Social and Environmental Sustainability - Assignment Example

Reflective Journal for Business & Society Name Institutional affiliation Course Tutor’s Name Date 1. Why businesses should be concerned about social and environmental sustainability. The society and the environment are closely linked and, one cannot do without the other. The environment sustains the society in terms of basic needs such as clean, safe drinking water and air, adequate food and shelter materials. The members of the society are in turn naturally mandated to conserve the environment; this ensures the continuity of the society. Any activity that threatens the environment threatens the survival of society. Businesses drive world economies, but they are also responsible for the downward spiral of the natural environment (WCED, 1987). Sustainable economies and societies shall remain a mirage when the environment is harmed. WCED (1987) defined sustainable development as “development that ensures that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (p. 8). This definition entails environmental, economic and social aspects of sustainability. Businesses contribute towards climatic change and can as well contribute to alleviating the possible outcomes of climatic changes (Hart, 2007). To conserve the environment and gain a reputation from the society, businesses ought to ensure that the rate at which they use renewable resources is lower than their rate of regeneration. In this case, the businesses ensure they shall always have an adequate supply of raw materials while sustaining the environment. The businesses should also ensure that they develop sustainable substitutes to nonrenewable materials at a rate faster than they utilize them. For instance companies reliant on petroleum products in their production process may look into harnessing solar energy to run their machines instead of diesel. This curbs the rate of air pollution while it may also be cost-effective to produce using renewable energy! Consequently the company may supply its products at reduced rates to the society. This creates sustainability of the environment and leaves members of the society economically empowered. An economically empowered society enjoys improved standards of living and is less disgruntled with businesses and companies around them. Companies also stand to make higher profits from maintaining the environment. The 1990s saw consumer movements favouring environment-friendly products becoming prominent. Consumers reported a disposition to factor in environmental criteria into purchase decisions and were also willing to pay higher for greener products (Ottman, 1998). Any business that directly or indirectly harms the environment endangers its reputation; consequently the society may riot against the company. When company-society ties are severed, the company suffers damaging public reputation and dwindling profits. The blame could result from a company producing a particular product from raw materials whose source is endangered e.g. leopard skins, ivory and rhinoceros horns. This is for the simple reason that killing endangered species could result in their extinction resulting in an imbalance, in the ecosystem, and harming the environment. Moreover, the endangered societies could be having close cultural ties to the societies in which they thrive. When provoked by such a move the public may protest against the company and boycott consuming its products, which could be detrimental, to the business. Environmental conservation measures like tree planting programmes acts as a public relations exercise and an environmental conservation measure, as well. The company can also source for raw materials from sources that are noncontroversial. The company should ascertain the source of raw materials to make sure that the environment is not harmed by the production process. As much as they can businesses ought to ascertain on the condition of the environment in the chain leading to the production of its raw materials. For instance in the production of Timberland boots, cows are slaughtered to obtain hides, these cows feed on grass whose growth, Greenpeace movement alleged to have been on deforested land, (Swartz, 2010). The companies can also involve the stakeholders in meetings to discuss the environment measures to be taken by those involved in the production of certain raw materials. In finding a reason to an environmental issue with members of the society, the business finds a reason to work with “each other not against” (Swartz, 2010). To achieve a sustainable environment; governments, businesses and consumers ought to act together since Environmental degradation can undermine economic development (WCED, 1987). 2. Why it is necessary to think about career planning while at university. “Failing to plan is planning to fail” –Anon. Whether making a meal or choosing a career, an individual keen on achieving his/her goals cannot afford to overlook planning lest they are disappointed in the results of a venture they invested. Career choice is an activity that literary determines the destiny of a person in terms of their means of earning a livelihood. The question on the minds of the vast majority of young people is “what will I become?” As they advance in their studies students narrow down to study courses in specific fields, say medicine, arts, engineering, law, business e.t.c. They enrol in varying faculties, and next comes the next dilemma comes in terms of specific career choices. For instance on the virtue of being an excellent performer in social sciences and mathematics, a business student maybe torn between the different careers under business like business management and accounting. University students need to plan on their career choices early enough to avoid disappointments on their part, their parents and friends when they become careers flop owing to poor selection. When planning about careers students ought to bear in mind the things that are pertinent to them- interests, values and lifestyle preferences. The choice of a career is based primarily on these three factors, but various other factors come into play. These are; achievement, comfort, integrity, freedom (liberty), diversity, health, safety/security, spirituality and faith, relationships family and marriage, privacy, equality, environment, independence, contribution/charity, status, quality of life, morality, variety, time, money/wealth, flexibility and many more. The students may ask themselves questions like: Do I want live in constant climate or in seasonal climate? Will I earn a high income? Will my career choice conflict my faith? Will I be required to plan time or will I operate on scheduled time? E.t.c the bottom-line is that the students ought to draw up a list of personal values on one hand and work values on the other and check for consistency in the two. These questions require comprehensive answers: Is there consistency between work and personal values? How do I resolve the conflicts arising? How should this affect my career choices? The more a student is aware of his/her fundamental values and preferences the easier it will be for them to make decisions and choices. A career that is consistent with one's values and preferences offers the greatest satisfaction and happiness not to mention excellent chances for personal development and advancement. Money and wealth are bound to come in the line of one who enjoys their work. American real estate, billionaire Donald Trump, is quoted to have said “money was never a big motivation for me, except as away to keep score; the real excitement is playing the game.” To help people select their careers, Holland (2009) came up with the RIASEC model. The model is based on the theory that people can be placed into six different groups: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC). Moreover, the student needs to evaluate him/herself on the skills they are sure they possess and the potential skills they may have. The University of Sydney Careers Centre (2010) recommends students to seek the opinion of trusted friends and family members on what they think ones main skills are since students maybe 'blind' to obvious skills or take their strengths for granted. The Centre further advises students to write about their past achievements, decision-making situations and chance events. In each case, the students are asked to provide comprehensive details. A reflection on the themes running across the three scenarios is recommended to help in career choice. The role of role models to aid in career choice is also emphasized. Students are advised to select careers to match childhood heroes and in line with their dreams and aspirations. 3. Reflect on the link between being ethical and being professional. An ethical person is one who observes ethics. Ethics is a branch of philosophy that addresses issues regarding morality, or concepts about what is good and evil, right and wrong, virtues and vices, unfairness and justice e.t.c. a profession is characterized by a widely agreed and extensive skill and mostly theoretical base knowledge. The people who share this knowledge and consequently exercise discretion and judgement are referred to as professionals. The acquisition of the required skills is preceded by lengthy training after which qualified personnel (usually from written examinations) is issued with formal certification and a form of licence to practice. Various professions have their codes of ethics that govern practices in those professions and professionals are expected to act accordingly. These ethics apply selectively and to particular groups of people and are referred to as applied ethics. The ethics of a particular profession enhance its theme on self-regulation and hold it a higher ethical standard that required by law and conventional morality under ordinary circumstances. To obtain self-regulation, professions can be said to ‘reward’ the society by committing themselves to a higher standard of ethics. As the professionals observe stricter ethics, they are rewarded both economically and socially by commanding more respect from the society and earning more. However, this school of thought has been critics who allege that professionals observe stricter codes of ethics for their own self interests and are just a ‘smokescreen’ or at their best a misleading ‘sideshow’ (Cowton, 2009). When professional ethics are dominant in an organization, they have a positive impact on the overall ethics of the organization and society at large. However, persuading professionals can be a hard task if there is no monetary value attached to it. It is much easier for professionals to exhibit ethics when their interests are well served by the very exercise of both professional and societal ethics. The practice of ethics by professionals helps win the trust of the general public which can translate to improved returns on the part of the profession. For instance lawyers who are honest are bound to win the trust of many people and consequently they are in great demand and therefore, earn higher than their unscrupulous counterparts. Professionals live in a diverse society and hence they are expected to obey the ethics that govern societies universally known as meta-ethics. As such practices in a particular profession may contradict the societal or meta-ethics, for instance it is ethically and morally wrong to kill a human being but, among the medicine professions, a patient can be killed in what is commonly referred to as mercy killing. Ethics remains a standing challenge to varying professions. Professionals need to consider ethics not only in times of turbulence or when moral panic strikes but in calm times, as well. The observance of ethics ought to be an everyday occurrence to professionals. The society holds professionals in high regard and needless to say that majority of professionals are role models to many youths. As such the professionals can only respond by upholding ethical practises in and out of the confines of their work. In so doing they help shape the destinies of societies in general and individuals in particular. A good reputation for any profession is a delicate, intangible asset that can be guarded by the observance of not only professional ethics but societal ethics, as well. The ethics alter the culture of an individual and, the way they think and they should only contribute to making a person better. In conclusion, professions are valuable technical and ethical endeavours that deserve considerable rewards. Professions should work on ensuring that the society does not view them as conspiracies to justify considerable reward through a smokescreen of ethics. References Anderson, DR 2005, Corporate Survival: The critical importance of sustainability risk management, iUniverse, Inc, New York (chapter 3, pp. 88-109). Cowton, C 2009, 'Accounting and the ethics challenge: re-membering the professional body', Accounting and Business Research, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 177-189. ( see upload document” entry 3 resource”) Hart, S. L. 2007. Capitalism at the Crossroads: Alligning Business, Earth and Humanity. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Wharton School Publishing. Holland, J., L. 2010. Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc. (PAR). Interests, take Dr. Holland’s Self-Directed Search assessment online at www.self-directed-search.com. NTC Business Books. Ottman, J. A. 1998. Green Marketing: Opportunity for Innovation. Chicago: Swartz, J. 2010, 'Timberland's CEO on standing up to 65,000 angry activists', Harvard Business Review, vol. 88, no. 9, pp. 39-43. Sandhu, S 2010, 'shifting paradigms in corporate environmentalism: From poachers to gamekeepers', Business and Society Review, vol. 115, no. 3, pp. 285-310. WCED 1987. Our Common Future. New York: Oxford University Press. The University of Sydney Careers Centre: Career Exploration Workbook 2010. Read More