Triple Bottom Lines And Sustainable Construction

Significance in Sustainable Developments

Discuss about the Triple Bottom Lines and Sustainable Construction.

Triple Bottom Line (TBL) was postulated by John Elkington back in 1997 to improve on the performance and sustainability of the organization so as to realize its objectives and goals. The dimensions of TBL are three namely, social, environment and economic sustainability. It is important to underscore that the focal point of TBL is to assess social, environment and economic which is very crucial for an organization (Leppelt, 2014). TBL is a consultant firm that is based in UK and does consultative services to DuPont and World Bank. It therefore provides report on

Corporate performance. It is incumbent to note that TBL provides the basis for the firm to assess their performance. Notably, it explicitly demonstrates integrity and transparency in an organization. This implies that it heightens investments and confidence in business which ultimately increases on profitability of the organization. In nutshell, it operates on three basic principle which work in tandem with each other.  

As enumerated above, TBL operates under three basic principles of sustainability namely, economic, social and environment. Due to its centrality of the aforementioned principle, it puts the firm at better position to assess its performance in a very competitive market.  The key stakeholders of the organization are customers, employees and community around where such firm has been established.

 Environment as a principle of sustainability implies the sphere in which the employees operate. It should be noted that when the environment is friendly, employees tend to provide their services diligently (Abereijo, 2016). In broad spectrum, environment encompasses treatment that employees receive in the course of their duty. Ideally, the management determines the type of management. If the manager is willing to listen to their employees, the workability would be smooth. To enhance sustainability and better the performance in an organization, it is incumbent of all the mangers to provide warm environment by ensuring that they bond their relationship with their workforce.  According to John Elkington, environment measures the natural resources in a given area. A firm can be able to determine its performance by assessing some factors such as the rate of pollution caused by the firm.  It is in this view that the firm ought to devise appropriate measures to see how to curb the issue of pollution of the environment. It is important to note that environment is very important for sustainability of the organization and the nation. This framework provides that the organization ought to develop appropriate measures to counter challenges of emission of hazardous gases which poses great threat to the lives of people and animals around.  Another factor that is of paramount importance in an organization is the rate at which the said firm consumes electricity. The consumption of electricity in a firm matters a lot. The company may be able to calculate its output by knowing clearly their input through the consumption of electricity. This puts it at better position to determine if they are carrying out a profitable business or they are realizing great loss on the market for corrective measures to be devised.  It has been observed that some of the firm do not have proper way of disposing their garbage. To achieve efficacy in sustainability, some regulations and policies in garbage disposal have been set to see to it that the firm adheres to the set regulations in the view of protecting the environment from destruction and reducing the effect caused by harmful substances. For instance, some companies such as Nike and Telesco reexamined its performance in Bangladesh and Mexico.  This came as result of some notable issues that were brought forward, such as the issue of malpractices in the company, safety of employees and excessive use of hydrocarbon by the firm.  Both Nike and Telesco did some investigations to ascertain the case brought before them. It was indeed established that the safety of employees was not given priority and as such made most of them vulnerable to some hazardous risks that would cause their lives.  

Environment

The community around which the firm has been established has to benefit from the firm in different ways. The notable ways is that the community has to be considered in the labor force and this would increase the bondage between the community and the firm.  As such, the organization would have solved the issue of unemployment amongst the said community which would put the firm at a better position to perform their work with minimal problem or pressure from community. It is common knowledge that when the firm operate where there is high rate of unemployment, the company is at risk since insecurity may be high due to high unemployment rate amongst the community members( Glavas & Mish, 2015).  By employing the youth, all this factors are watered down and allows for better functionality of the system which is geared towards sustainability of the firm. The issue of gender parity has been on the bottom line for very long period of time. A firm may asses its progress by considering the number of feminine in the firm since it has been observed for so long that they are denied opportunities in most of the corporations.  The issue of equity in gender in an organization is very important as it implies that the said organization is not discriminatory and that it allows equal opportunities for all.  Most of the nations have passed some regulations to see to it that firm adheres to the issue of gender in the organization.  Another notable aspect under the social dimension is the health expectancy. The firm ought to play a significant role in ensuring that the health of its workforce put into consideration. This is achieved by paying for their workforce medical cover.

A sustainable business is the one that has good flow of money. An organization has to calculate its expenditure and taxes well to be able to assess how it is faring on in the market. The firm may establish this by ascertaining personal income, job growth, employment distribution and cost of underemployment. The aforementioned components are very significant in determining whether the firm is economically stable or not (Kalogo & Monteith, 2013). If there is equal distribution of employment, this is a clear indication that the organization is performing well. Moreover, the level of job growth in an organization is another indication of the company’s success. Job growth implies that the firm is performing better and that is why it requires additional, or surplus workforce to be able to meet its objectives. Conversely, when the firm decides to lay off its workforce, it implies that it is not performing well and this may attribute to great loss realized by the said firm. Primarily, it is important to underscore that most nations are striving to reinstate sanity in the issue affecting people, natural resources and climate.

Social

According to Pope, Annandale & Morrison (2016) sustainability assessment helps as a tool to achieve fully sustainable environment. Sustainability is view as a process of aiding different projects and plans to improve the lives of people.in this article the authors are trying to distinguish different foams of sustainability. They are approaching this topic in a different perspective by evaluating whether or not a project fits to be considered sustainable. They are consider TBL to be the better option while choosing which project is appropriate on specific places.

Abereijo (2016) asserts that sustainability is a global issues affect a wider population of people, it is therefore requires more focus. Entrepreneurship has now been integrated by sustainability in that it combine both social and environmental sustainability. This essay majorly encourage developing countries to promote sustainability not just the entrepreneurship but also environmental conservation. This framework can influence how students in developing counties view sustainability entrepreneurship.

Numerous research carried out by Onat, Kucukvar, Tatari & Egilmez (2016) shows that quantitative sustainability is a complex topic. This topic requires new technology to be introduced so as to take care of many unresolved issues of environmental, social and entrepreneurial factors. This research is aimed to eradicate environmental problems and built a harmonious relationship between social and environmental approaches. Investigating all the aspect involved in impacting positively on environment. It alleviate global warming and air pollution produced by vehicles using oil and electric power.

Katsaliaki & Navonil (2015) define sustainability as an act which cater for present society without affecting future generations. Economic well-being, environmental improvement and social entrepreneurship are all forms of triple bottom lines TBL. Effective management leads to better sustainability results. TBL has emerge as a prioritized factor in recent years due to climate changes, demographical and destruction of natural resources. Enhancing sustainability courses in universities is considered a road path to winning this devastating battle.

This article supported by Glavas, A., & Mish, J. (March 01, 2015) research shows that qualitative studying and investigating on triple bottom line (TBL) do lead maintaining a healthier environment. It fully understands how firms carry out TBL and its relationships with other stake holders. They used theological approach to equip those they employ to do the research. TBL does not only major on finished products and services but also in goes further to how they are delivered. Moreover, they make their service transparent and involve all stake holders.in doing this they create new market where other firms can benefit. They prefer have a collaborative market plan rather than competitive package.

Economic

An analysis by Calhoun & Douglas (2015) was done and Learning organizational (LOs) have proven to be an effective method used when researching sustainability. In this content studies have been done on tourism and hospitality, the outcome had positive impact on sustainability.

This literature was largely conducted by Jones, Comfort & Hillier (2014) how reading retailer stores are incorporating sustainability on their marketing strategies. It start by looking at sustainability in top companies United Kingdom especially in Cheltenham town. Those companies are enticing customers to buy and consume their products without educating them to embrace a sustainability pattern. This leads the author to critically come up with resolutions which would be of great beneficial to all citizens.

Triple Bottom line (TBL) on sustainability was coined by Leppelt (2014) in that institutions and professionals are required to be in the front line to educate the communities on its importance.  It’s a broader concept which needs to be dealt with in a logical manner. Its notion is that companies should not only fight to gain profit but also put to consideration the environmental effects.

Evidence given by Bammi & Singh (2014) has a clear approach on how sustainability development fulfill the present problems and hinders it to proceed to the next generation. Entrepreneurs are imposing this concept of sustainability on their businesses. Their concept have brought many people closer to the environment. The study predicts a future human friendly environment. It also examines the natural behavior after this plans have been implemented.

Kalogo & Monteith (2013) assert that consensus on professionals should view wastages as a valuable resources. How sludge will be beneficial to produce effective energy. Technology can be an alternative for social and environmental degrading. New technology can be used to turn sludge in useful materials. This process will save huge wastage experience in many countries. It continue to cover major advantages of recycling waste into beneficial items. Technological recovery do reduce government expenditure budgeted for importing materials.

Companies are heavily under pressure to disclose their sustainability report, this leads to unplanned funds to be channeled where not previously planned. Sustainability is a global issue but few counties are ready to implement the stipulated rules to govern the environment. Many industries claim to adhere to sustainability but in real sense they are the ones contributing to environmental escalation.

References

Abereijo, I. O. (January 01, 2016). Ensuring Environmental Sustainability through Sustainable Entrepreneurship.

Bammi, R., & Singh, P. (September 01, 2014). Decoding the responsible gifting model of nurturing green. Decision, 41, 3, 361-370.

Calhoun, J., & Douglas, A. (January 01, 2015). An Analysis of Hospitality and Tourism Research.

Glavas, A., & Mish, J. (March 01, 2015). Resources and Capabilities of Triple Bottom Line Firms: Going Over Old or Breaking New Ground? Journal of Business Ethics, 127, 3, 623-642.

Jones, P., Comfort, D., & Hillier, D. (January 01, 2014). Sustainability and the UK’s Major Food Retailers.

Kalogo, Y., & Monteith, H. (2013). Energy and resource recovery from sludge. London:

Katsaliaki, Korina, & Mustafee, Navonil. (2015). Serious games for sustainable development. Sage.

Onat, N. C., Kucukvar, M., Tatari, O., & Egilmez, G. (July 01, 2016). Integration of system dynamics approach toward deepening and broadening the life cycle sustainability assessment framework: a case for electric vehicles. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21, 7, 1009-1034.

Pope, J., Annandale, D., & Morrison-Saunders, A. (2016). Conceptualising sustainability assessment. Routledge, UK.