AMITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

Dr Anshul Malik
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Module IV: Sustainable

Practices
• Green Practices
• Ethics to handle VUCA environment
• Importance of sustainability
• Sustainable Business practices
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Inclusive development
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Sustainability
• “we tend to think of renewable fuel sources,
reducing carbon emissions, protecting
environments and a way of keeping the delicate
ecosystems of our planet in balance. In short,
sustainability looks to protect our natural
environment, human and ecological health, while
driving innovation and not compromising our
way of life.
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Sustainable Practices
• Sustainable practices are the processes
services employ to maintain the qualities
that are valued in the physical
environment.
• Living sustainably is about living within the
means of natural systems (environment)
and ensuring that our lifestyle doesn't
harm other people (society and culture).
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Five examples of sustainable

practices
• Wind Energy.
• Solar Energy.
• Crop Rotation.
• Water efficient fixtures.
• Green Spaces.
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Three pillars of Sustainability

• The three-pillar conception of

(social, economic and environmental)
sustainability, commonly represented by
three intersecting circles with overall
sustainability at the centre, has become
ubiquitous.
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• The social pillar of a company's sustainable development

refers to values that promote equality and respect for
individual rights.
• This pillar is based on companies’ ability to contribute to
economic development and growth. In other words, they
must encourage and promote the protection of the
environment by limiting the risks posed by their
production. The recycling of products and the use of
renewable energy are therefore fundamental aspects of
the development of the economic pillar
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• The environmental pillar is founded on a commitment

to protect the environment by reducing risks and measuring
the environmental impacts of companies' activities.
• The challenges for companies in this area are as follows:
• Saving and preserving natural energy or agricultural
resources
• Assessing their carbon footprint and reducing total
greenhouse gas emissions and further achieving sustainable
development goals.
• Prevent water scarcity and reduce overall waste for current
and future generations.
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8 Sustainable Business
Practice Examples
• Be Intentional About Sustainability.
• Partner with Employees.
• Water And Electric Conservation.
• Supply Chains.
• Develop a Recycling Program.
• Chemical Management.
• Purchase Only Energy Efficient Products.
• Develop Sustainability Work Policies.
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GREEN PRACTICES
• Recycling-Recycling is one of the easiest
and most effective ways for a small
business to become greener.
• Energy Saving- Energy is an unavoidable
business expense but fortunately there are
many ways a business can make energy
savings and thereby reduce the company’s
carbon footprint.
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• Going Paperless- We’re firmly entrenched in the digital

era, so why not ditch the use of paper almost entirely
and opt for solely digital forms of communication and
paperwork, an accomplishment that will not only save a
small business money but put it on the environmentally-
friendly business highway.
• Reducing Heating and Cooling Costs- Cold winters
and hot summers take their toll on a business’s energy
costs. Whilst heating and cooling expenses are
unavoidable for most businesses, there are a number of
fairly simple techniques you can implement to help
reduce such costs.
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• Greener Ways to Travel- the negative effects

of business travel by walking or cycling to work
and encouraging colleagues and employees to
travel to work by such methods.
• Virtual Staffing- Hiring virtual staff that work
remotely and provide virtual staffing and
reception tasks opposed to in-house employees
that require office space, comes with several
benefits to small businesses.
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• Donate to Earth Tax- Another lesser known and

lesser practiced ways companies can go green
is to donate a percentage of its profits to Earth
Tax.
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12 WAYS TO LIVE MORE

SUSTAINABLY
•Think twice before shopping.
•Make sure your big purchases have big environmental benefits.
•Go #PlasticFree.
•Boycott products that endanger wildlife.
•Pay attention to labels.
•Be water wise.
•Drive less, drive green.
•Green your home.
•Choose Wild Energy.
•Take Extinction Off Your Plate.
•Choose to have a smaller family.
•Use your voice and your vote.
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Ethics to handle VUCA environment

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Importance of Sustainability
• Environmental Protection- An environment is only
sustainable if it doesn’t destroy any of its resources
• Social Development- People need to be educated
about sustainability. Our well-being and that of the
society depends largely on sustainability.
• Economic Development- Economic development is
important for various reasons. We need to convince
people, organizations, and communities to invest in
sustainability. There should be incentives for it.
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Examples
• Nike and Adidas have both stepped up seriously. Nike has focused on
reducing waste and minimizing its footprint, whereas Adidas has created a
greener supply chain and targeted specific issues like dyeing and
eliminating plastic bags.
• Unilever and Nestlé have both taken on major commitments; Unilever
notably on organic palm oil and its overall waste and resource footprint,
and Nestlé in areas such as product life cycle, climate, water efficiency and
waste.
• Walmart, IKEA and H&M have moved toward more sustainable retailing,
largely by leading collaboration across their supply chains to reduce waste,
increase resource productivity and optimize material usage. It also has
taken steps to address local labour conditions with suppliers from emerging
markets.
• Pepsi and Coca-Cola have both developed ambitious agendas, such as
increasing focus on water stewardship and setting targets on water
replenishment.
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• Car manufacturers like BMW and Toyota have

made strides on energy efficiency and pollution
reduction, not to mention Tesla as an outsider
really challenging the industry’s overall footprint.
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Sustainable Business practices

• Align strategy and sustainability
• Compliance first, then competitive advantage
• Reactive to proactive
• Quantify, including the business case
• Transparency
• Engage the Board
• Engage your ecosystem
• Finally – and most importantly – engage the
organization broadly:
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Corporate Social Responsibility

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Despite earning profit every firm is responsible for

protecting the society and environment within their
framework.
Previously corporate companies volunteered in social
activities but at present, according to the Companies
act 2013 (Business Standards, December 2014) it is
compulsory for every firm in India to indulge
themselves in performing certain social welfare
activities within their limit.
These social activities help the firm in gaining both
financial and non-financial performance.
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Some of the most common

examples of CSR include:
• Reducing carbon footprints
• Improving labor policies
• Participating in fairtrade
• Charitable giving
• Volunteering in the community
• Corporate policies that benefit the environment
• Socially and environmentally conscious investments
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• Inclusive development argues that obstinate growth

may lead to the exclusion of some people, the
concentration of wealth, and segmented labor
markets.
• Rather than focusing on economic growth, it calls for
direct democracy (the exercise of civil, civic, and
political rights) and the distribution of amenities
(e.g., Health, education, infrastructure) to enable
participation by all in these amenities (Sachs 2004).
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‘inclusive’
1. A focus on the most marginalized in society (the poor,
vulnerable, disadvantaged, women, and elderly) in a non-
discriminatory manner and to reduce inequalities
2. A focus on sectors and areas of exclusion—for example,
promoting urbanization hubs in peri-urban areas that
generate jobs or investment in employment opportunities in
rural areas, supported by rural infrastructure.
3. Equal opportunities for participation
4. Building on local and indigenous knowledge) while
ensuring that modern knowledge can disperse easily
through education processes
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5. Redistributing social benefits including roads, electricity,

health care, and education).
6. Context specificity
7. The understanding that providing opportunities is not
enough for the most marginalized who may not be able to
avail of these opportunities without some targeted capacity-
building
8. Rearranging existing power relations, going beyond a
merely technocratic approach
9. The recognition of customary and/or traditional rights (e.g.,
through legal pluralism
10. Stimulating the self-help options of the poorest