The Sustainability Debate - Article Example

Article Review: Sustainability Debate (Name) (Institution Affiliation) (Date) Introduction Wilkinson, A., Hill, M., & Gollan, P. (2001). The sustainability debate. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1492-1502. Authored by Adrian Wilkinson, Malcolm Hill and Paul Gollan, “The Sustainability Debate” article addresses a wide range of issues associated with sustainability in the business world today. Published in 2001, the article gives direction with regards to what the government as well as the industry players should put in place to ensure that the production of goods and services ecofriendly. Moreover, the article goes ahead to delineate the role of the government in environmental sustainability such as the provision of regulatory framework. Further, the article identifies the key areas that companies should focus on as far as regeneration and renewal of raw materials are concerned. In addition, the journal discusses on why the operations management has no option but to submit to external pressures that require their daily operations to reduce negative environmental impacts. Another important theme highlighted in the article is the need to come up with human resource policies that necessitate the development of the managerial as well as technical skills that are environmental management oriented. Evidently, the overall discussion in the paper is significant to firms as environmental sustainability is vital for both todays and the future generations. If measures are not put in place by both the government and the industry players, the green gas emissions would jeopardize the ecosystem in the long ran. As such, this paper aims at critically reviewing the “Sustainability Debate article.” To begin with, the article starts by giving a brief definition of the sustainability concept. According to the definition, sustainability is development that fully satisfies the current needs of various populations without interfering with the future generation’s ability to meet their needs (Adrian, Malcolm & Paul, 2001). Still on the definition, the journal further posits that renewing or restoring resources should be the main focus of the government, the business world as well as every individual if the concept of sustainability is to be meaningful. Further, ethical dimension related to fairness of trade-off between the future needs and the current economic pressure must as well be featured in order for sustainability to have relevance. According to Clarke and Clegg (2000), sustainability is non-negotiable thus it must be adopted by organizations as that is the only way the challenge related to achieving environmental balance can be addressed. Summary and Critique The next section on the journal discusses about the role governments, markets as well as corporations play with regard to environmental sustainability. The paper holds that the government is charged with the provision of environmental standards and the regulatory frameworks needed to control the firms as far as proper sustainability measures are in place. Moreover, Adrian, Malcolm and Paul Gollan (2001) maintain that a system where the government does not enforce environmental is deadly to the quality of life. Moreover, Adrian et al., (2001) that business operations that do not have environmental sustainability issues is regarded as detrimental to the industrial competitiveness as well as cost enhancing. It is argued that although many businesses are often reluctant to engage in renewable resources production processes, environmental standards that are effectively designed often trigger innovations (Porter & Van der Linde, 1995). In turn, the innovations lower the overall cost of production as well as improve the products’ value. Moreover, Porter and Van der Linde (1995) note that the innovations witnessed under the sustainability policy or concept often allow firms to use a variety of inputs in a more productive manner. However, even though environmental standards have been harmonized, several countries are still rigid as far as the establishments of environmental policies are concerned. Governments are afraid to hold on unpopular decisions as they may fail to win elections. As Hill (2001) asserts, governments cannot solve issues related to the world’s natural environmental crises without the help of the business world as well as the general public. the economic environment must always be supportive. The article also points out that unlike in the 19th century, where governments did not have the political will to reduce the industrial pollution, today’s world is much aware of this problem. As a show of commitment, major industrial countries met in Copenhagen, Denmark and signed the Copenhagen Accord, a commitment to reduce the greenhouse emissions. Dunphy and Griffiths (1998) agree that many countries are putting efforts in order to remain competitive in the environmentally sensitive markets; however, various factors have been of challenging. Some of these challenging factors include growing toxins, population, over-exploitation of renewable resources as well as extreme differences in income. According to the article, governments are today facing a unique challenge in controlling the private corporation with regard to environmental sustainability as their power stretches across the world. Corporations are opening new subsidiaries in various countries thus making it difficult for the government to stipulate to the environmental regulations. Consequently, countries across the globe should agree on the international standards that are appropriate and even harmonize the regulatory structures in order to effective from an international context or point of view. After looking at the government’s role with regard to sustainability, the article discuses on the next section about the significance of the industrial as well as commercial activities as far as sustainability is concerned. In this section, the paper highlights two main challenges for the business world. To begin with, the business often face commercial pressures from the increased environmental imperatives such government regulations with regard to environmental standards and concerns. The other environmental imperative is the growing customer pressure as they have been educated about environmental sustainability thus going for products that are manufactured in firms, which focus on renewable forms of energy. The second big challenge that is discussed in this section is the continuous internal organizational pressures that are related to the company’s initiative on the sustainability of human resources. The managers are often caught in between working towards the business’ interests and the employees’ interests. The business needs should be aligned with the human resources needs in order to achieve as well as maintain competitive advantage and productivity. According to Angell (2000), the operations manager is the most pressurized person when it comes to sustainability. The operations managers often face direct internal and external pressures that advocate for the reduction of environmental impact on the daily lives of the public and the employees. As Angell (2000), indicates the external pressure include the legislations, the “green” customer, media, competitors, rising costs of waste disposal as well as the scarcity for raw materials. On the other hand, the internal pressures include the activism among the environmental sustainability-oriented employees and a perceived opportunity by the management for cost reduction. Due to these pressures, firms today have no option but adopt environmental sustainability measures in the production process as failure to that means a dead business. Therefore, in order for business to remain competitive in the industry they have to act on these pressures associated with environmental sustainability. Notably, Hill (2001) argues that it is impossible for operations and environmental management to be initiated without apt human resource initiatives or policies in place. These policies are necessary for developing as well as shaping the necessary managerial and technical skills required for the environmental and operations management to be realized. According to (Adrian, Malcolm & Paul, 2001) organizations must adopt sustainable human resource as it reinforces the corporate profitability as well as satisfy the workers’ needs, desires and aspirations at the workplace. Moreover, the human resource sustainability involves recognizing the value of human capabilities and an integrated and holistic approach towards people management should be taken. Unlike in the 19th century, the whole concept of human resource management has shifted from the supposed human resource to a new practice that is based on resource management. Adrian, Malcolm and Paul (2001), point out that for sustainability to be realized, the potential, aspirations and needs of every individual employee must be the center of attention on the work place. This therefore indicates that human resource policies and practices must always be integrated for positive employee equity outcomes, a sustained successful business performance as well as development and wellbeing. The article’s main theme is that is that the sustainability concept is very crucial to the business world today and all stakeholders have a duty towards ensuring that people live in an ecofriendly environment free from greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, the authors clearly indicate that for an organization to achieve the full concept of environmental sustainability, the human resource management aspect should as well adopt an integrated approach. The authors maintain that for an environmental sustainability to be fully realized, values should be placed on the human capabilities. The employees should not be managed as the organizational resource but as stakeholders important to the whole organization: a holistic and integrated approach should be used in managing the employees. In addition, the journal posits that the government has a big role to play with regard to enactment of sustainability laws and policies, which should be used in regulating the corporations. However, the paper fails to identity some of the policies and regulations put into place but various governments in the world in order to control environmental impacts by firms. Furthermore, the authors fail to give perfect examples of firms that once engaged in operations that affected the environment adversely. Inclusion of examples in the article could have captured the mind of the reader thus relating to real situation therefore understanding the concepts vividly. Looking at the arguments highlighted in the paper, by various scholars, one would realize that much of the perspectives are one sided and tend to support the authors view with regard to sustainability. The paper could have benefited more if counter arguments could have been incorporated in the article. For instance, scholars who believe the traditional HRM and the Hard HRM model which holds that the employees should always strive to achieve the organization’s goals and does not necessary consider employees as valuable assets. Such counterarguments could give the reader a wider perspective of the whole debate thus make their own analysis. Conclusion The paper has successfully reviewed the “Sustainability Debate” article and highlighted various perceptive of different authors concerning environmental sustainability. The paper has delineated the role of the government in actualizing environmental sustainability. Further, it also identified the role of the human resource management in realizing environmental sustainability. The article is very informative as it gives in-depth knowledge on the importance of environmental sustainability. The article can benefit organizations as well as the relevant government agencies charged with the formulation of policies associated with the environment and trade. References Adrian Wilkinson, Malcolm Hill, Paul Gollan, (2001),"The sustainability debate", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 21 Iss: 12 pp. 1492 – 1502 Angell, L.C. (2000), “Editorial,” International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol.20 No.2, pp. 124-6. Dunphy, D. C., & Griffiths, A. (1998). The sustainable corporation: organisational renewal in Australia. Allen & Unwin. Porter, M. E., & Van der Linde, C. (1995). Toward a new conception of the environment competitiveness relationship. The journal of economic perspectives, 97-118. Read More