
Innovation process (Gallopn, 2016).

A Framework for Achieving Green Design

A Framework for achieving a sustainable building that incorporates a natural appraisal amid the
arranging and configuration phases of building ventures, and the usage of sustainable practices.
It will be utilized to manage the procedure of development at all levels and inside all orders.
From them, it is conceivable to extrapolate an unending arrangement of an undertaking or teach
particular standards and rules, which can guarantee that choices taken take after the street of
sustainable development (Moran, 1999).

The Enterprise Management Framework

Beyond the difficulties of divisions which attempts to address Sustainability in distinctive

courses, there are likewise challenges around management mechanism s and IT. Customarily,
there have been restricted IT applications accessible in the market for a condition, wellbeing,
hazard, and item stewardship among different territories. Accordingly, associations have created
inward arrangements or received point arrangements that are not likely incorporated with
different applications (Moran, 1999).

Conclusion

The analysis identified that all the stakeholders in the society need to envision a
sustainable world if we have to safeguard the human civilization. The current consumerism
culture has led to the increased strain on the ecosystem through overexploitation of the resources
and dumping of toxic wastes and gases in the atmosphere. If the strain on the ecosystem is not
checked there is a high probability that the future generations will hardly have any resources to
sustain their livelihood and it may lead to the extinction of the human civilization. These calls for
the establishment of sustainable development goals which require a stakeholder’s approach to
achieve to make a world a better place for all.
The study also established that there is the need for adoption of new business model and
framework to replace the neoclassical approach of doing business. The new approach should be
married to the sustainable goals that were established. The adoption of these goals would mean
that the management of these businesses would concentrate on the profits but with the
consideration of the society and the environment. The study established that the need for new
business innovation model is not to change how business operates but mostly deals with the
values, attitudes, regulation of the business.
Recommendations
To achieve sustainability in the world there is the need for the business entities to adopt a value-
driven approach when running their operations. A value driven approach implies that the
business does not take care of the shareholders’ value only but also cares about the people and
the environment. A corporate social responsibility focused on the society and the environment is
one major aspect of a value-driven approach.
There is a need to establish social business structure in the world. These businesses are self-
sustaining enterprises, but their core mandate is to help the society in dealing with the social
issues affecting it. These businesses are vital in the societies which have been largely
marginalized as they will improve their living standards.
The adoption of greener ways of operations for all the business will alleviate the issue of
pollution. There are many green concepts which can be adopted in all spheres of business
operations such as construction, recycling and mode transport. These will improve the quality of
our environment.
 References

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