International Strategic Management - Assignment Example

To adequately address his concept of sustainability, Elkingtons (1998) introduced the three Ps that include people, profit and planet therefore, the concept of Triple Bottom Line. Since the introduction of the TBL framework in mid 1990s, many organizations have been adopting the practice as their main approach that supports sustainability goals especially based on the increased ability to measure environmental and social impact in addition to the more traditional financial performance. This essay presents an evaluation of the concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) and its usefulness for businesses.

The difficulties of measuring TBL especially social and environmental components is also discussed bearing in mind there is no standard unit of measure for the two. By definition, TBL refers to an accounting approach for business, non-profit and government organizations to assess performance based on three frameworks covering financial, environmental and social dimensions. However, TBL represents a more complex measure of performance as it includes social and ecological aspects of the organization, which is difficult to quantify during the process of assessment.

Further, this is a more plausible measure as it is more comprehensive than the eco-efficiency method of sustainability measurement, which had also gained widespread use during the time of TBL introduction. To simplify further the application of this framework, Elkingtons (1998) presented its application in terms of the three Ps comprising people, planet and profits (3Ps). The researcher, therefore, was able to breakdown his analysis where people as a bottom line refers to all the individuals interacting with the organization or products and the impact both the organization and products has on them.

The organization will therefore be concerned with the wellbeing of individuals such as farmers, suppliers, of raw materials and employees