Sustainability Sabic Company - Case Study Example

?Sustainability Case Study Executive Summary Overall the sector has been systematically and gradually implementing eco-friendly practices. This has been done in order to improve corporate images and reputations. Further it is in line with the new business paradigm that sustainable practices afford tangible and intangible benefits for business organizations. It leads to significant savings in water and energy expenditure while empowering local communities. The use of multiple strategies has been considered to be beneficial for the organization. There is a need to apply consistent and reliable guidelines that can be adopted by the hospitality industry. This approach will develop robust and flexible strategies for ensuring success and development. One recommendation is that the company should be engaged in protection of the forests which was identified as a major strategy to fight pollution. The project should be started with the assistance of government and international environmental protection agencies. The project will aim to raise awareness towards protecting the ecosystem and providing services to indigenous communities. Water and energy consume resources at the facilities that are operated by the organization. The company should aim to reduce the water and energy consumption by thirty percent within a span of ten years. Proposals have also been given to use alternative sources of energy like wind and solar. Another initiative should be to adhere to local and international standards for the creation of green buildings. These guidelines are enforced based upon the requirements of the building codes of different countries. Dynamic leadership is required in order to implement the sustainability practices that can lead to success of the organization. The leader places novel and original ideas into the organization. The leadership preserves and sustains the normal day to day affairs of the organization. The leader enlarges and increases the growth of the organization. They have to rely on the coordination and arrangement of the organization in order to achieve the goals. Leadership focuses on the human capital of the company to achieve the aims and objectives of the organization. Management is an authoritarian style of governance while leadership breeds confidence and assurance amongst the masses. The leader has to know about the details of the operations and structures of the organization. This is because the leadership has to focus on the short term objectives and goals of the organization. The leader has to focus on the broad principles which will help the company to achieve success. They are also concerned with duplication and replication of the organizational structures and process. The leader on the other hand creates novel and original ideas for the administration and supervision of the organization. Introduction Sabic is a large petroleum company that is based in Saudi Arabia. It is a public organization with the majority of shareholder by Saudi government. It has operations in 40 countries. As an individual, I want to join the supply chain management profession. Sabic is operating in the petroleum industry where it is already under scrutiny for practices that seem to threaten the local environment. Hence there is the need for a comprehensive strategy that can be used to attain long term success. Proposed Sustainable Development Recommendations Another key strategy by the petroleum industry must be to increase awareness about sustainable living among communities. This strategy helps to create an image that the organization is dedicated towards environment protection. Training the work force is essential for the success of the program. Another impressive strategy should be to empower local communities and towns. This creates a sense of corporate social responsibility. It enables local communities to provide work force, products, and services to the industry. Several companies have created new business accords with their supply chain partners. Vendors and suppliers are encouraged to sell eco-friendly products. Overall the sector has been systematically and gradually implementing eco-friendly practices. This has been done in order to improve corporate images and reputations. Further it is in line with the new business paradigm that sustainable practices afford tangible and intangible benefits for business organizations. It leads to significant savings in water and energy expenditure while empowering local communities. The use of multiple strategies has been considered to be beneficial for the organization. There is a need to apply consistent and reliable guidelines that can be adopted by the hospitality industry. This approach will develop robust and flexible strategies for ensuring success and development. One recommendation is that the company should be engaged in protection of the forests which was identified as a major strategy to fight pollution (Daly & Cobb, 2009). The project should be started with the assistance of government and international environmental protection agencies. The project will aim to raise awareness towards protecting the ecosystem and providing services to indigenous communities. Water and energy consume resources at the facilities that are operated by the organization. The company should aim to reduce the water and energy consumption by thirty percent within a span of ten years. Proposals have also been given to use alternative sources of energy like wind and solar. Another initiative should be to adhere to local and international standards for the creation of green buildings (Daly & Cobb, 2009). These guidelines are enforced based upon the requirements of the building codes of different countries. The United States has a program which is called the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The organization should also launch several initiatives and policies which aim to raise the awareness amongst people about conserving and protecting the environment. Regular training and workshop sessions are conducted for its employees to help ensure green policies. Partnerships with local and international organizations have also helped in the recruitment of employees who have adequate knowledge of green policies (Daly & Cobb, 2009). Environmental management plays a critical role in the development of the petroleum industry. The major goal of the industry is to maintain its competitive edge. Consumers now have elevated levels of perception and awareness about environment deterioration. Organizations are implementing sustainable environment practices in order to achieve efficiency and effectiveness. Energy efficiency remains a crucial component of the strategy. Companies should create targets to mitigate energy utilization by twenty percent within a time period of ten years. The use of alternative energy sources like wind and solar are being evaluated and assessed. Similarly water management is a key component of eco-friendly procedures (Daly & Cobb, 2009). Key Stakeholders The conservation of energy remains a formidable challenge for the company despite its goal to implement alternative sources of energy. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing energy savers has been part of the organization’s environmental policy. Sustainable practices in the petroleum industry suffer from lack of coordination and integration. Each player is pursuing divergent strategies based upon individual resources, goals, and targets. There is the need to formulate coherent set of strategies for implementing sustainable practices in the sector. International, regional, and national standards for environmental management must be created in the petroleum sector (Daly & Farley, 2004). This should be achieved by creating a consensus between the key stakeholders of the process. Organizations have a direct stake in environmental protection and management. Energy and water conservation should remain the top priorities for the industry. Alternative sources of energy like wind and solar should be explored in a logical and practical manner. Water conservation should be augmented through the development of eco-friendly technologies. Another critical area is waste management. This area requires considerable research and development in order to devise a cost effective solution (Soderbaum, 2008). Recycling remains an expensive process that cannot be afforded by every hotel. The industry should reach out to local communities through a program of support and development. Infrastructure development, donations, and seminars can help to create sustainable living practices with indigenous communities. Research activities should be promoted to devise cost effective and efficient solutions to problems. Energy audit is another strategy that can assist the industry to improve its environmental management strategies. This can be conducted through agreements with energy providers. The results can be released into the public in order to demonstrate the commitment towards environmental protection. Environmental organizations can be provided discounts in order to increase awareness about sustainable practices. This approach utilizes efficiency and effectiveness. It creates a superior strategy that helps the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. Strategic partnerships with environmental protection agencies and groups are important for the industry. It helps organizations to devise appropriate strategies for energy and water conversation, waste product management, and smart usage of resources. The industry with its vast network of business associations can spread environmental protection awareness in several sectors. It can implement such programs at sports events, educational seminars, and local neighborhoods. The use of multifaceted strategies will help to achieve optimum results for business organizations (Soderbaum, 2008). Finally it is essential to train the work force to implement eco-friendly policies in the business environment. This strategy should be smart and prudent. It should develop specific skills and competencies of managers through formal and informal means. An integrated and goal oriented approach is necessary for the success of the program. Level and Type of Leadership Dynamic leadership is required in order to implement the sustainability practices that can lead to success of the organization. The leader places novel and original ideas into the organization. The leadership preserves and sustains the normal day to day affairs of the organization. The leader enlarges and increases the growth of the organization. They have to rely on the coordination and arrangement of the organization in order to achieve the goals. Leadership focuses on the human capital of the company to achieve the aims and objectives of the organization. Management is an authoritarian style of governance while leadership breeds confidence and assurance amongst the masses (Soderbaum, 2008). The leader has to know about the details of the operations and structures of the organization. This is because the leadership has to focus on the short term objectives and goals of the organization. The leader has to focus on the broad principles which will help the company to achieve success. They are also concerned with duplication and replication of the organizational structures and process. The leader on the other hand creates novel and original ideas for the administration and supervision of the organization. Leaders have the unique quality of investigating and examining the opportunities available for the business organization. Managers on the other hand have visualizations of achieving the goals of the organization. The details of visions distinguish between the roles of managers and leaders (Soderbaum, 2008). Managers need to focus on achieving results for which they utilize the entire resources and human capital of the organization. Leaders focus on the broad and extensive picture of the business operations, plans, strategies, and tactics. Leaders bring innovation by coming up with the ideas while managers fill the details on how to achieve the destination of the business organization. Leaders can use their time and resources efficiently and effectively if they have an understanding of the challenges which business organizations face in this age of globalization and information technology. Creativity is one of the unique features and advantages of leaders over managers. Developing a Strategy A comprehensive strategy needs to be developed so that Sabic can implement the proposed changes in an efficient and effective manner. This approach should be based upon achieving long term success within a short period of time. The sustainable development practices are essential for the survival of the organization. The strategy will focus on developing awareness as well as a need for such practices. It helps to improve the image and reputation of business organizations. It reduces the strain on natural resources. It uses smart strategies to ensure energy and water conservation (Visser et al, 2007). It can improve revenues and sales through the implementation of cost effective strategies. Sustainable practices can be implemented in the hospitality industry through a consensus between the key stakeholders. A set of consistent guidelines need to be created in order to develop optimized strategies for sustainable tourism. Furthermore, Sabic should develop associations with the local community in order to promote awareness and perception. Partnerships with strategic partners and agencies can also enhance the process. Environmental protection and management can help hotels to improve their revenues and sales. It can lead to the development of a responsible and committed sector (Visser et al, 2007). Sabic should develop a Green Council which must be entrusted with the task to enforce and monitor environment and social sustainability policies. This council should adopt a multi prong strategy which is aimed at reducing the carbon dioxide emissions of the organization. Sabic should utilize its environmental friendly policy by its network of partnerships with international and local organizations. It should work proactively to ensure that sustainable practices are implemented in its facilities. It can actively create a forum for international companies that would act as a common platform for the adoption of environmental and social sustainability projects and policies. Sabic should develop a network of links with environmental groups, vendors, and government organizations to enhance the efficacy of its new environment sustainability project. It should partner with companies that provide consultancy on waste management, energy emission reduction, and efficient utilization of resources. The management must be given awareness that it is essential to invest in numerous environmental initiatives. This can help to improve the image of the organization (Visser et al, 2007). Furthermore, employees can launch awareness in different parts of Saudi Arabia by cleaning up cities and removing trash. This can help to create a positive impact. Such initiatives can be used to create a robust business plan for the entire organization which will be based upon achieving long term success within a short period of time. Moreover, it is through the use of innovation and creativity that long term success can be attained. Adhering to local and international environmental legislation also boosts the productivity and output of the organization. It helps to create the best industry practices which can lead to long term success within a short period of time. The extent and scope of partnerships by Sabic can prove that it can significantly change the industry. It must take a proactive and dynamic role in ensuring that the protection of the environment is given top priority while quality, service, and security are provided to its key stakeholders. The change management strategy applied in the organization can be a combination of empirical rational and normative-reeducative models. Each of these models provides valuable insight into identifying the requirement for change. They also provide valuable guidelines on the issues that need to be modified and altered in order to successfully implement change management. The empirical rational model postulates that employees will derive satisfaction and contentment based upon their interests. The model recommends the use of incentives and bonuses in order to accomplish the business and organizational goals. Management should be able to motivate and stimulate the work force through a system of carrots and sticks. The benefits of change should be viable and realistic otherwise there will be reluctance and resistance on behalf of the employees. In order to promote change, the status quo must be reprimanded and condemned in front of the work force. The presence of superior incentives will act as motivation for the employees to become part of the change management process. The normative-reeducative model speculates that human beings have strong notions of social principles and values. This model enables change by devising new principles and values on the basis of existing ones. It can also revitalize existing notions and outlooks in order to promote sense of unity and discipline. Employees must be motivated to undergo change by creating new objectives and goals. The leadership and management must be dynamic and innovative in order to become role models. The work force should be enlightened that their personal growth is directly linked with the growth and prosperity of the organization. The focus of this model is on altering and modifying the corporate culture (Visser et al, 2007). A set of informal and formal processes exist which seek to assist the mechanism of change within the organization. Change management is a comprehensive and broad process which should have clear and precise goals. Leadership and management must look after the vision and mission statement of the organization. As the upper management becomes role models, employees can successfully emulate them. Empirical and theoretical studies have found evidence that a successful change management approach monitors and appraises the productivity and output of workers. It uses numerous assessment instruments in order to identify the presence of attributes and skills within workers (Visser et al, 2007). Such an approach has been adopted in my organization as bottlenecks and hurdles in the old system have been reduced and mitigated. One of the successes of the current program has been to take employee feedback and comments. Such an approach helps the employees learn about the benefits of the change management. It also gives them a sense of ownership and participation through the entire process. There are numerous reasons as to why employees might be reluctant or resist the process of change management. Some employees might not be motivated to upgrade or augment their skills. They might have fears about the unknown or feelings of being terminated under the new system. The employee might lack the psychological and emotional mechanism to cope with change and innovation (Visser et al, 2007). Their might even be disagreements about the revitalization of corporate principles and values. In order to overcome resistance it is crucial that management take the feedback and opinion of employees before implementing the change process. Their concerns must be addressed. Similarly management can enlighten them about the perceived benefits of the new strategy. These strategies can help to reduce or mitigate the feelings of resistance within employees. Conclusion Sabic is an organization that needs to ensure that sustainable practices can be implemented. It needs to have clear and precise goals for success. It needs to focus on long term growth as the means of achieving long term success within a short period of time. References Daly, H. & J. Cobb (2009). For the Common Good: Redirecting the Economy Toward Community, the Environment and a Sustainable Future. Boston: Beacon Press.  Daly, H.E. & Farley, J. (2004). Ecological economics: principles and applications. Washington: Island Press Soederbaum, P. (2008). Understanding Sustainability Economics. London: Earthscan.  Visser, Wayne, Dirk Matten, Manfred Pohl, and Nick Tolhurst (Editors) (2007). The A to Z of Corporate Social Responsibility. London, England; New York, NY: Wiley Read More