The Creation and Implementation of Strategies - Essay Example

Sustainable Development

Introduction

Sustainable development is the creation and implementation of strategies that enhance the realization of objectives that satisfy the needs of the present without compromising the productivity and efficacy of the future generations in meeting their requirements and needs. According to Savitz and Weber (2006, 34), sustainable development involves the use of resources in ways balances present need and creates a podium for using the very resources for the future. Sustainable businesses observe operatives and production precepts that protect both the society and the environment. In the publication 'Triple Bottom Line…: Assessing the Sustainability of Business and CSR, Henriques and Richardson (2004, 45) stated that sustainable businesses often strike a balance between economic development and CSR.

The Pillars of Sustainability

However, there are many aspects that are and should be considered in the evaluation of sustainable development, the most significant are economic, social, and environmental aspects. These three were defined by Henriques and Richardson (2004, 45) as the triple line bottom of sustainable development and the factors that determine the efficacy or the subject development. That is because they define the responsibility that should be borne in the protection of the resources and the persons who depend on the resources and the products that are produced from the resources. It also significantly defines the responsibility that should be borne in the creation of a balance between exploitation of resources, productivity, and business returns. Savitz and Weber (2006, 34) explained that sustained development should indicate positive measures in all three of the pillars.

Environmental Protection

Referred to by Galpin, Whitttington, and Bell (2015, 23) as environmental justice, the environmental pillar is based on a concept that describes the fair distribution of the burdens and benefits that are accrued from the environment. Though there are several theories that define environmental protection and justice, they are significantly based on the protection of the environmental resources that not only sustain the operatives of a business, but that also define the general well-being of the future generations. For instance, a company that specializes in paper production may opt to replace every tree that is cut by ten others in a measure of sustaining the business as well as ensuring that future generations do not suffer from the grave effects of depleted environments and global warming (Galpin, Whitttington & Bell 2015, 12).

The responsibility that is borne in protecting the environment in sustainable development involves the creation of countermeasures that ensure that the environment is not overexploited for resources (Wilson 2015, 433). Other than that, developers and business operators must always ensure that wastages and byproducts do not affect the natural state of the environment. For instance, companies that produce foodstuffs should ensure that the soils are not overused and rendered infertile from mineral exhaustion as well as through pollution that may involve the dumping of wastes on land (Savitz & Weber 2006, 34).

Social Development

Defined in the social development theory, social development entails the qualitative changes and restructuring of the societal framework to ensure that the society is better placed to realize its objectives. According to Henriques and Richardson (2004, 34), social development is often exhibited in the form of continuously improving levels of energy that define ascending productivity, efficacy, complexity, mastery, creativity, and the accomplishments of a society. Sustainable development should, as Galpin, Whitttington, and Bell (2015, 23) explained, transition the society in which the enterprise is based to become better and well positioned to benefit the future generations as well.

CSR and social development are closely intertwined. To socially develop a society, it is significant to implement measures that ensure that the enterprise not only provides the society with resources, but also positions itself to help the society benefit from the exploits of the resources (Galpin, Whitttington & Bell 2015, 12). For instance, an enterprise can create measures that inform policy making and the domains of enhancing cultural aspects that would either benefit the society morally or intellectually. That implies that the enterprise shall have helped the society to create and operate on a trajectory that enhances their relations and social identity. This is an aspect that may also benefit the enterprise by helping it realize the objectives that are inclined on marketing and sales as, as Svensson and Wagner (2015, 196) explained, societies that are well governed, adequately informed, and morally upright always enhance the realization of business growth and development.

Economic Sustainability

Economic sustainability is the execution of strategies that enhance the optimal use of economic resources in a bid of ensuring that there is a balance between the present needs and the long-term benefits. Henriques and Richardson (2004, 45) defined it as the efficient use of assets and finances to create a podium for lasting and profitable functioning. In the sense of sustainable development, economic sustainability should involve the integration of the business objectives for increased profits as well as the societal ability to improve in terms of their financial muscle.

Becoming Economically Sustainable:

To realize economic sustainability, enterprises must execute a trident strategy that involves shifting toward business models that favor and generate shared value (Galpin, Whitttington & Bell 2015, 12). In this sense, enterprises should not only focus on charitable donations that build up CSR, but also adopt a sense of purpose that conserves the ecological systems in which the said business operates. This would ensure that the community develops and assumes a status in which they are not overcome by squalor and poverty but are rather capable of financing themselves without an acute reliance on charity (Savitz & Weber 2006, 34).

Other than that, businesses should shift ownership to shareholder corporations that are always more prone to growth and development (Wilson 2015, 433). This measure would not only improve the enterprise’s size, but also create a podium for better serving the community by redistributing the investment in the society. The third measure involves the use of indicators of progress that would determine the successes of the economic investments that are made by the enterprise in the society (Galpin, Whitttington & Bell, 2015, 12). The most commonly used indicator is the FTSE though the Dow Jones Industrial Average has also significantly gained reputation as one of the most important indicators of financial value in an investment.

Measuring Sustainable Development

Measuring sustainable development requires the use of a quantitative basis for executing informed management of the development. Various mechanics and metrics are used to define and quantify development inclusive of benchmarks, indicators, audits, appraisal, assessment, and indices and accounting. These, as Galpin, Whitttington, and Bell (2015, 24) stated, often create a podium for determining the results and quantifying their values against the expectations.

However, as Wilson (2015, 433) stated, the most commonly used technique for measuring sustainability is the triple bottom line accounting that involves the integration of the environmental, social, and economic profits and losses that are accrued from the development. In the TBL, sustainable businesses are the businesses that not only indicate profitability in the three dimensions, but that also that has indications about the prospects of long-term successes. In a sense, the TBL demands that businesses must strike a balance between the three pillars of sustainable development to ensure that progressive growth is the short-term and the long-term (Savitz & Weber 2006, 34).

Benefits of Sustainable Development

Sustainable development has several benefits the most significant of which are the creation of a podium for enhanced efficacy that is propagated by improved decision-making. This is because decision making that is executed for sustainable development covers the interests of the society and the business both in the long-term and the short-term (Wilson 2015, 433). Other than that, sustainable development benefits the enterprises by cutting costs through aspects like waste-reduction and energy efficiency. The saved resources are then used for other aspects of growth thereby ensuring that there is continual development.

The other benefit that is accrued through sustainable development is future proofing, a factor that ensures that the enterprise is positioned to thrive and dominate even in the future (Svensson & Wagner, 2015, 196). It also promotes innovation that is executed to ensure that the enterprise effectively meets the demands of the three pillars of sustainable development. The combination of these factors, as Galpin, Whitttington, and Bell (2015, 23) illustrated, ensures that the subject business also becomes reputable in the society in which it operates.

Challenges to Sustainable Development

The most significant challenges to sustainable development are persistence of inequalities and partial convergence of resources. According to Henriques and Richardson (2004, 45), these are factors that are enhanced mostly by capitalistic policies that favor the often favor the first persons to launch into opportunities. Such persons always accrue the maximal benefits and become better equipped with resources. As a result, resources often end up partially converged at particular places with the particular persons as opposed to being evenly distributed in the community. This partial convergence of resources consequently creates a level of inequality that persists and challenges the execution of measures that favor sustainable development. Ideally, enterprises that are always positioned in communities that are not as advantaged as others always endure greater challenges to sustainable development as opposed to the enterprises that are positioned in the societies in which resources have been accumulated (Wilson 2015, 437).

Conclusion

Despite the challenges, sustainable development is always the best mechanism for favoring the realization of both the short-term and the long-term objectives of enterprises. The quantification of sustainable development, as Wilson (2015, 440) illustrated, should be based on the use of the TBL Accounting strategy that evaluates the costs and benefits of the three pillars of development as have been executed by the subject enterprise. Notably, there is a significant relation between the three pillars with all pillars supporting and creating podiums for success and the realization of the objectives that have been outlined for the other pillars (Svensson & Wagner, 2015, 196).