Responsible business is essential for every organization to follow. For an organization, to generate profits is one of the most important aspects, but the organization should never sideline the other important responsibilities that are expected out of them. To achieve sustainable and responsible practice, it is important for each organization to make a good sense of the business that should fulfill all the three aspects associated with each business that are sustainability, ethics, and responsibilities. The one theory that fulfills all these aspects is the Triple Bottom Line that includes the wellness of Profit, Planet, and People. The sustainable development in business can be acquired by following the simple definition of Richard Watts and Lord Holme, who described sustainable development as “Making Good Business Sense”.
In my opinion, one of the best approaches to conduct sustainable responsible business is the Triple Bottom Line. Sustainability in business does not only mean the wellness of society and the environment, but it also means earning profits that can be easily attained by the triple bottom line principles (Hammann, Habisch & Pechlaner, 2009). The biggest influence that triple bottom line had on my perspective, is due its approach of fulfilling the current needs without sacrificing the wants and desires of the future generations. For any organization to be a sustainable business it is important to have a neutral triple bottom line. The triple bottom line also includes some of the practices like product life-cycle, sustainable management, and sustainable capital. All these practices are implicated in a business for achieving sustainability in social, economic, and environmental factors. To reflect all these practices a business it is important to create an environmental impact by utilizing more natural resources and control the wastage in an organization, thus, in my view, to create a social impact it is important that the workforce of the organization is satisfied and for building an economic impact it is important that the organizations’ taxation policy is effectively implemented along with the effective supply chain method (Hasford & Farmer, 2016).
The other sustainability aspect that I consider will have the biggest impact on any organization is Systems Thinking. Systems thinking should be executed in every organization as this will help in creating a well-thought-out plan for an organization to achieve sustainable and responsible practices in an organization that will further help in attaining the principles of the triple bottom line (Heaton, 2017). Systems thinking helps in the formulation of interrelated practices that focus on achieving the desired goals of an organization. According to my views and experiences, the practices associated with social, economic and environmental factors should be interrelated as this helps in achieving greater heights of sustainability in an organization. The system thinking also comprises of three factors that are elements, interconnections, and functions, all have to work coherently to achieve the desired goals. Thus, I think that the combination of systems thinking and the triple bottom line is the best approach for any organization to conduct responsible business (Lubberink, Blok, van Ophem & Omta, 2017).
The institutionalization of the triple bottom line, though displays a lot of potentials, but the changes in the market and the policies related to social, economic and environmental aspects sometimes have an adverse effect on the organization that implements it. The triple bottom line is based on a number of theoretical frameworks that defy the concepts of unrestricted capitalism, this further brings modifications in the corporate behavior that affects an organization to conduct sustainable and responsible business practices (Murphy, Sharma & Moon, 2012). Many a time, I have also studied that it leads to loss of investors and stakeholders in the organization. Institutions have an inhibited nature that has concocted by the actors who are responsible for the interactions in an organization. According to the normative theory, the institutions in an organization are the rules and regulations and any changes in the institutions will increase the level of complexity (Seow, Sarkis, Lockström & Callarman, 2014). The triple bottom line framework that is implemented in an organization will suffer a huge loss in the long run as the changes in the corporate governance requires further adjustments which the framework triple bottom line will be unable to handle. In my opinion, complexity creates chaos in an organization that affects the sustainable functioning of the organization. The triple bottom line promises sustainability in all three aspects but to evaluate this sustainability of the triple bottom line is a complex process that every organization will fail to do so. The aspect of the triple bottom line that enhances the measurement complexity is the reliability of the results obtained. This is due to the consideration of the intangible assets in the measurement process like loyalty and the reputation of the organization. In my perspective, these aspects do not help in understanding the value of each factor, that is, economic, social and environmental. The results which might be received through the measurement process will create a number of doubts (Singhal, Suryawanshi & Mittal, 2017).
System thinking is a process of integration and this integration is very beneficial for solving wicked and complex problems that may arise in an organizational framework in my opinion. This process of system thinking encourages to build a bigger understanding about the interrelationships, perspectives and the boundaries, all these aspects help in dealing with the inhibited nature of the institution (Slavova, 2015). The complexity created by the rules and regulations has to be addressed by multiple actors and system thinking helps in identifying those actors and implementing them effectively. According to my knowledge, the process of system thinking also helps in creating a sustainable management environment in an organization that helps in conducting sustainable and responsible business practices (Tyagi, 2012).
The market is evolving with the passing time and in the future, there is a definite need for implementing practices that help in continuous improvements in the organization. For every future organization, thus there is a need for recognizing a sustainable and strategic mission and vision for an organization. In my perspective, the amalgamation of system thinking and the triple bottom line is an effective approach, but with the changing times, there will be a requirement for more transparency in an organization. This is essential for reducing the complexities in an organization and also will help in better management of problems and issues. All organizations have responsibilities that have to be fulfilled towards the environment, society, and economics. But, the main focus of each organization in my views, has to be on the economic factor as through this the other two factors can be attained (Weller, 2017). The triple bottom line many a time leads to loss of stakeholders and investors, this issue needs maximum curbing as the stakeholders and the external sources play a major role in the development and welfare of any organization. For all the future business, it is important that all the activities, processes and practices that are executed in an organization should aim at improving the present and the future of the upcoming generations, through this mean each organization will be able to achieve sustainable and responsible business.
Conclusion
The importance of sustainable business practices has increased in the last decades. There are a number of approaches that can be beneficial for the organizations. But, according to the impact different sustainable practices had on me, there is a need for understanding their drawbacks and loopholes, so they can be handled with sustainable alternatives. Like, the combination of triple bottom line and systems thinking. So, sustainable practices can be attained if each practice that is executed in an organization, should analyze the various factors that play a major role in achieving sustainable development in an organization and then further improvisation should be conducted on the implemented practices. I consider that for any organization, a single approach can also help in conducting sustainable business, but due to the growing changes in the market and the institutions, there is a need for executing multiple approaches.
References
Hammann, E., Habisch, A., & Pechlaner, H. (2009). Values that create value: socially responsible business practices in SMEs – empirical evidence from German companies. Business Ethics: A European Review, 18(1), 37-51.
Hasford, J., & Farmer, A. (2016). Responsible you, despicable me: Contrasting competitor inferences from socially responsible behavior. Journal Of Business Research, 69(3), 1234-1241.
Heaton, D. (2017). Stop Teaching: Principles and Practices for Responsible Management EducationStop Teaching: Principles and Practices for Responsible Management Education, by RimanoczyIsabel. New York, NY: Business Expert Press, 2016. 168 pages, Paperback. Academy Of Management Learning & Education, 16(1), 165-167.
Lubberink, R., Blok, V., van Ophem, J., & Omta, O. (2017). Lessons for Responsible Innovation in the Business Context: A Systematic Literature Review of Responsible, Social and Sustainable Innovation Practices. Sustainability, 9(5), 721.
Murphy, R., Sharma, N., & Moon, J. (2012). Empowering Students to Engage with Responsible Business Thinking and Practices. Business And Professional Ethics Journal, 31(2), 313-330.
Seow, C., Sarkis, J., Lockström, M., & Callarman, T. (2014). “Responsible Purchasing and Supply Practices”-Editorial. Decision Sciences, 45(4), 571-576.
Singhal, N., Suryawanshi, P., & Mittal, G. (2017). Crafting Responsible Management Practices in Business School Learning Outcomes: An Indian Case Study. Vision: The Journal Of Business Perspective, 21(1), 46-62.
Slavova, I. (2015). Social responsible business practices in Bulgaria: Change in organizational culture. Trakia Journal Of Science, 13(Suppl.1), 212-218.
Tyagi, R. (2012). Sustaining by working on the bottom of the pyramid: a case of Jaipur Rugs India on its socially responsible practices. International Journal Of Business Performance Management, 13(1), 46.
Weller, A. (2017). Aligning responsible business practices: A case study. Business Ethics: A European Review, 26(4), 457-467.
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